Quote Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC View Post
Oh yea, I can see a poor shepherd, wheat farmer, or cooper in the village going thru that entire process each and every morning when he wakes up.

There's the fire to stoke for breakfast. The cows need milking. And he's got a 12 hour day of making a living ahead of him.

Yea, makes sense to me.
I, similarly, highly doubt that any person employed in one of those trades would be wearing a plaide on a regular basis... AFAIK, it was the young nobility who hired themselves out as mercenaries that developed and popularized the fashion. I would be surprised to learn that common men would be in a position to purchase such a length of fine fabric and then choose to put it to such hard use. Not only that; but, I believe I read somewhere that current historical forensics points to the widespread use of inner-drawstrings with discreet loops to facilitate speedy assembly of the pleats (in conditions where tarps were unavailable or wind was inescapable) for the belted-plaide.