Historical Fashion How To ~ Middle Ages

  

  Greetings, fair ladies! We're about to dust off our time machine and study another era of fashion history. This time, we shall completely leave the modern era as we explore the middle ages. This is one of my favorite eras in history, and I hope that by the time we're done, you'll be as excited about it as I am!

The Middle Ages 

   The Middle Ages was the thousand year period that divides Ancient times from the Modern era. We can roughly define it as beginning around 500 AD, and ending around 1500 AD. It became known as the Dark Ages because of the lack of knowledge, both spiritual and material. Life in the Western world of Europe was much different than today; deathly disease was rampant, and countries were controlled by absolute rulers and the power of the Catholic church.

   Art during the time was fairly crude, but we still get a good idea of what was worn during the different centuries of the middle ages. Back then, women's style changed far more slowly then today, and for many years, only nobles had access to good fabric. The church required modesty, so women always wore floor-length dresses and, until the later part of the era, high necklines. Despite slowly changing styles, each century had a bit of variation; There were romantic veils and long, pointed sleeves in the 12th century, layered surcoats and underdresses in the 13th and 14th centuries, and fantastic headdresses in the 15th century.
   My timeline of clothing above was something that I did a couple of years ago when I was helping with/sitting in on a class my mom was teaching to some homeschool friends. Most of the drawings are copied from books or medieval artwork. My drawing skills are *hem* outdated, but you still get the idea. ;)

  The above outfit is based on the drawing of 13th century German garb, though layered dresses were popular throughout the middle ages. My long-sleeved brown shirt and brown maxi skirt are used to resemble a long gown. A short-sleeved dress goes over them to achieve the layered effect. A gold clasp bracelet adds a bit of sparkle; perhaps I am a noblewoman or a wealthy merchant's daughter. ;) Because my hair is down, it shows that I am a young, unmarried woman. I believe that some women would wear head coverings whether they were married or not. It probably depended on the era and the region.

  Does this look familiar? If you read my 1970's post, you've already seen this flowing ivory dress. I originally bought it to be a medieval costume, and it has served me well! Though it doesn't perfectly imitate any particular era, this gown definitely has a middle ages feel to it. For this photoshoot, I put my Lilla Rose clip through the holes where my bodice laces up and it made a pretty Celtic style broach. Of course, the outfit wouldn't be complete without boots! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much evidence that women wore boots regularly during the Middle Ages. They did ride horses, however, so we can conjecture that they may have worn boots during equestrian pursuits. ;)

  This historical photo shoot was certainly fun! That is, it was pleasant until the mosquitoes decided to make my dress a landing strip. ;) I hope that you enjoyed learning about Middle Ages fashion! Fare thee well!

"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be they shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;"

~Psalm 91:4-5