Description and discussion of over two thousand brooches, rings, buckles, pendants, buttons, purses and other accessories found in archaeological digs in London, and dating from the period 1150-1450. Brooches, rings, buckles, pendants, buttons, purses and other accessories were part of everyday dress in the middle ages. Over two thousand such items dating from the period 1150-1450 are described and discussed here, all found inrecent archaeological excavations in London - then as now one of western Europe's most cosmopolitan cities, its social and economic activity compounded by the waterside bustle of the Thames. These finds constitute the mostextensive and varied group of such accessories yet recovered in Britain, and their close dating and the scientific analysis carried out on them have been highly revealing. Important results published here for the first time show,for example, the popularity of shoddy, mass-produced items in base metals during the high middle ages and enable researchers to identify the varied products of rival traditions of manufacture mentioned in historical sources.Anyone needing accurate information on period costume will welcome this book, which will appeal to the general reader interested in costume and design, as well as to archaeologists and historians. THE AUTHORS are members of staff of the Museum of London.

The best new research on medieval clothing and textiles, drawing from a range of disciplines. The studies collected here range through art, artifacts, documentary text, and poetry, addressing both real and symbolic functions of dress and textiles. John Block Friedman breaks new ground with his article on clothing for pets and other animals, while Grzegorz Pac compares depictions of sacred and royal female dress and evaluates attempts to link them together. Jonathan C. Cooper describes the clothing of scholars in Scotland's three pre-Reformation universities and the effects of the Reformation upon it. Camilla Luise Dahl examines references to women's garments in probates and what they reveal about early modern fashions. Megan Cavell focuses on the treatment of textiles associated with the Holy of Holies in Old English biblical poetry. Frances Pritchard examines the iconography, heraldry, and inscriptions on a worn and repaired set of embroidered fifteenth-century orphreys to determine their origin.Finally, Thomas M. Izbicki summarizes evidence for the choice of white linen for the altar and the responsibilities of priests for keeping it clean and in good repair.

A model of clarity... It provides absolutely essential reference material for the dress historian and archaeologist, for the early textile specialist, and those interested in the tools and equipment used. TOOL AND TRADES HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER [Linda Woolley, curator of early and medieval textiles and dress, V&A Museum] Among the most evocative items to be discovered by archaeologists are the scraps of silk and wool and other fabrics that signal so eloquently their owner's status and concerns. Such clothing and textile finds have figured prominently in excavations of medieval sites in London in the past two decades; they have included knitting, tapestries, silk hair-nets and elaborately patterned oriental, Islamic and Italian fabrics, which reveal for the first time the wide range of cloths available to medieval Londoners; there are beautifully made buttons, and buttonholes and edgings which display superb craftsmanship and a high level of needlework skills; the way that clothes were cut and sewncan be studied in detail. This highly readable account will be of wide general interest; dress historians and archaeologists will also find a wealth of new insights into the fashions, clothing and textile industries of medieval England and Europe. Contents include: The Excavations, Techniques used in Textile Production, Wool Textiles, Goathair Textiles, Linen Textiles, Silk Textiles, Mixed Cloths, Narrow Wares, Sewing Techniques and Tailoring, Dyes. THE AUTHORS Past and present staff of the Museum of London.