Arcane Topic Warning: Part the Second

[Kuruharan]

However, what sort of clothes would they have? Most likely 'raw' ones (furs maybe)

That is entirely possible. A lot would depend on when the Petty-Dwarves were driven out and what was the state of Dwarven society at that time. As a mining culture, they probably discovered weaving comparatively late, if it was an internal discovery at all. It might have been something they learned from others. (Which makes me wonder, what did the Avari wear?)

I also think that their outcast status impacted on how they behaved; regardless of their clothes, they must have been wild in manners and appearance.

Mim was certainly willing to bite...

However, if Petty-Dwarf origins from a mining society make it more likely that they would have been wearing animal skins (which would not by definition have to imply crudely fashioned) it also makes it more likely that the Petty-Dwarves would have used recognizable weaponry in their attacks on the Elves.

This Petty-Dwarf hunting business is getting rather difficult to sustain. While Tolkien probably didn't conceive of it lasting very long, I'm beginning to wonder if he would have modified it somehow if he'd thought about it some more. It just seems hard to believe that the Elves wouldn't have realized they were dealing with something more than an animal. I mean, the Elves at the very least were able to inspect the bodies of those they killed and presumably anything the Petty-Dwarf happened to be carrying when they were killed. Unless one assumes that every time a Petty-Dwarf died, his comrades were able to make off with whatever the Dwarf happened to be carrying (which is also difficult to believe)...