The doublet developed from the 14th century padded garment worn under armour called the
pourpoint, similar to the
aketon. Despite keeping the same silhouette as the pourpoint, early 15th century doublets feature some noticeable differences like puffed sleeves and lack of quilting. Later in the 15th century, the doublet changed shape over time with each country developing its own style. Through the
Tudor period, fashionable doublets were close-fitting with baggy
sleeves, and elaborate surface decoration such as
pinks (patterns of small cuts in the fabric), slashes,
embroidery, and applied braid. A man's doublet was worn above a shirt, and it was sometimes sleeveless or had tight or detachable sleeves. It was either made of wool or a
kersey, which was a rough canvas material that would be mixed with wool. Items of costume were suitable for
New Year's Day gifts amongst the aristocracy. In 1574,
Gilbert Talbot gave his father, the
Earl of Shrewsbury, a perfumed doublet. In 1536, the embroiderer
William Ibgrave fashioned the initials of
Jane Seymour with pearls and emeralds to decorate a doublet for
Henry VIII. He was paid for pinking and cutting the doublets of
Edward VI in 1553. In the early
Elizabethan period, doublets for men were padded over the belly with
bombast in a "pouter pigeon" or "
peascod" silhouette. Sleeve attachments at the shoulder were disguised by decorative
wings,
tabs, or
piccadills, and short skirt-like
peplums or piccadills covered the waist of the
hose or
breeches. Padding gradually fell out of fashion again, and the doublet became close-fitting with a deep V-waistline.
Elizabeth I's tailor,
Walter Fyshe, first made her a doublet in 1575, of yellow satin decorated with silver lace. Elizabethan writers like Philip Stubbes criticised the fashion, as doublets were "a kind of attire appropriate only to man". A different style of upper garment fashionable for women from the 1580s, first known as "a pair of square bodies" from the style of the neckline, came to be called a doublet, although the garment did not fasten with buttons at the front. In November 1590, an
African servant at the Scottish court was given a doublet of
shot or "changing" Spanish taffeta with 48 buttons, with
breeches of orange velvet, and a hat of yellow taffeta. As a
New Year Day's gift to
Elizabeth I in January 1600,
Elizabeth Brydges, a maid of honour, presented a doublet of network
lawn, cut and tufted up with white knit-work, flourished with silver.
17th century Museum no. 177-1900 By the 17th century, doublets were short-waisted. A typical sleeve of this period was full and slashed to show the shirt beneath; a later style was full and
paned or slashed to just below the elbow and snug below. Decorative
ribbon points were pulled through eyelets on the breeches and the waist of the doublet to keep the breeches in place, and were tied in elaborate bows.
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle wrote about the tight-fitting costumes worn by performers in English court
masques, the fashion was "to appear very small in the waist, I remember was drawn up from the ground by both hands whilst the tailor with all his strength buttoned on my doublet". The doublet fell permanently out of fashion in the mid-17th century when
Louis XIV of France and
Charles II of England established a court costume for men consisting of a long
coat, a
waistcoat, a
cravat, a
wig, and breeches—the ancestor of the modern
suit. == Gallery ==