Medieval Clothing Color Appreciation Thread

Aliroz_

Because it needs to be appreciated.

Note that the above are images of the peasantry (picking fruit in the top image, picking dill in the bottom, and playing ball games in the middle (the cliche images for peasant children of peasant children younger than eight… my grandma did similar things at that age… yes, past generations expected more chores and ‘work’ from prepubescent children than we do now, but considering schooling and the stress and effort therein, one could argue that we are actually running our children harder and more ragged! Remember, before temperature control and cheap lighting (especially electricity), certain hours of the day were very much NOT WORK hours, especially for children and elderly who are liable to FREAKING DIE in the heat or the chill, but we can make people be productive at any time of day.)… this isn’t just a “oh, rich nobles have access to expensive dyes” thing.

Aliroz_

As for the nobility, here’s a picture of Christine de Pisan (unknown now, regarded as an incredibly influential author for multiple centuries) teaching her son Jean how to be awesome.

Here’s some more pictures from my favorite historical era:
(This one is the image from here), and, from further research, is from a book credited to Simon de Hesdin, who died in 1383. The women in this image are protesting the Lex Oppia, a law that limits their displays of wealth.

There’s also all the images from livre des propriétés des choses by Barthélémy L’anglais, which can be found on this website

Aliroz_

Meanwhile, this bullcrud is what the current depictions/perceptions are.

Aliroz_

I mean, for Pete’s sake, Giovanni Boccacchio died in 1375 and he drew folks wearing this:
(For context, it’s an image of Jean, duke of Berry, getting SWEET SWEET BOOK YO from his homie Laurent de Premierfait, and everybody partying because Laurent finished the translation of the book he was translating, basically a HECK YEAH party for the completion of a years-long project).

Aliroz_

Or, heck, look at the work of Jeanne Montbaston! My favorite is this one, in which Jean de Vignay witnesses a miracle at Bayeux.

Imicow

pretty stylish

Aliroz_

To be fair, our modern era seems to be quite incapable of vibrant colors in general, as shown by its cars, buildings, and videogames.

I mean look at this!

Imicow

We could use more colorfulness, honestly.

Aliroz_

I blame it, as I blame most things wrong with the world, on that garbage section of humanity which was born between 1980 and 2010.

I mean, look at videogame title screens! We went from

(Yes, yes, I know it’s unfair to compare the biggest videogame launch title of its time, the one which gave videogames specific release dates with Sonic2sday, to an indie game, but the point is the color palette, which was NOT limited by budget.)