Tunics, blouses, shirts and knights of the Crusades
2018-07-13 14:27:38
At the end of the Middle Ages, nobles yearned for the true chivalry that had been passé for a few centuries. For entertainment they held tournaments where the knights of yore were greatly idealized. In reality, the knights of the early Middle Ages were part of the first Crusades to save the Holy Land from the hands of the pagans, not nearly as courtly and gracious as one would like to imagine in later times.
Rigorously summarized, the times for the Crusades were dark. The housing was poor and the word 'unsociable' is a weak understatement for the state of establishment. Women were a type of creature that measured closer to the donkey and cow on the male scale than the owner of the house itself. It is precisely the cultural exchange with the Eastern peoples (not only was there fighting during the very long crusades) that brought a kind of refinement. Sofas, pillows and other household textiles were exported to the North.
Tunics in the Middle Ages
Similarly, the knot, a precious gem that immediately caused a fad: the through-knit tunics from bottom to top. Until then, people had to make do with pins or needle and thread with which they had to close the closures in the morning in order to let them open again in the evening.
Knights of the Middle Ages
Back to the end of the Middle Ages, where knights and noblemen battle for honor. The fighters, harnessed for stab and lance play, adorned themselves with the color of their favorite lady who, as a worthy 'cheerleader', encouraged her 'husband'. That color could consist of a piece of a lady's cloak or a whole shirt or tunic that was clearly visible on the battle dress. The shirt went back to the owner after the tournament, who pulled the sweaty and bloodied copy back over her own members.
Does that sound strange or dirty? Compare it with footballers at the end of a strenuous match. The wet shirts are exchanged as a sign of goodwill. And a fan who can get hold of such a shirt will not wash it. The magic would also disappear with soap water.
The idealized chivalry also includes choosing a color by fighters and athletes. A fact that makes us very logical in team sports where the members of both parties mix. But that was not always the case in the last century. Football, for example, a national sport, was played in a mixture of old clothing and underwear. Petticoat or shirt from one party was difficult to distinguish from that of the other party.
The elite, who finally had more time to surrender to sports and games, had special sportswear made to which we nowadays can hardly discover something really sporty, but from which many of our modern sportswear and fashion have emerged: a jacket for golfing, a blazer for rowing and a woolen flannel pants for playing tennis.
Colbert, blazer and flannel trousers are originally sports clothes from the end of the previous, the beginning of this century. For spontaneous boxing parties, it was sufficient to uncover the upper body or the buttons of the shirt slumped over the shoulders (due to the length of the shirt panels that were pulled between the legs) the putting on and taking off of a shirt, while the pants had to stay in place, laborious) To emphasize the elitist nature of some sports, they opted for the luxurious white or ecru. The clothing of sports such as tennis, fencing and cricket still testifies to that.
The 'white tunics' effect
The 'white tunics' effect, which stands for the idea that the wearer is more reliable than the wearer of a dark or black shirt (the latter also know a sad history), also takes off in the sport. The American psychologists Frank and Gilovich investigated the effect of white and black in the tunics.
To supporters and arbitrators they showed play moments of a team in black and a team dressed in white. The sporting actions of both groups were identical, but still the spectators of these images expressed their preference for the 'Whites' and they rejected the game of the 'Blacks'.