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Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law Henry VIII's England

Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law Henry VIII's England
Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law Henry VIII's England
English dress in the second half of the sixteenth century has been studied in depth, yet remarkable little has been written on the earlier years, or indeed on male clothing for the whole century. The few studies that do cover these neglected areas have tended to be quite general, focusing upon garments rather than the wearers. As such this present volume will fill an important gap by providing a detailed analysis of not only what people wore in Henry's reign, but why.
The book describes and analyses dress in England through a variety of documents, including warrants and accounts form Henry's Great Wardrobe and the royal household, contemporary narrative sources, legislation enacted by Parliament, guild regulations, inventories and wills, supported with evidence and observations derived from visual sources and surviving garments. Whilst all these sources are utilised, the main focus of the study is built around the sumptuary legislation, or the four 'Acts of Apparel' passed by Henry between 1509 and 1547. English sumptuary legislation was concerned primarily with male dress and starting at the top of society, with the king and his immediate family, it worked its way down through the social hierarchy, but stopped short of the poor who did not have sufficient disposable income to afford the items under consideration. Certain groups - such as women and the clergy - who were specifically excluded from the legislation, receive consideration in the second half of the book.
Combing the consideration of such primary sources with modern scholarly analysis, this book will prove invaluable for anyone with an interest in the history of fashion, clothing, consumption in Tudor society.
dress sumptuary legislation social history Tudor England Henry VIII
0754640965
Ashgate Publishing
Hayward, M. A.
4be652e4-dcc0-4b5b-bf0b-0f845fce11c1
Hayward, M. A.
4be652e4-dcc0-4b5b-bf0b-0f845fce11c1

Hayward, M. A. (2009) Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law Henry VIII's England , Aldershot, UK. Ashgate Publishing, 422pp.

Record type: Book

Abstract

English dress in the second half of the sixteenth century has been studied in depth, yet remarkable little has been written on the earlier years, or indeed on male clothing for the whole century. The few studies that do cover these neglected areas have tended to be quite general, focusing upon garments rather than the wearers. As such this present volume will fill an important gap by providing a detailed analysis of not only what people wore in Henry's reign, but why.
The book describes and analyses dress in England through a variety of documents, including warrants and accounts form Henry's Great Wardrobe and the royal household, contemporary narrative sources, legislation enacted by Parliament, guild regulations, inventories and wills, supported with evidence and observations derived from visual sources and surviving garments. Whilst all these sources are utilised, the main focus of the study is built around the sumptuary legislation, or the four 'Acts of Apparel' passed by Henry between 1509 and 1547. English sumptuary legislation was concerned primarily with male dress and starting at the top of society, with the king and his immediate family, it worked its way down through the social hierarchy, but stopped short of the poor who did not have sufficient disposable income to afford the items under consideration. Certain groups - such as women and the clergy - who were specifically excluded from the legislation, receive consideration in the second half of the book.
Combing the consideration of such primary sources with modern scholarly analysis, this book will prove invaluable for anyone with an interest in the history of fashion, clothing, consumption in Tudor society.

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More information

Published date: June 2009
Keywords: dress sumptuary legislation social history Tudor England Henry VIII
Organisations: Winchester School of Art

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 37701
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/37701
ISBN: 0754640965
PURE UUID: 190040f4-d2fb-4b32-8c9f-d27dd0e5b2dc
ORCID for M. A. Hayward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-4383

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 May 2006
Last modified: 12 Dec 2023 02:35

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