Re: Gloranthan/Genertelan Dress

From: John Machin <orichalka_at_4WxeQZD1Yx1_HTeRKhf3YRT1S3o_WXWK4Rz-0sRU4Kt5rLxMLzn7VpSZ5LrXwKKbyp>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:09:00 +1000

2009/9/11 ttrotsky2 <TTrotsky_at_qTz0FipI_rECRGEeHCZwGm7riNcO-KOfBe9niSuUsjW1oOo3iaQSQ3Azvgp08__v-CXVm1AD6fIXMRXTlE462yLvPg.yahoo.invalid>
> One also has to remember the existence of sumptuary laws designed to enforce caste boundaries in many Western nations, of
> course. So the knights and nobles will dress quite differently in many places, for instance, which they generally didn't in Europe
> (largely because they were the same people). This sort of thing helps to remind us that the West is not, in fact, medieval Europe.

Sumptuary laws being "morbid relics" of earlier caste-dress restrictions associated with the unchanging ideal of certain sorcerers, rather than being associated with the prevention of vanity and excess?

This talk of dress makes me wonder what the climate is.  It's all well and good to suggest that the presence of a caste system makes the West different to 15th C. Europe, but - at least for many of the population - practical concerns like 'not freezing to death' are more of an influence than fashion.

--
John Machin
"Nothing is more beautiful than to know the All."
- Athanasius Kircher, 'The Great Art of Knowledge'.