What is the English national costume?

Answer 1

The answer is that English National Costume or English National Dress is directly connected to our historical past and replicates the clothing of our Anglo saxon thegn class Seen on the link below.

Colourful,warm and versatile it is a pleasure to wear compared with mass produced articles.

http://www.englandandenglishhistory.com/official_traditional_english_national_dress/introduction/default.aspx This shows the finished article without the personalised embroidery.They are very beautiful when the extra decoration is added like in the picture of the 7th century Kentish dress. English national dress is based on the clothing of the seventh century thegn . For males it is a tunic with a rounded neck and a slit at the front,made in woollen material,and it is belted with trousers underneath. The cuffs and collar are normally embroidered using traditional county emblems. The belt is quite narrow and has an ornate buckle. The colours are red and cream or white. A ceremonial large knife or seaxe is worn suspended from the front of the belt. The female dress is based on the mantle of a Kentish seventh century woman. In addition to an underskirt of linen an overskirt is worn which is has a double line of embroidery which reaches from the hem at ankle length to the neck,creating an elongated V shape. The sleeves of the underskirt are full length whilst those of the overskirt are three quarter length allowing the light material to be seen at the throat and lower arms. The women's dress incorporates a narrow leather belt or braid with a pendant seaxe and may also have a purse. The outer garment is red and that underneath a pale cream or light blue. Long Beads or a necklace complete the women's dress. Simple shoes are worn by both man and woman. The embroidery of the 7th century dress which shows where our national dress originated is itself very beautiful.

http://www.englandandenglishhistory.com/official_traditional_english_national_dress/introduction/default.aspx Answer There isn't one. Ignore the nonsense below, this stuff is only worn at historical fairs and hippie colonies. You might as well say the Beefeater costume is traditional English national dress and the only time that looked good was when Miss England wore it some years ago. Answer The new national dress of England is a revival of the colourful 'thegn' status clothing worn in 7th century England by our ancestors.It is hardwearing, warm and can be as ornate as the person wearing it wishes.The basic female costume is based on a long linen shift of woad blue ( a light colour) with an outer dress of red woollen material which divides centrally in an elongated V shape towards the feet and is fastened with metal clasps along its length which is reinforced with a band of embroidery which travels the full length of the dress from its lower hem,up round the neck and back down to the base on the other side. Normally a seax or knife is carried horizontally suspended from a narrow belt in a leather sheath. This is an integral part of the women's as well as the men's dress.It is an important symbol marking the owner as a free man or woman.

The male dress is a simple tunic with round neck split centrally in a vertical line.This is often embroidered. Breeches of red woollen material are worn with it.

The emblems used in the embroidery are made from the finest threads and are designs based on classic forms such as the white dragon of England, the wolf of the midlands and the boar.The white horse of Kent is another device employed,although some local embroiderers have their own personal symbols which they use.

The dress can be worn with a cloak fastened at the neck with a large silver brooch.

Ancient designs are revived for these brooches which can be up to 5" across.