Hoses

People of the middle ages, for the most part, wore 2 separate hose, one on each leg. There were 2 types of hose - the short and the long hose. Short ones extended from foot to the top of the knee, where they were laced to the underpants. Longer ones covered the whole leg, up to the waist, and were fastened to the top of the underpants, or to the doublet. It was highly fashionable to wear narrow hose in combination with a cot-piece which covered the groin. During Reneissance (starting at the end of 15th century, people slowly adapted the fashion of sewing the two hose together into one garment, resembling the modern pants. In the 16th century hose were replaced by knitted stockings.

Bocksten

Hose, or protectice leggings possibly worn over the hose, found in Bocksten. Date unknown.

Bremen no.19

Simple stocking or a short hose, based on the find of a grave #19 from 13th century Bremen, Northern Germany.

Herjolfsnes no.88

Tight hose of a somewhat more complicated construction, based on find #88 from late 14th century Herjolfsnes, Greenland.

Men's hose from Bocksten

A hose from Bocksten, Sweden, probably c. middle of 14th century. It is likely that this hose was worn tied to the belt.