What kind of fabrics did they use in medieval times?

Question: What kind of fabrics did they use in medieval times!?
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Let us speak of Europe!. The most widely, commonly used fabrics were wool and linen, and the combination of the two, lindsey-woolsey!. The choice was seasonal, linen in warm weather, wool in colder!.

Silk was known and treasured, but very expensive and affordable only by nobles!. Its production was a state secret of China's, which remained the sole source of supply for centuries!.

Cotton was a relatively late arrival in Europe!. Arab traders exported the cloth starting about 800 ad, but its cultivation came with the Moors in Spain!. Cotton is an ancient plant, known to the Greeks and before them, Egyptians, which country was the closest source of supply for Europeans!. It didn't come into common use until the 1700s when the first weaving mills were built in England, using fiber imported from India!. Cotton was an exotic fiber, and relatively expensive!. England grew rich by growing the crop in India, and weaving the cloth at home in the late 1500s onward!.

Wool merchants and farmers fought bitter battles to keep cotton out of Europe, and succeeded for a while it having its use made illegal!. When another variety of cotton plant was found in the New World, where it was long used, it became one of the first commercial crops to be grown!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

A good example is Margherita Datini!. A detailed list of Margherita's clothes from 1397 reveals what the average outfit would contain!. The only undergarment consisted of a long dress, or shift!. Since it had to be worn against the skin, this garment was usually made from a soft cotton or linen!. This would be covered by a wool or fur petticoat during the winter months!. Over the petticoat would be a long-sleeved gown!. The surcoat covered the gown, but was sleeveless!. The average wardrobe of the period contained very few gowns, but an assortment of surcoats made from various material!. Margherita had a wide array to choose from; blue damask, taffeta, Oriental damask, and silk are only a few!. Some of the surcoats had detachable sleeves, making the outfit versatile and adaptable to the seasons!. Women also wore capes, cloaks, and shawls as wraps!. They could be made from wool, fur, silk, or velvet!. Some of these garments may have included hoods, but there were other types of headdresses!. Margherita and other women wore wimples, which were cloths that covered the head, neck, and under the chin!. The wimple was sometimes covered by a fur or cloth cap, or straw hat!. Ladies wore shoes that were carved wooden bottoms with leather laces!. Slippers might be made from silk, but were more often made of leather!. The heel was shaped either from small blocks of wood, or from layers of leather!. Other accessories included linen undersocks, long wool or silk hose, veils, purses, fans, and handkerchiefs!. Lower classes of women had an extremely limited wardrobe!. Most pieces were handed down through the family, or were the cast-offs from the lady of the manor!. She may or may not have the linen undergarment, and the dress was usually made from as a rough wool!. In cold weather, she might wear a wool cloak or mantle!. It would be difficult for peasant women to have access to finer cotton, linen, or woolen fabrics!. Although the spinning wheel made the production somewhat easier, few families were able to raise flocks of sheep!. Even fewer had the resources to grow cotton, and a typical day on the farm would leave little time for spinning and weaving!. What Were the Accessories (Purses, Shoes, etc!.) Like!? Hats: The young girls’ hair was tied with a flowery wreath or a metal band (a virgin's crown)!. The long hair either flew freely or it was plaited with decorative bands, and sometimes the plaits were even lengthened with tows!. The older and the married women covered their hair!. The veal or the chin kerchief were typical medieval hats together with a band-like head-dress and a pill-box hat!. The chin kerchief and the veal was attached with pins!. Another typical medieval head-dress was the tail hood worn by both men and women!. Other men’s head-dresses were the hoods tied under the chin, pointed elf-like caps, barrets and different hats!. Another kind of hat was called a chaperon!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Wool and linen were the commonest fabrics worn, people usually wore linen shifts next to the skin, and dresses, tunics, and stockings would be made of wool!. Women would spin the wool and linen into thread to be made into clothing!. Weaving was a job commonly done by both women and men in the earlier medieval period, but it began to be taken over by men exclusively in the later middle ages!.

Styles changed as the Middle Ages progressed!. More travel between Europe, the Near East, and the Far East, meant that more variety of luxurious fabrics were available to the rich!. Such materials as damask (a decorated cloth from Damascus), baldchin (a mixture of silk and gold made in Baghdad) and velvet became common materials among European nobility!.The silk trade was one often practiced by women!. In 'the tudor Housewife' Alison Sim writes of the fifteenth-century silk women:

"In England the silk women did not weave silk cloth, but dealt in raw silk thread, and in the processes that went into making it into a variety of products such as ribbons, laces and girdles!. Silk laces were twisted silk cords which had a whole variety of uses from attaching seals to documents to decorating and holding together rich people's clothes!. They were also made into a variety of finished articles such as cauls for grand ladies to wear over their hair!. The silk women also dealt in the finished goods!.

In continental Europe, for example in Paris, the silk women had their own special gild!. In England, though there was no formal guild, the silk women were still a respected body!. They were strongest in London, where the market for the luxury goods they sold was greatest, but they also existed in other towns!. In 1482 the preamble of a petition they sent to the king tlaks of "the hole craft of Silkework of the Citie of London and all other Cities, Townes, Boroghes and Vilages of this Realme of England!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

Depends on the location!. The rich wore different clothes to the poor!. In England it was mostly wool, "Little cotton cloth was imported to England before the 15th cent!., although small amounts were obtained chiefly for candlewicks!. " and leather!. Sheepskin cloaks and woolen hats and mittens were worn in winter for protection from the cold and rain!. Leather boots were covered with wooden patens to keep the feet dry!. Linen (made from flax) was used for under clothing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It depends on the social status of the individual!. The poorer would have coarser clothing!. Woven wool was by far the most common!. Leather could also be used!. Cotton was available and Silk was more high end!.Www@QuestionHome@Com