Tag Archives: 16th century women’s clothing

Renaissance Deodorant

by

On the Ornaments of Women

Written by Giovanni Marinello

published with privilege in Venetia (Venice)
by John Valgrifio, 1574

translated into English by

Courtney Hess-Dragovich

If you wash your armpits frequently in wine in which is boiled nutmeg, mace or, if you desire, grains of musk, you will stop the smell, releasing a gentle scent.                          

This blog is a treasure, but my favorite posts are the deodorant recipes. 

And bras.

by
Lengberg Bra.jpg

Bra found in Austrian castle radiocarbon-dated to the 1400s.

Henri de Mondeville, surgeon to Philip the Fair of France and his successor Louis X, wrote in his Cyrurgia in 1312–20:

“Some women… insert two bags in their dresses, adjusted to the breasts, fitting tight, and they put them [the breasts] into them every morning and fasten them when possible with a matching band.”

Read the full story HERE.