RENAISSANCE CLOTHING

By: Sarah Hawk

SUMPTUARY LAWS

The idea of the sumptuary laws was the notion that people should dress

according to their position or status in life. These laws limited the

extravagance of lower working orders.

The main restrictions were that no one except the royal family was aloud to

wear purple silk, gold cloth, or fur stables.

Dukes wore similar material but only in prescribed clothing for example

linings of cloaks. However they must not spend more than £100 per annum on

these items of clothing, £100 in Elizabethan times would have been a

considerable sum of money.

Also if you carried a sword it could on be a certain length and if it was to long

it was to be broken in half.

If someone was caught dressing above their lot in life they usually didn’t go to

prison they were just fined.

CHARACTERISTICS

Around the 1490’s costumes became the new kind of style and that is

when the Renaissance began.

Upper class fashion was rich, sumptuous materials and elegant

styles, and clothes worn by the lower classes were limited and they

used only basic materials.

Elizabethans were not allowed to wear what clothes they liked. Their

clothing and items of apparel were dictated by the Elizabethan

Sumptuary Laws which governed the style and materials worn.

JEWELRY AND MAKEUP

Queen Elizabeth I set the fashions and as she grew older she more wore elaborate make-

up. At one time Queen Elizabeth had contracted small pox which had left some scarring on

her face. The heavy white make-up also helped to hide this and maintain her illusion of

beauty.

Lower class women were expected to work outside and therefore acquired a tanner

complexion. The pale complexion was therefore a sign of wealth and nobility; an immediate

identification for a person from the upper classes.

The favored application of the upper classes was a make-up called ceruse, a mixture of

white lead and vinegar.

Upper Classes used gold, silver, copper and copper-gilded metals, ivory, jet together with

precious and semi-precious stones were used in Elizabethan jewelry. Lower Classes used

cheaper alternatives made of glass, bone, horn and even wood were also used.

TYPICAL CLOTHING FOR WOMEN

Smock or shift

Hose

Corset or bodice

Farthingale

Stomacher

Petticoat

Forepart

Under Clothing:

Both from clip art

Corset

Smock

Gown

Separate sleeves

Ruff

Cloak

Shoes

Hat

Over Clothing:

Google images

TYPICAL CLOTHING FOR MEN

Shirt

Hose

Codpiece

Corset

Under Clothing:

Hose

Shirt

Both from clip art

Doublet

Separate sleeves

Breeches

Belt

Ruff

Cloak

Shoes

Hat

Over Clothing:

Google images

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Elizabethan Era. N/A. March 20, 2008. Web.

January 16, 2012

R. Scott. Renaissance. N/A. 2010. Web. January 16,

2012

Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws. N/A. Web. January

17,2012