The Queen's Court
Body and dress
Image counts
Elizabeth had an uncanny ability to use any situation to her political advantage and her image was no exception. She was very conscious of her personal appearance and knew that her actions and image together formed her identity, which in turn would become a symbol for the whole enterprise of England. Her image was carefully engineered to impress and to convey wealth, authority and power, both at home and abroad. As her reign progressed, she also had to dress for the part of virginal goddess that she had become and transmit the nation's growing stature and confidence. Her wardrobe was full of gowns of rich fabrics adorned with jewels and elaborate surface detail, which were clearly imposing and speak volumes about wealth and status.
Elizabeth also demanded a sense of style from those around her and her courtiers spent vast sums of money on their wardrobes in order to catch her eye and impress her. Dress was a means of expressing social hierarchy and Elizabeth believed that one's dress should suit, but not exceed, one's rank. Elizabeth's appearance stressed her rank as head of state and church and 'pecking order’ was reinforced by legal restrictions:
None shall wear:
Any cloth of gold, tissue, nor fur of sables: except duchesses, marquises, and countesses in their gowns, kirtles, partlets, and sleeves; cloth of gold, silver, tinseled satin, silk, or cloth mixed or embroidered with gold or silver or pearl, saving silk mixed with gold or silver in linings of cowls, partlets, and sleeves: except all degrees above viscountesses, and baronesses, and other personages of like degrees in their kirtles and sleeves…
Sumptuary Law issued at Greenwich, 15 June 1574
These 'Sumptuary Laws' were originally brought in by Henry VIII and continued under Elizabeth until 1600. They were enacted to enforce order and obedience to the Crown, and to allow the assessment of status at a glance.
Elizabeth's wardrobe
As Elizabeth's love of clothes and jewellery became common knowledge, they became increasingly common New Year's gifts. On 1 January 1587, for example, Elizabeth received over 80 pieces of jewellery and she also received magnificent jewellery from her many suitors. From the inventory compiled by Mrs Blanche Parry, on her retirement in 1587 as Elizabeth's lady of the bedchamber, we know that Elizabeth had 628 pieces of jewellery at that time.
This gift-giving helped with the expense of maintaining her splendid wardrobe, as did the practice of altering garments with new sleeves, bodices or collars to update them. The sheer expense of Elizabeth's wardrobe meant that little has survived – gowns and accessories were recycled, reused, given away as gifts or used as payment to those in her service.
However, detailed accounts of the Royal Wardrobe were kept, detailing the types, amounts and costs of fabric purchased, the suppliers used and the type of garment produced. At her death, over 2000 gowns were recorded in Elizabeth's wardrobe. These accounts and portraits of the period have provided much of the available information about Elizabethan costume.
Court fashion
As the nation’s most powerful woman, Elizabeth's taste set the 'look' of the day, especially for the aristocracy. Many of the women around her at court could be seen wearing her cast-offs and others in society strove to emulate the style of the court. This style evolved throughout her reign, from the fairly restrained graceful lines fashionable in her youth into the narrow-waisted, puffy-sleeved, large-ruffed, full-skirted style of her later years.
Elizabeth's influence on fashion extended beyond women's clothing. In her early reign, men's fashion was much the same as it had been under her father and brother – favouring a broad, square silhouette with layers of garments made of rich fabrics. As Elizabeth's wardrobe became more opulent and elaborate, with a more and more exaggerated silhouette, so did that of her courtiers. Men wore corsets to give them a cinched waistline and stuffed 'peascod' doublets, which gave them a pointed pot-belly, like a pea in a pod.
Elizabethan beauty
The Renaissance ideal of beauty was fair hair, a pallid complexion, bright eyes and red lips. Elizabeth was tall and striking, with pale skin and light red-gold hair. She exaggerated these features, particularly as she aged, and other women sought to emulate them.
An alabaster complexion symbolized wealth and nobility (signalling that one did not have to labour in the sun), and women went to great lengths to achieve this look. The most popular white foundation, called ceruse, was made out of white lead and vinegar. Concoctions used to bleach freckles and treat blemishes often included ingredients such as sulphur, turpentine and mercury. These toxic ingredients took their toll, leaving the skin 'grey and shrivelled' as one contemporary commentator noted. To combat this, the skin was glazed with raw egg white to produce a smooth, marble-like surface.
False veins were often painted onto the skin to highlight its 'transparency' and vermilion (mercuric sulphide) was the most popular choice to colour lips red. High, narrow arched brows and a high hairline required much plucking, and eyes were brightened with drops of belladonna juice and lined with kohl (powdered antimony).
Elizabeth's curly red hair presented another challenge, with many recipes for dyeing and bleaching emerging as women tried to achieve the same look. Red wigs became a popular alternative, which Elizabeth also took to wearing. As Elizabeth aged, her legendary sweet tooth caught up with her, causing her teeth to decay. Her influence by this time was so all-pervasive that some women even went so far as to blacken theirs to mimic her appearance!
