What was worn depended on who the person was. A rich person would probably own a variety of clothes, in the latest styles and colours. A poor peasant may only have owned one tunic. It was possible to obtain silks and other luxurious materials from abroad, but these were very expensive. most clothing was made of wool. This meant that most clothing in the Medieval Era was itchy, difficult to wash and dry, and very hot in the Summer. Medieval clothes provided information about the status of the person wearing them.
Natural dyes found in the Medieval Era meant that even a peasant could still look colourful. Plants, roots, lichen, tree bark, nuts, crushed insects, mollusks and iron oxide could achieve nearly every colour of the rainbow.
Through out the Medieval Era laws were passed to regulate what could and could not be worn by members of different social classes. These laws, known as Sumptuary Laws, not only attempted to maintain the separation of the classes, they also addressed excessive expenditures on all sorts of items.
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