‘The Queen [Elizabeth] said she had many clothes of every sort…one day she had the English weed, another the French, and another the Italian…’
Elizabeth I is remembered as one of Britain’s most iconic and memorable monarchs. With her 45 year reign spanning from 1558-1603, Elizabeth was known for and has been remembered as a fashion icon. Being the child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, as a monarch, took the strong will of her father and the determination of her mother. Anne Boleyn, similarly to her daughter, was known for setting a few fashion trends during her time. Anne Boleyn popularised the French Hood, a common circular women’s headdress in the 1500s, Boleyn popularised this in England and the court which was a change to the more triangular English hood. We can see from portraits that as a child and a young adult Elizabeth dressed very similarly to her mother, however, Elizabeth’s impact on fashion was seen during her time as monarch.
During her reign Elizabeth imposed Sumptuary Laws which are described as ‘Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditures for apparel, food, furniture etc.’. These laws clearly distinguished the different classes with only the upper class elites being able to wear the finest of materials in the richest of colours. Materials such as silks and velvets were restricted under the Sumptuary laws and only accessible to the upper class. There was a Statute of the enforcement of apparels in 1574 where we can see a direct address of the situation by the Elizabethan government about not dressing above your position in society. I will link the statute below where you can see how the government told the English people essentially what they could and could not wear, plus you can see more examples of what materials and colours were restricted.
Now let’s discuss Elizabeth’s fashion, Elizabeth I is probably one of the most recognisable monarchs of British History, when someone says Elizabeth I most people can have a clear picture in their head, and this is down to her signature style and makeup. Elizabeth was known for elaborate gowns in an array of fabrics in bright and beautiful colours. She was dubbed the ‘Virgin Queen’ as throughout her reign she had many suitors but refused to marry anyone, this was to avoid England having foreign rule, instead Elizabeth created a reputation of being devoted to her country and her people meaning that she was married to her country thus creating the label the virgin queen. As her reign went on we can see Elizabeth altered her fashion to fit with the name she has been given which I will explore later on.
If we focus on this early portrait of Elizabeth I, painted around 1560, right at the start of her reign, we can tell a lot of about the young Queen. Before she succeeded her half sister Mary I she was known as an illegitimate child, and many questioned her becoming queen therefore with this pressure she needed to assert her dominance to her subjects. We can see that in this painting Elizabeth is wearing a garment made most likely of velvet, which was a popular fabric used by the social elites of Elizabethan England, dyed black which could be obtained by black walnut. This paired with an ermine collar which is featured in more portraits of Elizabeth I, which has connotations of purity. However, this is not in reference to Elizabeth’s purity as virgin queen it could be linking to her purity as a person, removing her reputation of being illegitimate. Elizabeth is also seen wearing the iconic ruff around her neck and wrists, a staple in Elizabethan England. The main element of this portrait that stands out to a viewer is probably the MASSIVE square cut jewel and double chain. Jewellery was an important feature for Elizabeth as it could display a multitude of elements, such as wealth. You can see that Elizabeth’s fashion choices have been made to fit with the meaning of this portrait, to assert herself as a powerful ruler. The ruff and the collar cover Elizabeth up but doesn’t swallow her and combines masculine and feminine elements of Elizabeth’s look presenting her as more dominant.
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Though Elizabeth in her private time enjoyed more simpler gowns when she was in public or an occasion she definitely knew how to dress to impress. However, you may ask yourself what layers went into dressing Elizabeth. It would start off as a smock which was an undergarment then the stockings both normally made from cotton or linen. After the stockings, the corset would be put on followed by a farthingale, which is basically a hoop skirt, originating in Spain and is thought that Catherine of Aragon made them popular in England. Then Elizabeth might have added a bum roll which would have added more oomph to her dress. Then a forepart and over skirt would be added, the forepart would be an elaborate design made out of taffeta. The partlet, bodice and sleeves would be added, the bodice would most likely match the forepart. The outfit would be completed with shoes, jewellery, and the iconic ruff. Dressing Elizabeth or any noble Elizabethan woman was a process but back in 16th century your clothes dictated your status they were social ques to the rest of society showing what class you were. You can see here that this dress that Elizabeth is wearing in this portrait would have included these many layers, with this being painted around 1592 this is a perfect example of Elizabeth starting to wear outfits fitting with the virgin queen label, with the white fabric and the pearls, plus the lighter makeup she is wearing to hide her scars from her battle with smallpox.
Elizabeth’s impact on fashion can be best described by Drea Lead as ‘ripples in a pond’. Elizabeth would wear something first then her ladies in waiting wore her old dresses which lead to upper class women wanting to replicate the styles of the Queen and her ladies in waiting. Fashion trends in Elizabethan England would simple travel down from the Queen into the court and into the rest of society. However, Queen Elizabeth didn’t just have an impact on female fashion, male fashion was impacted as well. At the start of Elizabeth’s reign men’s fashion resembled the fashion during the reigns of her father, Henry VIII and her half-brother, Edward VI. However, as Elizabeth’s reign went on men’s fashion became as extravagant as women’s fashion. Men too wore corsets and their doublets had amazing embroidery paired with extravagant ruffs like the queen. We can see Elizabeth’s impact on both male and female fashion when comparing portraits before and after her reign.
The left image is a portrait of an English lady painted by Hans Holbein the younger (1497-1543) around 1535 and on the right is a portrait which is believed to be Elizabeth Southwell who was one of Elizabeth’s courtiers, painted by an unknown artist around 1595-1600. We can see a clear contrast in fashion between the two portraits. The woman on the left is wearing quite a plain square necked dress, in a brown colour with what looks like black velvet sleeves. She is wearing an English hood with a few embellishments, but overall, the entire garment is lacking in embellishments and embroidery and is quite plain and boring (sorry to whoever this woman is but it’s the harsh truth). Whereas Elizabeth Southwell on the right is in this amazing extravagant gown in what looks like white silk. We can also see lace and jewels that would have been sewn on by hand. Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, the traditional ruff became less popular, and the open cartwheel ruff was more popular, as seen in this portrait. The portrait of Elizabeth Southwell is clearly inspired by Elizabeth I’s ‘Ditchley Portrait’ painted around 1592.
Now if we look at how Elizabeth impacted men’s fashion, we can compare two portraits of on the left is Sir Henry Wyatt (1460-1437) painted by Hans Holbein the Younger and on the right is Robert Dudley (1532-1588). Both were courtiers in their lifetime, Wyatt being a courtier of Henry VIII and Dudley, Elizabeth I. Similarly, to the portrait of the unknown women , Wyatt is seen wearing a black garment with a brown fur collar it seems. It is simplistic in its purest form with not much embellishment. Whereas Dudley can be seen wearing a white and gold doublet. It has jewels and feather with ruffs around his neck and wrists. This is more of stark difference in these too portraits than woman’s portraits, in my opinion. Both these men were courtiers when these portraits were painted so it’s fair to assume that they both had similar incomes. Dudley’s portrait and many other portraits of upper class noblemen show that Elizabeth had an impact on male fashion.
Now lets discuss symbolism. Back in 2021 in year 13 I did my Extended Project Qualification (basically an a-level where you do a project on anything you want) on Elizabethan fashion. A lot of my research I did I already knew just from prior reading due to my love of the topic but one thing that was new to me and became obsessed with was symbolism in Elizabeth’s portraits. So, you can read these annotated photos about symbolism in Elizabeth’s portraits.
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So overall, in Elizabeth's portrait and her fashion choices she wanted to represent a few things. Her portraits show her purity and her being virgin queen by also her imperial power seen with the globe motif in some of her portraits. In inclusion of crowns and Tudor roses show her rightful claim to the throne as throughout her reign she had many haters who tried to diminish her claim to the throne and tried to remove her.
I want to use the end part of this blog post to discuss Elizabeth's fashion and its impact on modern day fashion. Now you might not see everyone walking down the street wearing Elizabethan fashion (but imagine if they did though, that would be so iconic and such a slay for real), but Elizabeth I has had an imapct on modern fashion. You might not see the trends of Elizabeth I in everyday fashion however the use of wigs and floral prints can somewhat be attributed to her. Nevertheless, Elizabeth has made a massive impact on runway fashion. Riccardo Tisci in the Givenchy Spring/Summer 2008 runway stretched and exaggerated Elizabeth's iconic ruff to the extreme making them into jackets and bodices. Similarly in 2009 with London designer Gareth Pugh in his Spring/Summer collection he played with the ruff in a monochrome theme. Keeping with the circular shape of them he used them ontop of frilly petti-coat layered dress which gave it a very futeristic feel. Only in 2018 Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim used the botanical motifs seen in Elizabeth's and Elizabethan attire in their Fall/Winter collection. Garcia explicitly said that the Elizabethan era was used as inspiraiton, and also mentioned the point I made previously where Elizabeth set the trends and then it went all through society. It's amazing to see fashion designers using elements of iconic pieces of fashion worn by an iconic woman and I hope to see more because parts of Elizabeth's garments are so dramatic and timeless.
So overall, we can see that Elizabeth I was a true fashion icon. Her fashion was inspired by her mother in her younger years and then during her reign she had inspirations from all over the world but Elizabeth's fashion also inspired many, She would set fashion trends that trickled down society. Without a doubt Elizabeth knew how to dress and makes her one of the most recogniseable British monarchs. From the ladies in waiting to the modern day runway Elizabeth I has left her mark on the history of fashion.
Sources:
Rinehart, K. (1972). Shakespeare’s Cleopatra and England’s Elizabeth. Shakespeare Quarterly, 23(1), 81–86. https://doi.org/10.2307/2868657
Black Laws Dictionary: https://archive.org/details/blacks-law-dictionary-1st-edition-1891
Statue of the Enforcement of Apparels: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/proclamation-against-excess-of-apparel-by-queen-elizabeth-i
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