Noblewomen's clothes

A noblewoman would not make her own clothing, although she would have a good knowledge of how clothes were made and what was fashionable. Her clothing would be made by a tailor who was hired specifically to make custom-fitted garments for the social elite. If a noble family was wealthy enough and had an extensive staff, they might hire a tailor to work for them exclusively in-house, but it was not unusual to hire specialists, as we see from payments made from royal expense accounts. Often the accounts are not clear whether the payments are made to internal staff or external tailors.

The fabrics a noble woman used would be of the finest wools, silks, silk velvets and brocades. Linens would have been fine for her chemise. Although many people today think of wool as a lower status material, upper class women also wore wool, but the quality was of exceptional quality and the dyes used were brighter, stronger colours.

In the case of Royal households, a tailor might be employed full-time along with other laundresses and clothing specialists, like embroiderers. Not only did this ensure that the tailor was always available to that family, it prevented other families from hiring him or her.

A tailor who worked in a shop in town was available to anyone with the money to pay for their services.

Rich merchant class women's clothes

Many people forget that some medieval women lived in towns and cities like some of us do today. Their shopping options really did include just going to the appropriate shop and buying things. So it was with clothes, to a point.

Some rich townswomen may not have worked for a living and employed household staff, but it was also quite common for them to have engaged in their husband's trade, or worked the shop front while he worked producing goods or have been solely in charge of managing her own household and staff, overseeing the kitchen and other necessary household chores.

Her work was neither hard nor grubby and she has quite a reasonable household income. Her fabrics would include fine linens and wools of a reasonably high quality. Brocades of some quality may have been worn, but not those that equalled the nobility.

Her clothing was also made by hand, whether by herself, a tailor, or bought off the rack from a mercer's store. Ready-made clothing was available to the rich townswoman, but many women may have still preferred to make their own in order to get a better fit. By sewing her clothing herself, the average townswoman was able to have a good-fitting garment without the expense of hiring a professional tailor to make it. Many, of course, did get their clothes tailor-made.

Many of these women were very well off and strove to emulate their noblewomen icons in dress. There were many comments from nobles complaining that the upper merchant class could afford to dress like them, and they were pretty disgruntled about the fact.

High end second hand clothes were available to the wealthy townswomen, and may have been purchased for the fabric to be re-sewn into a newish garment.

Working class women's clothes

Women who worked often carried out their husband's trade and sometimes wore specialised clothes specific to their employment. At right, we see a female blacksmith from the Holkham Bible dated at around 1330. The woman wears standard head attire of barbette and fillet with a hairnet and a blacksmith's apron to protect her clothing. Other images from the same manuscript show women wearing aprons which tie around the waist, so we can deduce that this apron is specific to the work being carried out. Whilst it is likely that regular aprons may be made or bought as to the means of the employer, there is no record I have seen where specialty work-related clothes were made or purchased.

Other women who worked also had clothing suitable to work in rather than regular clothes with which they might tend the front of a shop or engage in business as hired help as a laundress, candlemaker, or other small enterprise.

Many women may have still preferred to make their own clothes or buy second-hand from a fripperer's shop. Working class women had less money to spend on clothing but still valued good cloth, and were the class most likely to have purchased second hand clothes.

A clever lady could remodel or cut down one style of gown into another using the good fabric which she may not have been able to afford normally. Sumptuary laws dictated whether these garments could be lined with furs and what kind of furs were permitted to the lower classes, but in all likelihood, valuable furs were probably stripped from garments before on-selling. County fairs once a year provided extra opportunities for clothing acquisition.

In some cases, and employer may have provided a set of clothes annually as a part of the terms of employment. This ensured that suitable clothing was being worn and staff were not going around in ragged clothes. This is the equivellant of a modern company giving staff a yearly uniform allowance which uses the company colours and fabric choices.

 

Peasant or rural women's clothes

Peasant women usually made their own clothing at home. This in no way implies that the quality of their clothing was poor or shoddy. A woman who did all her weaving and sewing by hand would have been able to produce a reasonably high standard of workmanship through years of practice. The main difference between the clothing worn by a peasant woman and a townswoman would be the quality of the fabric itself and the colours available.

A peasant woman would need to make sure her clothing was strong and durable and since she made it herself- it was all custom made to fit. It needed to be roomy enough to work in around the shoulders but this does not mean her clothes hung like a sack or were not well made. Movies which show peasant women in oversized, poorly fitting clothes are misleading. A woman who made her clothes or re-used hand-me-downs would recut them to fit her own figure and use the offcuts for something else. Nothing was wasted.

Sumptuary laws in medieval Europe are discussed in SBS's Europe In The Middle Ages saying:

By law, what a peasant wears must be either black or grey- nothing else is permitted- a coarse linen smock is appropriate, wooden clogs and one pair of leather boots. That is enough.

I don't understand how peasants were expected to wear black, when the dying process to produce a good black dye would not be affordable to peasants. A variety of natural dyes were available to the country peasant woman and many manuscripts show peasant women wearing coloured clothing, although not usually bright or strong colours which would require a more expensive dying process or mordant.

A peasant woman who worked for a well-off family in town could expect to receive a new gown or shoes as part of her yearly upkeep. Not only was this a form of charity from the part of the employer, in also ensured that the staff they employed were reasonably dressed to perform their duties and fit to be seen as part of their retinue. Of course, many employers did not do this, as we read in some literary accounts of the time.

At special times of the year, clothing might be given to the very poor by the wealthy as part of household celebrations or as gifts by the church. Wealthy patrons also made gifts of clothing to the poor as charity.

Seen at right is a 1390 detail from a German panel showing St Elizabeth clothing the poor. St Elizabeth herself is dressed plainly in the modest clothing of a nun with her wimple up over her chin.

Second-hand clothes in wills

Second hand clothing were usually of two kinds. Firstly, clothing that was bought from a second-hand clothing merchant called a fripperer and clothing that was handed down to especial family members, staff or friends. Often clothing was included in wills and specific beneficiaries were named so that the garments ended up with the right people.

Servants often had clothing handed down to them, particularly gowns which might be of value or in good repair. One London merchant's will records a bequeath of

...12d and one of my old gowns to make her a kirtell.

hinting that the old gown which was being passed on was to be cut up and remodelled to make a new garment for a new wearer. Since fabric was an expensive commodity, this does not come a real surprise.

One example from a private will dated 17 June, 1550 of a man described as a Citizen and Fruiterer of London, England states:

To my sister Magher, the best gown that was my well-beloved wife’s Alice’s,
her best kirtle

His own clothing gifts were extremely extensive including fabrics which included velvet, satin and taffeta. The wife's gown does not specify what the kirtle is made from, so it is to be assumed that it is none of these fabrics or they would have been especially mentioned, but was of high enough quality that his own wife's gown was good enough for his own sister. This also shows that a prosperous merchant could own garments of good enough quality and value that they need specified instructions as to who might receive them and not just left for general distribution among family and friends. They were specifically intended for particular persons because of their value.

The will of Joan Buckland, widow, of Edcock who died in 1462 left:

...all my other gowns and kirtles, that they be given to my women servants dweling with me and my departure. Also to the woman that is by me at the time of my departing... one gown furred with mink.

This again indicates that women servants might acquire clothing of a good standard from an employer. A noblewomen was expected to keep up to date with current fashions and although she might keep an outer garment for a few years, the same way we keep a favourite winter jacket, she might look to replace her undergowns which were usually visible. Undergowns would be handed down, if the fabric was suitable, and remade or refitted to suit the new wearer's status. Trains might be trimmed and fur removed to make an outfit suitable for a lady-in-waiting.

A 1459 bequest from York from widow Joan Cotyngham, shows that even underwear might be gifted:

I also leave to Joan Day, a poor little woman staying in a certain maison-dieu, my russet gown lined with buckskin and a chemise of linen cloth.

Second hand clothes merchants

Francoise Piponnier and Perrine Mane in their book, Dress in the Middle Ages, arret that clothing might be bought from sales held in the market square. Buyers might be private persons or second-hand merchants who would onsell at an increased price.

These merchants bought and sold used clothing much the same as our second-hand clothes of thrift shops today with the exception that clothing was by far a more valuable commodity and far less disposable. Second-hand clothing dealers were closely monitored and could either have a shop in the town or wander the streets offering their wares.

A person who bought second hand clothes might have it recut to fit the new owner, or have the garment unpicked and remade inside out so that the fabric which was not exposed to the outside elements became the inside and the fresh side of the fabric became the outer. This process gave a fresh, new look to otherwise faded material.

Hand-me-down clothing was often given to younger members of the family for the same reason as today. Should a growing child outgrow an item of clothing, it would hardly be thrown out; it would be passed down to the next smallest child in the house, especially in households where income was limited.

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