Clothing in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages the tunic, which had been in use since antiquity, was the basic garment of every man. The tunic’s hemline could be knee-length or even ankle-length, and it was worn with trousers or hose. The medieval woman’s dress resembled the man’s tunic, but it was always ankle-length. Over the tunic or dress both men and women could wear a robe, a coat or a sleeveless gown. By the end of the Middle Ages women began to adopt the new renaissance style dress consisting of a wide skirt and a fitted bodice or jacket.

Most common women would use the wool from their own sheep to make the family’s clothes. Wool fabric could be spruced up with plant-based dyes, using stinging nettle for green, heather for brown, northern bedstraw for red, and woad for blue. Only a select few could afford the expensive silks, which were imported through the Silk Road from faraway eastern lands.

A long undershirt of linen served as the undergarment for both men and women. The undershirt protected clothes from sweat and the grease produced by the skin. This way clothes stayed quite clean, and it was rarely necessary to wash them. Doing laundry was hard work, because the water had to be carried from the well and heated in a pot, and the clothes were washed by hand. Besides, clothes were very expensive, and people did not want to wear them down through unnecessary washing. One could also wear an apron while doing messy work, to prevent stains on clothes.

In cold weather people could wear fur-lined coats or capes. In the area of present-day Finland the warm furs of northern animals were some of the most exported products, and the precious squirrell skins could even be used as currency.

In the summer poorer people would walk barefoot, to prevent wear on their shoes. In cold weather people could insulate their feet with simple foot-wraps, or socks knitted with a single needle made of bone. Leather slippers and boots were used, but bast shoes made of birch bark were the most affordable type of footwear available.

When entering a church or appearing before a king, a man had to remove his hat, it was a sign of respect. On the other hand, wives and nuns always covered their hair with a veil or cap. However, an unmarried woman could expose her hair (which might be open or braided), and adorn her head with a circlet made of scraps of colourful fabric, or a tall, cone-shaped headdress called the hennin.