Before the 20th century AD, all clothes were made of organic materials such as wool, linen, skin or leather. These materials are only preserved in certain wet, cold, or dry conditions, so clothes are rarely recovered from archaeological excavations. Most of our knowledge comes from objects which have survived that are associated with clothing.

These objects can be categorised into two groups; those used for making clothes and those used for fastening and decorating clothes. On many settlement sites in south-east England, spindle whorls used for spinning yarn from sheep’s wool have been recovered. Once spun, the yarn would have been woven into woollen cloth on a weaving loom. Although no Iron Age looms survive, many examples of large triangular clay loom-weights have been recovered.

Woollen cloth would have been used to make a range of items including trousers, dresses and cloaks. These items were fastened and decorated in a number of ways during the Iron Age. One popular way was to use a brooch. By the end of the Iron Age most people would have used a brooch, or a pair of brooches to pin a cloak around their shoulders. Most brooches were made of copper alloy or iron, but a few examples of gold and silver brooches are known from south-east England. Button and loop fasteners or toggles were also used to hold items of clothing together.