The country peasant wore simple, practical clothes of wool and linen to work in. Women often worked in a long chemise, a dress made of coarse linen. Sometimes, she made a knot in the skirt, to be able to move easier. If it was cold, she wore a woollen dress, a surcoat, on top.
Men wore woollen leggings and a linen shirt or a knee-length frock. Under the hose, he wore a kind of shorts. If he needed warmer clothes, he wore a cap, which might be pointed. The children ran around in simple woollen or linen frocks. When they were about eight or ten years old, and on their way into the adult world, they wore the same clothes as the grown-ups. Married women had a wimple on their heads, young girls wore their hair uncovered.
Both men and women wore belts. In their belts, the women kept the keys to the farm. Both men and women had leather pouches and knives in their belts.
The clothes were home-made. One kept sheep for their wool, and one grew flax to make linen. The flax and the wool was treated in various ways before it could be spun. Different-coloured cloth was woven from the yarn. The yarn was dyed with plants, leaves, flowers, fruits or roots. For instance, yellow was made from birch-leaves and lichen or bearberry. When the peasants went to town to sell his products, they might buy foreign fabrics from Flanders in Holland. The clothes which were made from these fine fabrics were worn on special occasions and at feasts.
Rich merchants lived on large farms. Their clothes were completely different to those of the peasants. The merchants often wore clothes made of imported fabrics: fine wool, silk, velvet as well as of fur.
Read more about clothes under "Town Life. Workdays and Holidays"