The first thing I read about the Picts when I searched for clothing was that they ran around naked and painted themselves. It’s not true. Maybe, perhaps, they did in battle, but I’m very certain they didn’t do it on an every-day basis. Why? First, it’s cold in Scotland. The HIGH temperature in Glasgow, Scotland for the year which is actually south of where my novel takes place is 19°C or 66°F. Second, almost all of their carvings of people on the stones are clothed – even the ones that are fighting.
Very little physical evidence remains of what they wore. The Baroness Eithni ingen Talorgain, OL wrote a very informative description of Pictish clothing based mostly on their stones which can be found here: http://eithni.com/referencedesk/TheWell-DressedPict.pdf. She covers everything from dye to shoes to jewelry to hairstyles. The basic outfit would have been a tunic of varying length with shoes, pants, and a cloak or brat attached with a penannular brooch. The clothes probably would have been decorated in some fashion with a colorful weave or with trim.
The associated picture is the Orkney hood which is dated between 200-615 AD and comes from the northern islands of Scotland. (Illustration from: Anderson, Joseph (1883) Scotland in pagan times, the iron age, Edinburgh: David Douglas)
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