The Armour of Henry VIII in 1540
Home » What is a Codpiece?

What is a Codpiece?

Definition

Contents

In Middle English the word ‘cod’ means scrotum, therefore the codpiece was a piece of material used to cover this part of the body. It is basically a flapping cover or any pouch kind of structure that is attached to the front part of the men’s trousers and hence covers the male genitalia. It is attached with the help of string ties, folds, or buttons.

The codpiece was a 16th-century fashion accessory that was worn by men. It was essentially a piece of fabric that covered the crotch area and was held in place by either laces or buttons. The codpiece was often decorated with embroidery, jewels, or other adornments and could be quite large and prominent. While the codpiece fell out of fashion in the 17th century, it has been making a comeback in recent years thanks to designers like Thom Browne and Thomas Cromwell.

The codpiece was first worn in the early 16th century and became quite popular during the reign of King Henry VIII. It is thought that the codpiece was originally developed to add extra warmth and protection to the groin area. However, it quickly became a fashion statement and was often adorned with lavish decoration.

The codpiece fell out of fashion in the late 17th century but has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Designers like Thom Browne and Thomas Cromwell have been incorporating the codpiece into their designs, giving it a modern twist.

So, next time you’re looking to add a little something extra to your outfit, don’t forget the codpiece!

Emergence of Codpiece

During the 15th century, men wore hose to cover their legs. This hoses however covered the legs of the men but not their genitals. Hence codpiece was an important if not essential part of a man’s clothing. As without it, due to his short doublet and hose which may have closed at the back, but not at the front would have left him greatly exposed.

Alternative theories also suggested that as the hoses that men wore was so tight that the movement was not possible and hence they choose the codpiece which allowed them more movement of freedom.

Hence to cover their manhood, men started to wear a codpiece. Although it emerged as a simple piece of clothing of linen as time emerged they became more decorative and elaborated with padding and bit longer. With this advancement instead of concealing the genitals, the codpiece started to emphasize them.

The codpiece is thought that the item became larger in size due to the spread of syphilis, which meant that a man with the disease would need extra room in his codpiece for his bandages.

It was a functional part of a man’s clothing. It sprung into existence during medieval times and consisted of a triangular piece of cloth that was sewn into a gentleman’s hose to fit around his groin. The cloth would be held in place with simple string ties or buttons. This was the medieval codpiece in its most simple form.

By the time the Tudors and their flair for all things lavish and ostentatious got hold of it, the codpiece had become something else altogether.

What does a Codpiece look like?

Although codpiece meaning is very clear now, we look forward to some of the examples of the codpiece. Here are represented few examples of Elizabethan codpiece.

Codpiece Example
Detailed View of Codpiece

The Tudor Codpiece

Rather than a simple piece of cloth, the Tudors turned their codpieces into fashion statements. They became larger in size, were boned and padded. They grew to such a size that they were able to be used for carrying things inside such as a small weapon, money or even jewels. Which is why today a gentleman’s groin is still called ‘the family jewels’.

Tudor Codpiece
Tudor Codpiece

Despite the codpiece having been around since the Middle Ages, it was during the reign of the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I that the codpiece fell out of fashion.

The codpiece was designed to protect a gentleman’s modesty, as the fashion at the time was for men to wear short doublets and tight hose rather than trousers. These hose while fitting tightly to the legs were totally open at the crotch which meant that without the use of a codpiece a gentleman would be exposing himself wherever he went.

Codpiece as a Status Presentation in Past

Some of the man who was very strong and manly wore these codpieces as a representation of their status. Some of the examples of the man who wore codpieces that were large or lavish are portrayed by some famous painters. Few of them are

1. The 1540 Armour of Henry VIII

In many of the portraits that we see of Henry VIII, the codpiece is extremely noticeable, if not prominent. This is for a number of reasons. The larger and more ostentatious the codpiece, which not really a representation of how well the man had been endowed but more a representation of his status.

The armor of Henry VIII in 1540

As a king, of course, Henry’s would have to be bigger and better than that of anyone else to represent his position as monarch. Not only was the size exaggerated they were often studded with jeweled pins. It was during the reign of Henry VIII that the codpiece reached its peak of popularity.

Today none of the fabric of Henry’s codpiece exists, but his 1540 codpiece armor suit that is still displayed at the Tower of London depicts a huge codpiece in heavy metal. Its size suggests that Holbein was not at all exaggerating about the codpiece.

2. Giovanni Battista Morini represented the younger portrait of Antonio Navagero in 1565.

This is a Victorian portrait of the man of affairs. Here Navagero is standing in the pose like he is busy in his business holding letter in his hands while leaning on his desk. His clothing has fur lining that represents him of being wealthy. His portrait has a flaunting codpiece that is realistic red colored which highlights his manhood

Portrait of Antonio Navagero

3. Hans Holbien Representing the Whitehall Cartoon in 1536

Holbien portrayed the monster man Henry VIII in its life-size design of the Tudor dynasty. Here he has shown his head of tree stump and broad chest but the main attraction of this image being the marvelous codpiece that depicts the sexual and power process.

King Henry VIII by Hans Holbien

Different Codpiece Cultures

A lot many codpieces are seen in a heavy metal bands as well as in the subculture of leather.

Leather Codpiece -In the leather codpiece subculture attire, similar to codpiece a leather piece is worn to hide male genitals. A jockstrap, a type of undergarment used mostly n sporting activities is worn as protection that looks a lot like a codpiece.

It featured the men’s genital area with the help of decorative accessories like metallic studs rather than featuring them with the size of the genital area of the person wearing it.

Heavy Metal Codpiece Fashion– From the leather type, many started to develop heavy metal fashion inspired by the leather subculture and gay bikers. This fashion became too popular among the musicians and the bands performing.

The trend began when Rob Halford of the Judas Priest band started wearing the clothing that promoted the gay bikers and the subculture of leather during the promotion of his album the Killing Machine in 1978. King Diamond the singer of Heavy metal is also known to wear the same type of clothes as his outfit for performances.

Oderus Urungus, the frontman of the GWAR, an American band wearing heavy metal costumes wore the costume called as “The Cuttlefish of Cthulhu” codpiece that is inspired from the fish called cuttlefish that looks like an enormous genital of the alien shape

 Cameo Codpiece – In the 1980s, Codpieces were worn by Tom Jones in his concert. The lead singer, Larry Blackman of the music group called Cameo wore a red large codpiece attractive to all in all his concerts performance. Jethro Tull, the frontman who performed in the Ian Anderson band also wore a similar type of clothing during his performance in the mid of 1970s. Now this Cameo codpiece has then become a trademark.

Modern Codpieces

Although the original codpiece has disappeared from near about 500 years, it has not totally fallen out. As for modern examples, the codpiece is shown in the Star War movies on the armor of  Storm Troopers and the Darth Vadar. Other than this David Bowie wore a codpiece in the film ”  The Labyrinth” as well as Malcolm McDowell in the movie “A Clockwork Orange”.

Clockwork Orange Codpiece
The Clockwork Orange Game

A Clockwork Orange movie became too popular and iconic because of its well-known A Clockwork Orange Codpiece. The main character of the movie includes Alex was a part of the street thug gang known as droogs. These thugs dress very unusually. The most attractive part of their attire is the codpiece which is shown as above.

 Even today men’s codpiece is in trend and men wear them as fashion in many Renaissance fairs.

Modern Codpiece

Codpiece for Sale

While the fashions changed over the years the codpiece retained its practical uses as well as being an indicator of social status. Codpieces were used just as we would use a pocket today, though rather than the hands being placed in there it was a safe place for keeping money and valuables.

Even Today codpiece man wore in past as well as that are reinvented for the modern generation as their fashion source are put on sale on various websites and people pay high amount to the old and big codpieces for the collection in their vintage items as well as modern-day codpieces for just status. Few of the examples are as below.

  • Riveted Codpiece ($75)

    Riveted Codpiece
  • Codpiece Leather Shorts ($ 65)

    Codpiece Leather Shorts
  • Silver Pendant Codpiece($76)

    Silver Pendant Codpiece
  • Historic Codpiece( $208)

    Historic Codpiece
  • Classic Interchangeable codpiece( $ 175)

    Interchangeable Codpiece
Found info useful?