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Clothing In Elizabethan Era

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The reign of Elizabeth I was one of the most remarkable periods of English history. Under Elizabeth's rule, England enjoyed eternal peace and prosperity. The English people had more time and money in their hands to purchase luxuries and pursuit leisure activities, and gradually, this was the beginning of consumer culture (Elgin 6). As a result, clothing became the most obvious way of displaying newfound wealth. Clothing became a way to display wealth because it was much more extravagant in the Elizabethan Era than previous time periods. Clothing became more elegant because of Queen Elizabeth, who set the ravishing fashion trends. The display of lavishness and fancy clothing were not for the aristocracy alone but also for the rising middle class. …show more content…

Since the Renaissance increased an interest in science and mathematics, clothing for men and women was influenced by geometric shapes rather than the natural shape of the body. “Padding and quilting together with the use of whalebone and buckram for stiffening purposes were used to gain this geometric effect with emphasis on the shoulders and hips” (Alchin). This fashion was designed to make the waist appear smaller, which was especially desired by many women. According to Kathy Elgin, “. . . a thirteen-inch waist was the maximum which could be allowed in polite society.” However, this fashion was also copied by men who wore the tight-waisted, stiffened doublets to obtain a slimmer look. Because of the limitations of dress and clothing provided by the Sumptuary Laws, a new fashion called slashing was invented; it was used by both men and women. The slash, or cut, in the outer surface of garments (doublets, sleeves, and gowns) exposed the contrasting color of the lining beneath. Then, the linings would be pulled through the slash and puffed out to further emphasize the contrast of colors, fabrics, and materials. During her rule, Queen Elizabeth I led the way for many of the new styles and fashion. At the start of her reign fashion for women was modest, and they were generally covered from head to foot. However, after a couple

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In the Elizabethan Era, the low-class people, such as laborers and yeoman, had a struggle living than the high-class people, such as the nobles and monarchs. The Capulet family are high ranked: “They are nobles” (www.prezi.com). The Montague family are also Nobles. This explains why Romeo’s and Juliet’s mother and father have the title “Lord” or “Lady” in front of their last name. Lord Capulet held a big party for the nobles, so that means the family has a lot of money.

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Women from the 18th century had moral ques that was a embedded as a part of society at this time. This was the idea that women would typically get married, have children and take care of the home. Elizabeth did follow the status quo to a certain

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1170 Words | 5 Pages

There was a decade of economic prosperity following the conclusion of World War Ⅰ. This time was called the “Roaring Twenties”, because of the ebullient, unrestrained culture of the decade. Before this era, the Victorian attitudes toward dress and etiquette were still prominent, and were the main influence on women’s clothing. Women’s bodies were fully covered, as floor-length dresses were the norm and waists were cinched, tight due to the corsets that were still an accompaniment to most women’s outfits. When the 1920’s hit, however, dresses got shorter, painful corsets were cast aside, and some women even began wearing sports clothes.

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Extravagant dyes such as Cochineal would be used to redden up the cheeks and lips. Other substances such as madder and vermilion were also used to achieve this effect. For them to darken their eyelashes and eyebrows they would use Khol. Upper class women, the Nobility, of the Elizabethan Era wore makeup. Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion standards.

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248 Words | 1 Pages

Lower classes, such as the Merchants, Yeomanry and the Labourers often worked to be able to provide for themselves and their families. Merchants, for example, usually earned through selling and trading everyday goods from a foreign country to a specific trade. Modern commerce greatly developed throughout the Elizabethan era, with daily goods such as cloth and weaving becoming essential to the people 's needs. This resulted in frequently increasing prices for imported common merchandise, whilst most merchants greatly benefitted in wealth through delivering trades of essential goods that they believed would benefit their country.

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64 Words | 1 Pages

As the 18th century was coming to a close, women 's fashion took on some changes. In art and architecture, many things from ancient Greece had become fashionable and this had an effect on fashion too. Skirts became narrower and waists became higher. Gowns had less lace, frills, and ruffles. Some fashions in the early 1800 's made women look much like statues of Greek goddesses!

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Tailored clothes were also designed with much more aesthetic detail such as pictures being “embroidered by hand” (Source 2. 5) which meant clothes took hours upon hours to finish. These fancy clothes were a symbol of wealth because only the rich could afford to have these clothes custom made for them. Lower or middle class people often had their own family members making clothes for them because they could not afford to have a tailor. Most clothes made by lower to middle class people were only made of “one or two pieces of cloth” (Source 2. 4) in order to conserve cloth for other clothing. As time when on tailoring changed from making fancy designs to making clothes that fit the body well and looked good.

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1692 Words | 7 Pages

Through the years of 1558 and 1603, Elizabeth I was the queen of England. This time was known as the Elizabethan era. The queen loved music and dance so much, that both were an integral part of the Elizabethan’s lifestyle. The Elizabethan era had many different types of music and dance. There were different aspects of music and dance and all often reflected the Elizabethan’s way of life.

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First worn by French, aristocratic males, this garment grew into a popularity for women in the Victorian times. For those who wanted to ride bikes and for those who wanted to ride horses and for those who wanted to play tennis, culottes became a necessity. They were designed to look like skirts, to look socially acceptable for women to wear, but there was a slit in between the legs that was thoroughly covered, making it almost impossible to tell the difference. Ruffles or panels disguised the split in the garment. “It is precisely the culottes rich, and surprisingly sociopolitical history that made them one of the most interesting garments in fashion” (

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The fabrics were imported from India and manufactured in the north of England which contributed to the expanding British textile trade. (White, M) However, the new fabrics were quickly available for the lower ranks of society and allowed ordinary men and women to copy their superiors. This led to what Lemire describes as democratization of fashion in Fashion’s Favourite. The influence of the new consumerist culture was therefore reflected in the new desire for fashion to appeal aesthetically as opposed to the mere usefulness of clothing.

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The Elizabethan Era was a time where men were in charge and women and children were expected to obey. Nowadays, men and women have equal roles in society and one gender is not better or smarter than the other. During the Elizabethan Era, men, women, and children all had specific and defining roles. Men had a dominant role in society during the Elizabethan Era. Men could do many things that women were not allowed to do.

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Women started to dress more attractively to obtain social power. This is because women had to find a good and rich man to marry that could support them financially. Around World War II times the norm had once again switch. Since women began to work, obtaining a husband by dressing attractively soon died because women became financially independent. Men had to now change their

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2077 Words | 9 Pages

As women were expected to have the smallest waist possible, they wore a corset. When a woman wore a corset often, it was said that her intestines would “move” closer towards one another as shown in figure 10. This would then eventually result in the women achieving the super small waistline. Figure 11 Psychical effects of wearing a corset (Hau, 2003) The Roaring Twenties

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From Casting to Casting Away Gender: Cross-Gendering in Modern Shakespeare Performance The year 1660 marked an important juncture in the English theatre. Not only was monarchy restored in England but Charles II also allowed women to enter the stage. Thus, women replaced the young adolescent males who cross-dressed in order to portray the women characters in Shakespeare’s plays. Although, the cross-dressing motif might seem strange to some, this practice can be traced back to Ancient Greeks who did not allow women to enter the stage and therefore, men had to wear costumes and masks to represent women.

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