How Did The Upper And Lower Class Occur In The 16th Century

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.

“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” (Fashion Quotes 1) The words once spoken by Henry David Thoreau are politically correct. People often look at Elizabethan‘s choice of fashion and ridicule everything about it from the hair, down to the stockings. As it appears, fashion has always been a broad topic of discussion in the world. Whether it is NY Fashion Week or a Macy’s fashion show, fashion is something that has always been an eye catcher. Fashion has been around for many years, and whether we know it or not, Elizabethan fashion has influenced the way modern fashion is today.

The Southern Colonies were the first to imitate Europe in their fashion sense, this especially was true in the Virginia Colonies. The Southerners chose silk over the cotton that they could have grown and wove in the plantation farms. They imported the silk from Europe and Britain. Silk can either be a really cool or hot fabric. A women had a lot to wear on top of her undergarments, these could add up to at least 3-4 layers. The main thing that women wore then were hoop skirts. These skirts could reach up to 4 feet away from the woman's legs. One of the main purposes for hoop skirts was to accentuate the woman's hips or sides. No lady could go barefoot because of the diseases that existed in the dirt and the worms that could be stepped on. On top

• Monroe was an old fashioned person, he dressed how people did in colonial times

For many centuries clothing was used namely as a form of symbolising one’s ascribed class and social honour. A good example of this was evident in Feudal European times when sumptuary laws were created in order to regulate and specify

The men wore shirts, breeches, and boots. Women dressed more nicely than woman of New England colonies as they wore dresses, and bonnets as opposed to long skirts and coifs. Children under the age of five usually dressed like their parents but instead of shoes, they wore slippers.

In the southern colonies silk stockings were worn and jewelry was added. Wigs were also worn. (John F. Warner -pg. 42)

The lower class consisted primarily of Native Americans, African Americans, and impoverished whites. Author, Howard Zinn revealed many examples that showed the congregation of lower class individuals, in spite of their differences “ In spite of such seventeenth century, there is evidence that where whites and blacks found themselves with common problems, common work, common enemy in their master, they behaved toward one another as equals. As one scholar of slavery, Kenneth Stampp, has put it, Negro and white servants of the seventeenth century were “remarkably unconcerned about the visible physical differences” (Zinn 68).When it came down to real talk, the lower class rose above their differences and worked together to achieve one common goal, freedom. However, the upper class knew they wouldn't be able to withhold all the power with the lower class citizens joining forces. The upperclass attempted to divide the lower class by the separation of race, sexuality, and wars and ideas of war. In between this conflict lied the middle class, who struggled to chose, as they were tempted by the upper class wealth. Although early settlers envisioned a country of liberty and equality, the upper class used their wealth and power to obstruct the lower class from achieving complete freedom, which lead to the oppression of lower class individuals.

Looking at the clothing from the Native Americans in comparison to the modern mid 20th century American so to gain a foundational understanding of the styles unique to each time period is one of many ways in which to identify the stark differences in apparel. Investigation into the distinguishing styles of different time periods would highlight the major difference of the Native American’s loin clothing and the early European immigrants heavily clothed dress. A knowledge of the different clothing styles opens the opportunity to explore any significant events of the time that may have influenced the clothing. Sections from the book Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History provide close descriptions of the adoption of different clothing styles through exchanges similar to those made by the European immigrants and Native Americans accompanied with reasons why such exchanges occurred. Some ABC-CLIO articles (e.g. Lauren Gallow’s “A Developing Economy) identify the correlation between major events--such as the industrial and market revolution--of the time period and its impact on the clothing

A lot of countries made their clothing for different reasons. For instance, Scotland made a fabric called tartans that showed what clan they are in, and Hawaiians production of clothing was part of religious significance. In the Middle Ages ties and belts were used more frequently because their clothes was oversized by modern standards. “With the Renaissance’s changes in art and society came more fitted clothes” (Source 2). They made their clothes more fitted by sewing multiple pieces of cloth instead of using just one big piece of cloth. Without closures like zippers it made it very difficult to get into their clothes. The wealthier people had their tailor customize their own patterns. “... height of 18th century, French fashion garments were truly works of art” (Source 2). The french started to ship in foreign pieces of clothes shipped from miles away and used silk-like materials. “... flashy fabrics fell out of use.. fit became increasingly more important in the 19th and 20th centuries” (Source 2). The flashy material went out of style and nobody really wanted to use it anymore. Instead of tunics and robes, men started to wear suits. Men and women were looking for a more fitted look

Everyone follows the current fashion. People just want to fit in and be cool. In this generation, others make fun of the kind of shoes you have and what you wear. Therefore it makes us feel that we need to be like others and dress like others in order to be

Often times throughout history clothes have been very important in equating social or occupational status. For example, on a construction site you see the hierarchy of power by the color of the hats worn by the employees. Sadly,

The people who lived during the Elizabethan Era were not allowed to wear whatever they like or desired. Their Fashion choices had to be followed by a strict law! The English people chose to establish social classes by the colors they wore and this had an affect on costumes used in theatre. Queen Elizabeth I followed the sumptuary laws, which was only certain classes were consent to wear specific fabric and colors. Therefore in plays the actors could only wear certain colors for their costumes that displayed what role and class their character was in. The clothes worn during this era was a result of Queen Elizabeth’s sumptuary laws, which had an affect on costumes used in plays, and each color a person wore had a significant meaning.

At the end of the 18th century there was one of the most significant events in the history of dress. Men gave up their right to all the bright, more elaborate, and more varied forms of clothing. They left all that to the women. Men abandoned their claim to be considered beautiful. They, instead, aimed at being useful in society.

“Social class refers to a group of people within a society who possess roughly the same socioeconomic status.” (“Social Class”)