The predominant clothing materials were wool and linen. Eventually women began to wear a loose shoulder cape, mantle or kerchief to cover their hair.

Sometimes was also worn an under-tunic, and cloak or mantle during the winter. Women wore a simple sleeved tunic dress with a vertical slit and decorated borders and hems. The historical sources record that Charlemagne (768-814) dressed in Frankish style which was a mixture of Roman, Byzantine and Germanic styles: sleeved tunic, leggings which were held in place by long laces (cross-gartering), tighter-fitting hose and a cloak. The main clothing materials were cotton and linen.īyzantine influence on Western European clothing and fashion started to decline at the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th century. Women’s clothes were ornamented with colorful borders or tablet-woven bands and fibulas (brooches), while both men and women could wear a superb jewelry. Women’s clothing in the Early Middle Ages was greatly influenced by the Byzantine style but it was eventually replaced by the Roman style. Men commonly wore short tunics with belts and visible trousers, hose or leggings and a cloak – animal leather or fur in winter. Little is known about clothing of the invading peoples before they reached Europe.

The invasion of barbaric peoples in the Early Middle Ages resulted in the change of fashion and style of clothing.

Medieval fashion