Week 1 - The Tudor

Henry VIII was called ‘the best dressed sovereign in the world’ and Elizabeth I equally image-conscious, was once described as being like ‘starlight, thick with jewels’. They used fashion to set themselves apart from and control their subjects, and used portraiture manipulate their pubic image and appearance, very much like we might use social media today to project a public image out into the world. 

Successive sumptuary laws were brought in to regulate exactly what people wore, from fabrics to colours, and their accessories too. After this, people could only wear certain things according to their hierarchical status in society. The Tudors also used the laws to prevent general extravagance and promote trade in English materials like wool.

Black, white and silver were not only expensive colours to produce and to maintain, they also would have contrasted with Elizabeth’s pale complexion, which was a sign of her elite status, and her auburn hair, which was a characteristic feature of the Tudor dynasty.








Elizabeth’s clothing and accessories also often contain meanings that would have been instantly recognisable to her subjects but are perhaps less familiar to us. The intricate lace cuffs and elaborate lace ruffs, for instance, are a sign that she was a woman who did not have to do any physical or manual labour, and the jewel-encrusted gowns are testament to her wealth.

Very few garments from this period of history survive. The frustrating lack of surviving royal items is not just a result of Oliver Cromwell’s royal clear-out, or even because so much perished in the Great Fire of London Fire in 1666. It is the Tudor monarchs, and the Stuarts who inherited their treasures who are much to blame. If the cloth does survive its often been reused as alter cloth or soft furnishing, the value and cost of clothing was much higher than today, and charitable re-gifting was also seen as ‘a good thing to do’. It would seem that the Tudors amongst many things were some of this countries earliest Up cycle devotees!!

I've really enjoyed the first week of the History of Royal Fashion course with Future Learn and Glasgow University. I'm starting learning about the Stuarts today which I'm sure will be just as interesting. I will conclude my last 10 days of #100daysofpapercollage when this five week course is complete.