page_title: Doublet (clothing)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Doublet (clothing) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Doublet, 1635–1640 V&amp;A Museum no. 177-1900 Techniques – Glazed linen, embroidered with linen thread Place – England Dimensions – Width 71.12 cm (maximum, elbow to elbow), Depth 44.5 cm (maximum) Object Type – Doublets formed part of the ensemble of clothing worn by men in the early 17th century. A pair of breeches in matching fabric would have been worn with this doublet, with a cape to complete the gentleman's outfit. Materials &amp; Making – The linen has not been dyed but bleached and glazed instead to give a uniform colour and a firm texture on which to embroider. Back stitch, French knots and couching in fine linen thread comprise a pattern of geometric and floral motifs. Linen thread, hand plaited and sewn over a wooden core in a technique known as passementerie, forms the decorative buttons. Time – A doublet of the late 1630s had a waistline at the natural level with large flaps or tabs, as they were known, falling below. Typical of the period, are the back seam and seams of the sleeves. They have been deliberately left unstitched to allow the billowing shirt to show through from underneath. Fashions of the 1630s featured a high collar over which the falling band of fine linen and lace could drape becomingly.
context_page_description: A doublet is a man's snug-fitting jacket that is shaped and fitted to the man's body which was worn in Spain and was spread to Western Europe from the late Middle Ages up to the mid-17th century. The doublet was hip length or waist length and worn over the shirt or drawers. Until the end of the 15th century, the doublet was usually worn under another layer of clothing such as a gown, mantle, overtunic or jerkin when in public.
  Originally it was a mere stitched and quilted lining, worn under a hauberk or cuirass to prevent bruising and chafing. Doublets were sometimes opened to the waistline in a deep V. The edges might be left free or laced across the shirt front. If there was space left it might be filled with a stomacher. By the 1520s, the edges of the doublet more frequently met at the center front. Then, like many other originally practical items in the history of men's wear, from the late 15th century onward it became elaborated enough to be seen on its own.
  Throughout the 300 years of its use, the doublet served the same purpose: to give fashionable shape and padding to the body, to support the hose by providing ties, and to provide warmth to the body.
context_section_description: The doublet developed from the padded garments worn under armour, such as the gambeson, aketon, and arming doublet.
caption: Doublet, 1635–1640 V&A Museum no. 177-1900
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