Clothes During The Elizabethan Era

Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.

The Elizabethan age is said to be the “Golden Age” in English history, the time where Queen Elizabeth I reigned. As no other queen in English history had such a huge impact on beauty, Queen Elizabeth I, with her fair complexion and curly red hair, was considered the definition of beauty at the time and had the majority of Elizabethan woman striving for the look that she popularized. During the Elizabethan era, a snow white complexion and light hair, complimented by red cheeks and lips could only be achieved by wealthy men and women of the upper class as those of the lower class were made to work outside and therefore developed a tan. A pale complexion was considered to be a sign of good health, nobility and, for women, delicacy.

Depending on their job, wealth, and other factors, clothing people wore may have varied. But it was not uncommon for women to wear dresses(Some more high end than others ) or cotton print shirts and skirts. It was common to see a man in a bit more casual clothes rather than suits almost all around like previous decades.

“Everyone who lived during the Elizabethan Era knew these laws and failure to follow them resulted in fines, lose of property, title, and life” (Elizabethan Costume). Since in English society clothing was a huge factor it ended up affecting costumes that were used in theatre.

New clothes were rare among commoners, and most clothes had been passed down. Clothing showed the status of the citizens back then. Therefore, if they had elegant, smooth, beautiful clothing, they were high up on the power pyramid. Raggedy clothes suggested you were very low on the feudal pyramid. Clothing came from Arabians and from homes via mothers stitching them, or leatherworkers.

This was due to the idea that males and females must always look classy. In aiming for classiness, the designers did not care at all about comfort. The females usually wore extensive, elegant, and detailed, focused gowns in which showed minimum skin. They would layer a stupendous amount of garments to seem publicly acceptable. The males wore tight but sophisticated clothing that included high socks and a blazer like a cardigan so that they always appeared professional and quite spiffy.

In the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare was a well-known and influential playwright, who still to this day impacts our everyday life, from our school studies to daily words such as ‘road’. Shakespeare’s most well know work comes from his time writing plays. Elements such as voice and costume were used to assist the actors in delivering the story to the audience. The clothing worn in Elizabethan England reflected a person’s status in society and laws were put in place to restrict what people could wear, this was the same in theatrical productions where an actors costume reflected the status of the character they played. The theatre companies owned most of the costumes and tried to reuse them as much as possible by completing simple alters like

Lady Bracknell and Gwendolyn wore dresses made of fine materials that covered there skin from neck to foot with their hair up, just as the ladies of their status would in that time. This is different from country girl Cecily, whose dress leaves the neck and forearms uncovered with her hair mostly down. The men were given clothing that matched the time period, but didn’t necessarily fit or the tops didn't match the bottoms. Algernon’s costume in the first act is perfect, but his pants in the second and third acts were dragging on the ground. Jack’s costume fit correctly, however the bottoms did not match the jacket and the jacket did not match the vest.

More specifically, clothing for the upper class symbolized their value in society and it made them earn respect from the lower classes. Also, the clothing for the upper class was made

It served the primary purpose of keeping one safe from the elements, but over time fashion began to play more of a part in the design of the attire. In source two we learn that during the middle ages the clothes of many people were very simple and typically just one or two pieces of fabric stitched together. But we also learn that by roughly the seventeenth century the common designs featured in clothing began to become more complex and intricate. Specialty stores such as tailors started specifically working to help people’s needs, and certain hotspots for fashion around the world, such as France and Great Britain, began to draw more and more people, besides just the wealthy. This then began the start of a new industry, one which tried to suit more than just one individual’s wants and needs for

Throughout history clothes have a wide variety of meaning, and clothes can simply hint at one’s fashion sense, they also serve to be a reflection of their owner’s social and political status. People throughout the centuries have utilized garments to express their wealth, and or social and political status. While flaunting wealth can be the product of an ostentatious home for Roman Senators or commissioned portraits of royalty, clothes have also been a significant factor in this show of wealth. Social/Political classes are also affected by clothing, people at the top of the classes showed off their wealth through the clothes that they wore. The classes affected how people were treated as well,therefore if one dressed lavishly they were treated

Have you ever wondered why people in the renaissance wore different kinds of styles and how they made them? As time goes on the style of clothing changes and how it’s made. The creation of clothes has to do a lot on the style of clothes. Clothing styles and the development of cloths are much related. Historically clothes has changed because of the advancement in technology, Size of the people, and the cost of tailoring clothes

The type of fashion beingdescribed in the play is nothing alike to the one being used in the film. Petruchio describes the clothing that they will wear when they return to Katherine’s house, “with silken coats and caps…with ruffs and cuffs and farthingales…” (Shakespeare). In the film, the

All the character were wearing normal clothing nothing special. In the first scene where Hamlet is approaching the press conference. He pulls up in a hat and loose fitting jeans he has this hipster type of look. A complete three sixty from the medieval clothing that he was in when Shakespeare wrote the play. Through the play he is wearing normal clothing that would have been popular in the 2000. For Ophelia she was dressed casual but her hair was in braids which is something that women would have worn in later years. I liked how they incorporated that in the movie. Claudius was far dressed from the typical king clothing he did not have a crown or anything like that. The entire movie he was dressed in a fancy suit and a suitcase which is the modern version of a

Fashion during the Victorian era was mostly very formal. Men's clothing was very "uptight" and lacking in color. As for the women, their dress and skirts were very tight and non-practical. Children's clothes would be very like the adults, but there were a few differences. Fashion for the poor was more about practicality and what was necessary.