The very word “costume” gets in the way of our attempt to imagine how people of the Middle Ages dressed. We would not refer to our everyday 21st century clothes as a “costume”. The people of Western Europe at the time of the Middle Ages as seen in illuminated manuscripts and paintings of that era did not dress up in impractical cumbersome garments in order to pose. For the exception of ceremonies, banquets and other special occasions people wore practicable clothing well tailored and made to last (even to hand down) fashioned to the work they did, the climate they live in, and their own aesthetical preferences. The same could be said of today’s clothing (for the exception of “made to last”…).
Below are outfits that certin classes of people would have worn in every day life during the Middle Ages.
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- Chemise (or under-shirt)
- Brais
- Tunic
- Chausses or (Hosen)
- Chaperon (Hooded shoulder cape)
- Crakows or poulaines (Pointy toed shoes)
- Garters
- Coif
- Belt
- Pouch
- Crusader's Cross
- Livery Tabard
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