Medieval Clothing By: Bryan Brick

Royalty The royals clothes were made of fine silk imported from China and India. The clothing was very brightly colored and often containing the color purple, because it is a royalty only color. The royal family wore crowns on their heads to signify they were part of the royal family. Royalty wore long cloaks and tunics that went to the ground. Elderly nobles were aloud to as well, but peasants were not.

Nobles The nobles’ wardrobe consisted of elaborate imported fabric. Most fabric was imported from China and India. Nobles wore well-fitted clothing, and were much more colorful than the peasants clothing, showing they were distinguished and wealthy. The clothing is more tightly and finely woven than the peasants. Noblemen wore leggings, or tights, to keep warm and formfitting coats that were slashed to show off the fabric of the undershirt. Popular colors for a nobleman to wear were dark blues, maroons, deep gold, and orange. Elderly nobles would wear longer tunics, as opposed to the knee length tunics the younger people would wear. Men and women both wore shoes.

Peasants The lower class, or peasants, clothing was made of homespun wool and was very plain and had little color. Peasants wore ill-fitted handed down clothes. Even though peasants were not aloud to wear certain colors, most of them did not because the dye was to expensive and had limited supplies to make different colors. Clothing to peasants was very important because they made all of their own clothing and it was difficult to make. A peasants clothes were very hot and itchy, but the undergarments were softer and made of linen to keep the wool from rubbing the skin raw. Even elderly peasants were not allowed to wear longer tunics because it was a privilege given to elderly nobles and royalty only. Peasants did not normally have shoes because they were very difficult to make and cost to much money. *Fun Fact* The peasants did not was their outer garments, they only washed the undergarments. They did not smell because of the time spent by open fires, so the smoke acted like natures deodorant.

Sumptuary Laws A concept of clothing in the medieval times was sumptuary laws, which were laws which dictated the clothing you could wear according to you social class. The clothing you wore would effect the overall treatment you would receive by others and was an indicator of your social rank. There were certain colors and fabrics that only people of a certain social classes could wear. You could be fined or even imprisoned for breaking sumptuary laws.

Pictures of clothing

Sources http://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/medieval-clothing.html http://www.crusades4you.com/Medieval_Clothing.html Singman, Jeffery L. Daily Life in Medieval Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1999. Hartley, Dorothy. Medieval Costume And How to Recreate It. London: B.T. Batsford, Ltd., 1931.