Why do we know more about the history and lives of the “rich and famous” than we do about commoners?

Now that we know what the Tudors were wearing, what do we know about how they got dressed?

Farmers and other agricultural workers during this period probably didn’t have too many spare sets of clothes, if they had any spare sets at all.

During the Tudor period in England, which lasted from 1485 to 1603 and saw the reigns of three kings and two queens, clothes provided their wearers with a changeable skin that could be used to mark a range of different identities.

Middle class men and women would have dressed noticeably different from the lower class farmers, shepherds, and other agricultural labors.

There were a number of items that a woman or seamstress needed to keep in her sewing box.

Clothing for Tudors at all levels of society was extremely expensive. We can compare it to buying a car today! The largest amount of a Tudor’s income was spent on clothing.

Beginning in the Middle Ages, the business of selling secondhand clothing became an important trade in England. Clothing was an important marker of social status.

Between the 1100s and 1700s the English government passed a number of different laws restricting what different groups of people were allowed to wear.

Now that we have seen how the lower classes and middle classes dressed, what about those at the very top of Tudor England's social ladder?

During the 17th century, milliners and mantua makers were increasingly recognized as important fashion professionals. Milliners make hats and other accessories for women, and mantua makers made dresses.

How to Make an Elizabethan/17th Century Coif

Ruffs and collars were a dramatic accessory in England during the Early Modern period. Collars actually serve a practical function- the were meant to protect clothing that was made of fabrics that were cumbersome to wash.

Let’s take a look at a few items that helped create women's fashion in the 16th and 17th centuries!

Menswear in the early 17th century also continued with the trends from the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth had distinct preferences for her fashion and for the fashion of the men in her court.

Looking at children’s clothing is the most difficult, since we have less representations of them in portraits. Children's clothing followed the same pattern it had for the few centuries before.

In the beginning of the 17th century, Queen Elizabeth I was still a fashion icon for women in England. The voluminous skirts and embroidered jackets that the Queen favored remained in style in England nearly two decades after her death.

Today women carry purses or backpacks to hold money and ID cards, makeup, brushes and other personal accessories. Men carry wallets with money and ID in their pockets, and some carry a “purse” designed for men.

Mistress Dauntesey is depicted here by a member of our Living History staff and attended by her lady’s maid who is helping her to get dressed. You can quickly see the differences in the clothing that each is wearing.