Author Description

This survey of medieval clothing draws on paintings and sculpture, documents and literature, surviving clothing, textiles, jewelry, and armor, to show that garments and accessories of the middle ages reveal much about life and society of the time. The authors examine the sources for clothing; 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', and 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.