Parti-coloured

Parti-coloured clothing is clothing that is made up of fabric of two or more different colours, usually contrasting.

The colours could be neatly divided down the middle of the body with the left-hand side of the clothing being one colour and the right-hand being the other colour (cf. per pale counterchanged in heraldry). Often the colours of the hose are a mirror image of the rest of the clothing.

More commonly the term parti-coloured is used to describe a more haphazard combination of colour. Good examples can be found in the dress of the landsknechts. The origin of this method of construction may be the soldiers finding a need to quickly repair clothing during wars. Spare fabric would be scarce so anything that was available was used. This resulted in a mix of colour and fabrics.

Both forms of this style are also associated with the dress of jesters.