Seventy Century Anglo-Saxon

Not only was wool the cornerstone of early British economy, it was also the resource for everybody’s wardrobe, whether you were an aristocrat or a tradesman, tenant, etc. I thought it strange when I found out that flax was used to make underclothing. I use flax seed when I make bread, and I’ve used flax seed oil.

But when I researched it, I discovered flax was used for fabric in ancient Egyptian times. Flax is grown both for its seeds and for its fiber. According to Wikipedia, various parts of the plant have been used in the past to make fabric, dye, paper, medicines, fishing nets, hair gels, and soap. Flax seed is the source of linseed oil, which is used as an edible oil, as a nutritional supplement and as an ingredient in many wood finishing products. Flax is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.

Silk for undergarments was very costly and hard to come by since it was imported from China, and only the aristocracy could afford the smooth fabric. I’m not sure whether or not it was illegal for a low-born to wear silk. The high-born would bury the sainted in silk. Isn’t that a waste? It isn’t as if God would care–or the deceased, for that matter. Most people had to wear wool right next to their skin, which would be scratchy and irritating to the skin!

Women wore cloth over their heads, held in place by a slim metal or cloth band tied across their foreheads.

In the early Anglo-Saxon period, women wore their hair loose, plaited, or caught in snood-like nets.  Simple caps have also been found at archaeological digs.  By the 7th century veil-like head coverings become more popular, and a grave close to Kent is where archaeologists discovered brooches and pins in an Anglo-Saxon grave.

11th Century Anglo-Saxon Women

Curling tongs were in existence, so some hair must have been meant to be seen beneath the headgear.  As the period progresses women show less and less of their crowning glory because of the growing grip of Christianity and St. Paul’s injunction that women keep their heads covered. By the 11th century, a headdress nearly envelopes the head and neck in a nun-like wimple. If a woman did not wear a headrail or wimple, she was considered a heathen.