Get Ready with Me: Early 16th Century Tudor Common Woman’s Clothing

Greetings friends and welcome to my very first Get Ready With Me video. Today I'll be showing you how I get dressed in my Tudor common woman's clothing. This is clothing that's appropriate for the average working woman of the early 16th century. It's not flashy or fancy but I really enjoyed researching and making it and I hope you will too. I'm starting out in my linen smock which is the female undergarment for this time period. Since it's made out of it's really comfortable and absorbent and it can withstand being laundered frequently. I also have my hair taped so the hair is divided into two sections which are wrapped around the head and essentially sewn in place with a ribbon or tape. I did this pretty quick and messy so I'll link down below to some great hair taping tutorials. Now I'm lacing up my kirtle which is the basic female garment for this time period. The bodice or upper bodies don't have any boning in them but there are layers of fabric in this case coarse linen that are stitched together to provide support for the bust and torso. My kirtle is made out of red wool. Red was a very popular color for kirtles and later petticoats during the 16th century because red was believed to be a healthy and warming color so it was a good idea to have it as the layer that would be closest to the body after the smock. I'm using reproduction brass pins to pin the lower sleeves onto my kirtle. The short sleeves on the kirtle are a holdover from the previous century and they'll eventually fall out of fashion. Being able to pin your sleeves on helps make the clothing more versatile and I can adapt it to the weather or to whatever activity I'm doing. Now I'm pinning on a linen partlet which is going to help fill in the neckline and can provide a bit of coverage if I'm out in the sun. You may have noticed I'm using a lot of pins to get dressed. They're absolutely indispensable in the 16th century. I'm covering my hair with a rectangle of linen that I've hemmed and this is sort of experimental right now based on what I've seen in paintings and other images so it's something that I definitely want to keep playing around with. I could also wear a coif or cap to cover my hair. Over the linen partlet I'm also adding a black wool partlet for extra warmth and coverage and because it looks really sharp. In particular in the back it's pointed and it attaches to the bodice with a reproduction tutor dress hook. One of the last things I'll put on is a blue linen apron and blue is one of the few colors that we have documented for solid colored linens during this time period. Linen just doesn't take natural dyes as well as wool which is probably part of the reason that we don't see documentation for them very often. The finishing touch is this knit black wool cap from Sally Poynter and with that I'm ready for harvesting, baking, brewing, dairying, and all the other responsibilities of a Tudor woman. But what about when you want to get dressed up a little bit? For holidays, going to church on Sundays, or for when the weather starts to get colder you can wear a gown over your kirtle. In the 16th century the word gown refers to any garment like this whether it's made out of expensive silk or really cheap woolens. My gown is made out of a fabric that would be representative of a textile called russet and russet was a relatively cheap woolen fabric often left undyed or the natural color of whatever the sheep are. Based on a survey of wills and inventories we see that russet was the most frequently mentioned fabric for the gowns of common women. Now to deal with these sleeves. I'm going to turn back the end of the sleeves to create cuffs and you can see the lining of the sleeves and it's also the same fabric that's lining the skirt. This fabric is representative of a textile that would have been known as cotton in the 16th century. In spite of its name it doesn't actually have any cotton plant fibers in it. It's named for the fluffy raised nap on the surface of the fabric. Now the black wool partlet goes back on on the outside of the gown. To cover my hair I'm arranging that same rectangle of linen this time as a veil. And now for what's probably my favorite part of this outfit I'm hooking up the front of my skirt with reproduction dress hooks. We see these in paintings and other images and there's actually been quite a few of them found archaeologically. Now I'm fully dressed and ready to party or in my case take pictures in my backyard. I just love how simple but really elegant this clothing is. It isn't fancy, it's not made out of silk, but I do feel elegant in it. I love the shape of the skirt on this gown and it is great for twirling. Thank you so much for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe and leave me any questions that you might have about the clothing or research in the comments. See you next time!