Clothing In The Renaissance Period

Since all harvesting, weaving, and production of fabrics and clothing was done by hand during the time, the process greatly influenced the prices. Also, due to the laws prohibiting who was allowed to wear what, combined with the cost of material, there was a huge difference in clothing style and look between the classes.

Clothing of the upper classes was heavy and cumbersome, and at times offered a restricted movement to the wearer.

Although the clothing styles of women during Renaissance period changed from year to year, but the basic styles remained the same. Women wore long dresses, quite often with detachable sleeves. These sleeves often had a special relevance to the wearer, sometimes they were a gift from the groom to his newly-wedded wife, or could also be a symbol of their family heritage, passed down from a mother to daughter, or even be rented. Deep dresses exposing much of the neckline were considered fashionable. To keep the dress in place, they wore a tight-fitting bodice with linen chemises and a fuller skirt that would hang down to the ankles.

When young and unmarried, women wore their hair loose, but once married they tied it up in complicated braids and twists. Matrons often covered their hair with veils, and widows were expected to wear a hooded veil. Nuns wore habits and wimples, indicating their order by the colour of their habit: black and white for the Dominicans and brown for the Franciscans.

Fabrics available to those in the upper classes included