Byzantine Dress

In Byzantium, two overlapping systems of dress existed: a semiotic one whereby dress was a code for rank and wealth, and a fashion system where dress was based on the desire to look a certain way. Courtiers participated in a semiotic system of dress, but fashion crept into their prescribed outfits; the nobility chose their clothing based primarily on individual taste, but status was encoded within their fashions. This book elucidates secular dress from the eighth to the twelfth centuries through an examination of painted representations, helping the reader to envision an entire society of dressed citizens.