Reading Griselda's Smocks in the Clerk's Tale

Ranging from the ostentatious and richly ornamented to the utmost in simplicity, the basic undergarment?the smock?speaks to readers of medieval literature through select details chosen by authors. It is often employed metaphorically in phrases such as "clad in his [or her] sherte alone." We find Chaucer's variations of this well-known metaphor in Troilus and Criseyde (IV, 96, 1522-23).1 These wearers of a "sherte alone" are presented in a state of virtual nakedness, bereft of all usual signs of social rank and, on occasion, suffering humiliation.2 The smock can also be incorporated in descriptions as an important costume sign representing social status or character: nobility or peasant status, dignified duty or servile subjection, humiliation or triumphant dignity, personal humility or pride, to mention