Medieval Textiles

[Lady Rosalind Avalle]

Introduction

Medieval fabrics and fashions can be tricky, especially if localizing a character to one setting. A woman in a Medieval Scottish town would most likely not be parading around wearing silk or velvet (for reasons I will explain shortly), which begs the question -- how can my character shine in period-correct sartorial splendor?

Well, first you have to ask yourself four questions.

1. When does your character live? (Easy!)
2. Where does your character live?
3. To which Scottish culture does your character belong?
4. To what class does your character belong?

Generally speaking, this should cover all of your bases, but I will be posting further information for those really, really interested in textiles. Or just...you know...bored.

It is important when choosing your character's clothing for a few reasons. A Highlander dressed in Lowlander clothing would not be particularly curious -- one might assume he was on his way to court, as the Lowlander fashion was seen as more debonair. But a Lowlander dressed in a Highlander's clothes would be seen as provincial. So, for a Scottish character living among the fluid and ever-shifting borders in the 1300s, the first question is -- are you a Highlander or a Lowlander?

If your character is a Highlander, do they belong to the Gaelic culture? If so, many living in the Gaelic culture dressed very similarly to how Irish women dressed. It also appears that, just as Scottish Gaelic men's clothing diverged from that of the Irish, that Scottish women's clothing also may have diverged. Unfortunately, there is very little evidence about Scottish Gaelic women's clothing in this period. But information available about textiles and dyeing practices is fairly common.

If your character is from a town, they are likely not associated with the Gael culture, and therefore may dress more like their peers in England and France. However, our setting in Skye is also the lowest point of English influence given the poor relations between the two countries. Also tempering the "Englishness" factor of a Scot's dress is money. Scots, in general, were much poorer than their English or French neighbors, and may not have kept on top of fashion. One distinguishing characteristic found in a much later period (16th C.) is that Scottish town women often wore plaids as shawls.

With increased wealth, comes increased ability to keep on top with the latest fashions. Therefore, many of the wealthier members of society, even Highlanders, were able to procure the same clothing as their peers in England and France. For the most part, there was very little difference in style.

Now, a word on plaids. Plaids are a 19th century construct and did not hold any inherent clan alliance until the Jacobite Risings in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Plaids, at the earliest, and most liberal of interpretations, could associate one with a particular region, as local plants, dyeing, and spinning practices yielded unique regional designs. For the necessary Braveheart reference, William Wallace did not wear a plaid (particularly when riding -- the chafing would have been unbearable), nor did he wear woad.

[Lady Rosalind Avalle]

Wool

Wool is a fiber derived principally from sheep and contains several interesting characteristics that contribute to wool's popularity in Northern European countries, such as crimp, texture, and elasticity.

Crimp makes wool easier to spin -- with the natural curl of the fiber, individual fibers attach easily to each other. Wool fabrics also have a far greater bulk than other textiles of the era (linen, for example), allowing the fabric to retain air. These pockets of air causes the product to retain heat, and in a country where winters were brutally cold, wool became not only the fabric of choice, but that of survival. However, the insulation works both ways; Bedouins and Tuaregs use wool clothes to keep the heat out.

The amount of crimp corresponds to the thickness of the wool fibers. Fine wool, like Merino, may have up to a hundred crimps per inch, while coarser wools may have as few as one to two crimps per inch. Hair, by contrast, has little if any scale and no crimp, and little ability to bind into yarn. On sheep, the hair part of the fleece is called kemp. The relative amounts of kemp to wool vary from breed to breed, and make some fleeces more desirable for spinning, felting, or carding into batts for quilts or other insulating products. Common breeds in Northern Europe at this time included the Soay, Icelandic, and Jacob. Later, these breeds were expanded to include Ryeland, Cotswold, Lincoln, Teeswater, and Wensleydale. (For more information about these breeds, visit: www.wildfibres.co.uk/html/sheep_breeds.html )

Wool possesses much greater ability to return to its natural length after being stretched than any artificial fiber. In water or steam, wool can stretch to about twice its length without breaking. Because of elasticity, woollen garments may be stretched or crushed without losing their shape. Also, this fiber felts readily, by heat, moisture, and pressure being applied during the manufacturing processes.

For those interested in igniting their characters' clothes, wool is probably not for you. But, if your character has an occupation where they may be at a higher exposure to being set on fire, wool is usually specified for garments for fire-fighters and soldiers, as it has a lower rate of flame spread, low heat release, and low heat of combustion. Wool does not melt or drip. It forms a char which is insulating and self-extinguishes.

Dyeing the wool was more art than science, as different regions contained different plant varieties, each yielding a slightly different hue or color. The colour produced by a particular plant's leaves can depend on the soil, climate and ripeness of the leaves. In addition the chemical fixer used (usually with an alkaline base, but in many cases, urine was used) can also alter the colour. For example, dock leaves can produce colors ranging from red to yellow, to green or red. As a rule, the more a skein cost, the more vibrant its color. Simply put, it would be bizarre to see a peasant wearing purple, as the indigo required to produce the color might cost more than the peasant herself was worth.

[Lady Rosalind Avalle]

Linen

In use since 8,000 BC, linen is a labor-intensive textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather. Linen is highly absorbent and a good conductor of heat, giving linen the characteristic of being cool to the touch. Strongest of the vegetable fibers, linen is two to three times the strength of cotton. Smooth and lint free after finishing, linen becomes softer with washing. However, constant creasing, washing, and wear will break the linen threads. Linen has poor elasticity and wrinkles easily.

Linen fabrics have a high natural luster; their natural color ranges between shades of ivory, ecru, tan, or gray. Pure white linen is created by heavy bleaching. Linen typically has a thick and thin character with a crisp and textured feel to it, but it can range from stiff and rough, to soft and smooth. When properly prepared, linen fabric has the ability to absorb and lose water rapidly. It can gain up to 20% moisture without feeling damp.

When freed from impurities, linen is highly absorbent and will quickly remove perspiration from the skin. Linen is a stiff fabric and is less likely to cling to the skin; when it billows away, it tends to dry out and become cool so that the skin is being continually touched by a cool surface. It is a very durable, strong fabric, and one of the few that are stronger wet than dry. The fibers do not stretch and are resistant to damage from abrasion. However, because linen fibers have a very low elasticity, the fabric will eventually break if it is folded and ironed at the same place repeatedly.

Mildew, perspiration, and bleach can also damage the fabric, but it is resistant to moths and carpet beetles. Linen is relatively easy to take care of, since it resists dirt and stains, has no lint or pilling tendency, and can be dry cleaned, machine washed or steamed. It can withstand high temperatures, and has only moderate initial shrinkage.

From the above description, two things are of particular note. First, as a labor-intensive product, linen was highly expensive, and thus worn by those who could afford it. Second, linen was usually reserved for undergarments or lightweight, warm-weather clothing.

[Lady Rosalind Avalle]

Other Textiles

Linsey-woolsey (English), wincey (Scots)

This textile is a combination of both wool and linen threads. Linsey-woolsey was valued for its warmth, durability, and cheapness, but not for its looks. A particular value when there is a shortage of wool.


Brocade

This textile is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. Brocade is typically woven on a draw loom. Ornamental features in brocade are emphasized and wrought as additions to the main fabric, sometimes stiffening it, though more frequently producing on its face the effect of low relief. In some, but not all, brocades, these additions present a distinctive appearance on the back of the material where the supplementary weft or floating threads of the brocaded or broached parts hang in loose groups or are clipped away. When the weft is floating on the back, this is known as a continuous brocade; the supplementary weft runs from selvage to selvage. The yarns are cut away in cutwork and broché. Also, a discontinuous brocade is where the supplementary yarn is only woven in the patterned areas.


Silk

The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance for which silk is prized comes from the fibers' triangular prism-like structure which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles.

Venetian merchants traded extensively in silk and encouraged silk growers to settle in Italy. By the 13th century, Italian silk was a significant source of trade. Since that period, the silk worked in the province of Como has been the most valuable silk in the world. The wealth of Florence was largely built on textiles, both wool and silk, and other cities like Lucca also grew rich on the trade.


Velvet

The art of velvet-weaving probably originated in ancient Kashmir. Earliest references occur around the beginning of the 14th century.

The peculiar properties of velvet, the splendid yet softened depth of dye colour it exhibited, made it fit for official robes and sumptuous hangings. The most magnificent textiles of medieval times were Italian velvets. These were ornamented by such techniques in silk, with uncut pile or with a ground of gold tissue, etc.

The earliest sources of European artistic velvets were Lucca, Genoa, Florence and Venice, and Genoa continues to send out rich velvet textures. Somewhat later the art was taken up by Flemish weavers, and in the 16th century Bruges attained a reputation for velvets which was not inferior to that of the great Italian cities.

[Lady Rosalind Avalle]

Cotton

Cotton was a relatively late arrival in Europe. Though cotton has been cultivated in Egypt and known to the Greeks, it did not come into common use until the 1700s. Such a late date seems a little incongruous with cotton's history of trade, which began when Arab traders began exporting the cloth in 800 AD, a trade that expanded rapidly when the Moors began cultivating the plant in Spain.

Yet when we look at the history of wars fought and the economic relations between European states, it's easy to see why the use of cotton was so greatly delayed. Wool merchants and farmers fought bitter battles to keep cotton out of northern Europe. Taxes were imposed on the fiber, and eventually, the use of cotton was made illegal. To bypass these barriers, England began growing cotton in India, and weaving the cloth at home from the 1500s onward. Though weaving mills existed in England as early as the 1700s, cotton remained an exotic fiber and relatively expensive.

As explorers, tradesmen, and soldiers returned from Asia and the Near East, they brought with them changing tastes in fabric. Raw cotton from Egypt was available, but expensive. It was often used in the making of buckram and fustian, or in padding for quilts and blankets.

It is important to keep this in mind, as a Scottish peasant circa 1300 would most certainly not have access to cotton, unless he or she had access to the Moorish trade. As always, it may have been a different case entirely for those with money.

[Lady Rosalind Avalle]

Anachronistic Textiles

These textiles may not have existed circa 1300. In some cases, if the fabric did exist, it was likely far more labor-intensive and therefore ridiculously expensive. Some, like lace, existed, but in a much different form than we would recognize today.


Gingham

Gingham is a printed or dyed fabric that was originally intended to be woven into stripes. Many believe that the name for the fabric was derived from Italian, while others believe the term gingham is of Indonesian origin. The actual term “gingham” is from the Malay language and with both the possible Indonesian and Italian roots agree that the term refers to stripes.

Gingham made its first appearance in the 17th century, where it was imported to England and then migrated to the American colonies. Originally, using two different color fibers to produce a striping effect created gingham. But as time went on, gingham fabrics began to appear that had a checkered pattern, as well as plaids. Blue and white was the color combination of choice for many years.


Lace

Lace was available in the High Middle Ages, but likely not as we know it today. Used in priests' vestments as early as the 16th century, lace was one signal of a changing economic climate. Lace in Medieval Europe consisted not of the clearly defined, symmetrical patterns typical of the Elizabethan era, but more of colorful embroideries appearing on upper-class garments. Needlework lace did not appear until the early 16th century, and bobbin lace mid-16th century.

Early laces were sometimes called punto in aria (stitch in air). The two best-known 16th-century types of lace were needlepoint laces: punto a fogliami (leafwork point), with curving leafy patterns; and reticella, with geometric designs, especially square and circular. (Reticella was also a type of cutwork embroidery.)



Jacquard

A decorative woven or knitted pattern manufactured by using the Jacquard attachment on the loom, named for the French inventor, Joseph Marie Jacquard, who invented the aforementioned loom in 1801. Some types of jacquard fabrics have specific names, like damask and brocade. However, both of these fabrics were produced without the use of the loom. Damask, for example, was available as early as the 11th century from its eponymous city. Splendid patterns, silks and dyes were used by the Damascus weavers, sometimes with the addition of gold or silver thread.

Damask was first produced in China, India, Persia, Syria, and then the Byzantine Empire. In the 12th century, the city of Damascus, famous for its textiles, advanced the beauty and design of the pattern.