It was not that long ago in our world that baths once a week or once a month were the norm, if they happened that often. I think it was Queen Victoria that only bathed once a year, and she had lackies to heat the water and draw her bath. On top of that, clothes were washed less often than baths were taken, and most people only had one set of clothing they wore all the time.
A hundred years ago, most people reeked.
So, Skyrim outside of the cities would smell all clean and fresh and sparkly. In the cities, it would be a stench.
The lack of bathing in the past is a myth.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th century) the poet makes a point of describing how Gawain bathes every time he returns from hunting before heading to social activities in the evening. Although bathing in the Victorian era was less frequent than it is today, especially among the poor, it's certainly not true that Victoria bathed once a year. Bathhouses were common and weekly baths the norm even among the poor.
Laundry was a different matter, but underlinens were washed more frequently than top clothing, so it wasn't as stinky as you might imagine - compare it to the situation involving men's suits today, which are dry-cleaned less often than once per wearing and never washed. People wore full sets of undergarments. A medieval lady would wear a chemise - like a slip - under her dress, and wash it when it got dirty. In Victorian times, weekly wash day was the norm.
On the other hand, there was no such thing as antiperspirant.
» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:46 pm 
