• 13th Century Clothing

    The idea of having a wardrobe of clothing to select on a daily basis simply did not exist, not for the common people, who generally had one set of clothes in layers to wear depending on the time of year and the weather. Head coverings were very important, and varied a lot, from hoods to broad-brimmed hats.

  • High and Low

    While peasants dressed in simple, mostly undyed clothing, the wealthy and nobility had more scope for ornamentation, adding a sleeveless cotte or surcotte over their long-sleeved shift that could be monochrome or patterned.

  • The Bliaut (Blial)

    This was another clothing layer, a little more practical than a cotte. It had sleeves and draped long, and could be cinched with a belt for ornamentation.

  • The Victorian idea of a bliaut

    This long-sleeved overdress is what turned into the quintessential medieval woman garment, as is evidenced by this painting by Edmund Blair Leighton.

  • The Crespine

    Those fancy medieval headdresses with horns and high cones are a later model. The crespine was a net of gold or silver threads to hold the hair in place, sometimes with a veil, and a circlet of metal decorated with jewels.