pigache

Noun

pigache (plural pigaches)

1. (historical) A shoe with a long pointed toe worn in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries.
   • pigaches—fashionable 11th- and 12th-century shoes with long, upturned, pointed toes...2009, Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Linda Gale Jones, Handbook to Life in the Medieval World, 3-Volume Set, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 870
   • He sat on a cushioned bench and slipped his feet into a pair of gaudy but fashionable pigaches. The long, upturned, pointed shoes were of a matching set with the bliaut.2013, T. H. Lain, The Death Ray, Wizards of the Coast, →ISBN
2. (historical, inexact) Synonym of poulaine (“any style of long-toed medieval shoe”).
   • His new appearance extended down to his pigache boots—with toes pointed too long for common sense. Tristan, being a genial sort who had long ago learned the benefits ofkeeping his honest thoughts to himself, merely nodded.2010 September 14, Nina Ansley, The Plague of Provence, →ISBN, page 294
   • As if not to be outdone by the fair sex, as ladies headwear ranged ever higher, so too men's footwear became ever longer... by 1450 the shoes were known as pikes or pigaches after a kind of pail with a long handle.2016, Karen Bowman, Corsets and Codpieces..., Simon & Schuster, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   poulaine

3. (historical) An elongated pointed sleeve in some medieval gowns.
   • A pointed sleeve, called pigache, as the pointed shoes of the twelfth century had been, was worn by ladies towards the end of his reign.2003, James Robinson Planché, “An Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Costume...”, in Courier Corporation, →ISBN, page 465