History of Medieval clothing
Like, in every era, medieval era also prepared grounds for many fashion trends and many novel and chic styles of dressing had come into being during the Middle Ages. The medieval clothing was all about durability. This means that the material used for the clothing was made of strong stuff like wool and leather.
Renaissance was a period of change. However, there was infusion of both; innovation and practicality in the medieval clothing. But as seen in every era, the upper class was the mastermind of these fashion trends. Instead of loosely fitted and dull, drab clothes the women began to wear clothing of silk and lamas. The men began to wear jackets. The man’s wealth was known by the kind and amount of jewels his wife wore. Diamonds were also introduced in that era. This shows that the elite class was quite ostentatious. The skirts and gloves of women were made of pure silk and the rest of the clothing was heavily embroidered. The women undergarments were made of silk while those of men were made of linen, which at that time was considered quite expensive. While the medieval men used to wear leather jackets and silk shirt. In short, the clothing of the medieval aristocrats was representative of their extravagance.
The medieval religious people such as the priests and monks, to show their moderation, used to wrap themselves in lose clothing. Also, their clothes were usually made of wool and ropes. They only kept two or three robes safe especially for occasions like Christmas and Ester.
The medieval middle class could also afford to wear velvet and ermine because the middle class had started to make a niche for themselves and they started to emerge as successful business men. Furthermore King Edward III introduced certain laws on the basis of which it was made clear that the royalties shouldn’t be the only won to wear expensive clothing. Because of these laws, some balance was regained but still the lower class was left unprivileged of these luxuries and new and elegant medieval clothing.
These trends became famous when the soldiers came back from wars and crusades and brought with them different pieces of cloth. They were then exported from those cities. At first the tailors were brought from those places to sew clothing but then later there own seamstresses began to stitch elegant clothing.
But the medieval peasants couldn’t bring reform in their clothing. Their dull, drab and grey loosely fitted clothing remained the same. They used to wear a long kind of a dress which was made of wool. They could only make two or three classes per year that’s why it had to be made of some strong material. And they couldn’t afford to make something of silk or lamas. But they were only able to wear something different when they were given the used clothes of the elite class.
Some ideas of medieval clothing have also been taken into the modern clothing. For example, now day’s fitted blouses with laces, which gained a lot of popularity in those days, are back and worn with jeans or lose pants. That’s why the clothing of medieval era is considered to be the foundation of the modern clothing.
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