Category Archives: Daily life in Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon clothes – women

Anglo-Saxon woman in traditional dress
Anglo-Saxon woman in traditional dress.
5th to 7th centuries

Women wore an under-dress of linen or wool with long sleeves and a draw-string neck. Sleeves were fastened with clasps for wealthier women, or drawn together with braid or string for poorer women.
The outer dress was a tube of material, rather like a pinafore, and often called a ‘peplos’. A pair of shoulder-brooches or clasps held this onto the under-dress. A belt was worn, from which various accessories were hung. There is some linguistic evidence that shawls were worn, as well as cloaks, which were fastened either centrally or to the right shoulder with a brooch. Shoes were as for men, and woollen socks were probably worn. Rings, bracelets and beaded necklaces were popular.

7th to 9th centuries

Shoulder-brooches and wrist-clasps went out of fashion, and the sleeves of the over-dress now came to just below elbow-length on the arms and calf-length around the legs. The under-dress was cut longer than the over-dress. Veils held on by headbands or fillets became more popular as Christianity spread. Centrally-fastened cloaks replaced the earlier styles, often reaching to the knee and sometimes with a hood.

10th to 11th centuries

The under-dress was now often pleated or folded, while the sleeves of the over-dress tended to flare towards the wrist. Dresses were edged with tablet-weave, and head-dresses became larger, covering the head and neck and hanging over the shoulders. They were held in place with pins. Belt accessories became far less popular, while a slight pointing of the shoes became more fashionable. Cloaks were now rectangular with a hole cut out for the head, and held in place with a belt.

Children seem to have worn very much the same style of clothing as adults, but in smaller sizes.

Making clothes was women’s work, and spinning and weaving were among the main activities of women in the Anglo-Saxon period. It has been estimated that about eight miles of hand-spun thread were needed to make a tunic.

The loom in general use in Anglo-Saxon England was the warp-weighted upright wooden loom, leaned against a wall either outside, or in weaving houses where several women together could work and socialize at the same time.

Anglo-Saxon clothes – men

Anglo-Saxon man in traditional dress
Anglo-Saxon man in traditional dress

5th and 6th centuries

Men wore wool or linen hip-length undershirts with long sleeves, and probably loin-cloths. Woollen trousers were held up with a belt threaded through loops. A tunic was pulled over the head, and reached down to the knees. It was usually decorated at the wrists, neck and hem, and was long-sleeved. A belt was worn at the waist, often with a decorated buckle and strap-end.  Pouches, knives and other accessories might be hung from the belt. Shoes were made usually from a single piece of leather, but perhaps with an extra piece to form a sole. They were fastened with laces, toggles or loops.

7th to 11th centuries

Tunics tended to have extra pleats inserted at the front, and sleeves became fairly tight-fitting between elbow and wrist. Bands of cloth, like military ‘puttees’ were often wound around the leg from knee to ankle. Belts tended to become thinner, and money may sometimes have been carried in pouches.

Cloaks, if worn, varied in length, but were rectangular in shape and fastened at the shoulder. There is evidence that shoes were sometimes fastened with buckles or buttons. Jewellery became increasingly popular. Socks were probably worn by some from earliest times, but there is hard evidence for them in the later period.

There was undoubtedly much variation according to region, period and status. Many people would have gone barefoot, while leather and sheepskins must have been used for clothing. Hats of straw, wool or leather were worn.

Most clothes were made at home, and would almost certainly have undergone many repairs, or have been handed down, before being eventually cut up for rags or thrown away. Most fabric was plain-woven, but there is some evidence of tabby and twill-woven fabric.

Underclothes were not usually dyed, but left in their natural colour, or perhaps sun-bleached. Outer clothes could be dyed in various colours: woad for blue, ochre for brown and orange, madder for colours from red to yellow, green from seaweeds. Black was rare, as it was a difficult colour to obtain.