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​ Women and Men's Clothing during the Renaissance Era

Clothing during the Renaissance Era was more then just a fashion statement. The clothes worn by different people was based on how wealthy the were and what their social status was. Clothing back then could of also been seen as an investment because, if one was in need of money they could simply sell some of their clothes.The higher your social class, the more money you had to spend on your clothes. It waas not uncommon during the Renaissance Period for people to spend most of their money on their clothes and literally wear their wealth. People of greater wealth were able to incorporate more expensive fabrics in their clothes such as silk, cotton, brocade, and velvet.

Certain colors of clothing also had different meaning such as: Green meant love Gray showed sorrow Yellow expressed hostility Blue showed loyalty Red meant nobility Black and Gray represented lower class people until the 15th century were it ironically was worn by royalty and high class people

Clothing for women during the Renaissance Period constantly changed from 3 pieces of clothing, to 1, then back to 5 of more. During the start of the Renaissance Period and underskirt, bodice, and a robe were commonly worn by women. 1 piece of clothing then came back into styll, followed by 5 or more pieces of clothing. These 5 pieces of clothing included a skirt, underskirt, overbodice or vest, bodice, and a hoop and collar.

This video it good if you would like to known more about the different clothing layers for women

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Women at first wore their hair up in the pointed cone style allowing no hair was to show. This cone would be made out of silk and have ribbon coming from the point of the cone falling down. It then became the style to wear a light weight veil decorated with flowers or lace. Later it became optional to wear a cap at all, and was only worn by older women or when the weather was bad. Even when young women wore a cap, it would still show some of their hair while older womens cap would reveal no hair at all. Most younger women had longer hair and braided it. Curls were a sign of beauty during the Renaissance Period. Snoods were also worn by people who chose to put their hair up.



Later on when the royals passed a law declaring that commoners could only wear 1 color of clothing, slashing was invented. The commoners invented slashing to show their displeasure against the royals. Slashing is when 2 layers of different colors were worn, and the first layer was slashed, so the second layer's color showed through. Eventually this style became used with most clothing worn by men and women.



Men's clothing also changed during the Renaissance Period starting with square look. to achieve the square look, the vest or coat was widened at the shoulders then padded. Legs were also covered with pads, shoes were square toad and a wide brimmed had was usually worn to top it all off. Later on, the barrel look came into style and tailors focused more on the shoulders and hips of a person. The middle of the vest was heavily padded during this time, to make it seem as if you were wearing a barrel. Hosiery soon became popular and were very popular among men. Though they were probably very uncomfortabe, men were willing to do anything to be fashionable. Designs and patterns began to decorate the stockings soon afterwards.

Work Cited

// Fashion of the Ages //. 2004. Photograph. //Women's Renaissance Attire//. Fashions of the Ages. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. . "Renaissance." //Central Washington University//. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. . "Renaissance clothing." //A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety ::Indianchild.com//. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. . "Renaissance Life." //Swords and Armor//. Web. 20 Jan. 2010. . "The Rich History of Renaissance Clothing." //EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints//. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. . // Snood //. Photograph. //Renaissance Hats//. Fantasy Costumes. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .