Furs and "Northern wear": the Historical Precedent

[Patrice]

"I saw sitting upon a stump, with a great club in his hand, a rustic lout, as black as a mulberry, indescribably big and hideous; indeed, so passing ugly was the creature that no word of mouth could do him justice. On drawing near to this fellow, I saw that his head was bigger than that of a horse or of any other beast; that his hair was in tufts, leaving his forehead bare for a width of more than two spans; that his ears were big and mossy, just like those of an elephant; his eyebrows were heavy and his face was flat; his eyes were those of an owl, and his nose was like a cat's; his jowls were split like a wolf, and his teeth were sharp and yellow like a wild boar's; his beard was black and his whiskers twisted; his chin merged into his chest and his backbone was long, but twisted and hunched. There he stood, leaning upon his club and accoutred in a strange garb, consisting not of cotton or wool, but rather of the hides recently flayed from two bulls or two beeves: these he wore hanging from his neck."

Chretien de Troyes "Yvain, The Knight with the Lion" (12th century).

Um, a bit out of topic I guess, but interesting anyway...

[Hupp n at em]

Still interesting! 

[Patrice]

It's how a 12th century novel writer did imagine a fantasy giant (and IMHO such "historical" fantasy creatures are more interesting and inspiring than those invented by someone sitting in a GW office only 20 years ago).

...it also gives a hint that animal skin was not considered correct clothing by the high society (readers of Chretien de Troyes in his lifetime were only upper class).

[SotF]

Another thing to consider is that some of the furs were also trophies of sorts, someone going into a scrap with a bear cloak is not just wearing a fur cloak, he's pretty much stating that look at this, I killed this beast, think about what I can do to you...

Fur and leather were also relatively light and still provided some protection, making it useful for the more wet environments such as sailors or raiders, and if you don't have the higher coverage of armor, well, having furs over them both makes you look bigger, and lets you look more armored than you are.

[Rob_bresnen]

For some of the medieval period in England and the Tudor period it was mandatory to wear wool clothing by law. This might sound odd but it was to help support the wool industry. Bear in mind that rich people owned lots of sheep and it was an excellent way of making sure that there was a market for the production.