Story of Medieval Clothing

Would you rather wear tattered rags or regalia made of silk? In the Middle Ages you had no choice. Clothing in the middle ages was rough and scratchy, but in some cases was smooth and finely sewn, (depending on how wealthy you were).

The Barbaric Period - A Pyramidal Society
Fear controlled people’s lives and induced them to ask for protection from powerful warriors who had constructed well-defended castles, or from monasteries, which did not have soldiers but did have thick walls to hide behind. Life was hard, and , people thought little of clothing. Most Europeans were dressed like today’s Benedictine monks, except for men’s trousers. Shoes were leather wrapped around the foot. Colors were plain; they were shades of gray, brown, dark blue and red. Conical hats were commonly worn. In the middle were feudal lords, clerics, and others, such as vassals.

Tailoring
In the Middle Ages, for the wealthy, most clothes were created by tailors. Some fabrics tailors used were : Burnet, perse, lincoln scarlet, kersey, russet, chalons, damask, and sandal. (Most of the population, however, made their clothing themselves).

Clothing
Often, kings and queens would wear crowns and brightly colored silks. Shoemakers and their spouses often wore borealis hats. The clothes they wore with that were woolen coats with fur-trimmed sleeves. Holy orders, such as friars, wore cloaks with hoods and habits. On their clothes was a rope belt with wooden beads for counting prayers. Felt hats with stirrups and brown jackets were the daily wear of manor lords.