Today I want to take a look at Tudor clothing fashion, because in Tudor England what you wore said a lot about who you were. Clothing showed people how wealthy you were, your rank, occupation, and even your loyalty to the crown. The Tudors considered appearance and status to be important and fashion became a way of showing this.
Catherine of Aragon
Artist: Lucas Horenbout
At the start of the Tudor period, when Henry VII became king in 1485 after the Wars of the Roses, clothing was very much in the medieval styles. Wealthy men often wore fitted tunics, gowns or robe-like outer garments that were worn over their clothing along with hose, which were a little like stockings, and cloaks.
Anne Boleyn posthumous
Women wore long dresses with fitted bodices and full skirts. Their dresses were usually tightened with laces that pulled the fabric close to the body to create the fashionable stiff shape. I imagine they could still feel restrictive, but they would have generally been more comfortable than the tightly laced Victorian era corsets. The laces were usually threaded through eyelets at the front, back, or sometimes the sides of the bodice, unlike many Victorian era corsets, which were typically tightly laced at the back. Tudor bodices were aimed to create a flatter, more rigid silhouette rather than pulling the waist into an exaggerated hourglass shape the Victorian strove for.
Anne of ClevesImage info:
Anne of Cleves
Artist: Hans Holbein the Younger
Date: 1539
Collection: Louvre Museum
They used rich fabrics like velvet, silk, satin, and damask, which were all highly valued. These fabrics were expensive, so wearing them made sure that people immediately knew your status.
During the reign of Henry VIII, fashion became even more elaborate. Henry loved to show off and display his wealth and opulence. The court, who were continuously wanting to impress, followed suit. The king set the fashion and gave the power and status. Men’s clothing became broader and more padded, with wide shoulders that created a powerful image. One of the most famous and unusual fashion items of the period was the codpiece. It was originally a practical fabric covering worn over the groin where the hose joined, but it gradually became larger, more decorative, and impossible to ignore. Some were padded or embroidered, turning what was a practical garment into a bold display of masculinity and confidence.
Henry VIII
Date: 1540–1547
Artist: Hans Holbein the Younger
Collection: Walker Art Gallery
Bright colours were especially important in Tudor fashion, but colour was also connected to your rank. The rich could afford to buy vivid dyes like deep crimson, rich purple, scarlet, and bright blue. Some colours were even restricted by the law under the Tudor sumptuary laws, especially during Henry VIII’s reign. The laws controlled who could wear which luxurious fabrics, fur, gold embroidery, pearls, and even certain colours. The royal family and highest nobles could wear the richest and most expensive colours like purple, crimson, scarlet, and of course gold, which would instantly show people that you had wealth and power. Wealthy merchants and the gentry could wear rich blues, greens, and deep black. This meant ordinary people could not dress like nobles, even if they somehow could afford it. Poorer people usually wore practical muted colours such as brown, russet, grey, faded green, or undyed wool which were far less expensive.
These laws were not just for show. We know this because Tudor rulers kept reissuing them in official proclamations. Surviving records also show that some people were fined or warned for wearing luxury items they were not allowed to wear, especially wealthy merchants trying to dress like nobles.
Image info:
Pattens
The Arnolfini Portrait
Date: 1434
Collection: National Gallery
Women’s fashion gradually changed significantly throughout the era. Gowns started to become heavier and a lot more structured, with stiffened bodices and wider skirts. The skirts were supported by layers underneath them. Wealthy women often wore decorative sleeves, jewellery, and embroidered fabrics. Later in the Tudor period, especially under Elizabeth I, the ruff became one of the most recognisable fashion trends. A ruff was a pleated collar worn around the neck, sometimes small and neat, sometimes enormous and dramatic. These were starched into elaborate shapes. Wearing a large ruff must have been very uncomfortable, especially when eating or turning your head, but fashion and status were far more important than comfort.
Image info:
Lady playing a lute in a yellow kirtle
Collection: National Gallery of Art
Head coverings were extremely common for both men and women. Respectable Tudor women didn’t really go outside with uncovered hair. Covered hair was seen as modest and respectable. Surviving portraits and written records often show women wearing hoods, caps, or veils. They wore French hoods, gable hoods, coifs, caps, or linen coverings. Head fashions changed over the Tudor period. Catherine of Aragon was known for the traditional English gable hood, which covered most of the hair. Anne Boleyn helped to make the softer French hood fashionable, showing more of the hairline. Anne of Cleves wore more conservative German fashions, with structured headwear and high-necked gowns, and some historians have wondered whether her less familiar style may have added to Henry VIII’s disappointment, as it was so different from what women were wearing at English court. Headwear continued to change throughout the Tudor period. Mary I often wore more modest and traditional styles, with hoods, caps, and veils covering much of her hair, most likely influenced by her mother Catherine of Aragon. Unlike many of the earlier Tudor women, Elizabeth I often left a lot of her hair visible. She decorated it with pearls, jewels, and ornate headpieces.
Elizabeth I
Artist: Nicholas Hilliard
Collection: Walker Art Gallery
Men wore flat caps, felt hats, or bonnets. A person’s headwear could instantly reveal their social position and fashion awareness. Henry VIII seemed to favour wide flat bonnets that were decorated with feathers, jewels, or gold badges.
Mary I
Artist: Antonis Mor
Collection: Museo del Prado
Tudor women usually wore flat leather shoes with rounded or square toes. Wealthier women could afford more decorative styles, and some wore raised overshoes called pattens to protect their shoes and skirts from the muddy streets.
Of course, most Tudors were not wealthy courtiers. Peasants and labourers wore much simpler clothing usually made from wool, linen, or rough homespun cloth. Men most often wore plain tunics, breeches, hose, and practical leather shoes. Women wore simple kirtles, a fitted dress with a bodice and long skirt. This could be worn on its own by poorer women or under an outer gown by wealthier women. They also wore aprons, wool skirts, and linen caps or kerchiefs. Their colours were far more muted. For poorer families, clothing needed to be durable and practical above everything else. They were more likely to worry about keeping warm and comfortable than the latest court fashions.
Do you think Tudor fashion looked elegant and impressive, or does it look far too uncomfortable?
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