Sometimes made open from neck
This simarre was generally made open from neck to hem, and held collectively on the high by a sq. brooch ; and the sleeves had been of two varieties, both fairly tight or else wider and really lengthy, ending in a degree, however invariably bearing some ornamental border. The girdle undoubtedly slipped to the hips, and the outline of a Florentine gown runs : “ A simarre of brocade fixed with small buttons on both facet, the again hanging fairly straight, the girdle being worn in entrance of the gown solely.” Very fairly should have been the cypriane, a robe of French origin which was worn with a excessive belt and had a triangular-shaped opening low on the bodice, a veil masking the bosom, and a fragile ruffle encircling the neck ; the puffed sleeves and the again of the gown had been slashed. A semicircular cloak was thrown over the shoulders and fixed in entrance, and left open or buttoned from throat to hem. The married girls selected a sleeveless over-dress, and an extended purple or blue cloak, capacious and enveloping, and the widow wore this in black, surmounted by an extended white veil. Caps, veils, and fillets discovered equal favour within the eyes of the Italian, whose fairly hair was as continuously seen certain with satin ribbons as with gold or silver paillettes, or organized spirally, or confined in a caul ; and the horseshoe form of head-dress widespread in England was additionally to be seen in Italy, who borrowed it from France, the place the skirts had been now step by step turning into narrower and the clothes buttoning straight down the entrance, the skirt and bodice being minimize in a single, and the sleeves invested with a lot range, being worn tight or unfastened, buttoned or hanging open, displaying in some circumstances the forearm and in others a detailed under-sleeve.
The sleeveless surcoat
The sleeveless surcoat was very fashionable, the higher portion tapering to a small level upon the shoulders, exhibiting the robe worn beneath, and the skirts of those surcoats had been decked with ermine and emblazoned with the household arms. The artwork of embroidery was cultivated assiduously by the wealthy, whose leisured moments had been spent in plying the needle and silk, to perform gadgets which ought to honour and style their apparel.
Bulgaria 