Garter

Fringed garter made from red woven textile. The fringing would have hung downwards when the garter was worn. Loose leggings and 'knytt netherstockes of worsted' or silk needed garters to hold them up. By the 1320s men's garters had become a conspicuous and colourful accessory and were often satirised in contemporary art. The popularity of garters in the 14th century coincided with the shortening of men's tunics, which revealed more of their legs than before. Women wore garters too but these would have been hidden beneath their full-length tunics.