Medieval Dress

Okay, so I love fantasy. And like many fantasy writers, a lot of my fantasy stories take place in medieval-ish times. I also love to read stories set in this kind of time period.

My problem: I find myself realizing that I know very little about exactly what people wore back then, and what it looked like. Since I'd like to be able to describe what my characters are wearing and be able to picture it in my head, can anyone describe what kind of things people wore? XD

Specifically, nobles and royalty, although information on what peasants wore would be helpful, too. I'm fairly certain nobles' dress was complicated, right? Several different pieces? Descriptions, what they were called, and possibly pictures would be amazing.

Also, what would maids/servants in the king's palace wear? My main character is technically a maid, but the king favors her, trusts her, maybe even wants to marry her someday, so he's kind of named her his personal attendant/nurse (he has a disease. ) and she'll be walking around at his side a lot, he's given her her own room, and I'm thinking she'll be wearing nicer stuff, so she's not exactly your average maid.

Help? XD Please?

I'd suggest you try to find a copy of The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference. It contains information on how different classes would dress, and who is inside of those classes. It also contains some pictures. And, it's just a general fantastic reference.

I have all sorts of stuff on Medieval anything, so my first question! Do you have a time period within the huge range that is called Medieval (anywhere from about 500-1500 or so, give or take depending on who you ask)?

This site (scroll down a bit) gives a quick and relatively comprehensive guide, though I can't vouch for its accuracy; however, it does break things down relatively well by century. If you want to do more digging, I have several sites I can recommend, but they tend far more on the scholarly side, and much less on exactly what you're asking for here.

@ Rosey: Sounds cool! I'll try to find a copy if I can.

@ Meshugenah: Thanks! ^^ That link looks like it'll be pretty helpful. I'll look through it more thoroughly when I have time.

I don't think I have a specific time, no. It's sad, really, how little I know about the kind of period I'm writing in. Then again, I think it's set in another world, too, so nothing's set in stone. I could maybe adapt things until I find something I like...

I'm thinking the Middle Ages? Maybe? I'm not entirely clear on the difference. XD

This: History of Western fashion article on Wiki may be of interest to you. Just click for whatever time period you think is closest to what you want, and you'll get some pretty nice descriptions.

silentpages wrote:@ Meshugenah: Thanks! ^^ That link looks like it'll be pretty helpful. I'll look through it more thoroughly when I have time.

I don't think I have a specific time, no. It's sad, really, how little I know about the kind of period I'm writing in. Then again, I think it's set in another world, too, so nothing's set in stone. I could maybe adapt things until I find something I like...

I'm thinking the Middle Ages? Maybe? I'm not entirely clear on the difference. XD

No worries! Middle Ages/Medieval are usually used interchangeably - the time period covered extends on the far reaches of 500AD -1500AD or so. Within that range, there's early, high, and late middle ages. High is the time that's usually romanticized, all the chivalric ideals, knights, ladies in castles, etc. There's also the mess called "the dark ages," but that's another can of worms. Plus! Dress changes by location!

Now, if what you're looking for is the high period (100-1300 or so), This gives an ok intro to the subject - just no clothing! However, it does break down by location, which is definitely a plus, especially if you're looking to model anything after the culture you're pulling from as well as their dress. You can also grab the middle ages portal link near the bottom of that page, and that can lead to more info, though if you do get to that point, I'd suggest going to the sources instead of relying on the wiki entry. And I have plenty of info on this, too, just not nearly as well organized - er, the sites themselves, that is.

Good luck! And if you ever just want to talk about any of this, hit me up! I could ramble for days about how much I love anything medieval, and though my scholarship is rather limited, I'm always down for more researching and discussing!

Bek

(and that history of fashion article is wicked cool! And there's some relatively recent - post-1980s! - references listed, so check those out, if you can!)

Alright, thank! ^^ Some afternoon when I'm not too busy (or when I really feel like procrastinating ) I'll look at these links more thoroughly.

Thanks for all the help, everybody!

If you're interested, there's also the book "The writer's guide to everyday life in the middle ages."

I got it at the library and found it extremely helpful when thinking about the food, lodging, and especially clothing. It also separates everything out by the time period and location.