View source for Early Period Dress

Although there is a lot of variety, tailoring arts weren't very advanced.  Most [[garb]] is a variant on the basic [[t-tunic]], with interesting accessories.  The length and width of the tunic changes, the colours and manner of deccoration change, etc, to make distinctive cultural dress. 

[[T-tunic]]s are for everyone in this [[period]] - change the [[fabric]] from loosely woven [[wool]]s and [[linnen]]s to finely woven wools, linnen and [[silk]]s to change from rich to poor.  Add lots of decorative [[braid]] or [[embroidery]] to indicate [[wealth]].  Harder to obtain colours like [[purple]], [[blue]] and [[green]] indicate wealth, while [[yellow]], duller [[red]]s and oranges, boring [[brown]]s etc were colours for the poorer.  [[Black]] occured, but was rarely colourfast, a colour for the rich, but most would prefer a garment that still looked good (rather than faded) in a months time.  In later periods, black becomes more common.

Women wear longer tunics (at least ankle length), while men wear shorter tunics (from just above the knee to ankle length, the longer ones sometime slit up the side for free movement).  Men might wear braes (loose pants) under their tunics, or [[hose]] (sometimes hose would have soles sewn to them, rather than wear [[shoe]]s). [[Viking]]s wore [[wickelbander|leg wrapping]]s to keep their [[braies]] out of the way.

Further east, out of [[Europe]], fashions change a bit, but in [[Byzantine|Byzantium]], they were also wearing their own kind of t-tunic by about [[1000]].

=== External Links ===
* Clothing of the "[[Celt]]s". - http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/celtic/intro.html
* How to construct an easy [[peplos]] - http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MelanieWilson/femaledr.htm
* [[Frank]]ish Costume http://www.kipar.demon.co.uk/frankish.html
* [[Pagan]] and Christian "English". Also has a bit on Kentish-frankish - http://www.angelcynn.org.uk/clothing.html
* Echna's 5th Century Irish-Celtic Garb. - http://www.celticgarb.org/clothing/main.html
* Atlantian A&S Links: Clothing By Century - http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/wsnlinks/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=319

[[category:clothing]]