If somebody from the 15th Century was stood in front of you, wearing jeans and a top, do you think you’d be able to tell they were from a different era?!

[Parrotanne]

I’m bored! I know that people are said to have become taller as the centuries pass but I wondered if there would be any other discernible differences. Differences that would be obvious just by looking - the 15th C speech would most likely be a bit of a clue!

So if, for instance, 15th C person was stood in front of you at the bus stop, dressed in Boden/Primark/Next/Any High Street Shop would you realise something was a bit different?!

I know that any 15th C visitors would most likely not know what either a bus or a bus stop was but I’m just setting the scene!

Brilliant topic. The hairstyles would be a giveaway. Also they would likely smell a bit:) And have terrible teeth.

I have no idea but I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks about things like this

Wouldn't they be looking around screaming at such bewitched devilment around them?

Interesting question.

I assume they'd be staring around in utter horror and confusion which might be noticeable?

They’d probably have bad teeth - depending on how old they were. Possibly generally look older than they were I suppose, this would be class dependent- are they a peasant or gentry?

I don’t think they’d be fundamentally genetically different it would be all about environmental factors.

You would if they spoke. And their teeth wouldn't be great.

As soon as they opened their mouth to talk yes.

Maybe not by how they looked - bit Crusty like a festival-goer

I imagine they would look much the same apart from bad teeth and a bad haircut. They'd probably also be very confused about what they are wearing especially if it included zips. 😂

Odd haircut, boils on face, pasty complexion?! Could be modern folk in many parts of the country still har har

You'd smell them a mile off. Personal hygiene was very different

I like thinking about this

They wouldn't be very clean. And they may have apparent medical issues that today we could treat/correct easily. Also it would depend a lot on their class as to what they looked like.

If they opened their mouth it would be a dead give away something was up with them. Not just speech but they would be illiterate and generally uneducated if they were a lay person and living in England or anywhere in the UK

Depends how healthy they were I guess - not everyone would have been a 'starving peasent', some would have been rich and some would have just been lucky to always have enough food (eg, if there'd been consistent good harvests). They'd probably have decent teeth as no access to sugar yet.

Depends on their hair do.

Apparently the rotten teeth thing is a bit of a myth as sugar was pretty rare up until the 19thc. Until then they'd have mostly eaten veg and a little meat and porridgey things.

Maybe if they were one of those women who wore deathly pale mercury makeup to hide pox scars and went in for a trendy high hairline, two inches back from their actual hairline. That might be noticeable!

Bad skin and teeth, definitely. Hair too, would probably be very unkempt. And they'd stink too.
Depends if we're talking peasant or prince who'd time hopped, though.

Best question ever!

Weren't people smaller then?

What did women use when on their period? Must have been so uncomfortable!

While I don't think people lived with daily baths and showers and soap, obviously, I'm pretty sure that I've read that people of the old days washed more than we've previously thought.

And there's that idea that your hair cleans itself after a while and looks all glossy (I mean, argh, it makes me feel a bit twice, but some people swear by it!)

So first glance might not be THAT different?

You’re not allowed to hear them speak, you’re only allowed to look at them!

I don’t think I’d observe anything since I am incredibly unobservant (and the one occasion I thought I was being observant and waving goodbye to my builders, I was actually waving goodbye to the people stealing their van - but that’s another story). But yes, perhaps the smell would make me look twice.

Judging by the size of door frames in really ancient houses I'd think they'd be very small. Great question btw.

I think you could find some people who would pass for 21st century but if you saw a random selection of people it would be more obvious (shorter, more skin complaints, lice) . Yes, I think about things like this a lot too! I have quite a few students who could easily pass for renaissance era with the right hairstyle!

And if they said things like 'by god's bones!' or 'a pox unto thee' if the bus was late.

Ooh I think I know that one from an old thread. Women used bundles of rags, and possibly didn't have that many periods given the lack of nutrition, multiple pregnancies and breastfeeding.

I’d spot them by their nosegay of course!