Boccaccio's time - medieval period

MEDIEVAL FASHION


Medieval fashion during the middle ages was dominated and highly influenced by Kings and Queens of the era. Only the wealthy could dress in fashionable clothes.Sumptuary  laws restricted ordinary people in their expenditure including money spent on clothes, which impacted Medieval fashion. Under the Sumptuary laws passed by King Edward III only royalty were allowed to wear cloth of gold and purple silk. Expensive veils were banned for lower class women. Only the wives or daughters of nobles were allowed to velvet, satin sable, or ermine. Different events which occurred during Medieval era of the Middle Ages also affected fashion. The Crusades was probably the greatest influence on Medieval Fashion when fine silks, satins, damasks, brocades, and velvet were imported from the the Far East. The Medieval fashion worn in the royal courts in the Middle Ages were imitated across Europe. Fashions in France. Spain and Italy atrongly influenced the fashions of the Medieval England.

                              

                      

          







MEDIEVAL HAIRSTYLE

During the Medieval era, both men and women of the upper social classes wore their hair in loose curls. Women sometimes fastened gold balls at the end of their hair. The lower classes wore their hair undecorated and generally shorter, at the chin or shoulders. Noble women wore flat bonnets that covered their hair, or ribbons and gold threads in their hair. Later, bonnets, hats and veils became even more popular when church tradition decreed that married women were to keep their hair covered. Cone-shaped hats with a veil were also popular during this era. Women sometimes had their hair styled into what looked like two identical mounds (either braided or unbraided) on the both sides of the head. During this time, a woman's high forehead was considered a beautiful feature, and women often shaved off their forehead to heighten their hairlines. Their foreheads were decorated with headbands which were sometimes adorned with pearls and stones. Women also wore nets in their hair during this era.