Elizabethan clothes provided information about the status of the person wearing them. This was not just dictated by the wealth of the person, it also reflected their social standing. Only Royalty were permitted to wear clothes trimmed with ermine. Lesser Nobles were allowed to wear clothing trimmed with fox and otter and so on and so forth! Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws dictated what colors and type of clothing individuals were allowed to own and wear, an easy and immediate way to identify rank and privilege. The materials and even the colors of Elizabethan clothing were therefore very important and sections have been dedicated to these subjects in relation to dyes, fabrics and the type of clothes that men were allowed to wear and the type of clothing that Elizabethan women were allowed to wear! As you read through the restrictions placed on Elizabethan clothing the subject becomes more and more fascinating. The importance and significance of costumes used in the Elizabethan theaters also becomes very clear!
Elizabethan Clothing & Fashion for women varied according to whether they were a member of the Nobility, Upper Class or one of the poor, working class. But whether a woman was wealthy or poor she was not allowed to wear whatever she liked...
She could be richer than a Countess but if she did not have an equivalent title she was not allowed to wear clothes made of the same fabric or even of the same color! Elizabethan clothing was governed by Sumptuary Laws which were designed to maintain the strict class structure which had started in the early Medieval era with the Feudal System.
Elizabethan Clothing & Fashion for men varied according to whether they were a member of the Nobility, Upper Class or one of the poor, working class. But whether a man was wealthy or poor he was not allowed to wear whatever he liked...
He could be richer than a Duke but if he
did not have an equivalent title he was not allowed to wear clothes made of the
same fabric or even of the same color!
