Overview

Each of the divided city-states had its own dress, and the trading cities handled Eastern silk and dyes.

Key garments and style

Men and women layered a tunic-like undergarment (the cotta) with a mantle. From the 12th century Lucca, and later Venice and Florence, rose as makers of fine silk that underwrote the cities’ wealth and dress, and the communes often passed sumptuary laws.

Transition

From the late 14th century the courts and silk cities gave rise to the sumptuous dress of the Renaissance.