Studies in Design and Material Culture Refashioning the Renaissance

How did ordinary men and women dressinearly modernEurope? This book provides new perspectives on clothing and fashion history by investigating the consumption, material significance and cultural meaning of fashionable clothing and accessories among the ‘popular’ classes. How did ordinary men and women dress in the early modern period?Did they rely on cost-effective alternatives to the silks, jewellery, and ornate decorations favoured by the wealthy elite? Or did those with modest means find innovative ways to express their fashion sense?Refashioning the Renaissance provides new perspectives on early modern clothing by investigating the meaning of fashion among the ‘popular’ classes. Combining archival and pictorial evidence, historical reconstruction, hands-on experimentation, and scientific textile analysis, the book explores how men and women of artisan rank created a fashionable look and adapted to the evolving dynamics of the day. Offering a close examination of the materials, craftmanship, and cultural significance of both new and traditional fashion itemsavailable to a broad group of consumers, Refashioning the Renaissancechallenges conventional assumptions that suggest the everyday dress of ordinary early modern families was limited to a narrow selection of garments made of coarse textiles, often produced at home and resistant to change. How did ordinary men and women dress in early modern Europe? What fabrics and garments formed the essential elements of fashion for artisans and shopkeepers? Did they rely on affordable alternatives to the silks, jewellery and decorations favoured by the wealthy elite? Or did those with modest means find innovative ways to express their fashion sense?This book provides new perspectives on early modern clothing and fashion history by investigating the consumption and meaning of fashionable clothing and accessories among the ‘popular’ classes. Through a close examination of the materials, craftsmanship and cultural significance of fashion items owned by and available to a broad group of consumers, it challenges conventional assumptions that the everyday dress of ordinary families was limited to a narrow selection of garments made of coarse textiles, often produced at home and resistant to change.

Pages: 376, Hardcover, Manchester University Press