The one I only skimmed: _Chaucer and Costume: the secular pilgrims in the general prologue_, Laura F. Hodges, 2000, D.S.Brewer, Cambridge. 0-85991-577-8.

Chapters:
1) Introduction: Chaucer's Costume Rhetoric
2) Costume Rhetoric in the Knight's Portrait: Chaucer's Every-Knight and his 'bismotered' 'gypon'
3) Chaucer's Squire: 'Embrouded was he'
4) 'Mottelee' for the Merchant No One Knew
5) The Sergeant's Misunderstood 'medlee cote' and Missing Accessories
6) A Hierarchy of Blades and Bags: The Franklin, Yeoman, Guildsman, Shipman, Miller, Reeve, and the Pardoner
7) Fabric as Sign: The Yeoman's 'grene' and the Shipman's 'faldyng'
8) The Wife of Bath's Costumes: Reading the Subtexts
9) Costume Rhetoric for the Rising Peasant Class: The Miller, Knight Manqué, and the Plowman, Miles Christi
10) Conclusion: Chaucer the Conteor: Clothed in Good Works

This book seems to focus on literary interpretation of clothing in the general prologue of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I only skimmed it, but it seems that it would be most useful for information on social classes and clothing, altho I don't know how accurate the clothing info is if the focus is literary...

The second book: _Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe: Essays in Memory of Professor E. M. Carus-Wilson_ eds N.B. Harte and K.G. Ponting, 1983, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, London. 0-435-32382-2

Essays included:

"The Medieval Scarlet and the Economics of Sartorial Splendor", J.H. Munro: the etymological history of 'scarlet', comparative prices of scarlet cloths, regional differences in scarlet, very nice, lots of detail.

"The Chemistry of Red Dyestuffs in Medieval and Early Modern Europe", J.H. Hofnek-De Graaf: detailed chemistry of investigating the dyes in medieval fibers and fabrics; some info on Brazilwood; a recipe from early 17th cent for dyeing silk scarlet.

"The Textile Finds from Birka", A. Geijer: didn't read it, seems to be Viking Era

"A Scandinavian Hauberget?", M Nockert: didn't read it, seems to be early medieval?

"The Productivity of Weaving in Late Medieval Flanders", W. Endrei: didn't read it, economic study

"Three Samples of English 15th Century Cloth", P. Wolff: very short description of cloth samples and accompanying contract.

"The Charter of the Clothiers' Guild of Lier, 1275", H. van der Wee, E. van Mingroot: didn't read it

"Cloth in Medieval Literature of Western Europe", R. van Uytven: didn't read it

"The Rise of the Florentine Woollen Industry in the Fourteenth Century", H. Hoshino: didn't read it, economic

"The Woollen Industry in Catalonia in the Later Middle Ages", M. Riu: didn't read it

"Cloth Merchants' Inventories in Dijon in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries" F Piponnier: didn't read it

"The Textile Trade of Poland in the Middle Ages", J Wyrozumski: didn't read it

"The Fustian Industry of the Ulm Region in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries", H. Kellenbenz: economic history of fustian production, mostly 16th cent stuff, Germany.

"Medieval Garments in the Mediterranean World", V. Gervers: didn't read it, lots of photos of extant garments

"Viking Women's Dress at Birka: A Reconstruction by Archaeological Methods", I Hägg: didn't read it, lots of photos of extant garments, also reconstructed patterns

"Beds and Bedclothes in Medieval Norway", M Hoffmann: mostly Scandinavian focus, beds, pillows, bedcoverings, some photos.

"The Diffusion of Knitting in Medieval Europe", I Turnau: similar in content to Rutt's _History of Hand Knitting_, some photos, confusingly does not always distinguish between knitting and 'knotless netting' (presumably naalbinding).

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Originally posted by Nikki:
"The Medieval Scarlet and the Economics of Sartorial Splendor", J.H. Munro: the etymological history of 'scarlet', comparative prices of scarlet cloths, regional differences in scarlet, very nice, lots of detail.

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I think this is the article a friend and I were talking about last night, which indicates that there were some English wools which were more expensive than the Italian silks. Gave an interesting spin to the concept of wool as the fiber of the middle class.

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Originally posted by AnnaRidley:
I think this is the article a friend and I were talking about last night, which indicates that there were some English wools which were more expensive than the Italian silks.

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