Full Disclosure:
When it comes to fashion and aesthetic, I love colour and flashiness. To be perfectly honest, my house looks like a clown threw up all over it.
I bet you thought I was kidding. Yes, those are jellyfish painted on the wall.
I’m told this love of all things bright and shiny is actually a common trait for ADHD individuals (of whom I am one, having been diagnosed at age 36).
One of my goals in recreating Migration Period clothing is to demonstrate that not all early period garments were made of solid, earth-toned textiles. To be honest, I want to encourage other early medieval re-enactors to not be afraid to inject a little RuPaul into their wardrobes. To this end, I purchased gorgeous textiles with warp/weft contrast and stripes…
…and only after that began to do my research, like a dumbass. For all those who may be looking to this blog for inspiration, I will tell you now: DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO FALL IN LOVE AT THE FABRIC STORE BEFORE YOU KNOW WHETHER THE RELATIONSHIP WILL WORK OUT.
As I mentioned in “Say Hello to my Little Friends,” Penelope Walton Rogers does not believe that such flashiness existed in period. Her take on it is this:
“Colour-patterning in the form of stripes, checks and warp-weft contrast is rare in Anglo-Saxon textiles of all periods and in the cemetery collections there are only eight examples, spread over a period of time. The six striped or checked textiles are all medium-coarse and the pattern has in each case been worked in natural wool colours, arranged in narrow contrasting bands of between one and four threads.” (Rogers, P. W. (2007). Cloth and clothing in early Anglo-Saxon England: AD 450-700. York: Council for British Archaeology. p. 73)
Rogers then goes on to give theories about the function of the patterned textiles, positing that two of the examples were indeed clothing (due to their proximity to brooches), but asserting that the other six examples appear to have been blankets, wrappers, or lining for a relic box. (Ibid. p 73)
Ultimately, she concludes that colour-patterning was likely extremely rare due to the lack of evidence and adds that the lack of colour-patterning in better-preserved examples from the latter half of the Anglo-Saxon period indicate that such textiles were rare, as the later period textile tradition appears to be a continuation of the earlier textile culture. (Ibid. p 74) This is where I (with all due respect to Ms. Rogers’ considerable expertise) call bullshit, and here’s why:
Behold! A rough cross-section of fashion from the 1960s through to 2010.
(SAY IT AIN'T SO, GILLIAN!!!!)
This is a 50 year spread. As you can see, there is a wide variation in styles, fabrics, and colours. Clearly, the wider availability of fabrics and the development in production technologies is so far advanced of those found in the Migration Period, that, as far as construction and fabric goes, it can hardly be compared. That having been said, those aspects are not why I present these photos of evidence to back my opinion that Ms. Rogers is incorrect in this supposition.
My argument is threefold:
1. The photos display the human prediliction for fashion innovation and creativity. Even taking into account the significant developments in textile production technology in the last 1500 years, these photos show the incredible variation in Western fashion over a 50 year time period – a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 600 year span of the entire Anglo-Saxon period. If Ms. Rogers expects me to believe that Anglo-Saxon textiles and fashions remained relatively unchanged over a period of 600 years, I have a bridge that she’s welcome to buy. 2. Most of the evidence referenced by Ms. Rogers has been grave finds. It is entirely possible that colour-patterning might have been considered inappropriate in a funerary or ceremonial setting. Generally speaking, modern Christian burial traditions feature the body of the deceased dressed in clothing that is more formal and conservative than the individual might have worn in their everyday life. Colour-patterning may have been to early Anglo-Saxon burials as leopard print or fun fur might be to modern ones. 3. Given the overall scarcity of extant textile examples from the early Anglo-Saxon period, a dearth of examples of colour-patterning specifically in clothing is hardly an indication that that it seldom happened. My own speculation is this: Migration Period Anglo-Saxons had all the tools and technology to make colour-patterning happen. They had dyes. They had control over the colour and placement of each individual thread in both the warp and the weft. In my mind, the only likely barriers to colour-patterned clothing would be availability of supplies and cost to prospective buyers. If people in the Migration Period had the means, I can't see why the human instinct for fashion creativity wouldn't run with it.
I have taken all of this information into consideration and decided that since my persona is heavily involved in textile production as a means of family livelihood and is also relatively wealthy, it would be plausible that she would wear colour-patterning as a kind of advertisement. Wherever she goes, she will be a walking billboard which, given the influx of immigrants who might be travelling through from the port at Lundenwic, will most likely result in some lucrative trades. And really, it's all about the Eormenrics.