In Escoffion, how is the Medieval clothing laws and headwear discussed?
In the Middle Ages, the types of clothing which people could wear were dictated by clothing laws. These laws dictated which classes of people could obtain and wear certain types of clothing. The laws were based on a hierarchy of wealth or status. These laws are sometimes labelled as sumptuary laws. The first English sumptuary law was passed in 1337, banning clothing made out of any foreign (non-English) materials to be worn. These kinds of laws were put into place so as to stop the over-expenditure of the upper classes on luxury items. Alternatively, these laws could be viewed as protectionist in nature, enacted in order to protect the textile industries of the time from overproduction and encourage local industry to develop. However, economics played a relatively small role in the overall larger effect social order and hierarchy had on clothing laws. In a sub-section of the Statutes of Savoy (1430) there were thirty-nine supposed different groups of people in English society - mostly separated by birth or occupation - sorted into a hierarchy, with each level given specifications about what type of clothing they could wear, the value of the material and which accessories they could adorn. The more elaborate clothing designs, which required more material and a higher level of craftsmanship, were reserved for these higher classes, such as the nobility, men and women of the court or the Royal Family (who had access to almost everything). People of lower-class or socio-economic status wore simpler clothes, often without a headdress at all. One symbol of sumptuary law which could be commonly seen in the 15th century was the dress custom amongst women of making their hairline higher, called a bongrace. This custom was originally achieved by tying a ribbon of varying materials around the head and later evolved into shaving of the hairline. Certain materials has specific meanings; for example, wearing velvet meant that the wearer had an annual income of £10 or more. At that time, clothing dyes were made from organic materials such as plants and insects. Dyes were expensive to make, often yielding little produce and as a result the richest and darkest of dyes were reserved only for people of higher status. The wearing of the escoffion and other extravagant types of headwear was regulated by these sumptuary laws in England, although similar edicts were passed in other parts of Europe.
Royal Family Middle Ages sumptuary laws Medieval clothing laws and headwear England protectionist