Sumptuary laws limited many of the clothing items that the lower and middle classes could wear. Politics often played an important role in how people dressed—from dressing to conform to social class expectations to making political statements about one’s government role or adversaries. Influences from other countries were common amongst high-standing nobles. Clothing reflects the time and place concerning political and social values, giving a visual record of what life may have looked like in the 16th century. Here’s all you need to know about Tudor fashion.
1. Tudor Fashion From 1485 Until 1509
Henry VII was known to favor long robes made of expensive cloth to show off his wealth and royal status as King of England. The beginning of the Tudor era was turbulent, born from the vicious War of the Roses that tore England apart for decades leading up to Henry VII’s victory at the Battle of Bosworth. In this portrait, he wears a long red and gold robe with a damask pattern, likely created with cloth of gold. The robe is trimmed with white fur. A chain of office, also called a livery chain, is draped across his shoulders, indicating that his job is one of high standing within the government—in his case, the highest position possible.
The hat he wears is called an ear-flap bonnet, a type of cap that was favored throughout the Tudor era, made with a flat around the edge that is tied up. Caps like this were usually dyed black, though sometimes they could be other colors. The shirt under his robe is fur, with a collar to match for warmth. Henry VI also sported the popular haircut of the era, with shoulder-length hair kept down around the shoulders.
The portrait may have been used in an attempt to find Henry VII another wife after the death of Elizabeth of York, but the marriage did not occur and Henry VII died in 1509 without ever remarrying. Nonetheless, the portrait served other purposes in which his clothing and presentation became a social commentary on the importance of image for monarchs and the prevalent fashion choices of the late 15th century.
The King’s clothing was an important tool to show those around him who had the wealth and power of the realm. His son would eventually take that mindset even further by enacting sumptuary laws on the English people as a visual divide between social and economic classes. Sumptuary laws limited people of lower socioeconomic classes from wearing certain fabrics, colors, and materials.
Women’s fashion in the late 15th and early 16th century was still fairly medieval in style. Margaret Beaufort’s portrait from Hever Castle in Kent shows viewers what a 1490s outfit would have looked like for a high-standing widow at court. She wears a black gown, which is symbolic of mourning but also one of the most expensive dyes. Her hood is long and white, falling over her shoulders while the top comes to a peak above her forehead. This hood can be understood as a predecessor to the gable hood, which also sported a peak above the forehead and would become popular in the following decades.
Below her hood is what looks similar to a nun’s wimple but is actually called a barbe. Barbes were worn to cover the chest, neck, and chin region and were commonly used during periods of mourning. Though no contemporary portraits of Margaret Beaufort exist, the many copies that do all show her in similar clothing and accessories, meaning it is likely that the copies came from one original portrait that is now lost. Barbes and black clothing may have been used to signify mourning, but her hood is seen in other peoples’ portraits from the time period, including one of Elizabeth of York, her son’s Queen.
2. 1509-1547
Henry VIII took a very different approach to fashion than his father. Gone were the days of long robes at court. Henry VIII was born a second son. His grandmother, Margaret Beaufort, raised him at court while his older brother prepared to become King in Wales. When his older brother died of the Sweating Sickness in 1502, Henry was suddenly the next in line to become King, despite living the life of a second son his entire childhood. Due to his upbringing, Henry VIII was less interested in matters of state and more interested in entertaining pursuits like hunting, music, dancing, and sporting games.
He took pride in his athletic abilities, which was reflected in his clothing choices. Rather than cover himself with luxurious robes, he sought to show off his muscular calves with tight hose and oversized clothing on his upper body. This gave him a larger-than-life, powerful appearance, as seen in the famous portrait of the King by Hans Holbein the Younger.
Other aspects of Tudor fashion can be spotted in the portrait as well, such as the square-shaped shoes called cow mouth shoes. Cow mouth shoes were worn by men and women of all social classes, though the King’s shows would have been made from the highest quality of leather. Another aspect of Tudor fashion that can be seen in the portrait is one that many modern viewers are already aware of due to the many jokes surrounding it—the codpiece. The exact reason for wearing the codpiece is debated, with theories ranging from syphilis treatments to secret pockets. Another theory suggests that it is to hide their actual “secret parts” as a quick-fix to the problem of wearing tight hose that show the outline of everything underneath.
Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was the daughter of two of the most formidable monarchs of the era—Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon. These monarchs united Spain and began the Spanish Inquisition, which would go on to terrorize anyone suspected of not being Catholic for the next few hundred years. When she arrived in England and eventually became Queen, she had to find the balance between being a princess of Spain and a Queen of England.
She had brought fashion preferences from Spain, such as the farthingale. The farthingale was a stiff hoop-skirt that went under the skirts to create a conically-shaped volume. The garment became widespread across England due to her influence. She also popularized Spanish Blackwork, a type of embroidery with black thread on a white background to create a detailed and breathtaking design. After sumptuary laws were introduced under Henry VIII’s reign, certain threads and styles of embroidery were outlawed for those under a certain social standing. However, blackwork was not outlawed for any social class. Eventually, it would become known as “poor man’s lace.” It is said to have originated amongst the Muslim populations of North Africa before they migrated to Spain in 711 CE. The North Africans influenced Spain before their expulsion under the Inquisition, and in turn, Spain influenced England through Catherine of Aragon.
Catherine of Aragon needed to appear as if she was assimilating into English culture if she wanted to be accepted by the English people. To do so, she adopted the English gable hood. At the time, gable hoods would have been slightly longer near the sides of the face than in the following decades. Though the gable hood would become slightly shorter after Catherine’s reign, it would not undergo other significant changes until its fall from use entirely in the mid-16th century. Under the hood would be a coif, a linen cap to go over the hair and create a smooth area to put the hood.
After the King’s Great Matter, when he broke from the Catholic Church to create the Church of England so that he could divorce Catherine of Aragon, a new style of hood became favored as Anne Boleyn rose in importance to the King. Anne Boleyn had spent a large amount of her childhood in France learning to be a refined and educated noblewoman. Upon her return to England, she brought French styles with her, beginning the trend of the French hood in England.
This is not to say that she did not wear the gable hood style at times. She was actually recorded wearing a gable hood on the day of her execution in 1536. After Anne Boleyn’s execution, Jane Seymour became Queen of England and sought to distance herself from the scandal of the previous Queen’s reign. To do this, she banned French hoods and brought back the English gable hood as a political statement.
In 1537, when Jane Seymour passed away from complications in childbirth, England needed a new Queen. Henry’s advisors recommended marrying a foreign bride to forge an alliance. England was now a Protestant country, with all neighboring countries being Catholic. They needed a Protestant alliance. However, Henry was nervous that he might not find his new Queen attractive, so he sent Hans Holbein the Younger around Europe to paint portraits of various candidates.
The “winner” was Anne of Cleves, a German noblewoman who had previously been betrothed to a French duke. Upon arriving in England, Henry VIII rode out to meet her under disguise and attempted to kiss her, but, thinking him a stranger, she pushed him away. This embarrassed the King, who angrily declared that he did not like her nor find her attractive. His opinion would color how the courtiers saw her and, subsequently, her clothing style.
When Anne of Cleves arrived at the Tudor court, the word had spread that the King was not pleased with her. Her portrait shows an example of German fashions during the 16th century, which she brought with her from the Duchy of Cleves. The courtiers were appalled at her fashion choices, finding her clothing to be ugly compared to English or French styles. The King married her in January 1540, despite not being happy about it. The marriage was never consummated and was annulled on the grounds of pre-contract. Fearing the Duke of Cleves would take action against Henry for divorcing his sister, he officially adopted her as a sister and gifted her multiple lands, making her one of the highest-ranking women in England besides the Queen and the King’s children. In contrast to Anne’s German style, Henry’s next wife was the fashionable, teenage Catherine Howard from Lambeth.
3. 1547-1560
After King Henry VIII’s death, King Edward VI took the throne, and then Queen Mary I took the throne after her brother’s passing. Her portraits show the changing styles concerning the neckline. Necklines previously had been low and square, though chemises (the undergarment) could close at the neck, or a partlet could be worn to cover the exposed skin. However, this was not a requirement, and the exposed collarbone area seems prevalent in early Tudor dress.
During Queen Mary I’s reign, the collars began to move up the neck entirely as part of the dress rather than an additional optional piece to add later. In this portrait of Mary I, her neckline is a high collar that sweeps away from her face. Inside the collar, a tied chemise is visible with blackwork. This high collar is the predecessor of the Elizabethan ruff, which would eventually become one of the most recognizable fashion items throughout the history of mankind. Ruffs began to grow in size once women started to show off the small ruffle at the top of their drawstring chemises.
This portrait of Mary I also shows her sitting in a stiff, upright position. This could have been caused by a busk. During the Tudor era, women wore stays, similar to the not-yet-invented corset. Busks were usually made from whalebone, which was strong and flexible. It would be slid into the front of the stays to create a straight posture, smooth stomach, and lifted breasts, which were all hallmarks of femininity at the time. Busks continued to be used until the 18th century when corsets were invented, and it was once common to carve messages into the busks and exchange them between lovers as a courtship ritual.
4. 1560-1580
This 1571 painting by Marcus Gheeraerts shows what middle-class people wore. This scene shows multiple examples of fashion styles from the 1570s, with small ruffs showing up across nearly all of the figures, no matter gender, age, or class. Men’s fashion in the Elizabethan era lined up more equally with women’s fashion compared to the previous Tudor monarchs. They, too, experienced a surge of extravagance concerning fashion. With ruffs, feathers, and bottoms that are now referred to as “pumpkin hose” that ballooned near the hips and conformed to the calves farther down.
Lower classes can be identified by the simplicity of their clothing and their lack of sleeves. Sleeves were detachable during the 16th century, making them interchangeable and allowing for removal when needed. Examples of this can be seen on the women in the right corner of the painting. They dance to the music, which is in direct contrast to the upper-class women on the left of the painting. Their outfits are more elaborate and complete, with sleeves that puff at the shoulders.
Hat styles also changed during this period, becoming taller, stiffer, and more varied in design. In previous decades, hats (called round caps) were similarly shaped to the hats associated with higher education and graduation today. It should also be pointed out that children were expected to dress like miniature adults, which can be seen in the center of the foreground as two small girls follow closely behind their parents. Their mother nurses the youngest child, and a dog sits at their feet. Across all social classes, women would begin dressing by putting on a chemise, also known as a smock. Over that would go petticoats or farthingale, and then the kirtle, which was a sleeveless dress that would go over the gown, the final layer before attaching the sleeves and adding the hood and other necessary accessories.
Queen Elizabeth I enacted more sumptuary laws to bolster the wool economy in England, as it was their most important export. As her reign went on—one of the longest in English history—clothing got more and more grand for the upper classes. Ruffs began to grow in size, becoming their own detachable garment. Sleeves rose higher and higher, and skirts became fuller.
The sleeve style presented in this portrait of Elizabeth shows “leg-of-mutton” sleeves. Jewels, too, became more cumbersome. Elizabeth’s later portraits often show her drowning in pearls and jewels, either worn on her person as jewelry or attached to her elaborate clothing. The fabric and embroidery also became much more intense compared to previous styles. As a woman in power and the daughter of Protestant Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I had a severe amount of pressure to be seen as a person of authority, despite her role as Queen. She would have played up her wealth and power by creating elaborate outfits in which she could utilize symbolism as a political device. As she aged, this became increasingly important, prompting more and more elaborate styles as the decades went on.
5. Tudor Fashion: Styles and Trends From 1580 to 1603
By the end of Elizabeth I’s reign, the upper classes had followed the Queen’s path of luxurious dress to show off personal wealth and power. In this portrait, a noblewoman attempts to mimic the elderly Queen’s style. Towards the end of the 16th century, necklines began to drop once again, but people were loath to get rid of their ruffs. This created a new kind of ruff, similar in style to French ruffs, which had frills around the shoulders and the back of the neck but not in the front so that the throat could be exposed.
Men and women continued to up the size of their ruffs until they were massive. In truth, the ruff began to become less prominent across Europe towards the end of Elizabeth I’s reign, but in England, they remained a strong option for courtiers looking to curry favor with the elderly Queen. Elizabeth I was known for her vanity and her fear of aging and death, and it is possible that she attempted to hold onto the fashion items from her earlier days as Queen out of nostalgia or fear of the future. Decorations on dresses, too, continued to become more and more elaborate. Sleeves became puffier, almost so puffy it was hard to move. To make matters worse, everything was pinned together with straight pins, meaning that any sort of wrong movement could result in the wearer being stuck with sharp pins.
Elizabeth I died in 1603, ending the Tudor dynasty. Though many fashion items from the Tudor era carried over into the Jacobean era, ruffs began to get small again and eventually disappeared entirely from fashion until the early 19th century, when they had a brief revival. As these Tudor monarchs discovered, politics affect nearly every aspect of life, right down to the size of your ruff.
