The medieval era in England spanned a very long period of time and arguably is considered to have begun around the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, approximately AD 410 through to the beginning of the Renaissance in about the year 1485. Throughout this lengthy period spanning centuries, medieval clothing would very much depend on your social status, class background and location and there were huge varieties within these.
Naturally the wealthier classes would have garments made from fine fabrics, perhaps silk or fine linen whereas the lower classes and working class may have been found wearing more easily accessible and less expensive fabrics and materials such as a coarse linen or wool. Wool could vary in texture and quality depending on the type of sheep that it was coming from. For example, for the lower classes’ wool could be coarse and undyed whereas for the rich the wool could be fine wool dyed and weaved into a variety of designs. For the wealthy, silk was very popular and at that time would have been imported from Asia. For the middle classes, they would have enough money to be able to dye their wool certain colours such as blue or green whereas the wealthier would be able to afford to dye their clothes red or black which were considered expensive colours and a symbol of their status. Purple was considered such an expensive colour that it was used only for royalty or very prominent religious figures.
Are you interested in learning more about medieval costumes? Are you engaged in a history project focusing on medieval fashions? Are you responsible for sourcing medieval costumes for the purpose of television or a museum display? If so you will want to know about Weston Super Mare based Farthingale Costumes who specialise in the re-creation of truly authentic costumes, spanning centuries throughout history, including a variety of medieval costumes. Weston Super Mare based Farthingale Costumes are a family run business and we have been established since the year 1988. During these past years we have developed an excellent reputation for producing extremely high-quality costumes across a range of historical time periods including medieval costumes. Weston Super Mare based, each year we hold events in Bath such as our annual Regency ball and we warmly invite anybody who may be interested to attend this glorious and grand event. Whether you are looking for Tudor and Elizabethan costumes, Victorian costumes, medieval costumes or costumes from another time period, Weston Super Mare based Farthingale Costumes will be happy to chat with you to see how we could be of assistance. Our website will provide you with more information on the range of costumes such as medieval costumes that we have available, however we are able to produce far more than you can find on our website. Therefore, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at your convenience to have a chat as to what kind of costumes you are looking for and how we can help you.