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Dress in the Middle Ages
This absorbing survey of medieval clothing makes an important and unique contribution to our understanding of the cultural and social conditions of western Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Drawing on paintings and sculpture, documents and literature, surviving clothing, textiles, jewelry, and armor, Françoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane show that garments and accessories of the middle ages reveal much about life and society of the time.
The authors examine the sources for what clothes were made of, why, and from where the materials came. They provide a chronology of changes in western European dress during the period, investigating the development and spread of "fashion." They explore the differences between the clothing of men and women, explaining that changes in fashion for women were less spectacular than those for men because of the secondary position of women in medieval society. The authors also discuss the changing significance of clothing to people as they progressed through life, how clothing related to status, the varied work attire of such professionals as lawyers, academics, and members of religious orders, and the clothing of carnival and disguise.
Elegantly written and attractively presented, the book will be of interest not only to students of medieval history but also to anyone fascinated by clothes and fashion.
The authors examine the sources for what clothes were made of, why, and from where the materials came. They provide a chronology of changes in western European dress during the period, investigating the development and spread of "fashion." They explore the differences between the clothing of men and women, explaining that changes in fashion for women were less spectacular than those for men because of the secondary position of women in medieval society. The authors also discuss the changing significance of clothing to people as they progressed through life, how clothing related to status, the varied work attire of such professionals as lawyers, academics, and members of religious orders, and the clothing of carnival and disguise.
Elegantly written and attractively presented, the book will be of interest not only to students of medieval history but also to anyone fascinated by clothes and fashion.
167 pages, Paperback
Published August 11, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 31, 2019
Great info, but could have been tightened with better editing.
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"Expenditures by queens and princesses on their clothing is in general lower than that of their menfolk..."
"An outfit made for a princess almost always cost less than the equivalent made for a man of equal rank."
"The women are wearing a tunic... Their head is entirely covered with a veil which conceals their hair - a symbol of feminine seductiveness."
"Women rejected dark fur almost unanimously; miniver, ermine, white Russian weasel and even white lamb remained in favor."
"Voluminous headdresses... came into fashion. These developed vertically and gave rise to some amazing creations, some spherical and some cylindrical, or even split into two like horns : they elicited biting sarcasm and censure from moralists and priests."
"Only in the romances of the Knights of the Roundtable was the company of knights a society of equals. In real life fortune did not smile equally on those at court..."
"...Fear of capital leaving the principality was the motive behind measures to curb the import of expensive fabrics... Import control also helped to encourage local industry. This was certainly the aim of the first English sumptuary law, passed in 1337, which prohibited the wearing of fabrics not woven in England."
"Trade regulations for a long time banned belt clasps and buckles made of tin because the metal looked too much like silver... the illusion of luxury was constantly sought after..."
"...The Statutes of Savoy... defines no fewer than 39 categories of people, from the reigning duke to the unmarried daughters of peasants... A limit is set on the length of the duchess' train. Their sons... are forbidden to wear gold until they have been dubbed knights."
"Fifteenth-century chroniclers describe scenes following public sermons in more than one town, during which clothing and other items of dress that have attracted censure are publicly burnt."
"...Wills and testaments, account books and inventories... give the overwhelming impression that most people had only the bare necessities in their wardrobe and were not in a position to be influenced by the fashions worn by their social superiors."
"It seems to have been accepted practice to undress before going to bed and to sleep with nothing on. "
"Medicinal baths could also be prepared at home by adding infusions of plants and other substances prepared by an apothecary to the hot water... Bathing was nevertheless seldom undertaken at home... except perhaps in the homes of clerics, who would possess a bath because of the ill-repute surrounding public bath houses..."
"Bathing establishments were common in towns, amd the authorities would try to ensure that men and women did not use them together... Well-cooked meals with plentiful wine were often served to people in the bath tub itself."
"To demonstrate her renunciation of any claim on her husband's inheritance, a widow would remove her belt and place it on the deceased man's grave."
"...Bandages and bonnets continued the cranial manipulation begun by the midwife to elongate the head... when the child was learning to walk, a padded roll (bourrelet) would be tied on its head to protect it."
"Entry into the active life and the legal age of majority coincided with the start of adolescence; this was also when the age of seduction began, when the young unmarried man would avail himself of all the finery he could lay his hands on... Late medieval miniatures attribute to this stage of life the most fashionable clothing and the brightest colors, with a preference for green, the color of spring."
"From the Carolingian period onward, the Church and theologians had to struggle to get new-born babies baptised... The infant's real parents would be absent; according to some accounts, the father refrained from attending and the mother was still resting after her confinement."
"Marriage, at first simply a civil contract, was progressively taken over by the Church until it was promoted to become a sacrament..."
"Public records from the 13th century onwards reveal that wedding clothes form part of the property that a father has to provide for his daughters."
"The bride wore no special outfit... in some Mediterranean areas there was a predilection for red. In inventories for women's clothing farther north... it can be deduced that young village women wore a blue wedding dress, often accompanied by a red chaperon..."
"In the 14th century the people accompanying a funeral cortege were often dressed in bright colors... The use of black in the 15th century appears to have been a reflection of fashions in clothing rather than of any idea of mourning or sadness..."
"The [Jewish] custom of keeping the head covered during prayer or at home is not Biblical in origin; men did not always observe it, but women were strictly obliged to veil their heads in all circumstances."
"Pilgrimages, short and long, were often imposed as penance to expiate a grave misdemeanor... as time went by became a pretext for travel for pleasure.... two characteristic accessories accompanied the pilgrim : a long staff and a bag for bread."
"...Coats of arms may have been devalued as a consequence of their success. They were no longer the sole province of aristocratic warrior class, and increasing numbers of townsfolk and artisans were using them by the end of the Middle Ages."
"In dynastic battles, 'devices' took on political significance, as happened with the white rose of the House of York and the red rose of the House of Lancaster, which earned the name of the War of the Roses for the struggle for the throne of England."
"Lepers were forced to leave their families and and employment and to join a group of fellow-sufferers. ...Attempts were made to dress lepers in a cape... "
"...Jews and Saracens in their provinces wore a distinctive mark on their clothing to differentiate them from Christians. The ostensible reason was the prevention of marriage between Christians and non-Christians... This suggests that in most communities traditional dress had been abandoned and the religious minorities integrated into the Christian environment... Henry II ordered the wearing of 2 long bands of white fabric or parchment on the chest, to represent the Tables of the Law. In 1415 a papal bull ruled that Jewish women should wear the identifying circle on their forehead."
"The striped cloak worn by prostitutes in Marseilles, the striped hood worn in England, the white hood of Toulouse, the black and white pointed hat of Strasbourg were increasingly replaced by bands of fabric stitched to the sleeve... then by tassels worn on the arm. The prescribed colors were the same as the colors of the circles worn by Jews..."
"...'Black moors' or 'white moors', in the terminology of the day, were the African slaves frequently to be found in countries bordering the Mediterranean.... Rene d'Anjou liked clothing his moors in colors that stood out... During the jousts... they were dressed in Turkish style - long caftans with red and white damask turbans, and each with a lion on the lead."
"...Dwarfs and the deformed gradually adopted the role of the fool, quite late and particularly in court circles. The specific costume feature of the fool was his hood... a long-pointed hat with a bell on the end... The primitive emblem of the fool was a club, bladder or a whip. Female fools cropped up occasionally in the courts of the late Middle Ages..."
"As the Middle Ages drew to a close, a darker side of religious fervor appeared in processions in the forms of 'penitents' or 'flagellants'. These men belonged to religious associations or brotherhoods and wore clothes similar to monastic habits but hid their faces under conical cowls. Some of them whipped themselves as they processed, or displayed the wounds they had inflicted upon themselves through openings on the backs of their tunics."
"The moral code of the chivalrous class considered largesse a cardinal virtue, and encouraged its members to set themselves apart from the rest of the populace by the brilliance of their appearance."
.
--------------------------------------
"Expenditures by queens and princesses on their clothing is in general lower than that of their menfolk..."
"An outfit made for a princess almost always cost less than the equivalent made for a man of equal rank."
"The women are wearing a tunic... Their head is entirely covered with a veil which conceals their hair - a symbol of feminine seductiveness."
"Women rejected dark fur almost unanimously; miniver, ermine, white Russian weasel and even white lamb remained in favor."
"Voluminous headdresses... came into fashion. These developed vertically and gave rise to some amazing creations, some spherical and some cylindrical, or even split into two like horns : they elicited biting sarcasm and censure from moralists and priests."
"Only in the romances of the Knights of the Roundtable was the company of knights a society of equals. In real life fortune did not smile equally on those at court..."
"...Fear of capital leaving the principality was the motive behind measures to curb the import of expensive fabrics... Import control also helped to encourage local industry. This was certainly the aim of the first English sumptuary law, passed in 1337, which prohibited the wearing of fabrics not woven in England."
"Trade regulations for a long time banned belt clasps and buckles made of tin because the metal looked too much like silver... the illusion of luxury was constantly sought after..."
"...The Statutes of Savoy... defines no fewer than 39 categories of people, from the reigning duke to the unmarried daughters of peasants... A limit is set on the length of the duchess' train. Their sons... are forbidden to wear gold until they have been dubbed knights."
"Fifteenth-century chroniclers describe scenes following public sermons in more than one town, during which clothing and other items of dress that have attracted censure are publicly burnt."
"...Wills and testaments, account books and inventories... give the overwhelming impression that most people had only the bare necessities in their wardrobe and were not in a position to be influenced by the fashions worn by their social superiors."
"It seems to have been accepted practice to undress before going to bed and to sleep with nothing on. "
"Medicinal baths could also be prepared at home by adding infusions of plants and other substances prepared by an apothecary to the hot water... Bathing was nevertheless seldom undertaken at home... except perhaps in the homes of clerics, who would possess a bath because of the ill-repute surrounding public bath houses..."
"Bathing establishments were common in towns, amd the authorities would try to ensure that men and women did not use them together... Well-cooked meals with plentiful wine were often served to people in the bath tub itself."
"To demonstrate her renunciation of any claim on her husband's inheritance, a widow would remove her belt and place it on the deceased man's grave."
"...Bandages and bonnets continued the cranial manipulation begun by the midwife to elongate the head... when the child was learning to walk, a padded roll (bourrelet) would be tied on its head to protect it."
"Entry into the active life and the legal age of majority coincided with the start of adolescence; this was also when the age of seduction began, when the young unmarried man would avail himself of all the finery he could lay his hands on... Late medieval miniatures attribute to this stage of life the most fashionable clothing and the brightest colors, with a preference for green, the color of spring."
"From the Carolingian period onward, the Church and theologians had to struggle to get new-born babies baptised... The infant's real parents would be absent; according to some accounts, the father refrained from attending and the mother was still resting after her confinement."
"Marriage, at first simply a civil contract, was progressively taken over by the Church until it was promoted to become a sacrament..."
"Public records from the 13th century onwards reveal that wedding clothes form part of the property that a father has to provide for his daughters."
"The bride wore no special outfit... in some Mediterranean areas there was a predilection for red. In inventories for women's clothing farther north... it can be deduced that young village women wore a blue wedding dress, often accompanied by a red chaperon..."
"In the 14th century the people accompanying a funeral cortege were often dressed in bright colors... The use of black in the 15th century appears to have been a reflection of fashions in clothing rather than of any idea of mourning or sadness..."
"The [Jewish] custom of keeping the head covered during prayer or at home is not Biblical in origin; men did not always observe it, but women were strictly obliged to veil their heads in all circumstances."
"Pilgrimages, short and long, were often imposed as penance to expiate a grave misdemeanor... as time went by became a pretext for travel for pleasure.... two characteristic accessories accompanied the pilgrim : a long staff and a bag for bread."
"...Coats of arms may have been devalued as a consequence of their success. They were no longer the sole province of aristocratic warrior class, and increasing numbers of townsfolk and artisans were using them by the end of the Middle Ages."
"In dynastic battles, 'devices' took on political significance, as happened with the white rose of the House of York and the red rose of the House of Lancaster, which earned the name of the War of the Roses for the struggle for the throne of England."
"Lepers were forced to leave their families and and employment and to join a group of fellow-sufferers. ...Attempts were made to dress lepers in a cape... "
"...Jews and Saracens in their provinces wore a distinctive mark on their clothing to differentiate them from Christians. The ostensible reason was the prevention of marriage between Christians and non-Christians... This suggests that in most communities traditional dress had been abandoned and the religious minorities integrated into the Christian environment... Henry II ordered the wearing of 2 long bands of white fabric or parchment on the chest, to represent the Tables of the Law. In 1415 a papal bull ruled that Jewish women should wear the identifying circle on their forehead."
"The striped cloak worn by prostitutes in Marseilles, the striped hood worn in England, the white hood of Toulouse, the black and white pointed hat of Strasbourg were increasingly replaced by bands of fabric stitched to the sleeve... then by tassels worn on the arm. The prescribed colors were the same as the colors of the circles worn by Jews..."
"...'Black moors' or 'white moors', in the terminology of the day, were the African slaves frequently to be found in countries bordering the Mediterranean.... Rene d'Anjou liked clothing his moors in colors that stood out... During the jousts... they were dressed in Turkish style - long caftans with red and white damask turbans, and each with a lion on the lead."
"...Dwarfs and the deformed gradually adopted the role of the fool, quite late and particularly in court circles. The specific costume feature of the fool was his hood... a long-pointed hat with a bell on the end... The primitive emblem of the fool was a club, bladder or a whip. Female fools cropped up occasionally in the courts of the late Middle Ages..."
"As the Middle Ages drew to a close, a darker side of religious fervor appeared in processions in the forms of 'penitents' or 'flagellants'. These men belonged to religious associations or brotherhoods and wore clothes similar to monastic habits but hid their faces under conical cowls. Some of them whipped themselves as they processed, or displayed the wounds they had inflicted upon themselves through openings on the backs of their tunics."
"The moral code of the chivalrous class considered largesse a cardinal virtue, and encouraged its members to set themselves apart from the rest of the populace by the brilliance of their appearance."
.
November 7, 2012
Would it really have busted the publisher’s budget to print at least some of the primary source pictures in color? The book makes a huge deal about the importance of primary sources (hurrah!) but seeing all the illustrations and paintings as grainy black and white photocopies takes away a lot of their impact as a window into the past.
That said, the text is awesome – well documented, thoughtful, and exacting in detail, examining clothes in the Middle Ages from every angle – material, construction, obtaining, station, class, position, age, gender, job, and body part.
A fountain of information packed into one slim volume.
June 1, 2010
Excellent compact book that describes all aspects of fabric and dress in the middle ages. Full descriptions of what each class wore and why. Including information how how fabrics were made domestically and how exotic fabrics were imported into Western Europe. Discusses fashions trends and their roots. Simple explanation of sumputary laws and their various reasons for occuring.
Overall the book is easy to read and well-divided. Each section can be read independently, but still reads well as a whole. Added bonus for non-academics is the lack of footnotes, which often slows down or confuses readers. Bibliography and Glossary also provided to show where information was obtained and a small glossary to define the most foreign words or terms used in the book.
Overall the book is easy to read and well-divided. Each section can be read independently, but still reads well as a whole. Added bonus for non-academics is the lack of footnotes, which often slows down or confuses readers. Bibliography and Glossary also provided to show where information was obtained and a small glossary to define the most foreign words or terms used in the book.
March 26, 2022
Excellent for writers. I found it very helpful for a project I'm doing..
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews