The name maybe but medieval dyers could produce clothing in practically any color. I’m going to block you if you’re going to show up in my friends’ threads to tell me that no one saw light purple before the year 1500 CE.
Oh man, I once had a medieval reenactor friend who loved rose pink and handmade a pink dress, who was made miserable by a woman who lectured her at length about how no medieval person ever wore something so modern as pink.
Not only was that woman mean and a spoilsport, she was DEAD WRONG.
FOR FUCK'S SAKE PEOPLE OF ALL CENTURIES HAVE ENJOYED FUN COLORS, NO ONE HAS BEEN STUCK IN DRAB BROWNS EVER, I'M SURE FIGURING OUT DYES WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS HUMANS DID.
I'm starting to wonder if people who insist on medieval times etc being drab brown want those eras to be muddy and miserable to feel superior about their own modern lives.... instead of accepting and celebrating that humans have always loved and used bright colors 🤔
I definitely think it’s related to the modern assumption that darker colored clothing is more “serious,” which is why everyone in GoT is stuck wearing black and brown leather and fur
Black was in reality so difficult a color to dye and maintain that it was the preserve of wealth. Those scholars in black robes weren't being sober, they were showing off their wealth and position. Pilgrims in all-black were flaunting their bling.
Poor people couldn't afford black.
ah. all of that makes perfect sense then-disconnect at the cultural connotations now that everyone and their dog can afford a deep rich black even for their underwear 😂
Quite honestly I think don’t think the art that shows pilgrims (in the context of American colonialism) wearing black clothing like this is historically accurate. I believe they wore homespun but this is way off period for me.
You had to be able to be away from home for an incalculable time span, for one. Of course poor people went on pilgrimages, too.
But those who were rich could flaunt their black
Ok, that makes sense. How did they get rich? Were they generally gentry? I am descended from Pilgrims but don’t know a lot about them besides the fact that people confuse them with Puritans and that they were less puritanical
I actually have two AskHistorians answers on this topic - here's the one on "did Puritans really wear all black?": www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori... (Technically about "Cromwell's England" but same diff.)
I wuld clarify that black wasn't in and of itself more expensive than fabrics dyed in other colors, and was less expensive than kermes red. Being able to maintain a well-dyed, richly colored garment was expensive, though, and replacing it when it started to fade was as well.
