Medieval costumes

1th to 13 the centuries

Factors influencing costumes
Political social and economic events can have
both direct and indirect influence on the
clothing style
The availability of raw materials from which
garments have to be made,the social stage
on which they have to be worn,and even the
practical needs they must satisfy each play a
part in their development
Crusades
Crusaders
By end of 13th century many products and
processes were imported to Europe
The crusaders learned the technique of
textile printing from the Muslims who in turn
learned from Coptic people of Egypt .
They brought back foods, spices, drugs works
of art and fabrics
New fabrics like muslin, silk damask, dimity
were brought in as well as cotton fiber.
Many crusaders stopped in byzantine which
explains the byzantine influence
Medivial castles and
courts
The courts of feudal lords were poorly
ventilated
Woolen garments were desirable in winter to
combat cold, but also in summer when it was
damp and chilly
Young knights also used to reside in the
castles of lord to learn manners and customs
of the upper class
These courts always had
artists,poets,troubadours and wandering
singers and musicians
Town life
After the fall of Rome and the subsequent
revival of economy merchants residing in
towns started dressing like nobility
This was disapproved by the clergy saying
Early indications of
fashion changes
In 11th and 12th centuries a large number of
people accepted styles for a short period of
time before a new style predominated
i.e they participated in the social phenomenon
called fashion
The romantic literary works gives evidence that
people strived for fashionable appearance
From documentary evidence it is clear that
tailors required special training to constrict
complicated styles
References were made of clothing cut in the
French manner.
This could have been the earliest
acknowledgement of France as a style leader.
New fabrics appeared- Velvet appeared for the
first time in 1200s
 Fabric production
By 1300 men did the weaving and women did Wool grown in England was considered
the fiber preparation and spinning .Dyeing and special . Lot of wool was exported to
fulling (compacting the wool by pounding) were Flanders, where skilled weavers made it into
specialized trades practiced outside home. high quality cloth.
Since 10th century water-powered mills
provided the power of fulling wool Flax that was used to make linen was grown
all over Europe and used for household
Horizontal loom replaced vertical loom textile and clothing
Hand spinning was supplanted by spinning By mid 1200 silk production was a major
wheel in the 13th century.
industry in Italy, Sicily and Spain
This machine came to India by way of muslim
spain Cotton originally from India was iintroduced
to spain
By 11th century trade guilds were established by
merchants
By 12th century craftsmen had begun to form
their own guilds
Young men could become trained only by
becoming an apprentice in one of the guilds
Textile trade guild members were able to
employ their wives and daughters for spinning
and weaving
Sources of evidence
about costume
Art
Christian art depicting Christ, Mary angels
and saints in the stereotypical garments had
been depicted in the art of early centuries
Manuscripts had calendars showing ordinary
people showing works of various seasons
After 13th century more manuscripts were
produced in urban workshops and not in
monasteries
Some of them had secular themes
So these become source of visual evidence
for 12th and 13th century costume
Romanesque architecture of the 10th and
11th centuries utilized the work of sculptors
as an important element of decoration. After
the 1150s Romanesque architecture was
suspended by the gothic style were
predominated until the end of 1400s