Peascod belly

"Peascod" redirects here. For the plant and its variations, see Pea.

For the Australian artist, see William Peascod.

Charles, Archduke of Austria, wearing a peascod bellied doublet in 1569

A peascod belly is a type of exaggeratedly padded stomach that was very popular in men's dress in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The term is thought to have come from "peacock,"^[1] or from the form of contemporary plate armour.^[2] Sometimes it was called a 'goose belly.'^[3]

In the late 16th century the stomach of the doublet was padded to stick out,^[4] however, by 1625, the padding had become more evenly distributed over the chest area.^[5]

• 
  Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, 1542, by Jakob Seisenegger
• 
  Charles V Standing with His Dog, by Titian

References

1. Tortora, Phyllis G.; Eubank, Keith (2005). Survey of Historic Costume (4th ed.). New York: Fairchild. p. 175.
2. François Boucher; Yvonne Deslandres (1987). 20,000 Years of Fashion: the history of costume and personal adornment (Expanded ed.). New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 228. ISBN 0-8109-1693-2.
3. Bradley, Carolyn G. (2001). Western world costume : an outline history (Dover ed.). Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. p. 174. ISBN 9780486419862.
4. Harvey, Sara M. (2008). "The Seventeenth Century". In Condra, Jill (ed.). The Greenwood encyclopedia of clothing through world history. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. p. 125. ISBN 9780313336645.
5. Harvey, Sara M. (2008). "The Northern Renaissance". In Condra, Jill (ed.). The Greenwood encyclopedia of clothing through world history. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780313336645.