HISTORY OF FASHION

1500–1550 in fashion

in Western Europe is marked by voluminous clothing worn in an abundance of layers (one reactionto the cooling temperatures of the Little Ice Age, especially in Northern Europe and the British Isles). Contrasting fabrics, slashes,embroidery, applied trims, and other forms of surface ornamentation became prominent. The tall, narrow lines of the late Medievalperiod were replaced with a wide silhouette, conical for women with breadth at the hips and broadly square for men with width at the shoulders. Sleeves were a center of attention, and were puffed, slashed, cuffed,and turned back to reveal contrasting linings.

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Women's fashion

Women's fashions of the earlier sixteenth century consisted of a long gown, usually with sleeves, worn over a kirtle or undergown, with a linen chemise or smockworn next to the skin.

The high-waisted gown of the late medieval period evolved in several directions in different parts of Europe. In the German states and Bohemia, gowns remained short-waisted, tight-laced but without corsets. The open-fronted gown laced over the kirtle or a stomacher or plackard. Sleeves were puffed and slashed, or elaborately cuffed.

In France, England, and Flanders, the high waistline gradually descended to the natural waist in front (following Spanish fashion) and then to a V-shaped point. Cuffs grew larger and were elaborately trimmed.

Hoop skirts or farthingales had appeared in Spain at the very end of the fifteenth century, and spread to England and France over the next few decades. Corsets(called a pair of bodies) also appeared during this period.

A variety of hats, caps, hoods, hair nets, and other headresses were worn, with strong regional variations.

Shoes were flat, with broad square toes.

German fashion

In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, German dress varied widely from the costume worn in other parts of Europe. Skirts were cut separately from bodices, though often sewn together, and the open-fronted gown laced over a kirtle with a wide band of rich fabric, often jeweled and embroidered, across the bust. Partlets (called in German gollers or collars) were worn with the low-cut bodice to cover the neck and shoulders, and were made in a variety of styles. The most popular goller was a round shoulder-capelet, frequently of black velvet lined in silk or fur, with a standing neckband; this goller would remain in use in some parts of Germany into the seventeenth century and became part of national dress in some areas.

Narrow sleeves were worn in the earliest years of the century, and were later decorated with bands of contrasting fabric and rows of small panes or strips over puffed linings. Skirts were trimmed with bands of contrasting fabric, but were closed all around. They would be worn draped up to display an underskirt.

From 1530, elements of Spanish dress were rapidly adopted in fashionable Germany under the influence of the imperial court of Charles V

Gowns

Portrait of Anne Boleyn, Queen consort of Henry VIII of England c.1533, wearing a French hood trimmed in pearls, and a square-necked black velvet gown decorated with the same pearls and embroidery

Dress in Holland, Belgium, and Flanders, now part of the Empire, retained a high, belted waistline longest. Italian gowns were fitted to the waist, with full skirts below.

The French gown of the first part of the century was loosely fitted to the body and flared from the hips, with a train. The neckline was square and might reveal the kirtle and chemise beneath. Cuffed sleeves were wide at the wrist and grew wider, displaying a decorated undersleeve attached to the kirtle. The gown fastened in front early, sometimes lacing over the kirtle or a stomacher, and the skirt might be slit in front or the train tucked up in back to display the skirt of the kirtle.

As a fitted style emerged under Spanish influence, the gown was made as a separate bodice and skirt; this bodice usually fastened at the side or the side-back with hooks and eyes or lacing.

From the 1530s, French and English fashions featured an open, square-necked gown with long sleeves fitted smoothly over a tight corset or pair of bodies and a farthingale. With the smooth, conical line of the skirt, the front of the kirtle or petticoat was displayed, and a decorated panel called a forepart, heavily embroidered and sometimes jeweled, was pinned to the petticoat or directly to the farthingale.

The earlier cuffed sleeves evolved into trumpet sleeves, tight on the upper arm and flared below, with wide, turned back cuffs (often lined with fur) worn over full undersleeves that might match the decorated forepart. At the very end of the period, full round sleeves (perhaps derived from Italian fashions) began to replace the flaring trumpet sleeves, which disappeared by the later 1550s.

Fabric or chain girdles were worn at the waist and hung down to roughly knee length; a tassel or small prayer book or purse might be suspended from the girdle.

The low neckline of the gown could be filled with a partlet. Black velvet partlets lined in white with a high, flared neckline were worn pinned over the gown. Partlets of the same rich fabric as the bodice of the gown give the appearance of a high-necked gown. Sheer or opaque linen partlets were worn over the chemise or smock, and high-necked smocks began to appear; toward 1550 these might have a small standing collar with a ruffle, which would become the pleated ruff of the next period.

Jewelry and accessories

Women of wealth wore gold chains and other precious jewelry; collar-like necklaces called carcanets, earrings, bracelets, rings, and jewelled pins. Bands of jeweler's work were worn as trim by the nobility, and would be moved from gown to gown and reused. Large brooches were worn to pin overpartlets to the gown beneath.

German States and the Low Countries 1500s–1520s

1. 
   Anna Cuspinian wears a rose-pink brocade gown with a high belt and black collar and cuffs with a large headdress 1502–03.
2. St Dorothea wears a black goller or round partlet over a gown with an organ-pleated skirt and a snug bodice trimmed with embroidery. She wears pieced sleeves derived from Italian styles with puffs at the elbows and shoulders, a heavy gold chain, and a gold filigree carcanet or necklace, 1506.
3. Duchess Katharina von Mecklenburg wears a front-laced gown in the German fashion, with broad bands of contrasting materials, tight sleeves, and slashes at the elbow, 1514.
4. Three ladies in German fashion of 1525–30. Baretts with upturned slashed brims are worn over cauls, and sleeves are variously puffed, pieced, and slashed, with short wide cuffs extending over the hands.
5. Katharina von Bora wears a front-laced grayish gown with black trim. She wears a white partlet edged in black, and her hair is confined in a net or snood, 1526.
6. Princess Sibylle von Cleves as a bride wears a tight-waisted gown with slashed and puffed sleeves over a high-necked chemise with a wide band at the neck. Her loose hair and the jeweled wreath of orange blossoms indicate that this is a bridal painting, 1526.
7. Widows in the Netherlands wear barbes' or wimples with linen headdresses, 1526–30.
8. Woman spinning of 1529 wears the linen cap and hood and black partlet characteristic of middle-class costume in the Netherlands in the 1520s.

Italy and Spain 1500s–1520s

1. 
   Maddalena Doni wears a rose-colored gown with contrasting blue sleeves. She wears a sheer shoulder cape or open partlet with a dark edging, 1505.
2. Spanish fashion: A velvet gown with slashed sleeves is worn over a chemise embroidered in black silk at the neckline (visible beneath the net partlet) and in bands down the wide sleeves, Toldeo, c. 1505.
3. Venetian woman wears a patterned gown with tied-on sleeves that show the chemise beneath. Her hair frames her face in soft waves, and back hair is confined in a small draped cap, c. 1505.
4. Barbara Palavicino wears a slashed sleeves tied in bows at the shoulders. Her long hair is confined in a small embroidered cap and then wrapped in a long tail down her back. She wears a fillet or ferroniere around her forehead.
5. Italian gown of floral silk has wide, puffed upper sleeves and fitted lower sleeves. Her chemise is high-necked and small frills are visible at the wrists. She wears a heavy gold chain.
6. Joanna of Aragon wears a gown with wide, open sleeves lined in light pink. Her high waist is accentuated with a knotted sash. The full sleeves of her chemise are gathered into ornamented bands, and she wears a broad hat that matches her gown, 1518.
7. Marguerite d'Angoulême wears the Italian style common in Savoy. Her black gown has very large puffed upper sleeves with a white lining pulled through numerous cuts or slashes. Her hair is confined in a bag-like fabric snood under a broad black hat, c. 1527.

England and France 1500s–1520s

1. 
   Elizabeth of York wears an early gable hood and a front-closing red gown with a fur lining or trim and fur cuffs, c. 1500.
2. Newly widowed Catherine of Aragon wears a round hood over a linen cap and a dark gown over a kirtle. Her square-necked smock has a narrow row of embroidery at the neck, and she wears a jeweled collar or carcanet and a long, heavy gold chain, 1502.
3. Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor's marriage portrait (with Charles Brandon) in a French gown shows the cuffs of her sleeves turned back to display a lining decorated with pearls. She wears a French hood. Her undersleeves have an open seam caught with jeweled clasps or pins and her chemise sleeves are pulled through the openings in small puffs, 1516.
4. Catherine of Aragon, c.1525, wears a gable hood with the lappets folded up and pinned in place, and the veil hanging loosely in back. Her gown has a pattern of jewels at the neckline, and her wide sleeves are turned up to show the lining.
5. Mary Wotton, Lady Guildenford wears a gable hood with a loose veil. The bodice of her gown (presumably laced at the side-back or back) is decorated with draped chains, and her smock sleeves are pulled through the open outer seam of her undersleeves in neat puffs, 1527.
6. Two ladies of Thomas More's family wear dark gowns laced over colored kirtles with contrasting undersleeves. 1527–28.
7. Holbein's Anne Lovell wears a fur cap shaped like a gable hood. She wears a linen kerchief or capelet draped over her shoulders, and a sheer parlet, 1527–28.
8. Drawing by Holbein shows front and back views of English gowns and gable hood of 1528–30

England 1530s–1540s

1. 
   Jane Seymour wears a gable hood and a chemise with geometric blackwork embroidery, 1536–37.
2. Detail of the embroidery on Jane Seymour's cuff.
3. Margaret Wyatt, Lady Lee wears a patterned brown or mulberry-colored gown with full sleeves and a matching partlet lined in white, 1540 (perhaps after an earlier drawing).
4. Elizabeth Seymour wears a black satin gown with full sleeves and black velvet partlet. Her cuffs have floral blackwork embroidery, 1540–41.
5. Lady Margaret Butts wears a high-necked chemise with a band of blackwork at the neck. The lappets on her gable hood are solid black, and she has a fur piece draped around her shoulders, 1543.
6. Henry VIII's daughter Mary Tudor wears a brocade gown with red sleeve linings and a red French hood with a black veil. The edge of her square-necked chemise is visible above the neckline of her gown, 1544.
7. Elizabeth Tudor at age 13 wears a rose-colored gown over a forepart and undersleeves of cloth of silver with patterns in looped pile. Her French hood matches her gown, 1546.
8. Catherine Parr wears a red loose gown with wide bands of applied trim. She wears a white cap with pearls and a pleated forehead cloth under a hat with an upturned brim and a feather. The collar of her gown is lined with patterned (woven or possibly embroidered) silk, 1540s.

Men's fashion

Early in this period, men's silhouette was long and narrow, but gradually it grew wider until by the later reign of Henry the VIII the silhouette was almost square, with shoulder emphasis achieved through wide revers and collars and large sleeves.

1500–1510

1. 
   England's Arthur, Prince of Wales wears a red hat with two gold buttons and a badge. He wears a jewelled collar of knots and Tudor roses over a reddish gown with dark fur trim, c. 1500.
2. Henry VII wears a red-and-gold brocade gown over another fur garment. He wears the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, c. 1500.
3. Italian hose of the first decade of the century. The man on the left wears hose divided into upper hose and nether hose or stockings. The man on right wears hose slashed around one thigh, with a pouched codpiece, 1500–1510.
4. Johannes Cuspinian wears a fur-lined brocade gown over a front-laced red doublet and a low-necked shirt or chemise. He wears a red hat with an upturned brim, 1502–03.
5. Angelo Doni wears Italian fashion: a dark doublet with pink sleeves, loose hair, and a hat with a turned-up brim, 1506.
6. The young Henry VIII's hair is worn chin length. His gown has wide revers and is worn with a jeweled collar, 1509.

gallery 1510s

1. 
   Italian youth wears striped hose, a doublet with puffed upper sleeves, and a voluminous cloak, 1510.
2. The Swiss Guard at the Vatican wear full-skirted giornea or jerkins and full sleeves over low-necked shirts or chemises, 1512.
3. Unknown man wears a doublet with slashed sleeves and a gown with a gray fur collar.
4. Ludwig, Count von Löwenstein wears a fur-lined gown in the German fashion and a red barett with a jewel in the form of a pair of compasses, 1513.
5. German fashion includes a multitude of slashes in rows on doublet, hose and gown, 1514.
6. The Emperor Maximilian I wears a gown with a very wide fur collar and a broad-brimmed hat, 1519.
7. Georg Zelle wears a brocade rgown with a fur lining and slashed sleeves. The neck of his shirt is open, 1519.
8. Bonifazius Amerbach wears a high-necked shirt and a high-necked doublet under a dark gown. His hat is rounded and soft, rather than angular, 1519.

1520–1535

1. 
   Francis I of France wears a wide-necked doublet with paned sleeves under dark gold jerkin and a satin gown with turned-back sleeves. His shirt has a tiny frill edged in black at the neck and wide ruffles at the wrist. Jean Clouet, c. 1520–25.
2. Lucas Cranach the Elder's Young Man wears the later style of barett, wide and flat with a slashed brim. His high neckline is accented by parallel rows of slashes, and he wears a brown gown, 1521.
3. Frederico II Gonzaga wears a doublet with full skirts to mide thigh, soft "loops" at the shoulder, and gold embroidered bands at the border over bright red hose and a prominent codpiece, Italy, 1525,
4. Sir Henry Guildford wears a wide necked brocade doublet, a jerkin, and a fur-lined gown. His wide-necked shirt is bare visible under his doublet the left shoulder. 1527.
5. Emperor Charles V wears slashed hose and sleeves in the German fashion. His gown has puffed upper sleeves and a black (probably fur) lining. His shoes have squarish toes and reach high over his instep, 1532–33.
6. Jean de Dinteville, French ambassador to England, wears a fur-lined calf-length gown over a black jerkin and a slashed doublet of rose-colored silk. His shoes are very square at the toes, 1533.
7. Charles de Solier, Sieur de Morette wears a high-necked doublet under darker jerkin and a gown. His sleeves are paned (made in strips) and fastened with jewels. The square beard was very popular with the broad silhouette of 1534–5.
8. Holbein's Man with a Lute wears a transitional costume—a wide-necked doublet with a high, banded-neckline shirt, c. 1535.

1535–1550

1. 
   Bronzino's Yoing Man with a Book wears a dark slashed doublet with a standing collar and matching hose. His shirt has a small ruffle at the neck, and his hat is decorated with pairs of metal tags or aiglettes. Florence, 1535–40.
2. Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk wears a black gown lined with lynx fur over a jerkin lined in a brown fur and a reddish doublet. His shirt has an embroidered standing collar. He wears a black "halo" hat over a black coif, and the collar of the Order of the Garter, 1539–40.
3. Count Sciarra Martinengo Cesaresco wears a gown lined in lynx over a blue doublet with quilted sleeves. His hat badge is inscribed in Greek "Alas! [I] yearn exceedingly".^[16]
4. Unknown man in a modest costume of 1541. He wears a brown satin doublet with full, unslashed "round" sleeves under a dark gown. His shirt has a standing band with embroidery and a ruffle.
5. Henry VIII in 1542 wears a closed red ermine-lined gown with narrower shoulders and a high collar.
6. Seated youth wears a pinked and slashed leather jerkin and a black sword belt and hanger over a red doublet and red hose with a prominent codpiece. Germany, 1544.
7. Edward VI wears the leaner, narrow fashions of 1546. The shoulders are no longer wide, and the jerkin's skirts are flared but not gathered, and are shorter than the hose.
8. Emperor Charles V wears a black, fur-lined gown over a black doublet, hose, stockings and shoes. His shoes have slightly rounded rather than square toes, 1548
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