Irish clothing

[1] A series of photos captured by French photographers Marguerite Mespoulet and Madeleine Mignon-Alba in 1913 included images of Irish people in traditional clothing.

Historians believe that the early inhabitants of Ireland dressed in wool cloth, although some argue that garments made of animal skins were more prevalent.

[dubious – discuss] Beneath these brait, they wore léinte (singular: léine), long woollen or linen tunics that extended to the ground but were gathered into pleats and belted so that they fell to the knees (the excess material was allowed to hang down at the waist and cover the belt, as can be seen in the Dutch painting illustration).

The sleeves were open to allow the lower arm to emerge, but hung down behind the elbow to the knee or sometimes as far as the ground in more ceremonial garb.

Léinte were most often saffron-yellow (léine croich, 'saffron shirt'), but were also found in other solid colours (red, brown, green, black, etc.

By the fifteenth century, women were wearing long dresses made from wool cloth, often decorated with ribbons and other accessories.