Mantle (clothing) in the context of "Himation"

The palla was an elegant cloak or mantle that was wrapped around the body. It was worn outside the house by (affluent) Roman women. It was a luxurious version of the Roman men's pallium. The palla was a traditional ancient Roman mantle worn by women, fastened by brooches. The shape was rectangular instead of semi-circular, as with the traditional toga. The garment dates to the 3rd century BC, but the type of dress must be much older. In Latin literature, the term palla is used ambiguously. It can denote not only a cloak, but also a foot-length sleeveless dress with straps (or a brooch) worn directly on the skin. The second is a common dress form in the entire Mediterranean world. In a Greek cultural context, this is called peplos. In a Roman cultural context, if worn by a Roman matron, it also takes the name stola.

A doublet (/ˈdʌblɪt/; derived from Italian: giubbetta) is a snug-fitting jacket that is shaped and fitted to a man's body. Until the end of the 15th century, the doublet was most often worn under another layer of clothing such as a gown, mantle, or houppelande when in public. In the 16th century, it was covered by the jerkin which often matched. Women started wearing doublets in the 16th century. The doublet could be thigh length, hip length or waist length depending on the period, and worn over the shirt with matching or contrasting "hose", the term for the tight leggings and later breeches-like lower garment which were attached by lacing to the doublet with "points", the cord or ribbon laces.

Like the pourpoint, its ancestor, the doublet was used by soldiers in the 15th and 16th centuries to facilitate the wearing of the brigandine, breastplate, cuirass, and plackart, which had to cut into the waist in order to shift their weights from the shoulders to the hips. However, it differs from the pourpoint by being shut with lacing instead of being closed with buttons and having a different shape and cut.