Late Medieval fashion

In fifteenth century England feudalism was almost a thing of the past, but the fashions of chivalry persisted. It was a period of transition. Men's minds were keyed up by the Renaissance. In Venice the first book on dyeing had just been published, and a few years later, in 1472, a Dyers' Company was formed in London.

The fourteenth century has been aptly named the 'Decorated' period. Men's dress showed the influence of heraldry, ladies' garments were ornate, and tight-fitting surcoats served to accentuate the figure. In such a colourful age there was a higher esteem for the dyer-at one time little better than a slave-who had come to be regarded, in the words of Chaucer, as bearing "the livery of great and serious brotherhood."