The Tudors, Fashion History

I’m doing this series mainly as something academic, just for the pleasure of investigating about fashion history. this is awesome information if you’re into photography, movies or series. You may recognize these dresses from the publicly acclaimed Tvseries The Tudors. due to the fact that Henry VIII was King of England during 15th-16th century. The nature of European costume began to emphasize fashion as the current style or custom of dress.

Fashion in 15th-century Europe was characterized by a series of extremes and extravagances, from the voluminous gowns called houppelandes with their sweeping floor-length sleeves to the revealing doublets and hose of Renaissance Italy. Hats, hoods, and other headdresses assumed increasing importance and were swagged, draped, jeweled, and feathered…

As Europe continued to grow more prosperous, the urban middle classes, skilled workers, began to wear more complex clothes that followed, at a distance, the fashions set by the elites. It is during this time period that we begin to see fashion take on a temporal aspect. People could now be dated by their clothes, and being in “out of date” clothing became a new social concern.
Women’s fashions of the 15th century consisted of a long gowns, usually with sleeves, worn over a kirtle or undergown, with a linen chemise or smock worn next to the skin. The sleeves were made detachable and were heavily ornamented. The long-waisted silhouette of the previous period was replaced by a high-waisted style with fullness over the belly, often confined by a belt. The wide, shallow scooped neckline was replaced by a V-neck, often cut low enough to reveal the decorated front of the kirtle beneath.
In the late Middle Ages only the wealthiest members of a royal court had the resources to regularly change their costume and accessories.But during the early years of the Renaissance, or cultural rebirth, which started in the fifteenth century, more and more people began to acquire the wealth that allowed them to dress more extravagantly and keep up with the newly popular styles.
In Burgundy, a kingdom in present-day France, and in Italian states such as Florence, greater numbers of wealthy merchants, nobles, and others competed to wear the most striking and elegant clothes. Women’s gowns became much more closely fitted in the torso and arms, while skirts billowed outward. Beginning in 1468 women in Spain began to use round hoops worn inside their skirts to give the skirt shape and make it swish when they walked. These hoops, called farthingales, would be very popular in the sixteenth century. 

The series was a collaboration among American, British, and Canadian producers, and was filmed mostly in Ireland. It is named after the Tudor dynasty as a whole, although it is based specifically upon the reign of King Henry VIII. The New York Times called The Tudors a “primitively sensual period drama, critics could take or leave, but many viewers are eating up.
Custome designers often go above and beyond to ensure that they stay as true as possible to the time period they are depicting. In order to make the characters resonate with the audiences. In the case of The Tudors, Joan Bergin made the decision to not give men hairpieces and wigs, as they wore in the 16th century.  While at the time, fur sleeves with very large apertures tended to be the norm, the sleeves we see on the show are thin and dainty. This is something more likely to be witnessed during the Elizabethan era.
Anne Boleyn. Throughout her run on the show, Anne’s character goes through a very complex journey. We get to see her evolve from a highborn lady to the woman who conquered the King’s affection and, eventually, his wife. All of this development is interpreted through her clothes, particularly when she peaks as Queen. There is a particular scene during which Anne catches the King’s eye for the first time, during a masquerade party of sorts. The costumes are angelic and beautiful. And, as it turns out, they were inspired by Degas & Balenciaga’s corsets. Curiously enough, the inspiration for the corsets are very much historically accurate.
When one thinks fashion and elegance, your mind inevitably wanders to places like France, Italy, or Spain. Even though things have changed and fashion is now a completely spread-out phenomenon without defined borders, at the time, English fashion was harsher and gloomier than the rest of Europe.
In order to somewhat counteract this, the costume designer slowly started to bring more European influences into the clothes worn by the characters, creating a softer and more exquisite overall look for everyone.

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