The Sideless Surcote by Lady Jehanne de Wodeford 
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The sideless surcote, known in Spain as the pellote and sometimes referred to as the "gates of Hell" as it allowed glimpses of a shapely female figure, first appeared as a unisex garment in 12th century Spain. Within a few generations it had spread to England and France and, as illuminations in the Belle Heures of Jean, Duc de Berry indicate, were still being worn well into in the 14th century.

No one questions whether men wore heraldic clothing in the Middle Ages. There has been some debate as to whether surcotes displaying heraldry were actually worn by women or whether they are an artistic convention that allowed the artist to identify the wearer. One of the most often cited examples is the portrait of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell with the ladies of his family, both of whom wear heraldic surcotes.  Rather than rehash this at length here, there are links to articles and artwork at the end of this page that may be of interest. Whatever one believes, there is no denying that a surcote with a colorful blazon adds to the pageantry of our Current Middle Ages. 

From the Luttrell Psalter, Sir Geoffrey Luttrell and his ladies. The author in her first heraldic surcote. Right, Viscount Gaius Auklandus in his heraldic surcote.

In 2003 when I webbed the original version of this article, I had found little in the way of how-to information on this easy and elegant garment during my time in the SCA. When a lady who doesn't hesitate to construct Elizabethan garments asked me how to make one, I threw together a sketch and instructions which resulted in this article.

The Museo de Telas Medievales (Burgos, Spain) has in its collection a surviving pellote from the tomb of Leonor de Castille (died 1244), made of blue-green “Arabian brocade” with woven bands of decoration circling the skirt. Visit Mistress Cynthia du Pre Argent's website to see a photo from her collection of extant period garments.  An excellent reconstruction drawing by I. Marc Carlson can be found here. It shows a garment pieced together from large side gores sewn to central vertical panels. I am going to make a guess and say this construction method may have had to do with the loom width of the fabric. Modern technology allows us to buy fabrics in a variety of widths and an average sized woman can get a perfectly adequate surcote without gores out of three to four yards of fabric 60” wide. However, piecing is an excellent way to build a garment from narrower fabric widths and gores allow for a fuller skirt. Shown at right is a detail from the Book of Games, a Spanish manuscript from a little later in the 13th century. The lady at the left wears a pellote with a very narrow plastron and striped trim around the armholes.

The basic shape of the garment is an "A" with the legs of the "A" angling out from the top of the shoulder to the selvedge of your 60" wide fabric. It should be worn over an under-gown with long, close fitting sleeves. Kass McGann provides excellent instructions for the 13th century tunic of St. Louis at her Reconstructing History Website. With a little adjustment (make it gown length and taper the sleeves a little bit), it makes a suitable gown to wear beneath your surcote. The more fitted “cotehardie” gowns of the 14^th century are appropriate with the revealing styles of that period.

Fabric selection:
Wool, linen, and silk are period-appropriate fabric choices. Cotton velveteen is a rich looking alternative to silk velvet and easier to work with than rayon acetates. Avoid panne (crushed velvet) and stretch velvets. Just  because you saw Sophie Marceau in it doesn't mean the costume designer for Braveheart got it right. Besides, they're harder to work with than a non-stretch velvet. A word about silks: medieval esthetics are not modern ones. Slubby or irregular weaves, such as silk noil or even dupioni, would've been considered imperfect and coarse.

Leonor of Castille was buried in Saracen silks.The Crusades brought us silk damask, which means that damasks and jacquards are an option. You can sometimes find these in the home decorating section of your local fabric merchant. However, if you think you're going to look like a sofa, pass it by and choose something with a subtler pattern.

Budget is often an issue for people, but if there is any way you can, try to use the better fabrics. Most cotton broadcloth is too flimsy to drape properly, it doesn't wear well, and it’s not at all rich looking. Remember, this is a sexy (by medieval standards) court garment! It should look elegant.

Don't be afraid of bright colors. While paint pigments and fabric dyes do not produce identical results, you can still find clues in manuscript art of fashionable colors:  vivid blues and reds and greens. I personally love the look of cobalt blue with a bright red.

       Click on thumbnails for a closer look. Top from left, St.Jerome tempted by dancing girls, Belles Heures of Jean Duc du Berry (French, 14th c.); Elizabeth wife of 2nd Lord Cobham, (English, c. 1380); St. Catherine from a Flemish Calvary (c. 1400); pellotes on male minstrels and court ladies, from the Cantigas de Santa Maria (Spanish, 13th c.); Emperor Charles IV visiting Queen Jeanne of Bourbon, Grandes Chroniques de France (French, 14th c.); two chess players from the Book of Games (Spanish, 13th c.); Jeanne of Bourbon, (French, 14th c.); two courtly lovers from the Manesse Codex (Germany, 13th c.).

Measurements you need to consider

Width of plastron: Spanish pellotes are cut with a straight, narrow plastron. Later period surcotes have an hourglass shaped, narrow plastron cut to show off as much of the under-gown as possible. Depending on your build and how you cut your plastron, this may result in what I refer to as the twin rocket launcher effect, as modeled by St. Jerome's dancing girl in the first thumbnail above. If you don't care for that look, you may prefer a wider plastron.  I usually take the distance between the outer edge of my bra straps plus a half inch seam/hem allowance (Measurement A).

Armhole size: Again, this varies by period and you may want to think about how the proportion will suit your build. The shorter armhole of a Manesse Codex style surcote may be more flattering to a shorter person. St. Jerome's friend has armholes that dip to mid-thigh, but I suspect that real-world applications of this style may look proportionally off - not to mention all the doorknobs you'd catch your gown on! I usually drop a straight line from the plastron edge to about waist height (Measurement B), then start curving outward and down to the level of my hipbone  (Measurement C) where it will intersect the legs of the "A" that form the outer side seam.

Shoulder to hem plus hem allowance (Measurement D): Be sure to take this measurement while wearing the shoes you're likely to wear with your surcote so you're sure it's long enough. (Long enough is floor length.) Beginners: remember to cut your hem on a curve, otherwise you'll get boxy little points where your side seams meet. 

Optional train: For a train, cut the curve of your hem deeper on the back piece (crosshatched area).

Optional Side Gores: While I have gotten an adequate surcote out of the basic A-line cut, the waste cuts result in four right triangles that are exactly the right length for side gores. If you want a fuller skirt, sew a pair together for each side and insert them between the front and back pieces of your surcote. (In Step 6 below, you can see two side gores assembled and laid out beside the front of my newest surcote.)

Neckline. Your call: I've done squared necklines, rounded ones, and the Leonor de Castilla pellote has an unusual keyhole shape.

Now the EASY part.  Sew together the shoulder and side seams (from the bottom of the armhole to the hemline), hem the neckline, armholes and bottom hem and you have a surcote.

Embellishment: There are a number of options.  Fur was popular in period and some of the faux stuff these days is pretty nice. I've seen examples where the entire plastron was done in fur or the armholes were edged with it. Edging the armholes with black and white striped trim appears to have been popular in the royal courts of 13th century Spain. For a late period look, go for the narrow hourglass plastron with fur edging and a few large jeweled buttons down the front, like Queen Jeanne de Bourbon. Banded decoration on the skirt can be done with embroidery or even by applying a strip of fancy jacquard fabric to contrast with the ground fabric. Or you can appliqué or embroider your arms on the front. 

Left: Manesse Codex style armholes. Right: hourglass "Gates of Hell" armholes.

Reconstructing my heraldic surcote, Summer 2005:
I am certain Dad believed he was helping when he tossed my surcote into the wash on hot. The red dye ran all over the white appliques. I tried spot treating it with Dylon Run Away, only to drip some on the red and cause a bleach stain near the hem. The pink would not come off the appliques. I finally covered them with fabric paint, which did nothing to improve the look of the split stitch embroidery that was holding the appliques in place. Two years later, my beautiful surcote looked shabby and tragic. 

In June, 2005, I was contacted by the organizers of the Known World Costuming Symposium with a request to teach a class on the sideless surcote. Once I made the decision to go, I realized that (a) I really needed to update this web page and (b) I really needed to remake my surcote. The following chronicles how I made the new surcote.

Construction: By hand or machine? I enjoy handwork and love the detailing and finishing it provides. However, if you prefer to work with a machine, there’s no reason you can’t.

Step 1: Choose and acquire fabric. I decided that I would again work in linen. It wears well, drapes well and breathes beautifully, a consideration for summer event wear in Northern California.

Step 2. Choose layout and create pattern for appliques. Way back in 2000 when I first decided I wanted to make a surcote with my device on it, I started looking at anything I could find on heraldic clothing. To my chagrin, I could not find a single example of anything with a per bend field division. (For non-heralds, that means a two color background divided diagonally.) As I recall, I made a number of sketches and decided that the most practical solution was to display my device only on the skirt and leave the plastron section "blank."

If you have a pre-drawn copy of your device, you can blow it up to the size you need on a photocopier or even on your computer. I traced my swan, drew grid lines, scanned it, blew it up on the photo editor on my computer in sections, printed it, used the grid lines to match everything up as I taped it back together, then cut it out.

Lady Melodie de l'ours blanc (modern name unknown) (2004) "The 'Truth' About The Sideless Surcote" [Online] Available.  http://www.pennib.net/FeoragDubh/Nutshell_2004-03/sideless_surcote.htm 
Is it really? This newsletter article for a local SCA group is based on notes taken from the lecture "Will The Real Sideless Surcote Please Stand Up?" by Robin Netherton (given February 28, 2004, at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA). The statements made in the article are, of necessity, being filtered through the notes of a lecture attendee, so one must take this article with a few grains of salt, if not outright skepticism. Ms. Netherton's reputation as a researcher of historical clothing precedes her. I have trouble believing that she would assert that there are no extant garments, let alone be unaware of the existence of the Leonor pellote as it is repeatedly cited in discussions of surcotes. It seems more likely that Netherton says there are no extant heraldic garments for women, however, that's not what this article says. I have been unable, as yet, to track down an actual publication on this subject by Ms. Netherton herself. If she has not done so yet, I dearly hope she publishes her research on this subject. I'm certain it would be well worth reading.