It should be stressed, when talking about distinctive dress in the Middle=
Ages, that EVERYONE wore such dress: monks, friars, secular clergy; wive=
s,
maidens, and widows; carpenters, millers, tanners. Everyone was clearly
labeled. People were used to being able to distinguish social status,
occupation, gender, and religious affiliation at a glance. That's what
sumptuary laws were for; that's why dressng up as a woman, if you happene=
d
to be a man was considered transgressive. That's why actors were
mistrusted. Etcetera
Carol Symes
But surely the oft -repeated sumptuary laws, like the legislation about Jews, suggest
that people did not obediendtly abide by them?
Cordelia Beattie
Centre for Medeival Studies
University of York
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