In trying to choose a book to review for this month, I ran into a problem. I wanted to review Medieval Costume and Fashion by Herbert Norris in order to point out some of its downfalls as a source of research for Medieval clothing. In order to do that, I wanted to discuss what one should look for in a good resource. So, I thought that perhaps I should do a book that I can only highly recommend as a resource – Textiles and Clothing: 1150- 1450 by Elisabeth Crowfoot, Frances Pritchard and Kay Staniland.
Instead of having to make a decision between the two, I thought it might be useful to compare the two as sources of information, pointing out the pros and cons of both books.
First off, Norris’ book is an excellent resource for Medieval recreationists. Medieval Costume and Fashion contains not just information about textiles and accessories, but also information about eating habits, manners, arts, historical data, heraldry, and so on. The information he has about clothing and fashion is extensive, but has to be taken with some measure of doubt. Norris does not list his sources, nor is there any information about the source of the illustrations and figures in this book.
The benefits of this book are that Norris provides incredible depth of information about a variety of topics relating to clothing and the time period in general. He also often shows patterns that could be used to attempt to recreate the clothing pictured in the book. Although these patterns are not 100% correct all the time, at least they can give you a place to start. The disadvantages are that it is uncertain what sources he used. Are his illustrations from extant pieces of art? If so, from when and where? This is important to know in a book of this type because the illustrations are all line drawings – in other words, an artist’s interpretation. There is often no way of going to look for the actual piece of art in order to check how accurate the illustration is.
This can lead to some problems if you only use Norris for your research. For example, the sideless surcote that is on the cover of the book is incorrect based on other sideless surcotes that can be found in period sources. Simply because someone used the wrong colors, it looks as if the sideless surcote is held up in the front with two strips of fur that go over the shoulders. The center section appears to be the underdress, as it has the same color. In period art, you can see that the center section between those pieces of fur are the same color as the skirt of the surcote, not the same color as the underdress. So, it is a good tertiary resource (primary means the real thing, secondary means using the real thing as a source, and tertiary means using secondary sources). Since it is unclear what Norris’ sources are, it is hard to tell whether this is a secondary or tertiary resource. However, because there are no illustrations of the real thing, I have a hard time calling this a secondary resource. To give Norris some praise, he does refer to period sources such as illuminations, treasury records and contemporary writings within his text. But, for some things, it is unclear on what he is basing his conclusions.
This said, let me describe a book that one would call a secondary resource. It is not the real thing, but it is close to it as the information in the book is based upon findings of Medieval textiles and pieces of clothing from London. The pictures are of these extant pieces and the illustrations are exact drawings (with measurements) of these pieces or are technical drawings meant to show a method of doing something.
Textiles and Clothing has in depth information about pieces of cloth that were found in areas of London that had been used as trash deposits during the Middle Ages. Due to the conditions there, many items did not decompose as they normally would have over this period of time.
The authors discuss the threads used to weave the fabric, the weaving patterns used, colors, thickness, and treatments such as felting found among these pieces. Since parts of clothing were also found, construction of different items, or at least parts of items, can be seen.
To back up some of their inferences, they do use period art. However, this tends to be in the form of line drawings, giving them the same drawbacks as the illustrations in Norris’ book. These illustrations are an artist’s interpretation, no matter how close, of a piece of art.
The benefit of this book over Norris is that they did their research based on pieces of material and clothing that the authors could touch, look at and thoroughly research. The items that were found are shown in the book either as photographs (some even in color). Other items of interest are drawn to show construction and sewing techniques.
If you want to know what fabrics really existed in the Middle Ages, what fabric really looked like, how things were really sewn together and how clothes were really finished, this is the book to use.
I would recommend both books for any well-read Medievalist’s bookshelf. Both are good when used in conjunction with another. Norris is wonderful for getting an overview of what things were worn and what they most likely looked like. It is a good resource for learning a bit more about the time period we are trying to recreate. However, it must be balanced out with books that provide a look at the real thing from the Middle Ages, as well. In this case, Textiles and Clothing can not be ignored.
Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard and Kay Staniland.
Textiles and Clothing: 1150- 1450. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2001.
ISBN 0 85115 840 4
Textiles and Clothing is currently available on Amazon.com for $39.95. It is worth every penny if you are interested in textiles at all. Many of us paid twice as much as that when the book first came out and was published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office in 1992. It is the book that I refer to before I sew anything.
Norris, Herbert. Medieval Costume and Fashion.
Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1999.
ISBN 0 486 40486 2 (paperback).
Medieval Costume and Fashion is currently available on Amazon.com for $13.27. It is also worth this amount of money.
Need to choose between the two? Well, that depends on your focus. If you are happy getting your clothing just good enough, the Norris is a good choice. If you want your clothing to be as close to authentic as possible, or you at least are interested in textiles from the Middle Ages, than this is the book you should choose.
Back to: The Middle Ages: A Concise Encyclopedia, edited by H.R. Loyn
Continue to: The Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchman
Close this window