8-2ElizabethsFashion

// Answer Prepared By Sara P. //** Many people would say that Queen Elizabeth was a great follower of fashion. When she was in private she would wear simple gowns, and would wear the same one for two or three days, but when she was in public she dressed to impress. According to the Elizabeth website, people in Elizabethan time’s people would dress according to their social status, so the Queen had to dress more elaborately and magnificently than anyone else.
 * What were Queen Elizabeth’s fashions like? How did she dress and why?

As a child Queen Elizabeth had basically grown up in poverty. She would run around in rags even though her father was the king. At one point her nanny had to write a letter to the king begging him to buy her clothes. Many people believe that not only did the Queen crave rich, luxurious dress, but that they were to make up for her impoverished childhood. The Queen’s fashions influenced everyone around her, even men. She changed the fashions so much that some people couldn’t keep up, look at the difference in the pictures at the bottom. Women studied the Queen’s fashions closely, and then went home to order something similar.

The Queen had dresses of all colors, but her favorite colors were black and white because they symbolized virginity and purity, so these colors were worn very often. She would recycle the pieces by keeping the sleeves, bodice, and skirt separate. The Queens dresses were decorated with rubies, diamonds, pearls, sapphires, and every kind of jewel you can think of. On a normal day the Queen would usually wear a chemise, a corset stiffened with wood or iron, a petticoat, a farthingale, a gown, stocking, sleeves, a neck ruff, and wrist ruffs. The queen also wore a lot of makeup, she would paint her face with white lead and vinegar, put rouge on her lips, and finally paint her cheeks with red dye and egg whites.



Fashion before Queen Elizabeth and fashion after Queen Elizabeth

Archer, Jayne. The progresses, pageants, and entertainments of Queen Elizabeth I. London: Oxford University Press, 2007. Elgin, Kathy. Elizabethan England. New York: Bailey Publishing, 2005. Pendergast, Sara. Fashion, Costume, and Culture. Michigan: The Gale Group, 2004. "The Queen's Warderobe." Elizabethi. 19 March, 2009. 14 Apr 2009 <[|http://www.elizabethi.org/us/>];.
 * Works Cited**