Renaissance Clothing

This post describes a Renaissance wedding dress during the 1500s in Flanders. The clothing descriptions are taken from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting, The Wedding Feast. The wedding dress depicted in the painted was for a peasant. Bruegel’s other...

This post describes Renaissance clothing for peasants during the 1500s in Flanders. The clothing descriptions are drawn from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting, The Wedding Dance.
In general, key components of peasant costumes for men during this time in Flanders are:...

This post is about the Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525/1530 – 1569) and why his paintings are useful for researching Renaissance clothing. In summary:
Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted lower and middle class people, while many of his contemporaries focused on the wealthy and upper class people....

This post is designed to meet the needs of people looking for the symbolic meanings of Medieval and Renaissance clothing colors. It also describes the colors worn by certain members of society.
The meaning of colors is not a simple and exact body of knowledge. Even during the Renaissance and Medieval periods, the meanings of colors were debated (more about this below the list). So, consider yourself forewarned about the vagaries of color symbolism...