Dress Historian Explains Elizabethan Fashion || 16th Century Fashion Timeline 1550s-1590s

Queen Elizabeth’s reign from 1558 to 1603 saw huge changes in fashion--some quite revolutionary--so in this video we’re going to take a decade by decade look at Elizabethan fashion to learn about the unique styles that existed throughout the last half of the 16th century. For much of the 16th century, women's clothing consisted of a linen smock, a kirtle with a bodice stiffened with layers of fabric such as buckram and canvas, and a gown over that. There really were no "corsets" or even boning used in bodices until the every end of the century! Beginning in the 1550s, fashion increasingly favored bigger skirts, bigger sleeves, and bigger ruffs, culminating in the truly wild silhouette of the 1590s. Elizabeth's love of fashion and her extensive wardrobe have left us with a treasure trove of sources for researching elite clothing of the 16th century. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Uploaded, a searchable database http://elizabethancostume.net/cyte/ElizabethI Sarah Bendall https://sarahabendall.com/ Music Suonatore di Liuto by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4440-suonatore-di-liuto License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Teller of the Tales by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4467-teller-of-the-tales License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Images https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O356798/smock-unknown/ https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O110103/smock-unknown/ https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/2063609/ES_280_00