Whip Me, Beat Me…Make Me Wear Bad Elizabethan

1
Whip Me, Beat MeMake Me Wear Bad Elizabethan

• So many men, so little time Dressing the
  Elizabethan Male

2
Overview

• In the age of Elizabeth, a mans outfit was very
  similar in layers to a mans dress outfit today.
  Where we have a suit coat and slacks, they had a
  doublet and breeches. Like a fine wool over coat
  that we wear over our suits today, they had a
  jerkin or a loose jacket (if they were older). We
  wear socks, and they wore hosenand of course we
  both have shoes. Once you think of the
  Elizabethan males outfit in the context of the
  same layers we wear today, it seems a bit less
  odd.
• Of course the silhouette is incredibly
  different, which is what we are going to review
  in the class the proper mans silhouette in the
  late 16th century and how to achieve it by
  understanding the layers involved.
• We will not only look at the clothing, but at
  some of the necessary accessories as well that
  any well dressed Elizabethan man would have had.
• This class is designed not to focus on the
  construction but rather the composition of a
  proper Elizabethan mans outfit. I later classes
  we will examine construction of different
  garments.

3
Underneath it all
Shirts and hosen upper and lower

4
Hosen Upper and Lower

• By the age of Elizabeth, mens hosen were very
  well fitted and resemble tights that we have
  today in fit. England cornered the market on
  hosen production with the introduction of hand
  woven silk and worsted hosen. There are many
  records of Elizabeth being given silk stockings
  as gifts.
• For men, lower hosen (nether stocks) rose just
  above the knee and were held in place by ribbon
  garters. Sometimes there were pulled up over
  their breeches and worn with a very ornamental
  garter (see picture at right) , or they were
  pulled inside the breeches.
• Men also had long hose, which covered the entire
  leg and were tied into the waist of the breeches
  or doublets using ties that were called points.
  these were used mainly with shorter breeches
  that revealed more of the leg.
• The best way to achieve the right look without
  hand weaving your own silk stockings is to find a
  nice cotton/lycra mix fabric and construct your
  own. I caution from using commercial tights, as
  they fit too well. They do not bag in the right
  places ie. ankle and knee.

5

• Upper hosen, or upper stocks were typically made
  out of linen and resembled long boxer shorts that
  men wear today, though perhaps a bit more fitted.
  They had a drawstring waist and sometimes
  drawstring legs. They could be embroidered, but
  that would be something reserved mainly for the
  aristocracy. You can create a pattern for these
  by tracing a pair of shorts at the inseam and
  adjusting them so that they resemble the pattern
  below. For the Elizabethan costuming maven, this
  is a nice garment to have, but not absolutely
  necessary to achieve an acceptable Elizabethan
  silhouette.

waist
waist
back
front
back
6
The Shirt

• The Elizabethan mans shirt differed from a
  womans high necked only in length and the
  absence of side gores for fullness. Work-a-day
  undergarments were typically made of linen or a
  linen-cotton mix called fustian. The layout for
  the shirt is fairly simple and sewing
  instructions can be found on several websites for
  Elizabethan costume. Often dressier shirts of the
  upper class were ornamented with embroidery of
  some description, typically blackwork, whitework,
  drawnwork, and for the extravagant even gold and
  silverwork.
• The picture to the right is an example of what
  the pattern pieces should look like when creating
  a shirt.

Gussets were used in the underarm to provide
wider range of motion and comfort
Pleating/gathering at the shoulder
Shoulders are on square piece of fabric that has
an amount of pleating at the shoulder and larger
amount into the cuff
The body of the shirt is typically one rectangle
of fabric gathered into the collar
7
The Doublet

• The Doublet was the equivalent of a modern mans
  suit coat. Typically it closed down the front
  with buttons or hooks and eyes. Lacing may have
  also been used for closing the doublet, but much
  less frequently than the afore mentioned methods.
• The desired silhouette for a man, is much the
  same as it is today, broad shoulders and a narrow
  waist. Much was done on the part of tailors to
  exagerate these desired traits, such as adding
  tabs at the shoulders and waist, and creating
  longer points in the front.
• As the the 16th century progressed to a close,
  mens doublets were bombasted (padded) in the
  chest and stomach to mirror the look of a breast
  plate. These type of doublets were called
  peas-cod doublets, as they were said to resemble
  pea pods.
• The higher in status a man was, the more fitted
  his doublet was, often rendering movement a bit
  difficult. Especially as they could be cut
  slightly narrow across the shoulders to force a
  man to have better posture.

The unidentified tailor in Giovanni Batiste
Maronas famous portrait ca 1570
8
The Doublet - cont.

• There many similarities in construction between
  womens bodices and mens doublets they
  generally consisted of three layers an outer
  layer, an interlining of courser linen or
  fustian, and a lining of linen or silk.
• The outside layer, or the layer visible to the
  eye was of a higher end fabric such as velvet,
  brocade, finely woven silk, cloth of gold and
  silver, etc.
• Ornamentation was limited only by the skill of
  the artificers. They were beaded, embroidered,
  pinked, and slashed. However, it is important to
  remember that ornamentation would have been used
  in such a fashion as to compliment the desired
  silhouette.
• An important note is that doublets did have
  sleeves on themthe sleeves may have been
  attached through lacing, ties or buttons, but
  always there were sleeves. Often there is
  confusion in this area between a doublet and a
  jerkin.

"Their dublettes are noe lesse monstrous than the
reste For now the fashion is to have them hang
down to the middle of their theighes, or at least
to their privie members, beeing so harde-quilted,
and stuffed, bombasted and sewed, as they can
neither woorke, nor yet well plaie in them,
through the excessive heate thereof and
therefore are forced to wear them loose about
them for the most partotherwise they could verie
hardly eyther stoupe downe, or bowe themselves to
the grounde, soe styffe and sturdy they stand
about them - Stubbes, Anatomie of Abuses
9
The Doublet cont.
The basic doublet pattern resembles something
like the image to left. The front of the doublet
can be curved to accommodate a larger stomach or
padding. The side seam could be moved further
back to allow for better fitting or used in
addition to the side seam. The pattern is very
similar to the same pattern used for a womans
bodice
10
Breeches

• Venitians, Canions, French Hose and Slops

Then have they Hosen, which as they be of
divers fashions, so are they of sundry names.
Some be called french-hose, some gally-hose, and
some Venitians. The french-hose are of two divers
makings, for the common french-hose (as they
listto call them) containeth length, breadth, and
widnes sufficient, and is made very rounde. The
other contayneth neither length, breadth nor
widenes (beeing not past a a quarter of a yard
wide) wherof some be paned, cut and drawne out
with costly ornaments, with canions adjoined
reaching down beneath their knees. The
Gally-hosen are made very large and wide,
reaching downe to their knees onely, with three
or foure guardes a peece laid down along either
hose. And the Venetian-hosen, they reach beneath
the knee to the gartering place to the Leg, where
they are tyed finely with silk points, or some
such like, and laied on also with rewes of laces,
or gardes as the other before. And yet
notwithstanding all this is not sufficient,
except they be made of silk, velvet, saten,
damask, and other such precious things beside
yea, every one, Serving man and other inferiour
to them, in every condition, wil not stick to
flaunte it out in these kinde of hosen, withall
other their apparel sutable therunto. In times
past, Kings would not disdaine to weare a paire
of hosen of a Noble, tenne Shillinges, or a Marke
price, with all the rest of their apparel after
the same rate but now it is a small matter to
bestowe twentie nobles, ten pound, twentiepound,
fortie pound, yea, a hundred pound on one paire
of Breeches." - Stubbes Anatomie of Abuses, 1587
11
Breeches cont.

• The diverse nature of mens pants during the age
  of Elizabeth is staggering, as the sundry
  different fashions from all over Europe made
  their way to the courts of Elizabeth. There
  existed, Slops, Venetians, French hose, Trunk
  hose, Paned hose, Canions, etc.
• One thing to keep in mind is that whatever
  material the doublet was constructed of
  typically was what the breeches were
  constructed of as well, but not always.

12
Breeches cont.

• Trunk hose/ slops/ French hose the basic mans
  breech. They are typically pleated into a waist
  band and leg bandthis is perhaps the easiest
  type of breech to make, as it consists of an
  outer fabric, an lining, a waistband and leg
  bands
• Venetians very fitted breeches that are pleated
  into a waist band but taper down to the knees.
  There is no leg band, as the tapering of the
  garment allows it to be the circumference of the
  leg. Often the leg closures were on the side of
  decorative ribbon
• Galligaskins/ Pansied Slops these are the
  breeches that are affectionately known as
  pumpkin pants in the SCA. These are perhaps the
  most difficult type to make as there tends to be
  misunderstanding as to how you construct the
  panes and pleat them in to the waist band. Often
  not enough panes are created and the breeches end
  up looking ill fit and misconstructed. There are
  examples of propperly constructed in Janet
  Arnolds Patterns of Fashion.
• Canions from a fitting perspective are perhaps
  the most difficult to construct, as they are
  tightly fitted from hip to knee. Most of the time
  these are worn paired with galligaskins or
  pansied slops.

13
The Jerkin

• The Jerkin is often confused with or worn in
  lieu of the doublet in the SCA, which is
  incorrect if you are affecting the dress of late
  16th century nobility and royalty. The jerkin was
  a sleeveless over garment worn on top of the
  mans doublet. Often in portraits, the jerkin is
  worn open or closed only at the waste with the
  doublet showing through the opening in the front.
  
• You can use the same pattern for a jerkin that
  you use for a doublet keeping in mind that the
  jerkin should be cut looser to accommodate a
  shirt and doublet underneath it.

14
Hats and Shoes

• Hats and shoes varied widely, but in this
  section we will focus mainly on the more common
  types, as you could spend classes in discussion
  on just these items alone. We will look at the
  three following hats Flat cap, Tall hat, and
  Toque.
• In shoes we will look at the court slippers and
  jack-boots, or tall boots. Both were common in
  the late 16th century.

15
Hats

• Flat Cap The flat cap is the typical SCA hat
  that we see made of multiple circles of fabric
  conjoined either at their interior or exterior
  circumfrence. You can find these caps at many SCA
  merchants as they are fairly simply to make.
  Typically in period flat caps were worn by
  younger men of the merchant and upper class. You
  can find patterns for the flat cap online
• Italian Flat Cap not to be confused with a
  toque. The difference between an Italian flat cap
  and a standard flat cap is that Italian flat cap
  has a crown of circular fabric larger that the
  brim that is pleated or gathered to create a
  fuller effect that the standard.
• The Tall Hat these were worn typically by men
  of middle or older age. There are extant tall
  hats that are detailed in Janet Arnolds Patterns
  of Fashion. These hats were made of felt,
  buckram, or pasted paper covered in fabric. The
  fabric was either perfectly fit to the crown of
  the hat or pleated into the brim of the hat
  creating a very interesting look.
• The Toque The Toque is kind of an amalgamation
  of the Tall hat and the Italian Flat Cap. It did
  have a base structure to give it shape, but
  instead of having the fabric pulled over the
  crown it was draped and gathered into the brim.
  This created a fuller balloon-like effect!

16
Shoes and boots

• Court shoes for Elizabethan men were typically
  two or three piece slippers with a cork or
  leather sole. The slippers could either be round
  toed, or as a hold over from Henrecian times,
  square toed. They often were ornamented with
  beading, embroidery or slashing. These shoes were
  fairly delicate and made for in door use.
• If a man decided to go out of doors, he would
  put on his jack boots. The term jack boots
  originated in the Elizabethan era, because thee
  boots would have to be jacked or stretched to
  get them on. Often these boots were worn with
  decorative garters to keep them from sliding
  down. The could be worn with the tops turned down
  or cuffed, or they could be worn fully extended
  to the thigh.

17
Appendix
18
Shirt
19
Sources