Coats and Gowns

This really covers anything that is worn over your doublet and hoes. I probably could have added jackets and jerkins to the title but within the group we tend to refer to short versions as over-doublets or coats. The contemporary terms for any one item are very difficult to know with any certainty. For a soldier you should stick to shorter lengths in general or very basic long coats for warmth. Bigger and more elaborate gowns are higher station.

Basically, there are several styles but they tend to be either large doublets, often with pleating, or A-line garments anything from thigh to floor length. With the A-line garments the panels flare from below the arm at the side and front the neck at the top. Sometimes these are pleated in at the waist, sometimes left to hang or worn belted. Gowns are sometimes sewn up the front with either a V or slit neck and can be sleeveless. The sleeves on such garments are normally reasonably roomy, as they must go over several layers.
confirmation-Seven Sacraments by Roger van der Weyden, about 1448

 

Two boys among a group listening to St. Paul 1475-1480

A garden of courtly lovers painting c. 1500