D.S. Brewer, Cambridge, 2007.
Scholars, particularly in art and costume history, have argued and accepted that fashion was not really bo before around
1350. Those who are familiar with the old French literature of the XIIth and XIIIth centuries may find that astonishing, since very concise descriptions of fashionable clothing abound in that corpus.
This book directs us towards the written record, asking: did fashion exist in the French middle ages? It argues that a fashion system was nascent in the growing urban areas of France from the later XIIth century and had become a dominant, systematic, societal force in urban areas by the later XIIIth century. It has done this by looking at expressions of desire related to elements of a fashion system. It has not, up to this point, examined closely any particular styles.
Scholars, particularly in art and costume history, have argued and accepted that fashion was not really bo before around
1350. Those who are familiar with the old French literature of the XIIth and XIIIth centuries may find that astonishing, since very concise descriptions of fashionable clothing abound in that corpus.
This book directs us towards the written record, asking: did fashion exist in the French middle ages? It argues that a fashion system was nascent in the growing urban areas of France from the later XIIth century and had become a dominant, systematic, societal force in urban areas by the later XIIIth century. It has done this by looking at expressions of desire related to elements of a fashion system. It has not, up to this point, examined closely any particular styles.