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Akirtle (sometimes called acotte or acotehardie) is a garment that was worn by men and women in the EuropeanMiddle Ages. It eventually became a one-piece garment worn by women from the late Middle Ages into theBaroque period. The kirtle was typically worn over achemise orsmock, which acted as aslip, and under the formal outer garment, agown orsurcoat.[citation needed]
Kirtles were part of fashionable attire into the middle of the16th century, and remained part of country or middle-class clothing into the17th century.[citation needed]
Kirtles began as loose garments without a waist seam, changing to tightly fitted supportive garments in the14th century. Later, in the Renaissance, kirtles could be constructed by combining a fittedbodice with a skirt gathered or pleated into the waist seam. Kirtles could lace up the front, back or side-back, with some rare cases of side lacing, all dependent upon the fashion of the day and place and upon the type of gown worn over it. Kirtles could be embellished with a variety of decorations including gold, silk, tassels, and knobs.[1]
