MEDIEVAL ROMANCE AND TRADE
600 -1449
Throughout this period clothes for most people were very simple, based on little more than two draped rectangles sewn into a tunic.
Tunics and cloaks were made of wool and linen, though leather and furs were also worn, especially in the colder northern regions of Europe.
Silk was an extremely expensive item throughout the medieval era.
After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476CE people began to travel across Europe, learning new customs, techniques, and fashions.
The church split into two branches: the Eastern (Byzantine) and the Western (Holy Roman Empire) with different styles of clothing for each.
Ecclesiastical clothing was fixed at this time by papal decree and religious vestments today still follow these templates
New skills and tools
Most people in the Middle Ages wore a variation on a tunic, but, as cutting improved slowly from the 12th to the 14th centuries, clothing became more shaped to the body.
Also at this time vertcial looms were replaced by horizontal ones, which allowed fabric to be woven more quickly and increased textile productuion; it became cheaper to buy clothing.
Byzantium retained the most advanced and luxurious culture -- its clothing styles were much imitated by Western courts and monarchs such as Charlemagne.
Europeans traveling to and trading with Middle Eastern areas discovered new styles and fabrics, eventually finding out the secrets of sericulture (silk production).
Fine lampas, cloth-of-gold, and brocaded silks were produced in Italy and Spain, no longer relying on expensive imports.
Birth of fashion
By the later Middle Ages fashion and clothing became more complicated.
There was a wider choice of garments and accessories and a greater range of fabrics; colors were brighter and closures more varied.
With a certain novelty and more choice, fashion can be said to have been bron, styles changed more quickly, and the idea of change for change's sake arrived.
Improved production of textiles meant wastage, and innovation was possible.
Garment shapes began to be curved, and edges could be snipped or dagged.
Place in society
Despite these changes, some things remained rigid.
Women were expected to keep their heads covered, and clothes dictated an individual's place in society -- they revealed who you were and what you did.
At the same time differences between social classes increased -- the rich looked a lot richer than the poor.
中世紀羅曼史與貿易
公元600-1449
這段時期大多數人的服裝非常簡單，都是基于兩個矩形縫制的長袍上作一點變化。
袍子與披風主要由羊毛和亞麻制成，當然也會穿著皮革和毛皮，特別在歐洲北部較為寒冷地區。
而絲綢在中世紀仍舊是非常昂貴的物品。
公元476年，羅馬帝國隕落之后，人們開始穿越歐洲大陸，學習新的風俗，技術和時尚。
教會分裂成兩個派系：東部（拜占庭）與西部（神圣羅馬帝國），他們各自有著不同的著裝扶風格。
傳教士服裝在當時是遵循教皇法令與固定著裝禮儀的，如今依然遵循這些范本。
新技能與工具
大多數人在中世紀穿著的還是僅有一些變化的長袍，但當12世紀至14世紀剪裁慢慢進步，服裝變得越來越合身。
同時，臥式織布機取代直立式織布機，使織物更快得被織好，提升了紡織品的生產力；從而服裝價格也變低了。
拜占庭時期曾保留了最先進最奢華的文化－而其服裝風格也影響了西方皇室與查理大帝那樣的君主。
當歐洲人長途跋涉到中東地區做貿易，他們發現了新的風格和面料，最終找出生產絲綢的秘密。
上好的羔羊毛彩色披巾，金絲線織物以及絲綢錦緞都能夠在意大利和西班牙生產，不再依賴昂貴的進口。
時尚的誕生
中世紀后期服飾與潮流開始越來越變幻莫測。
服裝，配飾與面料都有非常廣泛的余地可以選擇；并且顏色更鮮亮，縫合也更多樣化。
因為具有一定的新穎性與更多選擇性，時尚從此誕生了，風格變化越來越快，變革的理念便相應到來了。
紡織品生產力的改良意味著浪費，而卻讓創新成為可能。
服裝外形開始有曲線，邊緣也能夠裁切了。
社會地位
盡管有這些變化，有些事情仍舊僵化。
婦女仍舊被期望遮蓋頭部，并且服裝支配著一個人的社會地位－他們透露了你是誰你做了什么。
同一時期不同社會階層的差別也在拉開－富人比窮人富有得多。
