Dress in the Middle Ages (Hardcover)

~ FranCoise Piponnier (Author), Perrine Mane (Author), Caroline Beamish (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This absorbing survey of medieval clothing makes an important and unique contribution to our understanding of the cultural and social conditions of western Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Drawing on paintings and sculpture, documents and literature, surviving clothing, textiles, jewelry, and armor, Fran_oise Piponnier and Perrine Mane show that garments and accessories of the middle ages reveal much about life and society of the time.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; illustrated edition edition (February 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300069065
• ISBN-13: 978-0300069068
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,229,925 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a how-to book, December 2, 1998

By A Customer

If you're looking for an overview of the evolution of style in the Middle Ages, this is not the book for you. If, on the other hand, you're looking for an overview of how clothes were perceived in medieval society and culture, you will find this book useful There are no patterns and only a few illustrations in this slim volume; the focus is instead on the people who made and wore medieval clothing. I think it tries to cover too much ground for such a short book, but I still recommend it to anyone who's trying to put medieval clothing into its cultural context.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Social history, October 8, 2001

By A Customer

This is not a costume book in the usual style of "how to design your own medieval garb" but it is a good introduction to the crafts involved in making clothing in the late Middle Ages and the attitudes of the people wearing those garments. It is a social history rather than a manual, and it is very interesting. My only complaint is that a great number of the illustrations are from the early 16th century and so are better examples of transitional styles than purely medieval ones.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful information to the serious costume student, March 25, 2005

By	Catherine Raymond (Malvern, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For a beginner who needs to learn the basics of what medieval costume looks like, and how it was made and worn, this book has little to give, as it has very few illustrations. However, Piponnier's book fills a different, but equally useful function by supplying details of costume for serious students of the subject who have already learned the basics elsewhere.