The Clothes
Normans wore certain clothes depending on how important they where. But first of all what were the general changes of clothes from before the conquest to after they conquered.
NORMAN MAKEOVER:
BEFORE : Day clothes around 1050
The man and woman shown are Anglo - Saxons from a time around 1050. Before the Normans conquered the people of England wore basic Medieval clothes :
- The man wore a tunic made of wool , with a high neck and long sleeves, usually worn over a linen shirt - he also wore loose hose and leather shoes
- The woman wore a tunic like the man's only longer, with a mantle fastening at the shoulder, a hood and a Travelling pouch
After : Day clothes around 1150
The man and woman shown in both pictures are Normans from after the conquest. It took a long time for fashion to change in Medieval times and even when it did some things stayed the same.
- They still wear the fastening mantle at their shoulder and tunics similar to those of the century before
- The difference with the tunics is that they are tighter and have more open sleeves.
- What they also copied from the Anglo - Saxons was long flowing hair - and the woman still wears a hood
- The man in the picture is dressed for travelling in a hooded fur coat and a pointed hat
- Instead of hose he wears leggings bound by clothe and here he is wearing no shoes - although sometimes they were wore as a decorative thing
Clothes go on to change through the centuries until we have ended up with what we have today!
Now back to how they wore different clothing depending on how important they are.
If you were rich you could own clothes in a variety of colours and different styles. Unfortunately if you were a peasant this was not the case. You would own sometimes only one tunic in a plain colour that you were allowed - as the king had banned peasants from wearing some colours!
Peasants :
Rich nobles:
