Fashion trends altered drastically during the Middle Ages as a sign of great social and economic change. The decline of the Roman Empire ushered in a dark time for entire cultures in world civilization after enduring harsh wars and the Great Plague. Society defined the chasm between classes and cultures in the very design of the clothing.

In the Middle Ages, clothing was often hand made and very symbolic. Cloaks, robes, hoods and purses were designed with special meaning for the individual. Each garment held special meaning that related to the family line, class or occupation. Aristocrats and royalty wore the most expensive and unique garments to distinguish them from the common class or the middle class. Servants had designated styles and were held to strict abeyance to rules that applied to clothing worn in the Middle Ages.

Nobles and Aristocrats had their clothing garments designed by a personal tailor or clothier. The middle common class and the poor cut their own fabrics. Middle and lower classes created their own designs and usually sewed them by hand personally. For the common people, fabrics were coarse and drab in color. On the opposite end of this cultural spectrum, the wealthy and nobles wore the finest cloths and used the most elaborate colors and threads to sew their clothing.

Clothing in the middle Ages went through some abrupt and frequent changes during a time of great social and economic change. Clothing trends transformed from the loose fitting long robes and dresses worn by men and women universally to the tight fitting garbs and short tops worn by men. This was attributed culturally to the moral climate and its effect on clothing in the Middle Ages.

In the fourteenth century, two distinct styles emerged called the "Romanesque hiertism" and "Byzantine ornamental style". The latter was fashioned after the monks of the Byzantine period who held a great influence on the moral choices regarding clothing style in the middle ages.

Clothing was designed for both practical and symbolic meanings. The practical part of the design took into consideration a person's occupation or social status so functionality was important. The symbolic part of the design denoted wealth, rank or servant status. The main purpose of garment style was to distinguish social rank.

Fashionable clothing in the middle ages meant that garments were different from every one else. Nobles and aristocrats prided themselves in their unique robes, gowns, dresses, garments, shoes, handbags and hairstyles. When the societal revolt brought about copycat garment production across the classes, nobles and high society aristocrats hired tailors to create more original designs. It became a clash of culture and class that broke the line of demarcation between the two distinct classes of rich and poor.

The emergence of copycat fashion threatened the social fiber of a society based upon distinction through clothing style. Many wealthy aristocrats and nobles felt threatened when commoners and middle class folk began to imitate their fashions. The wealthy controlled the textile industry because they owned it, so they sought legal relief from Parliament. Sumptuary laws were then passed to control the fabrics in the interest of elite society. In essence, this slowed the cross cultural fashion trend, but it did not stop the forward trend of style assimilation in clothing of the middle ages.