Elizabethen Fashain Essay Research Paper Elizabethan Fashion

Elizabethen Fashain Essay, Research Paper

Elizabethan Fashion

The Elizabethan Era was a time that reflect the mood and values of the 16th

century though the use of fashion. It was a period in which a lot of originality

and creativity was evident was used to create new styles of dress (Black &

Garland 16). The Fashion in Elizabethan England at this time reflected the

values and Ideals of the era. It was an Era that based everything on the Great

Chain Of Being; which was a concept that everyone had a position in the

social standings of society that was given to him or her by God (Leed 1). The

citizens in England during the 16th century had their ordered stations in life,

and their clothing reflected who they were in society. Society was broken up

into three major categories; peasants, middle class and nobles. If your

clothing reflected the status of a different class then yours, you would be fined

under Sumptuary Laws (Leed 1). Elizabethan Society was a society very

different from today, but like today, the fashion reflected the mood and

influences on society. The Fashion that was displayed in Elizabethan England

was shaped by the impacts of Queen Elizabeth, the Spanish influence,

Christopher Columbus, their desires for youth and beauty, and the strict

social order. With these five influences the difference of the style of clothing

worn in upper and lower class society stood out. The wealthy were able to

afford the luxurious items the new founding in the world brought with it. The

foreign look was the look that society wanted to achieve during the

Elizabethan era, for it reflected the values of Queen Elizabeth, who happened

to be the ideal women of the era. Things that are not controllable sometimes

have an influence on society that is not expected. One effect that should have

been expected was that Queen Elizabeth would have an impacted on the

society that she gave her name to. The one thing that wasn’t expected

however was the extent to which Queen Elizabeth would influence fashion.

Queen Elizabeth was passionate about fashion and she spread her love for it

through out the kingdom. One of Queen Elizabeth’s talents was her ability to

use any situation to her political advantage (Boucher 17). She wanted to be

seen as a person with power and capability and she thought rich cloths would

help obtain that opinion. The rich fabrics and jewels displayed incredible

wealth, power and prestige (Leed 1). Wealth and power were not the only

thing Queen Elizabeth achieved with her wardrobe. She had a great fondness

for foreign dress and this had an incredible impact on English fashion of the

times. England admired Queen Elizabeth’s style and tried to imitate it to their

ability. She set the stance for what fashion should be, and most upper class

women followed her lead. This gave Queen Elizabeth the ability to create a

piece of fashion that would always be associated with her era. The Spanish

farthingale belonged to Katherine of Aragon, even though it was

predominantly scene through out the 16th century, but the Ruff belonged to

her (Contini 130). She made them a masterpiece of the own making them

higher and larger. She had the technological advances she needed in order to

give her era the credit it desired for the advances she made in fashion.

England became the country know for its lace making, and the invention of

starch helped her achieve great height on her ruffs. By the time of Queen

Elizabeth’s death, the look of fashion had changes entirely. The Tudor style

had disappeared and the International look had arrived. Queen Elizabeth paid

great attention to detail in every item she wore. She consulted many designers

and sent patterns all over Europe in order to have outfits that reflected the

whole of Europe and gave her an incredible sense of power. Queen Elizabeth

started the fixation with foreign items. She had a great effect on Elizabethan

England, for not only was the style of fashion named after her, but she also

set the presence for what the rest of the society wanted. She was the center

of attention and everyone wanted to be like her to their capability, for she

knew fashion, and how to extenuate it with foreign items, and jewels.

Exploration is a powerful thing. The fashion of the 16th century reflected the

great interest in travel and exploration as a result of Christopher Columbus

and his sailing the ocean blue. It was an era that dedicated itself to the search

of new markets and raw materials, with the goal of new exotic modes of

dress in mind (Tortora & Eubank 126). Christopher Columbus’s founding’s

left the world curious, especially England. England had a new interest in

finding new materials and methods that they never desired before. If an item

was new, it was valuable and wanted by many. Through the 16th century,

Spanish fashion was individualiz

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