Tudor costumes

[Constantinople]

lets discuss what you like and disllike about Tudor costumes.  What do you like and dislike and what would you wear and not wear.

[Kimberly]

Love the little French Hoods with the veil flowing behind. .......Couldnot bear to wear the wooden (yes, they were wooden) corsets.

[Constantinople]

were they wooden stays or wood corsets?

[Kimberly]

Corsets, they were stiffened with buckram and also wood was used to flatten out the lumps and bumps.
I would imagine that the starched ruff would be a bit itchy and uncomfortable as well.

[Kalafrana]

Having a sensitive skin, I itch at the mere thought of those starched ruffs!

And being a fastidious soul I am concerned that all these garments were probably not washed very often.

Ann

[Constantinople]

yo uare right and the attraction for developing the colour peuce was that it hid fleas and body lice. 

[Kimberly]

They wore linen under garments that would be boiled in lye but the beautiful gowns must have been a bit pongy because of the difficulties in cleaning the fabrics. My understanding is that "sweet smelling herbs" were burned close to the garments to refresh them.
Lavender was used to get rid of lice (along with nit combs- many were found in the wreck of the Mary Rose.
Slightly O/T but Mary de Guise was told to wash her hair only once a month when pregnant with Mary (Q of Scots).

[Constantinople]

Ever since Christianity took over from healthy Roman values, bathing was seen as sinful so the church developed arguments  to argue against bathing dailly.  Society in general had a viceral and robust smell to it then.

[TroubleTwin2]

I don't think it was bathing in entierty, I read somewhere that when they did bath they would avoid using warm water because they believed that it would let in evil spirits so they would use cold water. Now I read that a while ago, so I can't remember it word for word.

[jehan]

Ever since Christianity took over from healthy Roman values, bathing was seen as sinful so the church developed arguments  to argue against bathing dailly.  Society in general had a viceral and robust smell to it then.

the truth is, as usual, complicated.  The church mainly spoke out against the bathhouses, which were seen as dens of sin (and they were in many cases!).

The main problem was practicality.  Bathing was difficult for the poorer classes, as heating water was expensive and time consuming, and bathtubs were expensive and rarely found in poorer homes.  Standards of cleanliness varied over times and countries- medieval people may have been cleaner than Renaissance people.  But hot (or warm) water was used- the surviving pictures often show fires in the background where water would have been heated.

Here are some contemporary pictures that show that bathing was not all that rare.  (sorry for the URL length- I don't know how to shorten them)

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://racer.kb.nl/pregvn/MIMI/MIMI_76F21/MIMI_76F21_015R.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.larsdatter.com/baths.htm&usg=__E4M9C-ct3wlpOuekrpT_RXezf3M=&h=1140&w=750&sz=274&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=xFvS_SWpJNYW2M:&tbnh=162&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmedieval%2Bmanuscripts%2Bbathing%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D799%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C114&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=720&ei=5ahTTNyvLoH78Ab0sKn6Ag&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&tx=78&ty=54&biw=1280&bih=799

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://home.adelphi.edu/sbloch/ma/tents/pictures/Alexander/75r.tub.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.larsdatter.com/baths.htm&usg=__fDPu_rxyZ1dtfPTXXVDAR3MBJdo=&h=253&w=418&sz=33&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=YoFrc6Ipp1cNjM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=211&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmedieval%2Bmanuscripts%2Bbathing%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D799%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=601&ei=5ahTTNyvLoH78Ab0sKn6Ag&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=113&ty=43

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1237/1152513115_6c22e4435b.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/www_tripeleff_org/1152513115/&usg=__bYXD2f7ap9iKG-DlWhxfGShacCY=&h=387&w=500&sz=159&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=fu2j7M2Wb1F-1M:&tbnh=100&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmedieval%2Bmanuscripts%2Bbathing%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D799%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=398&ei=06pTTLfpFcT68AbskbybBA&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0&tx=59&ty=51

[katmaxoz]

I love the dresses...and here's a collection of images of them....

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/569717763tcARIB

but I agree, they probably would have been smelly. Pomanders were popular for a good reason! There's a reasonable amount of guesswork in modern re-constructions of these dresses. For example, except for the shifts, corsets and support for the skirts, nobody is really sure about women's underwear for the period (imagine going to the toilet in these things - it boggles the mind)

To make these clothes for both men and women involved a consierable expense - especially when you add the cost of jewels to the outfit. Many people litrelly wore their wealth on their back or got themselves into considerable debt to keep up appearances at court.

[Silja]

I love the dresses...and here's a collection of images of them....

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/569717763tcARIB

. For example, except for the shifts, corsets and support for the skirts, nobody is really sure about women's underwear for the period

They didn't wear underwear though.

[katmaxoz]

I love the dresses...and here's a collection of images of them....

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/569717763tcARIB

. For example, except for the shifts, corsets and support for the skirts, nobody is really sure about women's underwear for the period

They didn't wear underwear though.

that's the prevailing theory...but to be gross...how do you deal with things like periods without underwear for women at least? I suspect there was some underwear, jut not as common as in modern times.

[boleynfan]

Always loved the French hoods of the early Tudors and the snoods of the midcentury.  And love, love. love the rings on many fingers and the necklaces too.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

I love French hoods too. My favorite period of Tudor fashion is before the big farthingales, more early-mid century. Here's the link to the Tudor page of my fashion site: (it's not finished yet, though.)
http://pastalamode.webs.com/tudor.htm