In Byzantium there were two overlapping systems of dress: a semiotic one whereby dress was a code for rank and wealth, and a fashion system where dress was based on the desire to look a certain way. This book explains secular dress from the eighth to the twelfth centuries through an examination of painted representations.

JENNIFER L. BALL is Assistant Professor of Medieval Art History at Brooklyn College, New York, USA.

Abbreviations for Manuscripts Cited List of Plates Introduction Methodology Imperial Dress Court Dress Dress of the Borderland Elite Non-Elite Dress An Examination of the Textile Evidence Conclusion Bibliography