Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester from NPG

A mandilion or mandelion is a loose men's hip-length pullover coat or jacket, open down the sides, worn in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in late sixteenth century. It was fashionable to wear the mandilion ''colly-westonward'' or ''Colley-Weston-ward'', that is, rotated 90 degrees so that the front and back were draped over the arms and the

sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, acro ...

s hung down in front and behind. :"...sithence such is our mutability that to-day there is none to the Spanish guise, to-morrow the French toys are most fine and delectable, ere long no such apparel as that which is after the high Almaine fashion, by-and-by the Turkish manner is generally best liked of, otherwise the Morisco gowns, the Barbarian fleeces, the mandilion worn to Colley-Weston ward, and the short French breeches make such a comely vesture that, except it were a dog in a doublet, you shall not see any so disguised as are my countrymen of England." - William Harrison, ''The Description of Elizabethan England'' (1577), 'Of Our Apparel and Attire'. Why the fashion was named after the small village of

Collyweston Collyweston is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, about three miles southwest of Stamford, Lincolnshire, on the road (the A43) to Kettering. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 514. Geography The villa ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

remains uncertain. Another pronunciation of the fashion is "coley-westwards". See Chaperon for a similar development in the medieval hood-turned-hat.

References

External links

Modern History Sourcebook: William Harrison (1534-1593): Description Of Elizabethan England, 1577(from ''Holinshed's Chronicles'')
{{Clothing Coats (clothing) History of clothing (Western fashion) Jackets