CLASS & GENDER DESCRIPTIONS

The king was the peacock and fashion setter. He had titles, money, and property and displayed them, quite literally, on his body. Although he wields all the political power in England, he needs help getting dressed; without his personal servant, he is helpless. During this period Englishmen felt they were the best in the world and therefore his clothing was showy and ornate. His position at court depended largely upon how he looked and dressed. Masculine fashion was set by His Majesty and was very elaborate. Courtiers vied with each other to be seen in the most flashy, dashing, expensive and fashionable outfits.

Fabrics were glorious! Cost was no object and skilled weavers could seemingly work miracles. Don’t think that what they had available to them was basic or primitive in any way. The quality and variety of fabrics far outshone anything we have today. Velvet could have as many as five separate heights in the weave and some had a three-dimensional appearance. Weavers could produce cloth with their simple looms that modern computer-run looms cannot duplicate. Silks, satins, damask brocades, velvets and velveteens were in great demand, along with the usual linens, wools and some fine cottons from India and Egypt.

The pieces every noble would wear include shirt, hosen (tights), doublet, jerkin, a hat, shoes, and a great coat.

The King should suitably be covered in jewels and embellished, other nobles should be much less so. Most will wear a Chain of Office.

His Majesty Henry VIII

Although the men were the peacocks of this period, there is no argument strong enough to convince me that a noblewoman who could afford it would allow herself to be out-dressed by the men around her! For the first time in costuming history, women molded the body into the shape they considered beautiful and fashionable, most notably by corseting the bodice to push up the breasts, and by the use of the cone shaped hoop skirt (farthingale). And of course, for the ladies, Her Majesty sets all trends and is garbed the most beautifully.

The noble lady is a person of rank and distinction and dresses as well as her father or husband can afford. She often administers the vast estates when her lord is gone, or in her own right. She is well educated and respected; she often speaks multiple languages fluently, and is a power with which to be reckoned, as she is clever, witty and politically aware in addition to being beautifully dressed.

Generally, articles of clothing include: chemise, corset, hose/socks, bloomers, hoop, bumroll, petticoat, 1 or 2 skirts, bodice, ruff, shoes, and a cloak for bad weather.

Jane Seymour

Catherine Parr

The upper-middle class man would often be gentry or petty nobility with his own house and lands. He might also be a servant in a nobleman’s household, a rich merchant or highly successful craftsman. He has servants to see to his clothing and personal appearance, so the upper middle class man dresses as well as he can afford, including paying the sumptuary tax on some item so that he can be even more richly dresses.

The shirts are made of fine linen or cotton with trim or some black-work embroidery on the standing collar and cuffs. The doublet and jerkin are the same cut as nobility, but with slightly less rich fabric (non-metallic, one-color brocades and some velvet, corduroy, fine wool or linen) and more simple trim with less ornate decoration. Men of this class would either be clean-shaven or sport a well-trimmed beard and moustache. Accessories include pouch and dagger hung from the belt, and some jewelry.

Ladies of this class are wives or daughters of knights, country squires, or wealthy merchants or artisans, with their own servants. They might also be high-ranking servants in a noble household with a lot of authority of their own. Wives and daughters are completely under the control of their male relatives, having few rights, but widows in this time begin to have much more freedom, being allowed in some cases to continue their dead husband’s business and administer the property in their own right. Like their male counterparts, they dress as well as they can afford.

A married lady or conservative spinster wears her chemise closed down the front and a single lady open, but in very cold weather everybody would wear it closed. The other option to wear in addition to a chemise is a partlet, which is below-bust length, open down the front, gathered into a neckband or drawstring and is just long enough to tuck into the bodice front and tie under the arms.

Over the chemise, she wears a corset, bumroll, hoop skirt and petticoat just like the noble ladies but in a less exaggerated style. Again, the corset may be built into the bodice for one less layer. The bodice, skirts, hat and accessories are as similar to the court ladies as she can afford. She still wears the household keys at her waist. She may wear rings, brooches and earrings.

A working class man wears a white or ivory shirt with a drawstring neck or one that is gathered into a front yoke. It should be made of linen or cotton. The sleeves are full with either a drawstring or a cuff at the wrist.

The doublet is the same basic shape as upper middle class or nobility. It is made of plain and serviceable wool, linen, or denim-weight cotton (not denim, denim weight), and can button down the front. The below-knee length trousers or breeches have a drawstring waist or buttoned waistband and a drawstring or band at the knee. Recommended fabrics are corduroy, brushed cotton, linen and worsted wool and might be the same fabric as the trousers. You will need a plain leather belt with pouch, knife, mug and the tools of your character’s trade.

Fabrics are still highly textured and of as good a quality as your character can afford. Colors are still fairly bright for this social class. Blue dye (medium Wedgwood color) was so cheap and plentiful that is almost implied for servants and apprentices to trades, so anyone with any social pretensions will want to avoid that color. Trims are simple bands of ribbon or contrasting fabric. Jewelry, if any, would be very simple in design, made of glass or semi-precious stones in settings of brass or pewter. Buttons would be the most common form of ornamentation. Non-functional jewelry is for the upper classes.

 
Brewmaster

These women own more than one chemise and while the fabric is plainer than upper middle class ladies, it is of finer quality than peasants can afford. You will need bloomers made of linen or cotton, and a small bumroll which helps support the skirts and keep them from wrapping around your ankles as you walk. This replaces the hoop for women who need the flexibility of moving around inside a shop or in the fields. Tights and simple leather shoes complete the basic underpinnings.

The bodice is tightly fitted, boned to have the effect of a corset, and decorated with ribbon, piping or simple trim. It may match the skirts or be made of a slightly more fancy contrasting fabric. Sleeves should be made with the same fabric as the bodice or something contrasting and complimentary. They should tie at the armhole and can be worn hanging on most days.

The skirts can be pleated, gathered or gored with one of them decorated with ribbon and simple embroidery or made of a richer material than the other. The richer or newer skirt is worn over the underskirt, and tucked up out of the dirt of the streets. A bumroll was worn without any hoops as this was the best way to achieve the fashionable silhouette.

The hat can be a coif and flat cap with a feather or simple decoration, a bag hat or straw hat with a bit of decoration. Hair is neatly combed and tucked up out of the way. The hat and pouch might be embroidered as well as perhaps matching the fabric of the rest of the garments, if your character would have the leisure time for that sort of thing. You might carry a chatelaine (keys for the various chests and cupboards in the house, other implements of your work) on a plain leather belt, as well as your cup, small knife and plain handkerchief. A non-black cape or shawl and simple knit gloves will keep you warm when it gets cold.

Another Baker'sWife

Peasant men wear shirts similar to middle class, but less full of sleeve, less fitted and made of a rougher fabric. Breeches are less fitted, and if worn full-length, they are cross-tied from knee to ankle. If knee-length they can have a drawstring or band at the knee. Working men would have aprons to protect their clothing. The hat can be a bag hat, straw hat with coif. Everyone but the poorest has cloth stockings and shoes (for our purposes everybody has shoes, even the beggars, because there are metal staples in that-there hay on the ground!) For warmth peasants might drape their blanket around their shoulders. A plain leather belt holds up the pants and also carries any accessories you will use such as pouch, knife wooden bowl, and any items needed for your job or craft.

Fabrics were coarsely woven, usually at home of wool, linen and cotton. The wool trade is booming in England at this time and so anyone who could afford to, keeps sheep. Since they can’t afford to buy fabric, they weave and make everything they wear. Leather would be available from hunting for making belts and shoes. Colors for dyeing were from plentiful natural sources. Blue was most common from indigo and woad, yellow from saffron or onion skin, red from madder root or cochineal. Orange from safflower, brown from weld, rust from soaking rusting iron in water, and green from dying yellow over blue.

The Dung Dealer

Peasant

Villager of Canterbury

A peasant woman wears a long-sleeved chemise or shift under everything and at least two skirts over that, with the upper skirt, usually newer than the underskirt, tucked up out of the dirt.

Women wear two skirts for several reasons. First we’ve already established that layering provides heat, and two skirts are a more efficient insulator than one, and the second one functions as a petticoat for the first. And then, of course, if one got dirty or stained, they can be switched around. You should have an apron over the skirts to keep skirts clean while doing work, or to show your occupation. The skirts may be gathered, pleated or gored from the wristband. Plain wool, linen and brushed cotton twill are good, sturdy fabrics for these pieces. The bodice is tightly fitted and boned, with a scoop or square neck, which laces down the front. Detachable sleeves that tie into the armhole, will be on the bodice at all times, and can then be worn for cooler days.. Bodices can be trimmed or decorated with simple ribbons of matching and contrasting colors to your bodice and skirts. How well these pieces fit and look depends on your characterization.

Any woman over the age of thirteen has her hair covered by some sort of headgear, such as a wide-brimmed straw hat, muffin cap, bag hat, or coif, with hair braided or tied back out of the way. She wears cloth hosen and simple leather shoes.

You will need a plain leather belt to carry your pouch, small eating knife and bowl. You might have a basket to carry things gathered in the fields or bought at market. Make the necessary preparations for cold weather; cloak or shawl and gloves.

Dung Dealer's Wife

A lass who likes to dance

The Milkmaid

Canterbury Lass