thank you. I now have a helluva a lot of words and an general idea of what to research. _

Very good job. Thank you for writing this.

Thank you very much for this!
Borys

I knew you knew what you were talking about on the way you have your people dress. This proves it :)

Thank you very much for the information. I don't expect I'll be using soon it since I don't write for this fandom, but I enjoyed having all the information in the same place anyway. Might be useful in conversation/ argument with my brother occasionally!

I love you. Seriously. Hopefully now the archive won't be full of so many blatant errors!

Very interesting and I enjoyed reading it. I am not entirely sure that Tolkien set all of middle earth in what we would call medieval period though. the Shire seems more like pre-industrial england and although the battles are fought with swords and similar weapons it just means that he chose to visualise a world without guns of any kind. Obviously gandalf has fireworks and the forces beseiging Gondor breach the gate by using catapults and missiles many of which "by some secret art burst into flame". I think most people writing are heavily influenced by the films which did a great job but did use (at least to those of us not as well informed) medieval costumes. I think in fantasy writing you are free to mix genres (think steampunk for example). It is fascinating to speculate on what Tolkien didn't tell us - I still wonder what the sewage system in Gondor is like!

Quite informative and definitely very helpful.

High status woo; was actually dearer than silk [unless we are talking 6-heddle samite or altobasso veluto or cloth of tissue or the like] because there are approximatey twice as many processes in the making of a multiply fulled woollen broadcloth to that in producing silk, and the top quality wool would be napped and sheared several times until it almost had the hand of velvet. Regarding velvet, there were cheap alternatives using a wool ground and some silk - possibly the silk normally discarded and which was forbidden for anything but weft weaving [I won't get technical] called Mockado.
Worsted is less high status than woollen, since the wool is woven usually in a twill pattern but is not napped and sheared at all. Linsey-woolsey is a cheap wool/linen union. Contrary to the belief of many, cotton was available, though it was extremely rare in England, it was very common in Spain where it had been introduced by the Moors. The geography of where you are makes a lot of difference to what fabrics you are going to get, and indeed the quality of them. The Shire, which is implicitly England, will probably produce the best quality fleeces because of the temperate yet damp climate. Bear in mind that goat was also a fibre used - and comes in two qualities. First sheddding is fine and long and is mixed with silk to produce camlet[aka camelot] a fine, rich warm cloth with a light sheen. Camel hair was sometimes used instead. The second shedding of the goat is coarse and is used for peasant wear [himo]. Also for peasant wear, nettle cloth is a cheap alternative to linen and is retted and treated in much the same way. And like linen CAN be made into a very fine cloth. There's a world of difference with linen between the fine cambric underwear of the wealthy that is soft and see through, and the heavy holland of the peasant, which may even have slubs in it.
Hmm, sorry...
Early instruments; the rebec predates viols and the fipple flute [recorder] is actually a very old instrument indeed, the transverse, or German flute come in IIRC in the late 14th century. Oh and by the way, in real life too, joined hose with an upper stock came in about 1400 which allowed for the ridiculous looking short tunics and silly cod pieces that coincided with excessively long toe points on shoes that had to be chained up to the knee [one of those aristocracy things to prove they didn't need practical clothing, like wearing bright light colours that marked easily]