Renaissance Clothing

Peasant Renaissance Clothing for Men, Flanders, 1500s

2011-02-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

This post describes Renaissance clothing for peasants during the 1500s in Flanders. The clothing descriptions are drawn from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting, The Wedding Dance.

In general, key components of peasant costumes for men during this time in Flanders are:

Clean shaven, bowl hair-cut
Shirt – long, white undershirt, worn next to skin
Doublet – worn over shirt, tight across upper body from neck to waist, sleeves are wrist-length and loose with a closer-fitting cuff around the wrist
Jerkin – optional wear, over the doublet, pleated at waist, knee-length, mutton-sleeves
Hose – snug, two legs sewn together, covering the feet, held up by tying to the bottom of the doublet, front opening covered by codpiece
Codpiece – tied across front opening in the hose
Shoes – loose cloth coverings, tied on top, worn over hose

Example of Flemish Peasant Renaissance Clothing for Men, 1500s.

Colors of Peasant Clothing
The peasants in Bruegel’s painting are wearing brightly colored, festive clothing. Generally, brightly colored clothing is associated only with wealthy persons during the Renaissance period. However, Amy Greenfield, in her book A Perfect Red, notes that “More prosperous peasants, craftsmen, and other middling folk dressed in muted clothing colored with cheap, domestic dyes. Although such dyes could sometimes yield strong blues, yellows, oranges, and greens, the fabrics tended to fade quickly, especially if the wearer worked outdoors.”(1)

Also, some artistic license may be at work here. Greenfield continues, “Peasants sometimes appear brightly dressed in medieval and Renaissance works of art . . . This is less a reflection of peasant wardrobes than of the fact that wealthy patrons could afford precious pigments and expected their artists to use them. Although some people in the lower ranks may have worn colorful clothes from time to time, particularly for special occasions, most of the vivid hues commonly worn by the wealthy were beyond their reach.”(1) Since this is a wedding dance, the clothing worn may be more colorful than normal, everyday wear.

Hats for Peasants
The above peasant is wearing a brown hat with a brim. The crown of the hat is shaped like an upside-down bowl. It appears to be made with cloth, like linen or wool. Possibly it is felted wool.(2) It does not appear to be straw. The hatband consists of a simple, white cord or string tied around the base of the crown. All of the men in the picture are wearing hats; if not this style then another.

Various Renaissance hats for peasants, from The Wedding Dance, 1566 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.(3) The two men on the right are musicians.

Hair and Beard Styles for Peasants
None of the men in the painting have mustaches or beards. Clean shaven is clearly in style. Hair is worn short, in a bowl-cut. It reaches to the nape of the neck, covers the top half of the ears and is short in front with bangs coming half-way down the forehead at most.

Shirts for Peasants
Next to the skin is a long, linen undershirt. It is white in color and has a high neckline that is just barely visible above the top of the doublet. The shirt is also visible between the doublet ties across the chest, and around the waist between the doublet and hose. It is at least mid-thigh length; long enough to go past the groin.

Doublets for Peasants
Over the shirt is worn a doublet. It is form-fitting across the upper body and goes from the neck to the waist. The sleeves of the doublet are likely wrist-length and of medium tightness. The doublet is secured across the front of the chest with ties. It consists of two or more layers of material, wool or linen. Possibly made with sheepskin.(4) Colors are red, pinkish-red, blue and brown. Not all peasants are wearing the same style. Some of the doublets are seamless across the front.

Examples of doublets from The Wedding Dance, 1566 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.(3)

Jerkins for Peasants
The jerkin is worn over the doublet. It is pleated at the waist, roughly knee-length, sometimes with a red inner lining. Jerkins are not worn by all the men in the painting. Perhaps this was a matter of choice, with those people who were hot taking off their jerkins. Possibly wool, the waist is set at belly button and small of back level. Probably, since these are peasants, the inner lining is dyed with madder plant dye, rather than the more expensive cochineal insect dye. Though “Deep, rich reds were also popular among peasants and small farmers . . . both legal strictures and the prohibitive cost ensured that they rarely had a chance to wear them. At best, peasants could afford only the cheaper orange-red and russet dyes.”(1) Outer layer of the jerkin is brown, black, pinkish-red and grey. On some jerkins it looks like the inner layer is separate from the outer layer. The ‘mutton-sleeves’ are wide around the upper arm and tighter around the lower arm.

Hose for Peasants
Snug hose cover both legs from toe to hip or waist.. Made with wool or linen.(5) Colors of hose included tan, brown, white, red, blue and dark brown. The hose legs are sewn together over the buttocks with a gap left along front. The gap in front allowed the hose to be pulled on over hips. Hose was tied to bottom of doublet through eyelets in order to keep it from falling down. In fact, one of the purposes of doublets was to keep up the hose.(6) A back view of one peasant shows a seam going up the back of each leg.

Codpiece
The codpiece was a pouch of fabric used to cover the genitals and was tied over the gap in the front of the hose. It was made with the same material as the hose. Its primary purpose was for modesty. However, padded and stylized, codpieces “. . . became a way to advertise one’s masculinity. . . Some [fashionable men] even used them as a sort of pocket, hiding small weapons or valuables there.”(7)

Shoes for Peasants
The shoes appear to be made with cloth. Probably linen and wool. They are tied across the top and gather loosely around the lower ankle. Nothing too complex. No arch support in these!

Examples of Renaissance shoes for men from The Wedding Dance, 1566 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.(3)

The Wedding Dance painted in 1566 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. [Public Domain] via Wikimedia.(3)

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a talented painter of the Northern Renaissance. His paintings feature peasants and middle-class people during the late 1500s in Flanders. Flanders was a region in Northern Europe that included parts of what is today north France and Belgium and south Netherlands.(8)

Location of Flanders in 1500s.(9)

Sources

1. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005), 27.
2. Joan Nunn, Fashion in Costume 1200 – 1980 (Lanham, MD: New Amsterdam Books, 1998), 50.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder
4. Francois Boucher, 20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1966), 246.
5. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Fashion, Costume, and Culture, vol. 2 Early Cultures Across the Globe ed. Sarah Hermsen (New York: The Gale Group, 2004), 304.
6. Valerie Steele, Ed.-in-chief Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion vol. 1 (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005), 374.
7. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Fashion, Costume, and Culture, vol. 3 European Culture from the Renaissance to the Modern Era ed. Sarah Hermsen (New York: The Gale Group, 2004), 474.
8. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., “Flanders,” 31 December 2010 [on-line article]; available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanders; internet; accessed 18 January 2011.
9. Adapted from map of Europe by Google, 2011 [on-line map]; available from google.com; internet; accessed 12 February 2011.

Thank you for reading my blog about Renaissance peasant clothing for men!

Using Bruegel Paintings to Research Renaissance Period Clothing

2011-02-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

This post is about the Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525/1530 – 1569) and why his paintings are useful for researching Renaissance clothing. In summary:

Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted lower and middle class people, while many of his contemporaries focused on the wealthy and upper class people.
Bruegel painted accurate, detailed scenes of people going about everyday activities.
Bruegel painted people, even historical figures, dressed in the clothing of the 1500s.

The Peasant Wedding painted in 1568 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. [Public domain], via Wikimedia.(1)

Location of Flanders in 1500s.(3)

Flanders was a major economic center of Europe and many trade goods passed through the region. It was the equal, in power and wealth, of the Italian city-states. As observed in The World of Bruegel, “The creation of a great age in art . . . seems to require vast supplies of manpower and money. The Flemish cities, through their flourishing trade, had accumulated enough of both to nourish a brilliant artist flowering.”(4) This wealth resulted in a Northern Renaissance separate from the Italian Renaissance, though occurring during the same time period.

In the 1400s, Northern painters were being commissioned by Italians to paint portraits and pictures. By the time Pieter Bruegel the Elder came along in the 1500s, foreign painters were being lured to Flanders in a manner similar to the visits foreign painters paid to Italy. One thing that foreign artists sought in Flanders was the technique of vibrant colour where “Depth was suggested not by a geometrical calculation of perspective (an Italian trick), but by the gradation of hues, achieved by the painstaking application of multiple layers of paint and gloss.”(5)

Northern Renaissance art was distinctly different from the art of the Italian Renaissance. While artists of the Italian Renaissance strove to portray the ideal human, Northern painters portrayed humanity in its rougher and less perfectly beautiful terms: “. . . the Northern masters painted as they did . . . from the insight that perceives that truth can sometimes be better conveyed by a pale, awkward figure than by a gloriously graceful one.”(6)

In many of his pictures, Pieter Bruegel the Elder portrays these grittier and more realistic details of life. This is one of the reasons why his artwork is so useful to the researcher of Renaissance period clothing. In addition, Bruegel focused on peasants and middle-class people, providing valuable details of their clothing. Reportedly, Bruegel “often attended village festivities and took pleasure “in observing the behavior of the peasants in eating, drinking, dancing, frolicking about, wooing and other droll carryings-on . . .”(7) His focus was unusual because most painters of his time, and certainly, most Italian painters focused instead on their wealthy patrons and the nobility in all their glorious and colorful fabrics. Bruegel did travel to Italy for a couple of years around 1552.(8)

Bruegel’s paintings, even paintings of Biblical scenes, were placed in his century in Flanders. This is not unusual for his time and place. As Foote notes, “That it seemed logical to Bruegel to dress Biblical characters in contemporary costumes reveals a 16th Century attitude toward the past that is not easily shared today. Unlike 20th Century man, Bruegel’s countrymen were not separated from preceding ages by an abyss of feeling or an acute awareness of intervening technological growth. For them, the past was a time, not very different from the present, when the common folk must have lived much as they were living in the 16th Century. They had only a vague knowledge of geography and a murky notion of whatever centuries-long changes in costume and custom had taken place.”(9)

Also, key to interpreting Northern Renaissance paintings for clothing details is the observation that “. . . Northern painters were growing more and more worldly in their ways of handling the Bible. In the first place, the Flemish fondness for realistic detail was being emphasized more and more, to the point where Biblical incidents were often subordinated to general scenes of everyday affairs. This was particularly true of Bruegel . . .”(10)

Below are more pictures by Bruegel:

The Peasant Dance painted in 1568 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. [Public domain], via Wikimedia.(1)

The Peasant and the Birdnester painted in 1568 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. [Public domain], via Wikimedia.(1)

The Land of Cockaigne painted in 1567 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. [Public domain], via Wikimedia.(ref)

Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder
2. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., “Flanders,” 31 December 2010 [on-line article]; available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanders; internet; accessed 18 January 2011.
3. Adapted from map of Europe by Google, 2011 [on-line map]; available from google.com; internet; accessed 12 February 2011.
4. Timothy Foote and eds., The World of Bruegel c. 1525 – 1569 (New York: Time-Life Books, 1975), 21.
5. Paul Arblaster, A History of the Low Countries (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 105.
6. Timothy Foote and eds., The World of Bruegel . . ., 18.
7. Herwig Guratzsch, Dutch and Flemish Painting (New York: Vilo, 1981), 116.
8. Herwig Guratzsch, Dutch and Flemish Painting . . ., 261.
9. Timothy Foote and eds., The World of Bruegel . . ., 94-95.
10. Timothy Foote and eds., The World of Bruegel . . ., 95.

Thank you for reading my blog about Renaissance period clothing!

The Meaning of Renaissance and Medieval Clothing Colors

2011-02-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

This post is designed to meet the needs of people looking for the symbolic meanings of Medieval and Renaissance clothing colors. It also describes the colors worn by certain members of society.

The meaning of colors is not a simple and exact body of knowledge. Even during the Renaissance and Medieval periods, the meanings of colors were debated (more about this below the list). So, consider yourself forewarned about the vagaries of color symbolism in clothing. The list below, while not comprehensive, does provide ideas from secondary sources about what different colors represented and how they were used.

Reds - Renaissance
- High social status, royalty, gentlemen, men of justice. (1)
- Worn by judges and similar persons (Scotland, the Holy Roman Empire, England’s Court of Common Pleas, occasionally by peers in English Parliament); royal magistrates, king’s chancellor (France); high government posts (Venice and Florence). (2)
- Cosmopolitan man with access to international trading centers. (3)
- Power and prestige. (4)
- In the Church, red was a symbol of authority, Pentecostal fire, the blood of Christ, martyrdom, crucifixion, Christian charity. Also, could symbolize the satanic and color of hellfire. (5)
- At the universities of Padua and Bologna, red was symbolic of medicine. (6)
Reds - Medieval
- ’A lover wears vermilion, like blood’ (later Middle Ages). (7)
- A sign of otherworldly power in European legends and folktales. Also, protection: red thread to ward off witches, red coral necklaces to guard against illness. (8)
- Sometimes the color of the Virgin Mary’s robes. (5)
- The color of kings, identified with kingly virtues of valor and success in war. Also, fire. (9)
- A rich man. (10)
Oranges - Renaissance
- The peasants and middle ranked persons imitated upper class reds by dyeing their Renaissance clothes with cheaper orange-red and russet dyes. (11)
Oranges - Medieval - nothing currently noted.
Yellows - Renaissance
- In almost all Italian cities, a prostitute was required to wear yellow. (6)
- In Venice, Jews were required to sew a yellow circle onto clothing. (6)
Yellows - Medieval
- In later Middle Ages, a harmonious color expressing the balance between the red of justice and the white of compassion. (12)
- Late 1300s in Venice, a prostitute is known by her yellow dress. (13)
Greens - Renaissance
- Youth, especially in May. (6)
- In the secular sphere, chastity. (14)
- Love and joy. (4)
Greens - Medieval – nothing currently noted.
Blues - Renaissance
- Light blue represented a young marriageable woman. (6)
- In England, blue was the traditional color of servitude. Servants or members of a City company were to wear bright blue or gray Renaissance clothing. (15)
- Indigo or deep blue means chastity in the sacred sphere. (14)
- “. . . turquoise was a sure sign of jealousy . . .” (4)
Blues - Medieval
- In the late Middle Ages, blue replaced royal purple in the mantle of the Virgin Mary and robes and heraldry (especially in France). (16)
- A lover wears blue for fidelity (late Middle Ages). (7)
- By the 1300s, peasants owned blue Medieval clothing due to woad dye being readily available. (17)
- Early Middle Ages, blue was associated with darkness, evil. Later blue was associated with light. (18)
Purples - Renaissance and Medieval
- During the Renaissance, the Medici family in Florence, Italy wore purple. (6)
- Since Antiquity, the color of kings and emperors, but mostly nonexistent in Renaissance and Medieval era due to near extinction of the snail used to make imperial purple. Imperial purple disappeared in 1453. (9)
Browns - Renaissance
- Modest and religious dress. (19)
- Beige was the color of poverty. (20)
- In England, dull browns were worn by lower classes. (15)
Browns - Medieval - nothing currently noted.
Grays - Renaissance
- Modest and religious dress. (17)
- The color of poverty. (20)
- Female slaves in 1400s Florence were constrained to wear course woolens and no bright colors. (21)
- In England, servants or members of a City company were to wear bright blue or gray. Grays for the lower classes. (15)
Grays - Medieval
- Color of peasant clothing (eighth century, by order of Charlemagne). (21)
Blacks - Renaissance
- Seriousness. (22)
- Mourning. (6)
- Color of clothing for nobility and wealthy, representing refinement and distinction. (23)
- Worn by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgandy after 1419 as a symbol to the French that he did not forget the death of his father. “His black is at once dangerous, retributive . . .” (24)
  
  Painting of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy by Rogier van der Weyden, from a dedication page of the Chroniques de Hainault, 1400-1464. [Public domain], via Wikimedia.(25)
- Worn by king’s ministers as a sign of their selves being submitted to the will of the king. Also, symbolizes defeat, humiliation and humility. (26)
- In the 1400s, black began to suggest smartness, importance, sophistication, great dignity and state. Also, sad, melancholy, a humble color worn by mourners and monks. An expensive color to produce indicating social distinction and thus not worn by the lower classes. (26)
- In the 1400s, merchants regularly wear black. (27)
- Traditional color of Venice, and attributed to piety and virtue. Piety, to a Venetian, was that which increased the empire. (28)
- A high fashion color in the mid-1500s. (29)
- A Venetian senator wore black. (13)
- In Genoa, Italy, the Doge and aristocracy wore black. (6)
- In England, lower class women wore primarily black. (15)
Blacks - Medieval
- Black worn by a melancholy lover yearning with love. (7)
- Color of peasant clothing (eighth century, by order of Charlemagne). Note that the quality of black may not be the same as the black referenced above for the Renaissance period, thus less expensive and accessible to peasants. (21)
- According to Pope Innocent III about 1200, black is color of penance and mourning, used for Advent and Lent. (30)
- The color of mourning in Brittany. (6)
Whites - Renaissance
- White is purity for women and chastity for men. (6)
- At the universities of Padua and Bologna, white was symbolic of the humanities. (6)
Whites - Medieval
- A lover wears white for purity (later Middle Ages). (7)
- According to Pope Innocent III about 1200, white is color of innocence and purity, and was used on the feasts of the Virgin. (30)
- Compassion (later Middle Ages). (32)
- In France, white was the color of mourning. (33)

Why Color Symbols are not Always in Agreement

Color symbolism during the Renaissance and Medieval periods has much in common with color symbolism today. Consider, for example, the current meanings of colors. In present-day U.S. culture, black is usually associated with mourning, unless it is in the form of a little, black cocktail dress in which case it signifies sophistication and elegance. White means purity in the form of a wedding dress, unless you are in China or Japan where it means mourning. Blue is for feeling sad unless you win a blue first prize ribbon. Green is for youth and it also means ‘go’ at a stoplight. (34) Stop at red and yet on Valentine’s Day send your loved one a red heart. (35)

In a similar manner, the symbolic meanings of color during the Renaissance and Medieval periods differed over time, and depended on local culture and geographic area. As John Gage points out in his book Color and Meaning, colour-perceptions are unstable, making it difficult to confidently name colour-meanings and preferences in cultures. (36)

The primary problem for students of the Renaissance and Medieval era is a lack of universally agreed-upon symbols. Not only was there more than one system of color symbols in place, but the different systems contradicted each other. For instance, “The regal purple of Christ’s robe may be the same as the scarlet of sin.”(37) Or another example, in the 1500s, writers in Venice, Italy “. . . began to compare the various opinions and to find that they had very little in common. In a series of dialogues on love, where, of course, the expressive force of colours was seen to play a vital role, Mario Equicola in 1525 admitted the dangers of talking of colours at all, because of the differences in ancient and modern terms and because different authorities gave different equivalents for the colours of the elements or the planets; worse, ‘the meanings of colours are somewhat different among the Italians, the Spanish and the French’. . . An assortment of colours according to their meaning, said Morato, might even have a very disagreeable aesthetic effect.”(38)

Nevertheless, it is possible to see that some colors were considered more valuable and had more significant meanings than others. Often these were the colors with high economic value, like red and purple. Since, the economic values tended to be the same for much of Europe, general conclusions can be drawn. However, if historical accuracy for clothing colors is important, then focusing a particular region and time period is recommended.

Sources

1. Jill Condra, ed., The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, vol. 2, 1501-1800 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008), 17 -18. Available from http://books.google.com/. Internet. Accessed 4 June 2009.

2. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005), 25.

3. Lisa Jardine, Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 31.

4. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 19.

5. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 22.

6. Jill Condra, ed., The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, vol. 2 . . ., 18.

7. John Harvey, Men in Black (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1995), 51.

8. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 21.

9. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 23.

10. Georges Duby and Philippe Aries, eds., A History of Private Life: Revelations of the Medieval World (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1988), 579.

11. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 27-28.

12. John Gage, Color and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction (Boston: Bulfinch Press Book, 1993), 63.

13. Georges Duby and Philippe Aries, eds., A History of Private Life: Revelations of the Medieval World. . ., 569.

14. Lisa Jardine, Worldly Goods . . , 15.

15. Paul F. Grendler, ed., Encyclopedia of the Renaissance, vol 2, Clothing, by Sarah Covington (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons in association with the Renaissance Society of America, 1999), 29.

16. John Gage, Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 15.

17. Jill Condra, ed., The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History vol. 1, Prehistory to 1500 CE (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008), 202. Available from http://books.google.com/. Internet. Accessed 7 February 7, 2011.

18. John Gage, Color and Meaning . . ., 57.

19. Jill Condra, ed., The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, vol. 2 . . ., 17.

20. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 9.

21. Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red . . ., 10.

22. Victoria Finlay, Color: A Natural History of the Palette (New York: Ballantine Books, 2002), 97.

23. John Gage, Color and Meaning . . ., 31.

24. John Harvey, Men in Black . . ., 52 - 54.

25. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Van_der_weyden_miniature.jpg

26. John Harvey, Men in Black . . ., 55.

27. John Harvey, Men in Black . . ., 63.

28. John Harvey, Men in Black . . ., 67-68.

29. John Gage, Color and Meaning . . ., 50.

30. John Gage, Color and Meaning . . ., 70.

32. John Gage, Color and Culture. . . ., 63.

33. Georges Duby and Philippe Aries, eds., A History of Private Life: Revelations of the Medieval World . . ., 580.

34. Pearson Education, Inc., “What Colors Mean,” Fact Monster, 2007 [on-line article]; available from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769383.html; Internet; accessed 18 June 2009.

35. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., “Color Symbolism,” 18 November 2010 [on-line article]; available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_symbolism; Internet; accessed 19 January 2011.

36. John Gage, Color and Meaning . . ., 33.

37. John Gage, Color and Culture . . ., 83.

38. John Gage, Color and Culture . . ., 120.

Thank you for reading my blog about Renaissance clothing!

Renaissance Clothing Colors Part 1

2009-06-12T13:50:00.003-06:00

Color played an important role in renaissance clothing. Social hierarchy, culture, and economic activity all played a role in the color of clothing. For the status conscientious nobles, merchants, and peasants of the renaissance period, clothing colour was particularly important. It is fascinating to note that the importance placed on color continued beyond the renaissance period and resulted in significant changes in chemistry during the mid-1800s; changes that continue to impact nearly all aspects of modern-day life. The importance of color during the renaissance should not be underestimated; neither for the role it played during that period nor for its continuing impact today.

Sometimes there is a perception that the color of clothing during early periods of history, like the Renaissance period, was not very good; that the colors were not bright, were not of very many hues, were mostly greens and browns, and that they faded quickly. In fact, this is not universally true. Give the ancients some credit here! Look around outside – all of the colors seen in nature are the colors which were produced from natural dyes in the past. Dyeing was well developed by 2000 B.C. [1] By the time the Renaissance rolled around, dyeing had been going on for at least 3000 years, and probably longer. That is 3,000 years of experiments and improvements and fine-tuning to the art and craft of dyeing.

Also, consider how long people have been making cloth. In his book, Indigo Textiles: Technique and History, Gösta Sandberg talks about linen “woven with over 330 weft threads per inch (130 per centimeter) as was being done in Egypt thousands of years before our era began” and cotton cloth “woven so thin as that of the bare-footed weavers of Madapalam and Calcutta, who made it all by hand in what we now call undeveloped India” and thread “spun so fine that one kilometer of it weighs scarcely more than a gramme, as they once did with little distaffs.” He continues, “We say that machines and mechanisation give people more time. Yet never again will anyone have the time, and be able to afford to devote two years to weaving, say, a double ikat in Gujarat or a batik for a bridal cloak in Java.” (pg 9) Some cloth and clothing during the Renaissance, like that of peasants, was undoubtedly primitive and made with poorly dyed colors. (I could say the same of some of the clothing in my closet today). However, dispel the idea that all cloth and all colors of clothing during the Renaissance era were roughly made and poorly dyed.

Many resources and books describe natural and ancient dyes and the colors that are achievable with these dyes. Here are some of the clothing colors available with natural dyes:

Reds	light to dark red, bright red, crimson, rose, pink, reddish-orange, reddish-brown, reddish-purple, red-gray
Oranges	light to dark orange, orange-brown, rust, reddish-orange, yellow-orange, gold-orange
Yellows	light to dark yellow, bright yellow, gold, yellow-gold, gold-orange, yellow-green, yellow-orange, golden-tan
Greens	light to dark green, bright green, yellow-green, sea green, olive-green, gray-green
Blues	light to very dark blues, teal, blue-gray, blue-black
Purples	light to dark purples; reddish-purple, purple-gray, lilac, violet
Browns	light to dark brown, reddish-brown, light tan (honey), tan, golden-tan, fawn, rust, orange-brown
Grays	light to dark gray, blue-gray, red-gray, gray-green, purple-gray
Blacks	black, near-black, blue-black

* Note that the words used to describe the colors listed above are generally modern descriptions of natural colors. For example, the words ‘olive green,’ when used today, describe a green-yellow hue of medium lightness. [2] During the Renaissance, the same words, if they were used, may have described a different color. However, the modern descriptions used above, even if they are not the words that might have been used during the Renaissance, describe the colors achievable using natural dyes available during the Renaissance.

Books with color pictures of materials dyed with natural and ancient dyes:

Bolton, Eileen M. Lichens for Vegetable Dyeing (Newton Centre 59, Mass.: Charles T. Branford Company, 1960).

Kramer, Jack Natural Dyes Plants & Processes (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1972).

Liles, J.N. The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing: Traditional Recipes for Modern Use (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1990).

Van Stralen, Trudy Indigo, Madder & Marigold: A Portfolio of Colors from Natural Dyes (Loveland, CO: Interweave Press, 1993).

Weigle, Palmy Ancient Dyes for Modern Weavers (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1974).

Sources

[1] Sandberg, Gösta Indigo Textiles: Technique and History (London: A & C Black, 1989), 10.

[2] The Free Online Dictionary. "Olive green." Farlex, Inc. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/olive+green (Accessed 12 June 2009).

Thank you for reading my blog about Renaissance clothing!

Medieval Clothing in Europe During the Late 800s

2009-01-26T19:39:00.005-07:00

Today’s post looks at medieval clothing in Western Europe in the 800s. One of the earliest artwork examples I have found are illuminated Bibles from the 800s. Around 870 to 875, Ingobertus illuminated the Bible of San Paolo in Rheims, France for Charles the Bald. The scene depicting the story of King Solomon’s judgment shows an example of the clothing worn during that time. (1)

All of the men in the picture, including the guards are wearing the same type of knee-length tunic. Only the king and saints, with their golden halos, wear longer clothes. In the picture, there is little to distinguish between peasants and nobles. Only spears, shields or swords distinguish the guards. This matches with what I have learned about medieval clothing so far. Clothing in Europe in the 800s was not as much of a status symbol as it became during the late medieval and during the Renaissance, so there was less distinction between the clothing of nobles and peasants. However, upper class people wore better quality materials.

During this time, men, both peasants and nobles, wore knee-length tunics girded about the waist and breeches. Longer robes and tunics were worn in royal courts and by churchmen.(2) In the upper right corner, there is a man wearing a knee-length tunic made of the same material as the king’s robe, so I think he is a noble, if not royalty. Except for the material, he is dressed in the same style as every other man in the picture. I have tried, without success, to find an interpretation telling more about the roles of the people depicted in this illumination.

For the type of material used for clothing, please see the previous post about medieval clothing in Western Europe. The pictures are my interpretation of what the clothing looked like based on details from the illumination.

Medieval Men’s Clothing:

1. A calf-length cloak attached at the right shoulder with a brooch. In general, the right arm and hand is free with the cloak covering the left arm. The left hand is hidden beneath the cloak and gathering up the material. The colors of the cloaks are red, dark red and light blue. The brooches are round and appear to be gold or bronze (?). They appear to have various designs, which are difficult to distinguish in the picture. Views from behind show extra material, like a hood, hanging down the back as part of the cloak. The king’s cloak goes to his feet and his rectangular brooch is much larger.

2. A loose knee-length tunic belted around the waist. The tunic material hangs down over the belt. The tunic colors are dark red, yellow, white and brown. The yellow and white tunics have brownish-red vertical strips. The stripes are widely spaced, with one going down the center of each leg. The king’s tunic is mostly covered by his cloak. Only the right arm shows. However, I hypothesize that his tunic goes to his feet. Its color is purplish-white with large, gold dots placed in groups of three.

3. Presumably (although not seen) a lighter, linen tunic is worn beneath.

4. Breeches covering the legs and cinched tight right below the knee with leg bands. Some of the men are wearing breeches that clearly cover all of their legs, on others it looks like the breeches end where tied right below the knee. A few look as if they are not wearing any breeches at all, yet they still have the leg bands right below the knee. Breech colors are yellow, red and white. The material of the breech is tight around the calf but on some men, it looks looser above the leg bands. Based on Ingobertus’ picture it is difficult to tell whether the leg band ties hang down on the front, back or side of the leg. In the picture, the ties always appear off the side of the leg, regardless of how the person is facing. It is not possible to tell from the picture whether the legs of the breeches are separate pieces of material on each leg or if they are sewn together like pants.

5. Boots go up to mid-calf and appear to have ties at the top, matching the style of leg bands just below the knees. Boot colors are red, white, blue and brown. It is not clear from the picture what material the boots are made with: dyed leather, wool, or linen? One man wears boots that are laced across the front from the toe all the way up to the top.

6. None of the men wear hats or head coverings. The king wears a large gold crown. One man, whom I believe to be part of royalty, rides a white donkey, wears a foot-length tunic of the same material as the king, and has a gold circlet on his head. Their hair is short coming only to the nape of the neck. No beards or mustaches except on the king and saints.

Medieval Women’s Clothing:

There are two women depicted in the illumination. I do not know whether the women are wearing peasant or upper class clothing.

1. The women are wearing a loose piece of material that drapes over the head, across the shoulders and around the body. It does not appear to be fastened with any brooches or ties. I am not sure if this is realistic or if it is just showing clothing commonly assigned to women in biblical settings. The color is yellow/white. The drapery conceals the length and styling of their hair, although it appears to be long and hanging down the back.

2. There are three layers of tunics. The outer tunic has shorter sleeves coming to the middle of the upper arm. The outer layer is floor-length and covers the body from the base of the neck to the toes. One woman’s tunic is light red/pink with dark red trim around the neck and arm. The other woman’s tunic is bright red.

3. The drapery conceals the whether the women are wearing a belt around the waist. However, per secondary sources, it is likely.(3) If there is a belt it is clear from the picture that is around the waist and not higher, like it is during later periods.

4. The only visible part of the second tunic is loose sleeves falling to the middle of the lower arm. The length of the second tunic is unknown, but probably floor length. The color is bluish-white.

5. The only visible part of the third tunic is tight, wrist-length sleeves. The length of the tunic is unknown, but probably floor-length. The color is bluish-white.

6. No feet and thus no shoes are visible.

Reviewing the above pictures, I am startled by how much the men’s clothing resembles Roman clothing as seen in movies. I have not specifically researched the clothing worn by Romans so I do not know how closely they match in details. However, it does make sense for medieval clothing to resemble Roman clothing, even as late as the 800s. Clothing styles did not start changing significantly until around the 1100s. (4)

Thank you for reading this post about medieval clothing!

Sources

(1) To view the illumination by Ingobertus go to http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ingobertus_001.jpg

(2) Philip Steele The Medieval World: A History of Fashion and Costume (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2005), 10.

(3) Philip Steele The Medieval World. . . , 10.

(4) Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Early Cultures Across the Globe (Vol. 2: Fashion, Costume, and Culture) (New York: The Gale Group, 2004), 297.

Medieval Clothing in Western Europe: A Brief Overview

2009-01-06T15:35:00.007-07:00

Medieval clothing in western Europe underwent some very interesting transformations. During the medieval period, it is possible to see how social structures and outside forces influence and change the clothing worn by people. In the first part of the period, medieval clothing was mostly static. By the end of the period, the medieval clothing of Europe was coming into its own, changing rapidly and used more than ever to make social statements.
As Sara and Tom Pendergast note in their book about fashion history, “The Middle Ages was perhaps the last period in European history when clothing was primarily a simple matter of necessity rather than extravagant, ever-changing fashion.”(1)

Medieval Clothing Time Period

The Medieval period is also known as the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. It is roughly the period between the Classical Age of Greece and the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance, roughly the 400s to the beginning of the 1500s. There is some dissension among historians over what years should be included in the medieval period. The table below shows dates for the medieval period as provided by several sources. Clearly, the end of the medieval period overlapped the beginning of the Renaissance, which was from around mid-1300s to mid-1600s, depending on the country. Therefore, while some clothing is both Medieval and Renaissance, this is not always the case. It is important to note that there is, of course, some carryover from one period to the next. Clothing styles did not just suddenly change from Medieval to Renaissance. Clothing changed over a time as the attitudes and ideas of the medieval period gave way to Renaissance ways of life. Like with Renaissance clothing, medieval clothing styles are numerous and there are many regional differences.

Dates	Source
400s to end of 1400s	Andrew Langley, Medieval Life (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1996), 6.
400 - 1500	The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe ed. George Holmes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), v.
476 - 1453	Philip Steele, The Medieval World: A History of Fashion and Costume (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2005), 5.
Began around 400 to 476 and ended around 1453 to 1517	Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., “Middle Ages,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages (accessed 17 December 2008).

Researching Medieval Clothing

As I covered in a previous post, one of the best ways to research historical costumes is by looking at artwork completed by artists alive during the historical period. So far, however, I have had some difficulty finding paintings from the medieval period, especially the earliest years. In my experience, artwork dated before the 1300s is not easily accessible (meaning viewable online). Perhaps little medieval artwork survived to this day. Another possibility is the medium of the artwork. Tapestry, mosaic, fresco on buildings, or sculpture and reliefs of various types mean that photographs or visits to actual locations are necessary to view the artwork. Other forms of artwork during the period include illuminated manuscripts and icons. Icons, by the way, were “small wood-panel paintings, believed to possess supernatural powers” and depicted saints and martyrs.(2) Illuminated manuscripts were, during the middle ages, usually religious text illustrated with miniature pictures, initials, and borders. One fashion history book also notes the difficulty in finding examples of medieval clothing, “Early Europeans also did not value paintings that recorded daily life in a realistic way. Most of their art . . . was about religious subjects. Luckily, they depicted religious figures wearing clothing from the Middle Ages, so we do have some record of what people wore.”(3) In researching the medieval period, I have had to resort to more secondary sources.

Influences on Medieval Clothing

When the Romans ruled Europe, they provided organized market systems and well-kept roads. After the Roman Empire fell, most of these benefits disappeared as various factions and cultures battled and bargained for dominance. During the early part of the medieval period, about 400 – 900, the population shifted around, especially in Northern Europe as various tribes and groups migrated, invaded, conquered and re-conquered the land. The extensive markets and roads of the Romans disappeared in most of Europe. As a result, the stable outflow and inflow of goods from other regions disappeared. For the first part of the medieval period, Europeans made their clothing with the goods they had at hand, mostly wool, linen, and hemp. Some silk was available from the east. Nobles, of course, wore finer clothing than peasants. With little outside influx of ideas, materials and wealth, clothing styles did not change much.

It was not until societies stabilized in Europe and reaped the benefits of that stabilization, around the 1100s, that clothing began to change. At this time, several things occurred. First, organized governments established themselves, providing focal points for style and the wealth to purchase finer materials.(3) In addition, markets became more organized and travel began to occur more often. Second, the crusades started in the late 1000s, resulting in the introduction of eastern clothing materials and styles to Europe. Third, guilds were organized which specialized in the weaving of cloth and the tailoring of clothes. Due to the guilds, a workforce developed with specialized skills related to clothing.(4) New materials and styles became available. Fourth, cloth became one of the primary products of Europe.(5) With the influx of new clothing styles, ideas, materials and wealth, fashion for the sake of appearance and status really took off. Clothing for nobles and wealthy merchants changed the most while peasant clothing remained mostly stable, though better quality materials were available.(6) During this period, sumptuary laws limiting the amount of money spent on clothing and the purchase of certain materials to nobles began appearing.(7)

Medieval Clothing Material

As mentioned above, medieval people primarily wore clothing made with wool, linen, and hemp. Wool came from sheep, obviously. The linen, a finer and lighter material, was made from the fiber removed from the stems of flax plants. Hemp made a rough cloth for slaves or the poorest. Wealthier people wore fine silk, though during the early years, silk was rare, as was cotton. Both became more common toward the end of the medieval period. Fabric was dyed using plant parts like leaves, roots, or bark. The poorest did not dye their clothing. Wealthier people, like nobles and merchants, trimmed their medieval clothing in fine fur.(8) In colder months, cloaks made of sheepskins, fur, hide and wool provided warmth to all levels of society.

Shoes came in leather made from calf or goat. Upper class women sometimes wore embroidered linen shoes. During muddy times, wooden platforms, called “pattens,” were strapped to the bottom of shoes to protect them from mud. During the early part of the medieval period, hats were rare and made of straw or wool felt. Women wore linen head wraps. Towards the end of the medieval period, around the end of the 1400s, the high headdresses worn by women started becoming fashionable. Jewelry in the form of brooches, necklaces, pins, and earrings was made of gold, silver, and natural materials like deer horn.(9) Both men and women wore girdles or belts over their tunics.

Thanks for reading this post about medieval clothing history!

Sources

(1) Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Early Cultures Across the Globe (Vol. 2: Fashion, Costume, and Culture) (New York: The Gale Group, 2004), 299.

(2) Carol Strickland, Ph.D. and John Boswell, The Annotated Mona Lisa (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1992), 24.

(3) Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Early Cultures Across the Globe . . ., 298.

(4) Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, Early Cultures Across the Globe . . ., 299.

(5) Philip Steele, The Medieval World: A History of Fashion and Costume (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2005), 16.

(6) Philip Steele, The Medieval World . . ., 21, 22.

(7) Philip Steele, The Medieval World . . ., 21.

(8) Andrew Langley, Medieval Life (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1996), 51.

(9) Philip Steele, The Medieval World . . ., 12.

Simple Renaissance Faire Costumes

2008-12-16T03:31:00.006-07:00

Renaissance Clothing for Men and Women

Renaissance Fair season is coming up and it is time to start thinking about that perfect Renaissance Faire costume. Finding a costume can be as complex or simple as you desire. Of course, if you want a historically accurate Renaissance costume, then your search will be more complex as you delve through history to discover the subtleties of Renaissance clothing. On the other hand, if you just want to “look the part” without too much research, expense, or attention to accuracy, then finding a costume will be relatively simple. Putting together a simple costume is as easy as visiting the second hand store, finding an online costume store, or buying and making a pattern from McCalls (for example).

Renaissance Costumes for Men
For a shirt, wear a basic tunic falling to mid-thigh. Tunics slit and/or laced up beneath the throat provide extra style. Sleeves may be puffy, like that pictured, elbow length, or non-existent. Material can be cotton or linen, or another natural looking fabric. Although bright colors were worn during the Renaissance, your simplest choice will be the solid, subdued versions of cream, olive, brown, blue, burgundy, grey, black, or red. Wear a brown or black belt loosely around the hips over the tunic.

Some people are quite pleased to leave their costuming efforts with a tunic and just wear a pair of jeans for pants. This would indeed be simple. If, however, you are looking for a more complete costume, then wear basic, baggy pants made of cotton or linen. The pants can have an elastic (non-existent during the Renaissance period) or drawstring waist. Again, use solid, subdued colors like black or brown.

Wear solid, brown or black colored shoes. Accessorize by attaching a drinking mug or money pouch onto your belt. Though hats were common articles of Renaissance clothing, one is not required for the basic Renaissance costume. Overall, the basic Renaissance costume for men is pretty comfortable.

Renaissance Costumes for Women
A simple costume for women traditionally begins with a white chemise or smock usually mid-thigh or mid-calf length with billowing sleeves to the wrist or elbow. However, given the realities of a hot fair day, some people choose to wear a simple, white tank top. It is optional, although common, to see a chemise with an elastic or drawstring neckline drawn down off the shoulders and resting right above the bicep. Material can be linen, cotton, or another natural looking fabric.

At this point, there is a wide variety of choices concerning skirt and bodice combinations. The simplest is to wear a full-length skirt with attached sleeveless bodice over the chemise. The bodice laces up the front, side, or back through eyelets and is similar to a vest. It can be as low cut as desired. A square neckline is common. Material can be cotton, linen, or any natural looking fabric. Like with men’s clothing the simplest color choices are solid versions of olive, brown, blue, burgundy, black, or red. For additional styling, wear two full-length skirts of different colors with the top skirt tucked up on one side to show the underskirt. Another option is for the full-length skirt to have a slit down the front to show the chemise underneath. In this case, be sure to wear a full-length chemise. The bodice and skirt colors can be different if desired.

Solid colored shoes are good, although with the full-length skirt, they probably will not show much.

So there you have it, two simple Renaissance faire costumes. They are not necessary authentic, but they are close enough for fitting in and looking the part. In addition, they are fairly comfortable and with a creative visit to the second hand store, not too expensive to assemble. Thank you for reading this post about simple Renaissance Faire costumes!

Tips for Renaissance Clothing Research

2008-12-07T22:53:00.003-07:00

Finding out what historically accurate Renaissance clothing looks like can be a bit difficult. There are thousands of resources available on the internet and no doubt thousands of books on the subject as well. Knowing which of these resources are accurate can be difficult. This post includes some things I have learned while trying to find information about clothing worn during the Renaissance period.

#1: Primary sources are always most important. These sources are first hand accounts by the people actually living during the period. Look at artwork, sculptures, and effigies created during the Renaissance period to see what people of the time were wearing. (1) Even original writings may refer to clothing, if you can decipher them. Keep in mind that artists may have added fantasy elements to the costumes their subjects were wearing. Thus, not all artwork will show historically accurate Renaissance clothing as it was being worn at the time. Keep in mind that the color of the clothing in artwork may not accurately reflect the actual color of the clothing worn. For example, Amy Butler Greenfield notes in her book, A Perfect Red, “Peasants sometimes appear brightly dressed in medieval and Renaissance works of art, such as the duc de Berry’s lavish Très Riches Heures. This is less a reflection of peasant wardrobes than of the fact that wealthy patrons could afford precious pigments and expected their artists to use them.”(pg 9)

So how does a person know whether an artist’s renderings are accurate? By looking at other paintings during that time period it is possible to see the trends in clothing worn. So if a particular style is depicted multiple times by different artists, then it seems more likely that it is accurate. Keep in mind information about colors, status, and social traditions.

Also, some knowledge of a particular artist is useful. Knowing the country and city where the artist worked and grew up may provide information about the elements and style of clothing in a geographic region. For example, say you want to know what men wore in the early 1500s in Florence, Italy. Then look at pictures painted by artists working in Florence, Italy in the early 1500s. In addition, knowing whether the artist frequently indulged in fantastical imaginings and depictions will indicate the trustworthiness of the clothing depicted.

Now the question arises of where to find and view these primary sources. The library is always a good place to start. Search in art history books and magazines, books about museum collections, and books about the Renaissance. They usually feature pictures of artwork completed during the Renaissance and thus show Renaissance clothing. Period artwork can also be viewed on the internet. Search for Renaissance art, English Renaissance art, or whatever area strikes your fancy. Searching for websites about Renaissance clothing will also result in references to period artwork.

#2: I’ve also found secondary sources interpreting the primary sources to be very useful. The reason is that once I started looking at the primary sources, I still didn’t really know what I was seeing. Are the people depicted upper class or lower class? How are their clothes put together? Is it a summer or winter fashion? Is it everyday clothing or party clothing? Interpretations are always useful. For example, in 1510 Vittore Carpaccio painted a picture called Two Venetian Ladies on Terrace. When I first looked at this picture I thought the sleeves were made of puffy white fabric sewn to the darker patterned upper fabric. It wasn’t until a week later when I actually saw a present-day renaissance costume showing the sleeves (http://www.festiveattyre.com/gallery/ghirlandaio/index.html) did I realize that the puffy white fabric is the separate underclothing or chemise and that the darker patterned sleeves were tied over the chemise. Suddenly, references about detachable sleeves that I had vaguely comprehended earlier in other secondary sources made perfect sense. What gives me confidence about the costume’s accuracy at festiveattyre.com is how the Renaissance paintings from which the dress is designed are shown as well. A good secondary source will refer back to the primary source from which assumptions are drawn.

Evaluating the accuracy of secondary sources can be interesting. One method of evaluation is to review the opinions of other people about a source, while presuming in a hopeful manner that they know what they are talking about. For example, many books on the subject of Renaissance clothing have been reviewed by consumers at amazon.com. I would be inclined to trust most of the information in a book with twenty opinions giving the book a top rating over a book with three mediocre opinion ratings. Also, popular books that are referred to by multiple costuming sources as accurate increases my perceived value of the historical accuracy of those particular books.

The websites for re-enactment organizations, like that of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (www.sca.org), contain links to pages about Renaissance clothing and other historical costumes. A source referred to by the SCA gives me greater confidence in the accuracy of the information. As with all research, viewing a large variety of sources will improve the researcher’s ability to evaluate information accuracy.

Secondary sources are pretty easy to find. Again, go to the library and look for Renaissance clothing, historical clothing, and historical costumes. Run an internet search on the same key words. If you are looking for a particular type of clothing, then run a search on that topic specifically.

That’s all for now and as always – thank you for visiting my blog about Renaissance clothing.

Notes:

(1) In this case an effigy is the sculpted likeness of a person placed on the top of his or her grave.

Sources:

Amy Butler Greenfield A Perfect Red (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005).

Renaissance Clothing Defined

2008-11-26T10:04:00.005-07:00

Recently, I became interested in Renaissance clothing. However, I suffered some confusion about what exactly makes an article of clothing “Renaissance.” For example, the Renaissance Fair (or Faire) that I was familiar with seemed centered around England. Yet, the Renaissance was from Italy, so what country does the clothing come from? Also, if I wanted to look up pictures of the clothing, or purchase clothing, then what time period should I research? This brief post includes general information I have found about these matters.

From what I have learned so far, when people talk about Renaissance clothing they are generally referring to the clothing worn by Europeans during the Renaissance Period. The Renaissance Period took place from roughly the mid-1300s through the 1500s, depending on the country. In England, the Renaissance lasted until around the mid-1600s. This historical period, which started in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, was characterized by a “humanistic revival of classical art, architecture, literature, and learning.”[1] Perhaps, however, it is inaccurate to refer to the Renaissance as a “period.” In the words of historian Will Durant, “The Renaissance was not a period in time but a mode of life and thought moving from Italy through Europe with the course of commerce, war, and ideas.”[2] Renaissance clothes certainly fit into the definition of the Renaissance as “a mode of life and thought.”

During the Renaissance, clothing was much more than a physical covering for the body. It was also symbolic. Clothing was used to establish social status and reinforce the hierarchy of upper class royalty and nobles over lower class commoners. Upper class nobility were able to afford the latest fashions and most expensive materials. The lower classes mimicked upper class styles. In Germany, when lower class styles became too similar to upper class styles, laws were passed to limit the types of clothes lower classes were allowed to wear.[3]

Obviously, a wide range of clothing styles can be classified as belonging to the Renaissance. The time period covered is several centuries long. Styles varied from country to country. Italy, Germany, France, and England all had their regional differences. Plus, styles, material, and color varied according to the social status of the wearer.

Today, people dress in Renaissance clothing for a variety of reason. Perhaps it is Halloween or a costume party. Another common activity is visiting one of the Renaissance Faires which take place during the summer months. Although visitors to faires can wear anything they please, faire workers wear clothing that is “typical of the late Elizabethan period.”[4] This period occurred in the later part of the Renaissance during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign in England, 1558 – 1603.

Various Renaissance reenactment groups and activities also provide ample opportunity for modern people to dress up in Renaissance clothes. It is a good idea to check with the requirements of these groups because what constitutes suitable clothing may vary. For example, the Society of Creative Anachronism, Inc. prefers participants “wear an attempt at pre-17th century clothing.”[5] According to this definition, clothing prior to the Renaissance would be acceptable as well.

In conclusion, the term “Renaissance clothing” refers to clothes in a wide range of styles, colors, and materials as worn across Europe from the mid-1300s through the 1500s.

[1] Answers Corporation. 2008. Renaissance. [Online Database]: (http://www.answers.com/topic/renaissance). [24 November 2008].

[2] Will Durant. The Renaissance (The Story of Civilization V). (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953), 69.

[3] DenverFabrics.com. Renaissance Costumes – Fabric. [Online article]: (http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/static/renaissance/renaissance-costumes.htm). [24 November 2008].

[4] JMV. 1999. Renaissance Faire Overview. [Online article]: (http://www.renfaire.com/General/faire.html). [24 November 2008].

[5] Society for Creative Anachronism. Events. [Online FAQs]: (http://www.sca.org/docs/pdf/scafaq.pdf ). [24 November 2008].

Welcome to the Renaissance Clothing Blog

2008-11-22T21:31:00.002-07:00

Welcome to the Renaissance clothing blog. This site provides ideas for Renaissance clothing and costumes. More posts to follow. In the meantime, thank you for visiting!