Dressing a Tudor Queen: Historically Accurate 1530s Clothing

Having a gown worthy of a Tudor queen has been on my bucket list since I was about 14, when I did a school project on Anne Boleyn that involved us dressing up as a person from history. Suffice to say, I've learned a lot since then. This video is a sort of counterpoint to the Tudor common woman's get ready with me video that I shared a while ago, showing the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of social class. Here we'll be looking at the layers that make up clothing suitable for the highest Over a white linen smock, I'm wearing a red petticoat. Petticoats were a pretty new convention in the early 16th century and would become more common as the century progressed. The word petticoat refers not only to the skirt, but to the attached bodice or upper bodies as well. The upper bodies are stiffened with layers of coarse linen that are stitched together to provide support to the chest and create a silhouette. Boning won't be used in upper bodies or pairs of bodies until the end of the 16th century. Red was an incredibly popular color for petticoats as it had been for kirtles since it was believed to be a healthy and warming color. The skirt of the petticoat is made of fine red wool broadcloth to represent a period woolen textile called scarlet. Scarlet wasn't just the color of the fabric, but the name of the fabric itself, which was one of the most expensive wools of the time. In 1536 or 37, Jane Seymour had a scarlet petticoat with crimson velvet upper bodies made for her. On top of the petticoat is a kirtle of changeable silk satin. Anne Boleyn's bill from her tailor in 1535 includes a russet satin kirtle. Kirtles had been the basic garment for women for a couple centuries at this point. The upper bodies are also stiffened with layers of coarse canvas to provide additional support. It's the kirtle that appears to be the location of the jewels around the neckline seen in Tudor portraits. Because of this, it made sense to have the kirtle bodice lace up at the side so that the neckline would be unbroken. The skirt of the kirtle is fully lined in silk taffeta and the hem is finished with a facing. Based on bills from the period, full linings and skirts seem to be common as it would help protect the skirt fabric as well as add additional warmth and fullness to the skirt. My gown is made from a silk and metallic brocade that is representative of cloth of gold. Cloth of gold was made with actual gold threads and was restricted to the highest ranking nobility by sumptuary laws. While I knew the pattern of my fabric was historically accurate for the time period, it wasn't until a couple years after I bought it that I found this original panel of 16th century fabric with a nearly identical design. To fasten the gown, first the four bodies are laced together. Then this is covered with a that matches the gown which is pinned in place. You can even see pins and use in some of Holbein's paintings. The back of the gown is the only place I was particular about matching the pattern. I love the shape of back bodice pieces on these gowns and we have a great back view of a noble woman again thanks to Holbein. One aspect of the gown that was really important to me was having the neckline and entire skirt edged in fur because it's a period practice that doesn't often get recreated today. By looking at portraits, inventories, and bills, we see that it was pretty common for elite women's gowns to be completely lined in fur. Not only does it display wealth, but it was a welcome and necessary addition of warmth in a cold, damp climate. If you look closely at portraits, you can see the fur peeking out at the edge. Of course, fully lining a gown in fur was heavy and expensive and there is evidence in written records that women were choosing to have their gowns lined in silk and then edged in fur to give the look of being fully lined. This is what I chose to do using a faux fur that resembles sable, a member of the weasel family. Like cloth of gold, sable fur was also reserved for the highest ranking nobility. The fully lined sleeves are turned back to show the fur lining as well as the four sleeves. The four sleeves are made of the same fabric as the kirtle and have false linen pullings out to give the look of extremely full smock sleeves. Ties are used to attach the sleeves to the gown, making them interchangeable. Finally, I'm wearing what is today called a gabled or English hood, but this isn't a term that was used in the Tudor period. Based on inventories and bills, it seems that this type of headwear was known by the various parts that made it up, such as the bonnet, paste, frontlet, and edging. Each one is made separately and then pinned together, which allows for mixing and matching different pieces. I want to take another stab at this and play with the proportions a bit more, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I actually like this style of headwear as opposed to the French hood. A few friends and I did a socially distanced photo shoot at Agecroft Hall in Richmond, Virginia. Agecroft Hall was originally built around 1500 in Lancashire, England and moved to Virginia in 1926, so it was the perfect location to photograph this gown and only a 40-minute drive from home. I hope you enjoyed learning about this gown as much as I did researching and making it. Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you'll like and subscribe. See you next time!