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Also Baroque, Cavalier, Commonwealth, Puritan, Queen Anne, Restoration, Stuart, William and Mary

The Stuart period comes straight after Elizabeth I, who died unmarried in 1603, so England needed to import a relative, who happened to be king of Scotland also. This was King James, who commisioned the famous King James Bible in 1611. The Stuarts ended when his great-gradaughter, the unhappy Queen Anne, died in 1714 after burying all of her 17 children. So with the monarchy again out of heirs (who, by law, now had to be protestant) we imported a German one, this time George I.
'Stuart' incorporates the period of England's commonwealth and includes such political scary bits as the beheading of one king and the forcible deposing of another, (Charles I and his son, James II in 1649 and 1689); a military dictatorship with no monarchs at all, and two monarchs at once with WilliamandMary (1689-1694)
So we're thinking Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Galileo Galilei, the rise of the Puritan movement, Samuel Pepys and his diary, Louis XIV (1638 - 1715), Athos, Porthos and Aramis, The English Civil War and Commonwealth (1642-46 and 1649-60), the Restoration of the monarchy, the Great Plague and Great Fire of London (1665 and 1666) and the music of Henry Purcell.

Early Stuart Men's Fashion

At the beginning of the century men still wore many garments of the Tudor times; stockings (nether-hose) held up with garters and the snug-fitting 'upper-hose', now becoming fall-front breeches. The shirt, decorated at collar and cuffs had fuller sleeves and a wired collar in place of the ruff, but the doublet (a close-fitting jacket with detachable sleeves), the jerkin or singlet (a sleeveless over-jacket), and the cape or cloak were much the same as earlier.
James I was known as the 'Foppish King' and fashion emulated his style. Fashionable hair was worn longer and in locks, often with one plaited strand of hair even longer and tied at the end with a small ribbon bow, the lovelock. New fabrics, colours, prints and weaves were brought from far and wide, and were a way of showing status. The court of Charles I was, if possible, even more extravagent that that of his father. Lace, embroidery, ruffles and ribbons were the style. More was most definitely more.
Of course, these were the styles of the rich and fashionable. The further removed from cities, the lower down the social scale and the poorer you were, the further you lagged behind the trends. Country peasants often worn styles a century out of date. Working people's clothes would be of inferior cloth with simple styling, often of duller colours and quite probably second or third hand. Clothing was expensive, and for the poor was still cut with as little wastage as possible.

Puritans

The biggest battle of the Stuart era was not beween Crown and Country, nor between Catholic and Protestant, but between continued reform and status quo in the form of Puritans and Anglicans. The court and the countryside held mainly to Anglicanism and the fashions of the French court. The mainly middle-class Puritans derived their style and ethos from the Dutch reformers who felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough. You showed your political alliegance through your dress and woe betide anyone found in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong hat!
The Puritans regarded the Anglican copying of the continental styles as dangerously close to Popery. They preferred dark, plain colours, simple lines and no frippery and fuss. Lace was minimal as were frills, ribbons, embroidery and elaborately dressed hair. The classic Puritan hat was a plain truncated cone worn by both men and women.
The difference in dress was so stark that you could distinguish the sides during the English Civil war even without uniform. Each side called the other what they regarded as a derogatory name. The parliamentary forces referred to the Crown's supporters as Cavaliers, from chevalier, a foppish dandy, all mouth and no trousers. The King's forces called Parliament's troops Roundheads, referring to their unsophisticated hairstyles. It backfired a little as, to a puritan, this would be a compliment on his sobriety and anyway, not all 'Roundheads' had short hair like their leader.

Restoration / Baroque

The restoration of King Charles II in 1660 brought much-needed colour back to Britain. He introduced the latest styles from the court of Louis XIV; wide 'petticoat' breeches (which did not last), a long coat with wide turn-back cuffs and a doublet relaxed to the lines of the modern waistcoat. Breechs and stockings of earlier times remained the same, so with the exception of the reinstatement of trousers, the modern man's wardrobe was all in place by 1680.
The Cavalier look was the mode, with broad-topped 'funnel' boots or high-heeled shoes, a cloak over one shoulder, copious quantities of lace and a wide-brimmed hat topped with a plume. A voluminous curled wigs was a part of the stylish wardrobe in 1660 and for over a hundred years after, only falling from favour along with some French aristocratic heads!
For indoors, the wig was replaced by an embroidered cap, and the heavy coat by an equally luxurious soft house-robe, the banyan. A new type of fabric, Indian calico printed using wooden blocks, was the most sought-after for these.
Fashions became a little more sober after catholic James II was ousted by his son-in-law William of Orange, an ardent protestant. The Puritan styles again dominated, but were more relaxed than formerly. However, petticoat breeches, high heels, make-up, lace and flowing locks (remember these are men!) would mark the Jacobite sympathies of the wearer.
At this same time, many Huguenot protestants fled to England from persecution in France. Many of them were leading tailors, dressmakers, lacemakers and weavers in Europe and found a warm welcome England where their skill, style and technology were eagerly received.

Early Stuart Women's Fashions

Stuart fashions had a generally softer look than the artifically structured Tudor styles. Fashionable women of the Stuart period would have been glad to dispense with the impractical farthingales, using padding over their hips instead to hold their skirts out. The cone-shaped bodice remained the mainstay (pun intended) of style, but it was not so deeply pointed as in Elizabethan times and shortening more to mid-century. Matching detatchable sleeves were still worn, tied on at the shoulders, and a stiffened stomacher sat behind the lacing at the front. Jackets fastened with ribbons were popular for both men and women.
At this time upper-body stiffening was still generally incorporated into the top part of the dress itself, which had a separate or sewn-on skirt, but by the end of the Stuart era the 'pair of bodys' became a piece of underclothing, also known as stays, and was hidden by the now unstiffened outer clothing. A less rigid bodice called a jump was preferred by working women who needed to bend!
By the 1620s women had followed their menfolk in laying aside the stiffly starched neck ruff of late Tudor fashion in favour of unstarched ruffs or fall collars, wide, flat collars that sloped down over the shoulders. These could be of plain linen for the more puritan-minded, or of lace for the French look. Low necklines were often be filled with a fine linen partlet.

Later Stuart Women's Fashion

The Restoration brought new fashions for women as well as for men. In place of the normal outer garments of a stiffly-boned bodice and matching skirts with bumroll to hold them out to the fashionable bell shape, fashionable women wore the mantua, a soft, loosly-fitted gown which fell from the shoulders and ended with a small train.
This was worn over the corset, now a separate garment, and a decorated outer petticoat. To keep the trained skirt out of the mud and to show off the petticoat, the skirt was pulled back and up by buttons and loops. This evolved into the bustle. Married women covered their hair, usually with a mob cap, and this, along with anything else that didn't move, was trimmed with lace if the wearer could afford it. A tall headdress of ribbons and lace called a fontage was worn on formal occasions.
As ever, though, these were the fashions, not the common practice. The vast majority of the population was not rich, aristocratic and fashionable. Servants, country-folk, in fact pretty much anyone who had to work for their living wore clothing far less elaborate that those described above, but, as they weren't rich enough to commision a portrait, we don't often see them.
For common people, the lines were simplified, the amount of fabric was reduced and the colours and patterns were plainer. Cast-off clothing was passed from mistress to maid and through the generations of a family, often being remade into later styles or with replacement parts as some wore out.

Sources

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Great_Britain

www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/7631/costume5.html

>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Renaissance

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War

>www.e4s.org.uk/textilesonline/content/6library/report2/history_western_fashion/tudor.htm

>www.periodclothing.co.uk/page/Stuart_Fashion.html

>www.e4s.org.uk/textilesonline/content/6library/fr_library.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot

www.kipar.org/baroque-costumes/costumes_male_hairstyle.html

www.kipar.org/baroque-costumes/index.html Defining Dress By Amy De La Haye, Elizabeth Wilson

laracorsets.com/History_of_the_corset_03_17thCentury.htm

www.staylace.com/resourcelist/diction.htm

Additions and corrections are welcome, accompanied by referenced sources, to seamstress(at)deadchickenhat(dot)com.

All mistakes are entirely of my own invention, and I claim world-wide copyright on them.

Dead Chicken Hats Biblical Greek Roman Medieval Tudor Stuart Character Glossary Gallery Free Patterns Free Leaflets Videos and Tutorials - NEW! Why The Fish? Fun Stuff Real Chicken Hut About Us About our Costumes Garment Care Fabric & Construction Refunds and Returns Hiring We Don't Sell That, But... Shipping Privacy Policies & Terms Contact Us See-Saw Maths Just What Is A Dead Chicken Hat, Anyway? .	Also Baroque, Cavalier, Commonwealth, Puritan, Queen Anne, Restoration, Stuart, William and Mary The Stuart period comes straight after Elizabeth I, who died unmarried in 1603, so England needed to import a relative, who happened to be king of Scotland also. This was King James, who commisioned the famous King James Bible in 1611. The Stuarts ended when his great-gradaughter, the unhappy Queen Anne, died in 1714 after burying all of her 17 children. So with the monarchy again out of heirs (who, by law, now had to be protestant) we imported a German one, this time George I. 'Stuart' incorporates the period of England's commonwealth and includes such political scary bits as the beheading of one king and the forcible deposing of another, (Charles I and his son, James II in 1649 and 1689); a military dictatorship with no monarchs at all, and two monarchs at once with WilliamandMary (1689-1694) So we're thinking Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Galileo Galilei, the rise of the Puritan movement, Samuel Pepys and his diary, Louis XIV (1638 - 1715), Athos, Porthos and Aramis, The English Civil War and Commonwealth (1642-46 and 1649-60), the Restoration of the monarchy, the Great Plague and Great Fire of London (1665 and 1666) and the music of Henry Purcell.
		Early Stuart Men's Fashion At the beginning of the century men still wore many garments of the Tudor times; stockings (nether-hose) held up with garters and the snug-fitting 'upper-hose', now becoming fall-front breeches. The shirt, decorated at collar and cuffs had fuller sleeves and a wired collar in place of the ruff, but the doublet (a close-fitting jacket with detachable sleeves), the jerkin or singlet (a sleeveless over-jacket), and the cape or cloak were much the same as earlier. James I was known as the 'Foppish King' and fashion emulated his style. Fashionable hair was worn longer and in locks, often with one plaited strand of hair even longer and tied at the end with a small ribbon bow, the lovelock. New fabrics, colours, prints and weaves were brought from far and wide, and were a way of showing status. The court of Charles I was, if possible, even more extravagent that that of his father. Lace, embroidery, ruffles and ribbons were the style. More was most definitely more. Of course, these were the styles of the rich and fashionable. The further removed from cities, the lower down the social scale and the poorer you were, the further you lagged behind the trends. Country peasants often worn styles a century out of date. Working people's clothes would be of inferior cloth with simple styling, often of duller colours and quite probably second or third hand. Clothing was expensive, and for the poor was still cut with as little wastage as possible.
	Puritans The biggest battle of the Stuart era was not beween Crown and Country, nor between Catholic and Protestant, but between continued reform and status quo in the form of Puritans and Anglicans. The court and the countryside held mainly to Anglicanism and the fashions of the French court. The mainly middle-class Puritans derived their style and ethos from the Dutch reformers who felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough. You showed your political alliegance through your dress and woe betide anyone found in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong hat! The Puritans regarded the Anglican copying of the continental styles as dangerously close to Popery. They preferred dark, plain colours, simple lines and no frippery and fuss. Lace was minimal as were frills, ribbons, embroidery and elaborately dressed hair. The classic Puritan hat was a plain truncated cone worn by both men and women. The difference in dress was so stark that you could distinguish the sides during the English Civil war even without uniform. Each side called the other what they regarded as a derogatory name. The parliamentary forces referred to the Crown's supporters as Cavaliers, from chevalier, a foppish dandy, all mouth and no trousers. The King's forces called Parliament's troops Roundheads, referring to their unsophisticated hairstyles. It backfired a little as, to a puritan, this would be a compliment on his sobriety and anyway, not all 'Roundheads' had short hair like their leader.
		Restoration / Baroque The restoration of King Charles II in 1660 brought much-needed colour back to Britain. He introduced the latest styles from the court of Louis XIV; wide 'petticoat' breeches (which did not last), a long coat with wide turn-back cuffs and a doublet relaxed to the lines of the modern waistcoat. Breechs and stockings of earlier times remained the same, so with the exception of the reinstatement of trousers, the modern man's wardrobe was all in place by 1680. The Cavalier look was the mode, with broad-topped 'funnel' boots or high-heeled shoes, a cloak over one shoulder, copious quantities of lace and a wide-brimmed hat topped with a plume. A voluminous curled wigs was a part of the stylish wardrobe in 1660 and for over a hundred years after, only falling from favour along with some French aristocratic heads! For indoors, the wig was replaced by an embroidered cap, and the heavy coat by an equally luxurious soft house-robe, the banyan. A new type of fabric, Indian calico printed using wooden blocks, was the most sought-after for these. Fashions became a little more sober after catholic James II was ousted by his son-in-law William of Orange, an ardent protestant. The Puritan styles again dominated, but were more relaxed than formerly. However, petticoat breeches, high heels, make-up, lace and flowing locks (remember these are men!) would mark the Jacobite sympathies of the wearer. At this same time, many Huguenot protestants fled to England from persecution in France. Many of them were leading tailors, dressmakers, lacemakers and weavers in Europe and found a warm welcome England where their skill, style and technology were eagerly received.
	Early Stuart Women's Fashions Stuart fashions had a generally softer look than the artifically structured Tudor styles. Fashionable women of the Stuart period would have been glad to dispense with the impractical farthingales, using padding over their hips instead to hold their skirts out. The cone-shaped bodice remained the mainstay (pun intended) of style, but it was not so deeply pointed as in Elizabethan times and shortening more to mid-century. Matching detatchable sleeves were still worn, tied on at the shoulders, and a stiffened stomacher sat behind the lacing at the front. Jackets fastened with ribbons were popular for both men and women. At this time upper-body stiffening was still generally incorporated into the top part of the dress itself, which had a separate or sewn-on skirt, but by the end of the Stuart era the 'pair of bodys' became a piece of underclothing, also known as stays, and was hidden by the now unstiffened outer clothing. A less rigid bodice called a jump was preferred by working women who needed to bend! By the 1620s women had followed their menfolk in laying aside the stiffly starched neck ruff of late Tudor fashion in favour of unstarched ruffs or fall collars, wide, flat collars that sloped down over the shoulders. These could be of plain linen for the more puritan-minded, or of lace for the French look. Low necklines were often be filled with a fine linen partlet.
		Later Stuart Women's Fashion The Restoration brought new fashions for women as well as for men. In place of the normal outer garments of a stiffly-boned bodice and matching skirts with bumroll to hold them out to the fashionable bell shape, fashionable women wore the mantua, a soft, loosly-fitted gown which fell from the shoulders and ended with a small train. This was worn over the corset, now a separate garment, and a decorated outer petticoat. To keep the trained skirt out of the mud and to show off the petticoat, the skirt was pulled back and up by buttons and loops. This evolved into the bustle. Married women covered their hair, usually with a mob cap, and this, along with anything else that didn't move, was trimmed with lace if the wearer could afford it. A tall headdress of ribbons and lace called a fontage was worn on formal occasions. As ever, though, these were the fashions, not the common practice. The vast majority of the population was not rich, aristocratic and fashionable. Servants, country-folk, in fact pretty much anyone who had to work for their living wore clothing far less elaborate that those described above, but, as they weren't rich enough to commision a portrait, we don't often see them. For common people, the lines were simplified, the amount of fabric was reduced and the colours and patterns were plainer. Cast-off clothing was passed from mistress to maid and through the generations of a family, often being remade into later styles or with replacement parts as some wore out.