You can also not just dip in the fabric in the dye bath and expect it to get any color, almost all colors require grazing the yarn, that is, affecting the adhesive ability of the colors by treating the yarn with metal salts, acids or tannins. It was not until 1667 that a real recipe was written down in The Wole Art of Dyeing. Proper cypress recipes shine with their absence in the documents that I have been able to read, the worst blue color recipes that are included have recipes that use a residual product of dye coloring. This is because tinting refers to dyeing where the dye is not soluble in water but must be dissolved chemically, introduced into the fiber and brought back to the insoluble form to give color. Blue painters were skilled professionals and sometimes had their own section within the color guilds because it was such a specialized approach unlike the other plant dyes. The cultivation of weed, which gives a blue color, has been major national exports for France and Germany and has generated a lot of money for both countries. For example, there is a snuff since the 14th century blue velvet preserved at V&A (inventory no: T.194-1911) which has been part of a very expensive altar cloth. However, note that black in itself is not necessarily an expensive shade, it is rather what is in the color bath and the shade of black that determines the cost.īlue has been claimed by some to be a 'cheap' color, but it is far from the truth. You did not throw the dye bath because it gave pink and no red anymore, it would hardly be economical to do so.

But it is also completely medieval to have 'pastel colors' as the shades are colored after the more expensive fabrics have been saturated with strong rich colors. The hardness also comes into play here, the more light and rub-resistant the more expensive the finished product became.

It is rather with the color strength that you indicate social differences because the stronger the color you have, the more of the product has gone to color and the more expensive the finished material becomes. Already in the Old Testament it is mentioned blue, purple and scarlet red, most likely with regard to the colors obtained from two different shells in the Mediterranean and the kermel shell.ĭespite modern fantasies that people wore 'unpainted' clothes, even as very poor people could get a little different shades on their fabrics, mainly yellow and yellow-brown. The art of dyeing fabrics has many thousands of years on its neck.

Many thanks to Malin Berglund / Felicitas Schwarzenbergin for contributing the text! Malin's blog which previously has many other interesting articles you can find here Malin Berglund Has written an excellent article on coloring from the 600s to the 1600s.

Going medieval clothing fabric