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The downfall of the Carolingian empire in the 10th and 11th centuries AD meant that there was no longer a political or cultural center. The German emperors no longer had a residence and moved on from palatinate to palatinate. The popes, who were the major feudal lords of the time, influenced the development of the culture, and even fashion was controlled more and more by the church.

Alignment of parochial and royal clothing.

This strong connection of the church to the consolidating feudal rule led to an alignment of the traditional wear of clergymen and of feudal lords. The aristocracy gave up their short tunics and began wearing long tunics, like the priests. The man's skirt became longer, with the traditional wear of the Byzantine royal court as a model.

Emperor Henry II. (973-1024) and a Franconian bishop, wearing Byzantine clothing.

The long skirt, though, was unpractical in some situations. For example, the skirts of soldiers or hunters were shorter, and the stocking worn underneath became visible. As seen in drawings, these stockings were very ornamental and seem to have been sewn.

The tunic (long, robe-like clothing worn by men) was unpractical for hunters and soldiers. Stocking-like pants or calf-wraps were worn instead.

The lengthening of the tunic brought about changes in other articles of clothing. Initially, pant legs were very baggy - these became tighter, so calf-wraps and straps became unnecessary.

Franconian king and queen from the 10th century. The king is wearing a short tunic with pants, leggings or tights and calf-wraps.

Since these stocking-like pants were worn tied beneath the knee for quite some time, one began to wear separate leggings or knee-length stockings with them. The longer the tunic became, the less important pants became, until they completely lost their significance and were only worn as underwear.

Franconian king and queen from the 11th century. The very ornamental stockings or footwear can barely be seen under the tunic, which became much longer under the influence of the church and Byzantine culture.

Through the marriage of Emperor Otto II. to a Byzantine princess, Byzantine fashion - which was much more form-fitting than other types of clothing - became increasingly popular during the 11th century. The new demand for glamorous and very colorful fabrics, which stemmed from the Byzantine fashion, led to the introduction of "Mi-Parti" - making clothing with different colored fabrics. The "Mi-Parti" method was mainly used for pants, which were becoming increasingly tighter, and later for leggings with feet, which were attached to the breeches. Initially, these leggings were covered by long, knee-length skirts.

Byzantine culture had a strong influence on fashion in the 11th century. It appears that long leggings were also worn underneath the almost ankle-length robes.

By the end of the 11th century, with the Kingdoms of France and Germany emerging from the former Franconian Empire, feudal rule was coming to and end, and a strict hierarchy in regard to clothing had formed. The traditional royal clothing for men was almost identical to that of women. Both men and women usually wore floor-length robe-like clothing. Only little is known about ornamentation, jewelry and the form and length of stocking worn underneath.

Men's and women's traditional royal clothing was almost identical towards the end of the 11th century.