English Costume of the Seventeenth Century

1947

Storage GT735 BV42

London: Adam & Charles Black

‘The Stuart period is perhaps the most romantic in English history, a period in which men duelled and danced, fought hard and loved hard, with equal grace and accomplishment, in satins and lace.’ So writes Iris Brooke in this fashion primer on English costume in the 17th century. However, not all was roses. The Farthingale (from Spanish vertugado) was a hoop skirt originally stiffened by cane (later bone). Brooke comments on this ‘ugliest of all modes’ that blocked entrance ways, where the wearer ends up wedged into passages and doorways. King James I had the good sense to ban this particular fashion. This Walter Raleigh look-alike is at the cutting edge; the ruff is gone in favour of broad lace and linen collars. His padded hose with strips of fabric are worn over cannions, fitted hose that ended above the knee. In time breeches would replace them.