fashion ABC - online fashion lexicon - Labedis

Labedis

Accessoires

Meddling prediker
Arm warmers or mittens were very fashionable in seventeenth and eighteenth century Paris. In the regional dress of Zeeland they were adopted to cover the arms in the church. They were called labedis, after the strictest opponent of naked women's arms: pastor Jean Labedis, who preached in Middelburg at the end of the seventeenth century. His followers, called Labadists, were devout ladies who lived in a strict Christian community in great austerity. As self-sufficient as possible. Sheep provided good wool called labadist wool. It proved to be extremely suitable for knitting or crocheting arm warmers. The Zeeuws Museum has beautiful examples in the collection with refined motifs. Labadis are the most common in black or white.

Image: Axel, before1973. © Nederlands Openluchtmuseum