Medieval and Renaissance Outfits: Similarities and Differences

Medieval and renaissance styles are two most favorites among the ethnic clothing lovers in the western world. These two genres of outfits are connected to each other without any second thought. The renaissance style outfits are the evolved forms of the medieval costumes.

For understanding the similarities and the differences, let’s try to understand the concept of the outfits of the two genres. The medieval era was a long time span from 5th century to 15th century. The people of this era used to be religious minded and their styles would often be simple. It is as undeniable fact that the medieval clothes are known for the decency; however, some flamboyance could be witnessed in the wardrobes of the high class society such as the society of royals and nobles. On the other hand, renaissance age was the era of flourish of art and culture. This era was started immediately after the end of the medieval period. During this era, the art and culture flourished, which also put the impact on the clothing styles of the people.

Now, the difference that we find in the clothing styles of these two genres is that the medieval outfits come in the decent styles; whereas, the renaissance outfits are flamboyant in nature. Biggest difference can be found in the outfits in the patterns of commoners. The commoners included small traders, service class people and a lot more. The commoners of the renaissance age had adopted the new styles leaving the old and simple patterns. The difference could be witnessed in the costumes of the royals and nobles (high-ranked officers) also, but this difference was less as compared to that in case of the commoners. The reason behind this is that these aristocrats used to wear the showy outfits in the middle ages as well.

Besides, there were the similarities also in the renaissance and the medieval costumes. The similarity can be seen first in the peasants’ outfits. The peasants were the people who would do the hard labor, which is why they had very less scope of fashion. So, in both the periods, the costumes of the peasants were simple and practical. Despite the new innovations, the similarities could be seen in the outfits of the other communities as well as it had already told in the beginning that the renaissance style outfits were the evolved forms of the medieval costumes. In the renaissance age, the people added their innovations to the medieval outfits, which gave birth to the renaissance dresses.

Perhaps, this is the reason why these two genres of costumes are perfect match with each other. You can try the renaissance shirts with medieval pants, and vice versa.