Fashion2

Answer Prepared by: Brooke H.
In the 17th century, the way people dressed defined person. By looking at someone you could tell their social class, how much money they had, or where they were from. People were required by the Sumptuary laws to wear only certain colors and materials. The Scrumptury laws determinded who was allowed to wear which colors, and it was law

Women used optical illusions and techniques to make them look a certain way. The popular goal for women in the 17th century was to look as petite as possible. They accomplished this by wearing padded and puffy clothing to make their body appear much smaller. The padded clothing was stuffed with bombast. 2 Although made with a variety of different materials, bombast was usually made with cotton, horsehair, rags, flock and perhaps bran. Bran was a riskier material because if the clothes ripped or tore, all the bran would spill out. Women also wore large ruffles. The ruffles would be made by pulling a string through the top edge of the shirt.

Men in the 17th century contrasts considerably with the way men dress today. Tights were often worn along with dresses. “Slashing” was a very popular trend among men. They would cut or “slash” their skirts so that the bright colors underneath would show through. Men also wore ruffles. The popular fashions are very different today, and might even be thought feminine, but in Shakespeare’s day it was the style.

Children in Shakespeare's life would have worn similar clothes to the adults. Little girls would wear gowns and boys would have slashes in their dresses revealing the silk underneath. Very similar to the adults, children kept up with the styles and fashions. Both men and women took great pride in their hair. People would spend hours upon hours styling and caring for their hair. Popular styles for women included wearing their hair up in hair nets adorned with jewels. Beards were very stylish for men in the 17th century and could be worn in a variety of ways.

Although lower classes did not always have the money, they still wanted to keep up with the trends. They achieved this by using cheeper material and wore the styles much less extravagantly. For example, they would have much smaller ruffles around their neck, or instead of silk in the woman’s hair net, she would use crepe. Even with money scarce, people still managed to stay in style.

Style was very important in the 17th century and it told a lot about yourself. No matter what your social class was, it was important to stay in style.

Learn more with these links:
http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/everylife.html

__http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/__