Some influences from the East, mainly a diversity and richness of material, reached Europe with the Moorish invasion of Spain and south-western France and through the Norman conquest of Sicily, but changes in fashion were infrequent during the larger part of the Medieval period. The great and startling effect on fashion occurred in the 12th century, after the start of the Crusades.
Crusaders, including women, brought back new materials and new styles. Luxurious Oriental fabrics such as silks, satins, damasks, brocades, and velvets were introduced, in bright colors and elaborate weaves. Wood-block printing of fabrics was adopted and buttons also arrived from the East.
Although a fitted tunic remained the basic item of apparel for both men and women, hose took the place of trousers, and garments were embellished with jewels, embroidery, and fur trimming. Men wore breeches and hose (trousers and stockings). The hose became so long in the High Gothic period as to almost eliminate the breeches. Until the advent of knitted material hose were made of wool or linen cut to shape for a relatively tight fit. In the 12th century the hose reached mid thigh and were made to cover the short breeches or drawers. Earlier, the breeches of the wealthy were cut narrower and those of laborers fuller, both usually cross-gartered below the knee.
The over tunic was replaced by an Oriental garment known as the bliaut. By 1200 AD, tight lacing drew the women's bliaut into a form fitting shape which, girdled at the hips, created a long-waisted appearance. A mantle, hung from the back of the shoulders and descending to the ground, was worn outdoors. Everything, including the sleeves, was long, full, and trailing.
Men's clothing in the remainder of the 12th century and during the 13th century displayed variations of length,
fullness, and decoration and different names for what were essentially the same clothing. The hood became a separate garment. Later in the period, the hood, with its pointed end (the liripipe), and short shoulder cape, became a hat worn by putting the head into the hole originally intended for the face and wrapping the extended liripipe around the head in turban fashion. Later still, the hat was hung over the shoulder by the liripipe as a badge. Its ultimate manifestation became the cockade on the 19th-century livery hat or the 20th-century doorman's hat. Another even more curious derivation of the hood is the small tab sewn in the back of an English barrister's gown.
In the 14th century the tunic was narrowed and shortened to a more tailored look and evolved into what came to be 
called the doublet. Over the doublet, the old over tunic, now with a collar and called a cotehardie, was still worn. The cotehardie could be parti-colored with contrasting colors appearing on either side and with the colors often alternated in the parti-colored hose. It was sometimes fur lined with the sleeves dagged, or scalloped, at the ends, and often hanging to the ground. Heraldic devices added color to the breast area. Headdress for men included hoods or close-fitting caps tied under the chin.
The houppelande, an outer garment with a long, full body and wide, flaring sleeves, was worn until the end of the century and survived into the 15th and 16th centuries in the dress of the professional classes and of older men. It still survives in the academic and legal gowns and robes of today. The doublet developed into a fully tailored, frequently padded, garment, which in varying forms survived as the basic male outer garment through the middle of the 17th century. Its modern derivation is the waistcoat or vest worn with a suit.
Women also adopted the bliaut, as well as an Oriental garment with long wide sleeves, the surcoat. The bliaut, made of fine material crimped or pleated, was long, full, and trailing like the men's costume. A new development of the period was an early form of the corset that emphasized the female figure. Throughout the medieval period the ankle was never exposed to view. Through most of the period, skirts fell long on the floor in front. Skirts were carried in front of the body when walking. Until the 15th century, women's garments were less extravagantly shaped than men's, the costume being tight-fitting and full-skirted with tight sleeves. Over the gown a cotehardie and then the sideless gown was worn.
Through the 11th century, women's hair was worn free-flowing or braided, although it was veiled in church. By 1200 AD married women covered their hair with veils or wimples, a cloth draped over the head and around the neck up to the chin. A crown-like headband called a barbette secured veils. Headdress for men included hoods or close-fitting caps tied under the chin. A tall cap with a pointed brim appeared after 1300. In cold weather and for state occasions a very full three-quarter round or even full circular cloak was worn.
By 1400 the houppelande was worn as an outer garment over a man's doublet or over a woman's
tunic or girdle. Buttoned from collar to hem, the houppelande had sleeves and a high standing collar. The wide sleeves were often scalloped at the cuffs. Men's hose, fully exposed under the houppelande, ended in leather shoes that were extremely pointed at the toes. Wooden clogs, called patterns, were worn outdoors to support the shoes. Tiny bells were added to belts and hoods. Men wore liripipes which were hoods with long trailing ends. The liripipe could be drawn up and padded to create a turban like headgear with scalloped edges. By 1450, tall felt hats were adopted.
Women's headdresses became even more extravagant. Around 1350, women wore their hair coiled on either side of their face and fitted into metal baskets. By the end of the century, the fashion was to draw the coiled hair up with rolled pads creating a bicorne that supported a veil. About 1420 a steepled hat called a henin was worn with the veil wound around it and left trailing. Women's hair was hidden under their henins. Women also plucked their eyebrows and painted their cheeks with rouge.
