Renaissance vs medieval clothing8/16/2023 ![]() ![]() The styles of the gowns worn by women in Renaissance England changed from year to year, but the basic styles remained the same. As with today, styles went in and out of fashion, often rapidly. ![]() While the the materials and sumptuousness of clothing varied greatly between the classes, the basic elements of an outfit were much the same. Liveries were exempt from many of the sumptuary restrictions, as they represented the upper class master, not the servant. Liveries, uniforms worn by servants with their master's colors or emblems on them, were provided by the master to the servant. As with fabric choices, the lower classes were limited in the amount of clothing they could afford, and may only have one set of clothing. As this was prior to the industrial revolution, all harvesting, weaving, and production of fabrics and clothing was done by hand, thus greatly influencing price. 1570įabrics available to those in the upper classes included silk, satin, velvet, and brocade. It was not until cotton farming in the new world and Eli Whitney's development of the cotton gin in 1793 that cotton become a favored fabric (Cotton).Īn example of middle-class women's dress, c. Cotton had been in production since antiquity, but its import and manufacture was prohibited in Elizabethan England in order to protect the wool industry, one of England's chief exports. Lower classes, such as laborers and apprentices would wear linen, a light, cool fabric derived from the flax plant, wool, or sheepskin. Not only did materials vary, but styles as well, as the lower classes opted for practicality in their clothing by necessity. The Renaissance Outfit "Is that thine codling or art thou glad to see me?" Anne Boleyn, to Duke Fabrizio of Bologna, apocryphal.ĭue to laws prohibiting who was allowed to wear what, and the cost of materials, there was a vast difference in attire between the classes. ![]() The Renaissance Outfit| Sumptuary Laws| Sources| Additional Links Home| Shakespeare Resources and Links| Clothing and Sumptuary Laws| Medieval and Renaissance Studies ![]()
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