Clothing of the Ancient Celts

What the Celts wore throughout history has changed over the centuries and ranges from a variety of different styles depending on region, but during the time when the Celtic peoples populated much of Europe, there was a general style that they all seemed to follow. Like the rest of their culture, their clothing may have followed a common idea, but the individual style and decoration varied.

In the article about the Clothing of the Ancient Celts, we learn what their wardrobe generally consisted of. It is fascinating to see, as with most civilizations, how fashions and tastes changed in time to reflect what was popular and what was influenced by outside sources. Prior to the Roman Conquest, the Celtic fondness for attractive possessions and new and interesting things effected what their own items looked like. Even before being conquered by any other nation, they practiced trading, often with the Greeks. But archaeology shows that they may have traveled much further than the Classical world as remains of people of Celtic origin have been found as far East as Asia. This would suggest that they may have even traded with goods from that far away. There is other evidence that they had imported goods from Turkey and we know that some Celts did indeed travel there.

Looking back at the origins of Celtic garb, we can see where the kilt may have originated. The ancients wove their cloth into patterns similar to those seen today, including checkered patterns. Their tunics made from this patterned cloth was worn with a belt and could easily resemble the makings of a simplified kilt. Over time, styles changed and a large plaid cloth was wrapped around the body to create the original kilt, also known as the Great Kilt. Nowadays, kilts are pretty much ready to wear and don’t commonly involve wrapping seven to nine yards of fabric around your body.

Celtic clothing is a topic that requires a lot of attention, not only because fashion changes over the years, but also because much of what we know about what they wore is from accounts told by observers of their culture, not by the Celts themselves. There is still some missing information as to just what exactly the Celtic people dress in even up to as recently as the 18th century.