Men's Garments - Italian Renaissance.
Men's styles of dress within the first half of the Italian Renaissance developed very little from the late Middle Ages. Main styles of dress included linen drawers, a camicia, doublets, hose, and outer jackets. The Italian man's camicia, or shirt, was worn typically as an undergarment or, for lower class men, alone with underpants when doing hard labor. The lower class man would wear shirts made from coarse, heavy linen, while finer and softer linen shirts were worn by the upper class. Doublets and jackets featured intricate neckline finishes consisting of a collarless front and a U shaped piece cut at the center back. This created a edge that strayed away from the neck, and a smooth back along the doublet without the use of darts and gathers. .
During the middle of the century, jacket styles were smooth fitting and featured a flared skirt ending below the hip. Later, the style was draped in full pleats and belted at the waist. It was worn over the upper torso and shoulders. Jacket styles was draped in full pleats and belted at the waist. It was worn over the upper torso and shoulders. Jacket styles became sleeveless and looked very similar to hukes. They were cut open under the arm and some full pleated versions were worn with belts.
In the 16th century, the white linen camicie featured embroidered necklines with cuffs. Due to Spanish influence, black on white embroidery called Black work became very popular. A close fitted doublet was worn over the camicie and worn without a jacket to create a more streamlined silhouette. After the first decade doublets became fuller and featured deep square necklines showing off the embroidery on the camicie underneath. Although less exaggerated than the other parts of Europe, decorative slashing with puffs of contrasting fabric was pulled through slits of the doublet. Jackets sometimes featured shorter sleeves that were just high enough to allow a contrast between the jacket and doublet sleeves.
