The correspondence of the nobility is an invaluable source of knowledge of early medieval
clothing culture. Clothing not only provided protection from the weather, but also
reflected personal and family identity, status, and wealth. The letters reveal the
importance of clothing in everyday life. They provide details of specific items of
clothing, materials, colours, cuts and decoration, which are particularly valuable
in cases where other types of sources are not available. In terms of everyday practice,
they offer a closer insight into the acquisition, wearing and care of clothing. In
this paper, I examine clothing culture based on the correspondence of baroness Judith
Balassa (c. 1630 – c. 1685), second wife of Stephen Koháry I. (1616 – 1664), between
the 1650s to 1680s. First, I focus on the function of clothing and on its importance
in terms of representativeness. Next, I characterize the dress itself in the context
of influences and developments in the period, based on data from family correspondence.
Finally, I analyse the means by which Judith Balassa and her immediate family acquired
clothing and textiles.
