How does west-european costume of early-medieval look like?

Let's look at this miniature from the Bible of king Charles the Bald, 850 CE.

The male clothing of the Franks is depicted in the miniature in several variations. King Charles the Bald is presented in full royal attire, borrowed from the Romans, but significantly simplified. He wears a long purple tunic with narrow long sleeves and a large golden cloak - a cross between the Greek chlamys and the Roman paludamentum - trimmed along the edges and collar with a narrow light purple border. The cloak is tied on the shoulder with two ties. On the head is a crown of elementary form - a golden hoop with precious stones, to which are attached two intersecting stripes, forming a spherical shape. The transverse stripe is figured, and from it descends above the ears on each side a curl. On the feet are purple shoes.

Two courtiers - close to the king, standing on both sides of his throne, are dressed in Frankish costumes - brae below the knees, straight upper shirts chens (with narrow sleeves). Narrow colored belts are tied just below the waist. On the upper part of the sleeves - just below the shoulders - there is a small embroidery. The courtiers are wearing cloaks - "se". The peculiarity of their haircut is further emphasized by a narrow bandage, connected at the back by two ribbons with drooping ends. But the most noticeable and unique detail is the Franks' footwear - these are stockings made of fabric or thin leather, leaving the toes and part of the foot bare. The stockings are entwined with narrow belts tied under the knees. The second garters - above the knee - support the brae.

Almost all the clergy accompanying Abbot Martin de Tours are depicted in Catholic service vestments, in their earliest form. The vestments on the two lower figures on the right are most clearly visible: over long colored tunics - white with two purple stripes "albs", barely covering the knees. The upper vestments of colored fabrics have almost completely preserved the form of the ancient Roman penula with a hood, schematically depicted in the miniature.

It is also necessary to pay attention to miniature from the Gospels of Otto III, 1000 CE.

The portrait of Otto also shows two military men on one side of him and two clergy on the other. The facing leaf shows four women appearing to approach him. They represented the four provinces of his empire.

We will no longer find images of the distinctive footwear of the Franks on the art monuments of this time. Soft boots - bot, depicted in this miniature, became the main men's footwear. The height of their shafts varied depending on the purpose of the shoes and the taste of their owner.

The bishops' clothing does not include bright colours.

Women's clothing was also divided into upper and lower; the lower was slightly longer and had narrow long sleeves, while the shorter sleeves of the upper garment were always wide; later they were made long and could even reach the floor. Headdresses were strictly differentiated: married women covered their hair with a scarf or veil; girls went bareheaded, with their hair falling freely or braided.

Thank for your attention. Draw historically!

Reference: Мерцалова М.Н. Костюм разных времен и народов. Т.1. СПб: Академия моды, 1993.

Wolfgang Bruhn, Мах Tilke. DAS KOSТUMWERК Eine Geshichte des Kostums aller Zeiten und Volker vom Altertum Ьis zur Neuzeit. VERLAG ERNST WASMUTH, BERLIN 1941.

Picture reference: Ibid. p. 156 / p. 100.

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