Medieval Life Documentary: Medieval Fashion - Did you know?

Welcome to All of History!

Despite their frequent depictions in the movies, medieval peasants did not wear burlap rags accented with shreds of gauzy material nor did the nobility constantly wear shimmering silks. Much of the modern image of the clothing worn by the working classes of medieval society is based on the assumption that the Church, the nobility, and a few merchants held all the wealth of medieval society and that everyone else was poor and therefore could afford only rags to wear. This assumption is false. While the Church and the nobility controlled large amounts of the wealth of medieval society, they certainly did not possess all of it. Though there was a broad gulf between the wealth owned by a common person and that owned by a bishop or a duke, most common people were far from destitute by contemporary standards. Except in times of crisis, such as famine or war, they could afford adequate housing and food and they could afford to clothe themselves as well. Admittedly, these clothes were made from much cheaper grades of cloth than those used in the clothing of the nobility but they were still good clothes. As for the clothing of the nobility, some nobles certainly could afford and did wear the latest fashions made from the finest materials but not all were wealthy enough to do so. Further, even for the wealthiest, the very fine silk brocades and furs which they were shown wearing for important occasions were not for everyday use when plainer clothes sufficed. Thus, the peasants wore coarse but sturdy linen and woolen fabrics, merchants and craftsmen wore clothing made of better grades of wool and linen, and the nobility, though they did wear silken clothes if they could afford it, more commonly wore clothing made from the finer, softer grades of linen and wool.

00:00 Context
02:15 Sources of Information About Medieval Clothing
04:59 Fabrics
16:54 Leather
18:20 Furs
21:09 Hair
22:09 Other Materials
23:16 Dyes
27:37 Clothing

#history #allofhistory #historychannel #documentary

[Quinn-Harrison]

The fact we have so many different ways to dye the color purple naturally from plants really makes me wonder why they depended so much on snails for it.

[grannyannie]

This is fast becoming my favourite channel, I'm glad i persevered beyond the feminist muck i first heard. Be careful with illustrations however. I saw an illustration of a woman whose gown was laced in metal eyes. These were not invented to the Victorian era.

[loislewis]

Chemise is not pronounced with a hard K but rather a soft shhhh

[Geordiekris]

Dont know what it is but something seems off with the A.I. i cant put my finger on it maybe its the accent i dont know but the footage is good

[DavidfL]

I understand we must have ad's but this is to much, I can't focus on subject matter, sorry, respectively I say, adios ❤

[margarettaft]

Wow rich people wore better fabrics than middle class and poor people what a genius this awful AI voice

[AgnesC]

Women's underwear not documented! Maybe that's why they're called unmentionables?

[HosCreates]

People wore the best they could afford. People remade clothing into smaller sizes and cloth was exspensive and precious. The lemburg bra has underwear in the findings. And if ypu look at ehir cut no man would hqve been comfortablein them.. Id rather have more real pictures of illuminations than ai and a real dress historian talk about this. 😒