Women's bliaut Examples of this garment and its evolution appear as early as the
Bayeux Tapestry, wherein a female figure wears a garment which is loose in the body, but has the extended sleeve that would be an identifying characteristic of the style after its transition. Paintings and illuminated items that depict the item as well include a miniature called Ladder of Virtue dated to the twelfth century and the work of
Claricia, a nun and illuminator who appears to be wearing one in her small self-portrait in a South German Psalter dated c. 1200, currently in the
Walters Art Museum in
Baltimore. Earlier depictions of bliauts appear to be cut in one piece, such as an example at Angers Cathedral, which is cinched at the natural waistline. The statue at Angers also shows visible lacing at the sides. Later examples of statuary such as the
jambs of the
Cathedral of Chartres west façade portals show the full accomplishment of the bliaut on female saints and patrons, such as the "Lady With Embroidered Hem," appearing on the left, beside the left portal. These later bliauts, usually shown on statues carved between the 1130s and 1160s, are termed the
bliaut girone, and unlike their predecessors, were cut in two pieces.
Men's bliaut The men's bliaut was more loosely fitted than the women's, and was cut in one piece with a flared skirt. Gores were inserted into the skirt to produce vertical folds. ==Materials==