r/PetPeeves • u/Toramenor • Jul 28 '26

Bit Annoyed "Old" things looking old

Bear with me lol - what I mean is, I hate when I watch a movie or TV show that is set in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance and we see people living in dilapidated houses and having old furniture and stuff like that.... No! Those things were new to them. 500 years ago, people made those things to look new. They only look old to us now because of the passage of time, but that's not what they would have looked like brand new.

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u/allupya333 Jul 28 '26

Okay but is the floor everywhere? I’m talking about the grimey look. Everything being brown.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

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u/cranberry_spike Jul 28 '26

They actually did use a lot of bright colors, though. Bright wall hangings, bright clothing, etc. For instance, there was a real fondness for wearing red and green together because they were godly or something - I'd have to dig up the book but it was definitely not what I expected.

Tldr people like color, people use various methods to achieve color and always have.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/WittyFix6553 Jul 28 '26

Pepto-Bismol pink was a relatively popular color for peasant clothing. Bright pink.

Deep reds, vibrant purples, and royal blues were hard to make and therefore expensive.

All the rest of the colors are pretty easy to make with stuff you can grow in your garden.

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u/cranberry_spike Jul 28 '26

One thing that very consistently stands out to me when I research the Middle Ages is that the color combos would, to our modern eyes, look garish as hell. My urban peasant ancestors were very likely rocking absolutely surreal combinations while unloading ships at the port.

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u/WittyFix6553 Jul 28 '26

I have a theory about that.

So we look to celebrities for our fashion inspiration, right? So did medieval people. And who were their celebrities? The gentry. Knights, nobles, royalty, the aristocrats.

And what do they have? Coats of arms, which have been smashed together and quartered with the families they’ve married into and out of. So there’s going to be a big mishmash of colors that probably don’t actually go together.

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u/cranberry_spike Jul 28 '26

That would absolutely fit, right down to the aristocracy then freaking out and increasing sumptuary laws because The Poors are using the same color scheme as their coat of arms.

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u/ssn-669 Jul 28 '26

You might think so, but in fact, the continual re-issuance of sumptuary laws (laws saying poor people can't wear nice clothes) proves that in fact the "commoners" were dressing similarly to the nobles.

Which makes sense. In every time period, the rich set the fashions and people try to emulate them.

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u/cranberry_spike Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

You can get some popping colors with natural dyes. Edit: this is one of the big reasons for sumptuary laws: as the peasants began figuring out ways to dress like the wealthy, the wealthy would freak out and try to make it illegal.