Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"The attitude towards clothing, even if many outfits were unisex, also reveals more of whether it was viewed as uniquely male or female. An example of this is found in medieval literature referring to underclothes. As already mentioned underclothes were made of linen and were the same across the sexes. However, in medieval literature, male heroes such as Tristan and Perceval who are wearing only their chemises are seen as being clothed, whereas women only wearing their undergarments are seen as seductive and nude. In "Yonec", Marie de France reveals the heroine as "aside from her shift she was nude", whereas males such as King Arthur or Lancelot who are still wearing their underclothes are depicted as being fully clothed. These characters are all wearing the same garments, and yet the attitude towards them changes with the gender that is wearing it. This makes reading medieval clothing more complicated, as it means that the same article of clothing can be saying two different things. Therefore, each account of cross-dressing, whether in primary sources or in literature, must be approached carefully in order to understand how the medieval world would have viewed it." -- from Transvestite Knights: Men and Women Cross-dressing in Medieval Literature (2013) by Debbie Kerkhof