Clothing In The Elizabethan Era

Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.

Elizabethan women dressed reasonably different than we do today. Women often wore many layers. The first layer would

Although the style was the same, the material was different. In those times clothing was expensive and difficult to get. In modern America, status does not matter at all in the market. If a person cannot afford the clothes from a luxurious brand, there are many duplicate brands being churned out from which one can get the same styles. Wealthy people from both time periods purchase custom made clothing and the middle and lower class purchase readymade.

Like their female counterparts, lower-class men dressed more plainly than the social elite and typically wore simple garments such as pants, shirts, vests, boots, and hats (“Elizabethan fashion”). Women’s Clothing There were many types of clothing women wore, but the most widely worn piece of clothing among Elizabethan women was the kirtle. Women at all levels of society wore the kirtle, a long fitted dress of simple

Queen Elizabeth I left a great and lasting impact on the country of England. She became queen at twenty-five years old in 1558 and reigned successfully from November 17, 1558 to March 24, 1603, a total of forty-four years.

Imagine a woman rising from bed wearing heavy bedclothes of wool or cotton. Underneath she would be wearing a corset for sleep, made of cotton, wool or a mix of heavy linen. After brushing out long hair, which was rarely washed, she would be wrapped in a light cotton garb that would protect her skin from actually touching her formal corset. Often corsets would stretch from the mid-hip region to the breasts. Corsets were constructed of whalebone and metal stays, which shaped the ribs and stomach to form a fashionable waist of approximately eighteen inches. After the corset was tightly laced (which required assistance of at least one other person), then heavy wool or cotton stocking would be pulled on. Stockings were held up ties, girdle-like bloomers or special buttons in the petticoats. At this time, a woman would put on six to eight petticoats . She would put on a special top to keep the corset from touching her dress. At this point, a woman may have worn a large hoop skirt. The large metal device would allow the woman to keep proper social distance from her guests and potential suitors. Often the woman would have to be lowered into the hoop skirt. If the hoop was too heavy, a woman would be placed in the parlor room and she would remain there until after a dinner party or until such a time she could remove the hoop because it could render her immobile. In some rare cases, small rolling wheels were attached at the bottom of hoop skirts to aid women in moving

Women wore underdresses made of linen or flax and woollen overdresses like aprons with straps fastened by decorative brooches. Over the dresses and aprons she wore cloaks or shawls made of wool. Their shoes were made of leather. They had long hair and usually wore scarves.

Depending on their job, wealth, and other factors, clothing people wore may have varied. But it was not uncommon for women to wear dresses(Some more high end than others ) or cotton print shirts and skirts. It was common to see a man in a bit more casual clothes rather than suits almost all around like previous decades.

In the Medieval Period (1000-1500), what you wore largely depended on what class you were in the feudal system and what your status was. The rich could afford the latest styles and dyes shipped from abroad, while the poor may only own one or two items of clothing.

Pearls draped around her shoulders and her neck, a large hooped skirt twice her size, and a pleated lace ruff--all these were part of the attire of Queen Elizabeth I and the trend-setting style of her era. The Queen often seemed to glow and radiate power and beauty with this revolutionary garb. For the Elizabethans, this was a desirable look that had to be mimicked. People of this time wore corsets, ruffs, and followed the stylistic lead of their Queen. Her extravagant dress made her an icon of the time and a leader in top fashion for the Renaissance.

Kings, Queens and Bishops In the middle ages Kings,Queens and Bishops wore similar clothing. Kings wore a robe in either purple or red they also wore a crown covered in jewels and carried an orb. An orb is a six inch ball with a cross on the top. Queens wore a gown in purple or red as well.

The people who lived during the Elizabethan Era were not allowed to wear whatever they like or desired. Their Fashion choices had to be followed by a strict law! The English people chose to establish social classes by the colors they wore and this had an affect on costumes used in theatre. Queen Elizabeth I followed the sumptuary laws, which was only certain classes were consent to wear specific fabric and colors. Therefore in plays the actors could only wear certain colors for their costumes that displayed what role and class their character was in. The clothes worn during this era was a result of Queen Elizabeth’s sumptuary laws, which had an affect on costumes used in plays, and each color a person wore had a significant meaning.

The Elizabethan time period emphasized the dominance of men in society and family ties. Women had no choice but to depend on their families and the man the family picked for them to marry. All the money comes from the husbands income. Family was essential to Elizabethan time, because everyone in the household depended on one another. Men and women both could not function without their immediate family.

The clothing worn by nobility was clearly different than the lower class. The clothing and fashion during the times of the middle ages was dominated and influenced by the Kings and the Queens of the era. Most people in the Middle Ages wore woolen clothing, with undergarments made

While the women’s clothing gave them a triangular shaped appearance because they wore tight fitting corsets, which made their waist very thin, but their petticoats and gown were very wide. Catherine Parr’s portrait perfectly fits the previous description of women’s clothing during the Tudor period. In her portrait, she was dressed in a silver gown that had a crimson tassels hanging down to her ankles. The square neck of her dress was cut low in order to show the top of her shoulders —during the early Tudor period this was a common style amongst the women. Catherine’s crimson underskirt was embroidered with gold and pearls.