What clothes did medieval peasant women wear?

Answer 1

Clothing, like every aspect of life, changed considerably during the very long medieval period.

In general terms, poor women wore a shift of natural unbleached linen - this was a full-length undergarment with long, tight sleeves reaching the ankles. It was the only underclothing worn by women.

Over this was a simple full-length dress of wool, belted around the waist. When doing washing, gardening, collecting firewood, mucking out the animals, milking and so on the dress might be hitched up each side and tucked under the belt, leaving the legs covered by the shift - linen was much easier to wash and dry than wool so it did not matter if the shift got dirty. Wool was generally coarse, hard-wearing and bought in drab colours: browns, greys, dull pale blues and russets.

An apron of linen might be worn to help keep the dress clean.

A linen cloth might be tied around the head or used as a veil; the hair was generally covered by most adult women.

Shoes were expensive and might be removed if working in bad conditions; they were of black or tan leather and were made inside-out, stitched together, then turned the right way (hence "turn shoes").

The popular image of women in skirts and frilly white blouses is nothing to do with reality.

The links below take you to images of peasant women in different times during the medieval era:

Answer 2

Peasants wore their everyday clothes to weddings.

Technically, during the Middle Ages, a wedding did not require a church ceremony, a priest, or even witnesses. It was not until after the Middle Ages were over that the Church required a church ceremony. Medieval weddings that involved royalty were done with great ceremony, perhaps, but a peasant wedding was often just an exchange of vows between a couple. It could be recorded at the local church, but that was not required.

Also, while we read of arranged marriages for the purpose of state or business, these reasons did not apply to peasants. Local custom might have required family involvement in choosing a mate, but it was not universal, and applied least to peasants of all classes.

Please see the link below.

Answer 3

Stocking's or Tunic's