Overview of an Elizabethan Outfit

Putting on an Elizabethan Outfit
Defunked website= http://www.dnaco.net’—aleed/corsets/overview.html
Overview of an Elizabethan Outfit
Or “She must be stifling in that thing”
This is a listing of the main elements of Elizabethan costume. (By the term “Elizabethan”, I
mean the dress worn by the English approximately during Queen Elizabeth’s reign (15601600). Each item is accompanied by a short definition and explanation accompanying each item
as well as pointers to more detailed information elsewhere at this site.
Even when one doesn’t take into account the variations in style between 1550 and 1590, and the
radical spectrum of fashion occurring between the middling poor and nobility, there is a
bewildering variety in English Elizabethan womenswear--French gowns, round gowns, loose
gowns, night gowns, doublets, Italian gowns, and Flemish and Polish gowns, just for starters.
So this is a general listing, not a specific one, concentrating mainly on the under-clothing worn
by middle- and upper- class Englishwomen in the latter half of the 16th century to create the
Elizabethan silhouette.
Putting on an English Elizabethan gown is a complicated process, and when you include hair
and makeup, can take half an hour or more.
Any undies, stockings, shoes, earrings, etc. go on first. Dress your hair and do your makeup
before starting; once you’re dressed, it’ll be nearly impossible. Although Elizabethan women
didn’t wear underwear per Se, they did wear stockings. These usually came to just above the
knee, and were held in place by a garter at the top of the calf. See Knitting Period Stockings for
more details.
There is evidence that Englishwomens’ shoes during Elizabethan times were usually thin-soled
with leather soles, and had uppers of leather, velvet or other fabrics lined (by the nobility, at
least) with scarlet, taffeta, or satin. They were for the most part simple, slipper-type shoes, cut
low on the top and round-toed, although heeled shoes became more popular from the 1 560s
onward. For more information, here’s a site containing Patterns for Tudor Shoes.
To protect their shoes from the muck and mud of an average English street, women wore
pattens, or chopines. Pattens were wooden soles, usually 1/2 to 1 inch thick, hinged at the ball
of the foot with leather straps that were strapped on over the shoes, rather like sandals.
Chopines, also called pantobles or mules, ranged from sturdy-soled shoes with heels to high,
discoesque platforms.
Put on your Chemise/smock. This was a simple underdress worn to protect the
clothing from sweat and body oils. It often had full sleeves gathered to a cuff, and
either gathered to a neckband or fitted close to the chest, although examples exist
of ungathered smocks. For more information on the history and variety of
Elizabethan smocks, see the section on Elizabethan Smocks and Chemises
If you’re going to wear an under-petticoat under your farthingale to keep warm and to prevent
any flashes of leg, put that on now. Petticoats were underskirts worn both for decoration (often
an overskirt would be tucked up to display a pretty underskirt) and for warmth. Decorated
petticoats were worn over a farthingale and buniroll (see the next two sections), but flannel
under-petticoats are also documented as being worn underneath the farthingale. The tailors’
patterns of the time, and surviving petticoats and skirts, most commonly show slightly gored or
flared pieces gathered or pleated to a waistband. For more information on petticoats, visit this
page on Elizabethan Petticoats
Put on your farthingale/hoop skirt. The Spanish farthingale, worn from
approximately 1540-1580, was a cone-shaped underskirt stiffened with willow
osiers or other materials. The design for this farthingale was imported from
Spain; hence the name. It was this undergarment which created the signature
early Elizabethan A-line skirt. As the century waned, it gradually gave way to
the French Farthingale, which had a different look altogether. For more info on
the farthingale and its evolution throughout the Elizabethan era, look at the
sections on the History of the Farthin2ale and Making Elizabethan Farthingales.
The corset/pair of bodies. This was a close-fitting stiffened garment, usually
with a wooden busk down the front to make it flatter and stiffer. The pair of
bodies, or some comparative type of stiffening, is essential for all middle class
and upper class Elizabethan gowns; even if you have a beautiful bodice and
sleeves, the period effect will be ruined by the torso’s natural lumps and bulges
if you go without a corset, unless the bodice itself is heavily boned (in which
case it is itself called a pair of bodies--you have to love period terminology).
Look at the sections on the History of the Elizabethan Corset, Corset Materials,
Corset Patterns and Sewing a Corset Together to find out more about this garment.
Put on your bumroll. The bumroll, worn by almost all Elizabethan women of
any means, was a round, crescent-shaped pad that makes the skirt stick out like
it should. Look at Making an Elizabethan Bumroll for more information.
If you have a partlet, this goes on now. The partlet was a curious item of
clothing worn by Tudor and Elizabethan women which covered only the front
and back chest and tied under the arms. Originally it was worn over a dress,
but by the mid 16th century it was, for the most part, worn over the corset and
under the bodice.