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.
中世纪罗曼史与贸易
公元600-1449
这段时期大多数人的服装非常简单，都是基于两个矩形缝制的长袍上作一点变化。
袍子与披风主要由羊毛和亚麻制成，当然也会穿着皮革和毛皮，特别在欧洲北部较为寒冷地区。
而丝绸在中世纪仍旧是非常昂贵的物品。
公元476年，罗马帝国陨落之后，人们开始穿越欧洲大陆，学习新的风俗，技术和时尚。
教会分裂成两个派系：东部（拜占庭）与西部（神圣罗马帝国），他们各自有着不同的着装扶风格。
传教士服装在当时是遵循教皇法令与固定着装礼仪的，如今依然遵循这些范本。
新技能与工具
大多数人在中世纪穿着的还是仅有一些变化的长袍，但当12世纪至14世纪剪裁慢慢进步，服装变得越来越合身。
同时，卧式织布机取代直立式织布机，使织物更快得被织好，提升了纺织品的生产力；从而服装价格也变低了。
拜占庭时期曾保留了最先进最奢华的文化－而其服装风格也影响了西方皇室与查理大帝那样的君主。
当欧洲人长途跋涉到中东地区做贸易，他们发现了新的风格和面料，最终找出生产丝绸的秘密。
上好的羔羊毛彩色披巾，金丝线织物以及丝绸锦缎都能够在意大利和西班牙生产，不再依赖昂贵的进口。
时尚的诞生
中世纪后期服饰与潮流开始越来越变幻莫测。
服装，配饰与面料都有非常广泛的余地可以选择；并且颜色更鲜亮，缝合也更多样化。
因为具有一定的新颖性与更多选择性，时尚从此诞生了，风格变化越来越快，变革的理念便相应到来了。
纺织品生产力的改良意味着浪费，而却让创新成为可能。
服装外形开始有曲线，边缘也能够裁切了。
社会地位
尽管有这些变化，有些事情仍旧僵化。
妇女仍旧被期望遮盖头部，并且服装支配着一个人的社会地位－他们透露了你是谁你做了什么。
同一时期不同社会阶层的差别也在拉开－富人比穷人富有得多。
