Medieval Historian Ranks Men's Fashion From The Middle Ages | History Ranked 

I am a simple man with simple tastes, I see a History Hit video with Eleanor Janega and I watch

I'm an ancient history student, and something I have noticed is a big problem in academia is inaccessibility. By this I mean that just the way something like a journal article is written makes it difficult for anyone who doesn't have a degree in the field to understand it fully, and this is kind of....crazy unfair. Eleanor Janega is the opposite of this - seeing people get excited about history is amazing and she makes it so fun. These are the teachers we need.

This woman is particularly good at making history fun and keeping it grounded in reality. Thoroughly enjoyed every video since the original castle building one I seen

"I may be wrong but I very much doubt it" is a common phrase I used 😂

Any era where men's fashion includes a codpiece gets a major point bonus. And for treading upon the horse manured streets, the platform shoe is another huge bonus.

Not going to lie if a teacher or history professor had a lecture using this tier list method, I would've retained so much information and aced every exam! 10/10 way to get information across and make it relatable to my modern day way of thinking.

Having just kitted myself out for a season of medieval reenacting, I feel qualified to weigh in on this topic. To start, I actually find wool hose incredibly comfortable, but a doublet slightly less so - being close-fitting and lined with linen, my doublet restricts upper body movement a little more than ideal. It's still a practical garment, though, and a staple of the late medieval wardrobe. One of the first items of clothing I bought, even before my hose and doublet was, in fact, a straw sun hat! And while I agree it scores a 10/10 for practicality, it is a little scratchy, so I have to mark it down on comfort. Next, shoes. I have some pretty plain leather shoes and, while they're fairly comfortable, they're not all that practical, given their tendancy to absorb moisture from wet ground. I'd like to see pattens ranked, as they greatly enhance the practicality of any medieval shoe. Finally, the codpiece. My hose feature a matching codpiece, and I can attest to its winning combination of practicality, comfort, and style. The codpiece is certainly S tier medieval garb. P.S. I really ought to outfit myself with a good for colder/wetter weather which, no doubt, I will experience while reenacting in the UK.

Yes! Eleanor Janega is back! More, please!

I see the comments are as normal and as devoid of the concept of humour as usual. Dr Janega rocks, my kingdom for more academics to have some actual personality

I am prepared to be guided. Straw hats and codpieces it is for Summer 2024! Very nice indeed. Nice one Dr. Eleanor! 🌟🌟👍

Oh, how I love this woman! And I love Kate Lister. Please, buy a fancy and comfy guest beds so these two can live on this channel forever...

I'm getting older and like wearing a beanie or other hat to keep my head warm on the regular when I go out. Now I really need a Borrelet. I'm retired. I'm not out in the field.

The cod piece being referred to as a her was killing me😂 I could hear Geralt of Rivia's quiet sighs of protest when the dublet recieved a 10 in comfort.

I have to say, you can't go wrong with one of Dr Janega's videos. Entertainment factor: - 10/10, Knowledge sharing - 10/10, Totally forgetting about time in the present and being absorbed in the presentation: - 10/10 - Definitely S Tier, without a shadow of a doubt!

The ball pouch is game changing. Especially when you reach 50 and everything starts to hang lower. Duluth Trading Company "Bullpen" 😊

Eleanor needs to be a guest judge on RPDR

I think the codpiece should definitely become part of men's fashion again.

So, I'm going to wander around wearing just a codpiece and a straw hat... and get arrested 😂

I love Dr. Janega's presentations. She has a unique persona.

I swear the Internet has never heard the word harigut before. This video is the only accurate RU-vid result.

I really enjoyed how you added so much humor to this while giving enough information to describe these pieces. I didn't know the names of several of them. Thanks again for taking the time to educate and entertain us.

This woman is just so superb at her job and makes learning about and listening to medieval history. Wish more people were like her. ❤

"It's arbitrary, it's capricious, it's an A." I'm gonna try to remember this for my own endeavors, thank you!

Finally, the appropriate support for the codpiece. It has supported the world's least appealing external extravagance since its inception and adoption. Hopefully this will help to bring it back and then to the front. I also argue that it has the potential to be unisex. It has always been a bit of a bait and switch anyway, plus the eyes often naturally gravitate to the genitals on an instinctual level so give people a little wink back.

Wonderful!! I wish we could hear about how these garments got their names? That would be a longer vid… but some of the names like chlamys… ? Thank you!

Took my kids to the Tower of London years ago & in the White Tower Museum is some armor worn by Henry VIII. HUGE codpiece. HUGE! I may have made a comment to my 15 year old daughter about overcompensating... ;D

Super fun video. I went Medieval to a costume party once or twice, including the poulaines (pointy shoes) & a fancy cod piece (plus various other items). Now I'm personally not the most ideal, athletic image of a man but it did get me some positive attention. My girlfriend at the time admired it too. Once the awkwardness wears off and you adopt a "who cares?" attitude about people's eyes being drawn to your genital area, it does wonders for masculine confidence. Which is to say, it really did feel sexy. So in that sense I think I understand why men in the Middle Ages liked wearing it. The shoes were all right, too. Just walking around in them was not a problem at all. At least with the ones I was wearing (modern recreations obviously) the pointy tips held themselves up and did not get in the way of normal movement. Basically it was like walking on very soft leather slippers. But at a busy party where you're often talking to people you must constantly be aware of them lest people stand on them. It seems to me that men in earlier times probably had more sartorial options to choose from for official/formal/festive occasions than we have now, compared to the ladies. A woman can show up in a dress, or a suit, show cleavage like Dr. Janega in this video or appear buttoned up, while a man may sometimes get criticised if he doesn't wear the correct neck tie.

The music is distractingly loud 😔

I loved watching Eleanor in this video she's so quick witted at the same time as being educational. I learned from her and this particular video, loved it! More please! I'd like to know about jewels and the type that were sewn onto clothes... how did that work and how practical was it? Obviously only royalty and courtiers could afford them! Id also like Eleanor cover the entire medieval period in parts as it's so long. ❤

Dr Janega has gotten me totally hooked on medieval history, I love her ability to mix expertise with great humour

So many good jokes, but “I have devoted my life to having zero drip” truly took me out. 😂😂😂😂

Dr. Janega is the best

We are BEGGING you and Kate Lister to do a video!!!!! The world needs it!

Dr. Janega is a QUEEN. I just love her so fricking much.

If History Mommy tells you codpieces are “in”- You get yourself a goddamn codpiece!

Coming out of the gate swinging with the codpiece. Respect 🫡

I wish all videos could be this fun and informative

You’re amazing! Everything about this video love it ❤❤❤❤❤

Professor Eleanor I always enjoy your teaching about history

I just love these fashion reviews so much!

She is amazing a true giant of historians.

Kind of glad you included post medieval fashion right from the start (the stereotypical penis shaped codpiece is really more of a 16th century thing) as i really like 16th and early 17th century clothing. On the codpiece, its not really a pouch, rather a flap to close your hose/breeches that gets more or less shaped to resemble genitalia and is usually stuffed. Sometimes its used as a pouch to put stuff in but its not a pouch for your genitalia. Sometimes breeches got reworked later to close with buttons instead of a codpiece when the codpiece fell out of fashion. Also about the doublet, really cant agree on the rating. Its an amazing piece of clothing, so yes, its really comfortable and definetly stylish. Unlike much of the other clothing its tailored closely to the wearer, something thats not all that common until then, also the high waistline of the time really does make it look really nice and also comfortable. Definetly a 10/10 on style (if you exclude the weird peascod doublets, those are ugly af) and the long period these were worn proves that, they only fell out of fashion roughly in the 1650s, so well over 200 years of popularity and the only thing that replaced it was the fashion that in the end turned into the modern suit. About practicality though, they kind of suck. I do wear them often as part of my early 17th century outfit and since the breeches are usually tied to it, well if you need to do certain things you cant just pull down your pants like we do today. Its usually easier to just remove both doublet and breeches (they kind of work like an overall) and then do your business. Thankfully the shirts of the time period were usually knee length so that at least covers everything. In later times people started to used hooks to attach the breeches to the doublet so thats more practical, or your just left it untied which is something that can be seen quite a lot in period paintings as then the shirt is usually peaking out between breeches and doublet. That is however not something i would personally do as its really a lot more comfortable with them tied together. The fashion around 1600 is just amazing. Fancy but not too extravagant, the perfect mix of medieval and more modern fashion.

I could literally watch 100 hours of you ranking clothes :) so interesting!!!

It would be hilarious to bring back the cod piece. I’d love to see that bopping down the runway during fashion week. 🌞

MORE OF THESE, PLZ!!! This is AWESOME & I AM HERE FOR IT! 😂

Obsessed with her! Love her so much! ❤😂😊

As Dr J is a Czech specialist. I want to see one of these specifically of Medieval Czech clothing through the ages.

“i have devoted my life to zero drip and also god” and “if you’ve got a cool coat of arms it could whip” are two sentences i never thought i would hear in a history video but i am TOTALLY here for it!!😂😂😂

I doubt if any men would rate a metal codpiece a 10 when it's 30 degrees outside.

A great follow up from Dr Eleanor to the excellent female clothing episode, a cracking video once again. Of all the historians to talk history over a pint it has to be Dr Eleanor

Yeah. Harigut and straw hat is my jam. Love that practicality.

Do we have to have music in the background. I just want to hear what is being said.

That Doublet is not medieval. It is from a Early Modern painting called "The Tailor" (1565)

Great video!❤❤❤

A codpiece and a straw hat sounds like a costume for the guys doing the "Full Monty". Believe it or not, I have worn the modern equivalent of the codpiece while playing field hockey 🏑 as a goalkeeper. Certainly practical!

Shadiversity on his channel is very enthusiastic about the gambeson. It may technically be counted as armor, but it functions as a jacket-like outer garment, too. I'd love to hear History Hit's evaluation of the gambeson, both as armor and as a garment.

Attractive and thrilled introduction video of that matter (man's fashion) during medieval terms, thank you 🙏( History Hit) channel For sharing

Love the music behind this video!!

She is so funny and knows her subject. She makes history fun.

I thoroughly enjoy Dr. Janega’s fun and informative videos and hope more are on the horizon. Like many, though, I do find the music bed too loud - something easily remedied. There was one error that I would like to rectify. She incorrectly identified the bishop’s headwear as a “Bishop’s Tiara,” when in fact, the proper term is “Mitre.” In fact, popes routinely wear mitres also (as the pope is technically a bishop too). While there is a “Papal Tiara,” it looks more like a beehive (see en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_tiara). At any rate, please keep these videos coming!

I always thought it was a Bishop’s mitre

The narrator, Elenore Janega, is awesome. I won't argue about it.

Whoa, this is such a fun video! Please make more videos of historians ranking fashions. It would be cool to see a video of ranking women’s medieval clothing. Also, so many celebrities try to push boundaries with fashion. I wish someone would wear hose and a codpiece and a bourrelet to like, the Met gala or the MTV video awards. That would be awesome!

I agree. Especially codpiece. Needs a tassel.

Always a pleasure to see Doctor J 👍

Coming to see you wearing just my codpiece and my straw hat. Whatever works for you, right? Love your work, Dr Eleanor 👍

what's with the music? could hardly hear her

This lady made such a boring topic HILARIOUS and engaging😂❤

✨👏✨Interesting& informative💗

Honestly thought I was going to hate this video. But it kept getting better and Eleanor keeps growing on me somehow. Keep it up History Hit.

I love that she calls the codpiece a she. ❤💯🤣

Medieval pantaloons--I'm thinking like those introduce by Italy? Also side lacing corset (say versus back lacing and stays)? (Elizabethan, granted, IIRC) Torse for the helmet?

Would it have been a doublet under your armour or a basic arming jacket over your shirt and under your armour?

Can we have a food version please?! ❤😊

I wonder if the length of the pointy shoes became associated with the supposed size of the wearers' gentlemen's sausage.

Omg she’s just too much 😂😂😂 Who doesn’t love 💕 Dr. Jenega?!

And once again, my mind has expanded! 😂

i would have given the hood an S tier given that hoodies are so popular now. had the longest staying power in terms of style out of all medieval garments.

Are you telling me you didn't mention the landskenicht wineskin cod piece as part of the practicality function haha.

I would love to watch Dan Snow watching this….

Bourrelet .... 😂 "Baby it's COLD outside" 😅

Her and I talk exactly the same and there’s something very comforting about that.

The knowledge. The attitude. The goodness.

I guess I'm wearing a codpiece and straw hat the next time I'm trying to impress the medieval historians up in da club.

I wanted to know more about harigut, but what a shame, all sources I tried don't know anything about it and keep showing me haircut 🤦🏻‍♀️ I tried Google search, Google translate, even on RU-vid this is the sole video mentioning it. is there any other term for harigut?

Another great video! Love the cod piece & straw hat combo. That’s certainly been done by someone, somewhere (probably a gay bar).

cotehardie, hairshirt, Tyrolean hat, chaperon, men's bliaut, tunic?

Any chance you can cover those old Thrupps ' next video, please

I could sit down with a pint in a pub and chat with the Dr. for days. (there would be more than one pint)

You seem like you would have great conversations. That was fun

The bourellet is just a hood someone decided to wear upside down with the liripipe under their chin to hold it on. There's no reason to wire it or anything, it pretty much automatically falls into that position if you put the face opening around the crown of your head.

More, more, more!

Codpiece! I love Dr. Janega! The codpiece is very big in showing off that junk!

Starting off strong with the codpiece

Eleanor Janega my hero

A bit unfair on the doublet! So much sexier than the codpiece - which were risible....

like listening to the ladies at the SCA arguing at JoAnn Fabrics.

Fellow tall girl, same problem with tights. However Snag tights are so comfortable as they have calculated for tall! Tights are still annoying to take down to pee and stuff though regardless of fit. xD

Actually monks had three focuses. Work, study, and leisure which included some of the worship. Also the Bishops I know will use any excuse to avoid wearing any headgear.

Yes another medieval Video