Pre- Industrial Fabrics

[trentonian7]

I've been thinking about the clothes of a particular culture of mine and I found myself using the word "flannel", fabric that didn't originate until the 16th century. What I'm wondering is, what fabrics would have been worn in the medieval era, in the Roman era, or even before that in places like Assyria? Would the rich have worn different fabrics than the poor?

 

[Heliotrope]

Ah! This is pretty much the best question ever! (For me, I love sewing and all things to do with traditional costuming).

So only natural fabrics would have been used. These include:

silks
satin
velvet
good quality leather
Linen
Cotton
wool
or sheepskin, other skins
flax

There is a ton of information out there if you just goole "roman clothing materials"

 

[SeverinR]

Let's go a little further:
Velvet is newer isn't it?
Cotton, silk and wool were the oldest aren't they?
leathers I guess would be the oldest clothing material?

 

[trentonian7]

Ah! This is pretty much the best question ever! (For me, I love sewing and all things to do with traditional costuming).

So only natural fabrics would have been used. These include:

silks
satin
velvet
good quality leather
Linen
Cotton
wool
or sheepskin, other skins
flax

There is a ton of information out there if you just goole "roman clothing materials"

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoy this question. Do you use original clothing concepts in your worlds or do you use more historical trends?

 

[Heliotrope]

Let's go a little further:
Velvet is newer isn't it?
Cotton, silk and wool were the oldest aren't they?
leathers I guess would be the oldest clothing material?

Yes. Velvet is a bit newer. It is created by combining blends of silk and cotton (usually) and was probably invented in the middle east around 700-900 AD.

Linen is ancient. It is made of woven flax and was used in mummification by the ancient egyptians. The oldest scraps of linen can be dated back almost 36,000 years…. so at least 34,000 years before the height of the roman empire. They had it pretty well honed by the time the Romans were weaving it.

Linin would have been used for only the rich, as it is not elastic at all (being a grass) and can break really easily (unlike cotton or wool, which is more durable). Easy breakage in weaving makes it more time consuming, and thus, more costly.

The earliest records of linen manufacturing date back 4,000 years to ancient Egypt.

Yes, cotton, silk and wool are old, but not as old as linen.

Yes, furs/skins would be considered the oldest clothing material, but not leather.

Leather tanning didn't actually start until about 7,000 BC. So comparatively it is fairly new. Previously, people did wear skins/furs but they tended to rot and had to be continuously replaced. Leather tanning is quite the process. It takes time, and very stinky chemicals, so the average lay person would not have access to leather, even in Roman times.

 

[Heliotrope]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoy this question. Do you use original clothing concepts in your worlds or do you use more historical trends?

As a person who lives and breathes history, I tend to do a ton of heavy research into my stories. I like things to be as accurate as possible historically. The only exception is with things like Steam Punk or Diesel Punk, or some Sci-fi where technology is in place to make things a bit different. I have an alternate energy source in my novel, so I do take some liberties as far as industrialization during what I would consider a Renaissance era.

However, that said, I do try to keep things as accurate as possible.

 

[Mythopoet]

Cotton is only going to be common in certain areas at certain times before the industrial revolution though. So you'll want to look into that further before using it.

 

[Heliotrope]

Cotton was in Egypt around 3,000 BC and they started growing it specifically for manufacturing at around 6 CE, so it would have made it to Rome by the height of the Roman empire.

Herodotus, a Greek historian mentions Indian cotton in around in the 5th Century BCE. And when Alexander the Great invaded India they started wearing it because it was more comfortable than wool.

At that time Indian cotton was well known for its vivid colours as well.

 

[Heliotrope]

Also remember too that metallurgy was pretty big by then, and armour (especially helmets and shoulder guards) would have been metal. Also they were pretty big into metal jewellery.

Also, materials such as wood, sticks, leaves etc were still important. For the very poor sandals would have been made from leaves or wood. Ladies wore cork soles on their shoes.

Linin armour was stuffed with hay to add extra padding.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

This is a great thread. Heliotrope, you are a wealth of information. Do you have any sites that you would recommend for researching early types of clothing? The people group I'm developing were early forest dwelling weavers. Do you think people would ever have used bark fiber for weaving?

 

[Heliotrope]

This is a great thread. Heliotrope, you are a wealth of information. Do you have any sites that you would recommend for researching early types of clothing? The people group I'm developing were early forest dwelling weavers. Do you think people would ever have used bark fiber for weaving?

Yes, absolutely. The Coast Salish people (the local First Nation in BC, Canada) used cedar bark for clothing as well as for baby diapers, hats, shawls etc. Cedar bark is amazing because it is almost totally water proof and rot/mould resistant.

Here is a link to a teacher resource describing the tools and methods used by the Coast Salish people.

https://www.glenbow.org/media/coast_lp_grade_4-12.pdf

Here is the wikipedia site for Salish weaving, which explains materials used (including cedar bark).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salish_weaving

 

[Caged Maiden]

A note about "linen", many fibers were used to make linen and not necessarily what we now think of as linen, which is from the flax plant. In fact, in Medieval Europe, the most common fiber for making linen (which was a generic term for fabric made of certain kinds of plant materials), was Chinese nettles. Just a thing to consider. Also, the reason silk was so favored was because it comes in fine quality because it's one long strand (if done correctly), whereas flax fibers are only 12" long, so the fabric made from the flax is a rougher weave. But different plants have different length fibers (though I don't know the specifics for different types of linen), so that might be best based on region and type of plants and amount of trade in your culture.

Also, historically, there were many blended fabrics, like linsey-woolsey (linen and wool), cotton/linen, and different grades of wools, silks, and linens. So, if we're talking Medieval fabrics, consider blends that don't exist anymore, because certain fabrics took dye better than others, and they were used because historical people loved bold colors...because only peasants wore washed-out colors and earth tones, right? HA! Dye is a whole other matter entirely.

 

[skip.knox]

I know just enough about pre-industrial dyes to know it's a surprising topic. Maybe some of the better informed here would care to enlighten us.

Also, to reiterate an earlier point: tanning is incredibly stinky. Tanneries were routinely located on the outskirts of town, and down wind in places with prevailing winds. The substances used in the process were harsh, and tanners could be recognized by their permanently dyed lower legs. I've long thought a tannery would be a good setting for a chase scene or a fight scene.

 

[Caged Maiden]

here's a great site for dye and fabric information as it pertains to Renaissance Venice and the nearby areas: The Library - The Realm of Venus

about halfway down the page, you'll find info on fabric types and dye colors.

Of course, this is one place and this place had available a lot of trade and east met west in Italy. If your culture is based off the Celts, or Vikings, or West Africans, there would be different things available for fabric and dyeing.

I love this particular site for its portraits, though, and the information tends to be well-researched, not guesswork. Hope it helps anyone interested in historical clothing, though its focus is on mid to late Renaissance

 

[Caged Maiden]

If you want to look at some great books, look up Janet Arnold at your local library. The books are expensive, but sometimes libraries carry them, and she's GREAT!!!

 

[j.k.m]

Fascinating. I am in big trouble. I can here to focus on my writing. I find i want to look at everything here . Ut-ooh