Leon Battista Alberti, The Book of the Family (c. 1435)—An advice book written for wealthy urban families, it discusses the different patterns of dressing that men and women ought to adopt.

Bernard of Siena, Sermons (c. 1410–1444)—These sermons provide insight into the piety of the later Middle Ages. Bernard links women's fashions of the day, Jewish usury, and prostitution, all in a lively way that held his mostly female audience captivated, and which encouraged them to throw their finery into "bonfires of the vanities" following these sermons.

Francesco Barbaro, On Wifely Duties (c. 1410)—This advice manual, intended for women and their husbands, counsels on all sort of problems arising out of marriage. One chapter treats the way in which women should dress themselves.

Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron (c. 1350)—Clothing and the cloth trade figure prominently in this major work of fiction. The final...