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Customs of Female Nobility
The Pirate King's Notes on the life of the
Female
Upper
Class European Nobility
during the Renaissance
THE ONE THING TO
REMEMBER:
A lady within the European upper
class or Nobility was a person of rank
and distinction.She was often
the administrator of vast estates when
her lord was gone, or she did so in her
own right. She was well educated and her
opinions were respected. Ladies of the
Court were a power to be reckoned with
as they were clever, witty and
politically aware, as well as being
beautifully dressed. They were fully a
match for the men they lived with, as
long as they remained aware of their
place in a "man’s world".
When a great lady arose in the
morning, she removed her night or bed
gown and night-cap, and was helped by
her servant into her partlet or shift.
Night gowns, specifically for sleeping
in, were introduced into the Court of
England from France by Anne Boleyn. The
lady's chemise was made of the very
finest linen, cotton, or silk, and was
often so delicately woven as to seem
like gauze. They were sometimes
embroidered or sewn with pearls. Married
ladies wore their chemises closed, and
single ladies wore theirs open.After
the chemise was put on, the next things
to be put on were the petticoat,
farthingale and more petticoats. The
tightly laced corset took care of any
unsightly bumps or bulges, and pushed up
the breasts for all to see. Then went on
the elaborately decorated underskirt,
overskirt, bodice and sleeves.Many
ladies wore the Spanish Surcote over all
this, especially in cold weather, or
they wore the closed surcote by itself
over the shift as a casual at-home or
maternity gown.Her hosen were
hand-knitted of silk or worsted and were
vey costly. She wore soft leather shoes
with 1"-2" heels, or low heeled slippers
made of velvet, satin, or fine Spanish
Cordovan leather. They would be further
embellished with shoe roses or jeweled
buckles. She wore chopines over slippers
if she went out walking in the muddy
streets.
Her face was heavily made up with
the rather primitive and decidedly
dangerous cosmetics of the time. The
look was for pale skin, pink cheeks, red
lips, and large, dark expressive eyes.
White lead was the main ingredient in
the foundation, and it pitted the skin,
causing more than one lady's early
death. Fulminate of Mercury was used to
peel off the skin pitted by the lead and
give the lady a smooth complexion again.
Ladies put drops of belladonna in their
eyes to make them look bigger. Hair dye
was used by some ladies, but the
substances used sometimes caused the
hair to fallout!
Hair was dressed in a variety of
styles from short and curly in the front
to long, straight and one length. Hair
was usually parted in the middle,
brushed down over the ears, and pulled
into a bun at the nape of the neck.
Hats were worn by everyone. Any
female over the age of thirteen wore
some kind of head covering. The most
popular styles were the flat cap and the
French Hood. Court ladies would
sometimes wear a long, pearl-edged gauzy
veil over a diadem. For hunting, they
bundled up their hair into a net and
securely pinned on a flat cap or other
hunting hat over that. Although they are
not remotely period, sunhats are
considered acceptable headgear. If you
want to maintain realism, and brave the
sunshine, period hats are preferred.
She would have hanging from her girdle
(belt) a pomander, fan, maybe a small
purse, hand mirror, handkerchief, or
scissors and needle-case combination.
Fans were made of feathers or cloth and
were shaped like a flat circle or oval
on a stick (Folding fans originated in
the Orient, and had not yet been
introduced to England). They had fans
woven of straw most often.
Pomanders were pierced metal balls
with scent inside, or a dried orange or
lemon studded with cloves and placed in
an embroidered or jeweled velvet
covering. They were used to keep away
"bad airs" which they thought carried
diseases. In a time when people seldom
bathed and streets were an open sewer,
they might not have been far wrong.
The lady would wear scented gloves
made of leather that were slit over the
tops of her fingers rings. When she went
outside on a rare, sunny mask over her
face to avoid sunburn. This guarantee
her anonymity if she so desired. Jewelry
was abundant, including gold chains,
bracelets, necklaces, brooches, rings,
strands of pearls, earrings, jeweled
buttons, girdles and tips for her
points. After she was dressed, it was a
wonder that she could move at all.
It must be remembered that a great
lady did no work with hands more
strenuous than needlework. However,
remember that ordinary day wear, even
for a noble lady, was less ornate and
confining than her finest gown for Court
appearances.
SHIFTS, CHEMISES & PARTLETS
A shift-'or chemise was a womans' s
basic garment, no matter what class she
belonged to. It was the first thing she
put on in the morning, .~ and the last
thing she took off at night, assuming
that she took it off at all. Lower class
women had the habit of keeping their
shifts on day and night, for the sake of
warmth and convenience. The upper
classes, with their warmer rooms, often
slept in their skins, or in a kind of
night-gown, called a "bed-gown".A
shift could be designed with a low or
high neckline, be made of coarse linen
or fine silk, be plain or embroidered,
collarless, or made with a collar that
had a narrow ruffle at the neck. The low
necked shift was worn by lower class and
lower middle class women only, and could
usually be pulled higher on the neck by
tightening the drawstring (if it was
designed with one). The high necked
shift (also called at this time a
Chemise) with or without a collar and
cuffs, would have been worn by men of
any class, as well as the women
described. Women’s shifts can be
anywhere from hip to floor length.
For comfort's sake, we suggest that you
make your shift out of 100% cotton or
other natural fiber that breathes.
Polyester and poly-blend fabrics look
good and are easy to care for.
Unfortunately, they do not 'breathe'
well allowing your body to cool itself
off.FABRIC & COLOR
Women of the Court should wear fabrics
of fine quality such as taffeta, satin,
silk, brocade and velvet. The colors
should be bright but not gaudy or
glaring. They may also wear cloth of
gold or silver in small quantities. Real
gold and silver cloth would be very
expensive and would have been used
sparingly. The use of purple fabric, of
any shade, is restricted to members of
the royal family. Black dye was rare and
very expensive; it was, therefore, worn
only on very formal occasions. The
custom of being buried in black and
wearing black at funerals may have
stemmed from this. Indigo dye was one of
the only dyes grown in England. This
made blue fabric cheap and readily
available.Anyone of high birth,
status or ambition avoided that shade of
blue because peasants wore a lot of it.
White makes beautiful clothing, but is
not recommended because it will always
be dirty on the Faire site. Fabrics
which are printed or even look printed
are not to be used. Printing on fabric
had not yet been invented and therefore,
will not be allowed. Brocade designs and
woven fabrics which are reminiscent of
another period, i.e. plaid or paisley,
etc., will not be allowed.
When choosing fabric, ask yourself
if it could have been made in the
sixteenth century? If the answer is no,
or you are not certain, don't buy it. |
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