Category: 141 R

In the Closet of Queen Elizabeth I: Seventeenth Century Fashion (1450 – 1750)

Jason LowLeave a comment

The fashion of seventeenth century Europe was opulent and extravagant. Trading in Europe and across Asia introduced new fabrics, dyes, and textiles to Europe, which caused a large variety of fashions to be produced. These new fashions were worn flamboyantly by the women of Europe– especially by Queen Elizabeth I.

The ‘Phoenix’ Portrait, Queen Elizabeth I, 1575
WHY WAS FASHION SO IMPORTANT?

Clothing played a large part of a person’s status and people were expected to wear certain types of clothing dependent on their social status. The gowns worn by royalty were elaborately decorated while the lower class would be unable to afford these luxuries, and would wear plain gowns. Dressing up this way showed off a person’s wealth and status and even gave them more opportunities. Many women dressed up to go to special events, such as parties or going to court. Job opportunities would also be improved if an individual was well dressed. They also dressed up to gain attention from suitors and try to find a husband. The same went for men, they wore corsets and padding to get small waists with potbellies. Fashion was so important, that even laws were put in place for what people were allowed to wear. For example, only certain nobility were allowed to wear gold cloth.

The ‘Armada’ Portrait, Queen Elizabeth I, 1588
FASHION AND QUEEN ELIZABETH’S INFLUENCE

The Queen, of course, wore the most elaborate clothing pieces with large collars, detailed embroidery, and many colourful gemstones. Lace was used throughout the neckline and added refinement and beauty. Black and white were often used in making her gowns because the colours symbolized virginity. Farthingales were large skirts with hoops made of osieres, bents, or whale bones and were worn underneath the gown to give it shape and make the hips wider and the waist smaller. Accessories like rings, necklaces, pomanders, and earrings were worn to perfect the Elizabethan look. Queen Elizabeth would be a huge influence of fashion in England and the surrounding areas, because everyone wanted to emulate the Queen. This even extended past her clothing choices and into her physical features.

portrait of Queen Elizabeth I in a ruby and gold ring
drawings of farthingales
EMULATING QUEEN ELIZABETH

The beauty standards of the seventeenth century included fair skin, bright eyes, and light hair. Queen Elizabeth fit well into these ideals, and many women wore makeup and wigs to emulate her appearance. Red wigs, white face paint, and red rouge and lips were extremely popular for women. They even plucked their eyebrows and hairlines to make their eyebrows arched and their foreheads longer. When her teeth had fallen out, she filled her mouth with rags to prevent them from looking hollow and sullen.

CLOSING THE CLOSET

The beautiful and opulent fashions of the seventeenth century and Queen Elizabeth I are an important part of fashion history. The interest in fashion of Queen Elizabeth helped the fashion culture to flourish, and was a vital part of their culture thanks to her influence. Many aspects of their fashion mimic our current culture when it comes to fashion. Dressing up for certain events like job interviews is still regularly practiced. While some fashion trends like– rags in mouths– are not as aligned with our current fashions, we can still appreciate the strange trends of the 1600s. Just as we appreciate the old trends as strange, I am certain that the fashions we find irreplaceable now will be seen as odd in the future.

Sources

Leeches and Laxatives: The Four Temperaments (0 – 1450)

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In the past, illnesses and ailments were unexplainable phenomena that meant you had sinned and were being punished by the gods. However, as science and philosophy began to take shape in places like ancient Greece, physicians like Hippocrates began to make new observations about illness and its affects.

Woodcut of faces representing the four humors from Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe (1775-1778) by Johann Kaspar Lavater
what was humorism?

Humorism was a theory that was made by Hippocrates, a physician in ancient Greece, and was used to treat people’s illnesses by balancing the four fluids in the body. It was believed that if the four fluids– phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile– needed to be kept in balance in order to keep a person healthy. The balance of the humors were affected by an individual’s gender, environment, lifestyle, mental state, and even by the planets. If someone had an excess of a fluid, then a physician would have them release the excess by urinating, letting blood and leeches, purgatives (like laxatives), or blistering the skin with hot irons. Symptoms of excess fluids included runny noses from too much phlegm and bloody noses from too much blood.

Pages of Fasciculus Medicinae on humorism depicting a urine wheel written by Johannes de Ketham, (fl. 1455-1470), Vienna, 1495
The four Temperaments

In humorism there were four temperaments called melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic, and sanguine. It was believed that every person had a natural temperament that they fell under, and that they needed to balance themselves by having the opposite temperament in their lives. For example, if a person was considered melancholic, then they needed to take purgatives to remove excess black bile in their bodies or they would need to. A person’s temperament did not stay the same and changed over time. As people aged they naturally moved from choleric to sanguine and then to phlegmatic and finally to melancholic. When seasons changed, a person had an excess of whichever temperament was associated with the season. In autumn for example, a person might have more phlegm in their body that caused their runny nose.

temperament chart:
Temperament:MelancholicCholericPhlegmaticSanguine
Humor:black bileyellow bilephlegmblood
Season:wintersummerautumnspring
Age:old agechildhoodmaturityadolescence
Element:earthfirewaterair
Qualities:cold and
dry		hot and
dry		cold and
moist		hot and
moist
Organ:spleengall
bladder		brainheart
Planet:saturnmarsmoonjupiter
appreciating modern medicine

Learning about the past of medicine brings me a new appreciation to our current medical knowledge and the practice of doctors that is strongly regulated. While the theory of humorism is a fascinating and important first step into identifying illness and disease in the human body, I can’t imagine having a doctor decide I have too much blood and need leeches to drink the excess from my body. Please keep the leeches away from me and my blood.

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Blue-Faced Pharaohs: The Significance of Blue in Ancient Egypt (40,000 BCE – 0 CE)

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In depictions of royalty throughout human history, few are portrayed with blue faces. Why would anyone create a work of art showing their ruler in such a strange colour? Surely they’d get punished for ruining their majesty’s image and making a mockery of them, right? But that was is not the case in Ancient Egypt. Blue was an important design element of Egyptian art, and was utilized in specific ways.

Amun and the colour blue

While all gods were all depicted with blue hair, Amun was the only one that was consistently shown to have a blue face. Amun was the god of creation, and he ruled over all beings– including other gods. That made Amun the most powerful of the gods, and blue was associated with his powers of life and creation. Some artwork of pharaohs depicted them with blue faces and hair, because they were associated with Amun and pharaohs were considered gods on earth.

1353-1336 BC, Amarna Period. A glass portrait inlay of the pharaoh, Akhenaten. A piece of a larger full-body portrait that could have been part of jewellery, furniture, or relief sculpture. The turquoise colour used represents life, fertility, and creation.
https://www.cmog.org/artwork/portrait-inlay-pharaoh-akhenaten
why was blue important?

 One of many reasons blue was important was because the pigment was very expensive to make. Especially the specific shade that was referred to as “Egyptian Blue”, or Irtiu. It was made of heated quartz, malachite, and calcium carbonate. Another reason was because the Nile River provided the Egyptians with many of their basic needs. It supported their transportation, agriculture, and provided them fresh water and fish to eat. The river sustained their lives and thus the colour blue reflected the waters of the Nile, and came to symbolize life as well. Blue was also important because faience, a material made of crushed quartz, was often a blue colour and the material was said to be “magical” and “filled with the undying shimmer of the sun, and imbued with the powers of rebirth” (Riccardelli 2007). 

Sculpture of Isis breastfeeding Horus symbolizing rebirth from Egypt, ca. 332–30 B.C. Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period, faience; H. 17 cm (6 11/16 in); W. 5.1 cm (2 in.); D. 7.7 cm (3 1/16 in.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest Fund, 1955 (55.121.5)
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548310.
where was blue utilized?

Although blue carried very strong symbolism and it was very expensive to make, it was not limited only to noble artwork. There were many ceramics, beads, and amulets that used blue. Faience was a cheaper and more accessible way for peasants to have the sought after colour. Lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the most precious stone to Egyptians and was used in pieces meant for royalty. Lapis lazuli was often paired with gold to make jewellery and various protection amulets, such as the heart scarab. It was also used to decorate the tombs of pharaohs.

Upper section of a blue-painted Hathor Jar from Malqata, ca. 1390–1353 B.C. Egyptian; Thebes, Malqata, New Kingdom pottery, slip, paint; H. 24.5 × diam. 25 cm (9 5/8 × 9 13/16 in.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1911 (11.215.473) http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/549178

Blue was a vital part of Egyptian culture, and it was used in everyday items all the way up to the most expensive and lavish. Therefore, the blue faces of pharaohs was not a mockery, but a way of showing them the utmost respect. It associated them with life and creation, and the all powerful god Amun. Blue conveyed their elite status as royalty, and adorned them even in death.