What clothing did craftsmen wear in the middle ages?

Answer 1

in medieval Europe, the vast majority of clothing would be linen, or woven wool. a small proportion of material would be imported silks, velvets, or similar luxury fabric.

leather was not used extensively for clothing, though it was used for belts, shoes, and similar items.

Answer 2

Depending on the time period you're looking for, various fabrics came into use.

Wool was the most common material for commoners and nobles alike, particularly in England, which had a thriving wool industry even in the Anglo-Saxon times. Cloaks, gowns, jerkins, tunics, stockings, could all be made of wool. Since sheep were easy to raise and a renewable source of material, it meant even serfs could afford wool.

Leather was important for belts, shoes, armor, and gloves, but also served for jerkins, leggings, and cloaks. Furs were also used for cloaks or as a nice accent for clothing.

Linen and cambric was a nice little luxury. It did not itch like wool and was cooler in the summer. Often, a person wore a shift or chemise of white linen. They wore this during the day to keep sweat off their nicer clothes (just as a person today might wear a white cotton shirt under a business suit), and they slept in it at night. The chemise tended to get very dirty. Remember, bathing was "evil" back then. Wearing the linen chemise kept the sweat, dirt, and odors off the nice gowns. It also kept itchy wool off the skin.

Silk and satin were extremely rare and reserved for the highest echelons of society. A noble might have one silk gown for special parties. Saints were buried in silk. By the 15th century, silk finally began to be made in Italy, but the price was still above a normal person's earnings.

More reading material:

http://www.octavia.net/9thclife/Clothing.htm

Answer 3

The answer depends on the specific time period, the country and the status of the man or woman. An English peasant in 1100 did not dress the same as an English peasant in 1300; he would look different again in 1450. People in Ireland did not dress the same as people in Germany or Italy. The nobility and wealthy peasant classes always dressed in more colourful and fine cloth than farming labourers; fashions, like every other aspect of life, changed considerably throughout the medieval period.

Just to take England in the late 12th century as a specific example, a low-status working peasant woman wore a long, off-white linen shift, a plain woollen dress of brown, grey or some other dull woollen cloth with a round neck and long, tight sleeves, a linen headcloth or veil covering her hair and turnshoes on her feet. A man of the same status wore a long off-white linen shirt and braies (baggy underpants), two separate leggings of wool called hose, a tunic reaching to the knees, turnshoes and often a hood and cape or a hooded cloak or chape in cold or wet weather, or a wide straw hat in summer. Colours were again dull and drab, the woollen cloth coarse and hard-wearing.

A merchant might wear similar linen underwear and a long woollen robe decorated with tablet-woven bands or embroidery at the hems and neck; his cloak might be lined with fur and his shoes would be of better-quality leather, perhaps decorated with silk stitching.

A noblewoman wore a fine white linen veil, a shift of very fine, white linen or silk, expensive shoes of imported Spanish leather, a long wool or silk dress embroidered with a design and with long pendant pieces (tippets) at the wrists, often with an expensive leather belt with silver-plated decorations and gilt bronze buckle, buckle plate and strapend. Her cloak (fastened at the throat with a brooch) would be lined with the finest ermine, vair or gris furs imported from Russia or northern Germany.

A nobleman, when not wearing armour, might choose footed hose bias-cut from fine woollen cloth to provide a better fit, a long flowing silk or woollen gown embroidered with a design and a cap on his head; he might wear leather gauntlets if he were going hunting with falcons and his cloak would be fur-lined. A large brooch fastened this cloak on one shoulder.

Answer 4

A variety depending on location and wealth of the wearer.

Linen (made from Flax) and Wool were the most common for most people. Both were durable.

Cotton was around, mostly imported into Europe, and not in high quantities until the Industrial Revolution in the 1600s.

The wealthy often wore imported silks.

I know that is not much detail but I .

Eric

Answer 5

Mainly wool, some silks, and velvets. Who you were decided what you wore. It was regulated by law that certain colors and gems were worn only by the nobility. It was easy to tell who was who by looking at them.