Elizabeth I Gown

Julia — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:28:06 +0000

This beautiful and ornate gown was inspired by possibly the greatest Monarch of England – Queen Elizabeth I. This gown has been inspired by portraits of Elizabeth and costumes worn by Helen Mirren in the TV drama series Elizabeth as well as Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench.. It is a theatrical costume designed to show her power and status.

Elizabeth’s image was carefully engineered to impress and to convey wealth, authority and power. Her wardrobes was full of gowns of rich fabrics adorned with jewels and elaborate surface detail, which were clearly imposing and speak volumes about wealth and status. At her death, over 2000 gowns were recorded in Elizabeth’s wardrobe.

As the nation’s most powerful woman, Elizabeth’s taste set the ‘look’ of the day, especially for the aristocracy. Many of the women around her at court wore the narrow waisted, full sleeved, large-ruffed, full-skirted style of her later years.

Being beautiful in Tudor times was a risky business, especially in the time of Elizabeth I. Fashionable women had a pale face to show they were noble and rich, and did not work in the sun. Their cheeks were pink with rouge, their lips were red, their teeth white and their hair auburn or fair. They had elegant arched eyebrows and a high hairline.

To achieve this look, they had to use make up and dyes that were bad for their skin. To get their fashionable white complexions women ground up white lead and mixed it with vinegar to make a paste called ceruse.

They put white make up on to cover their chests as well if they wore low-cut dresses, and even painted pale blue veins on top of the make-up to show how fine their skin was. Lead is poisonous. Some people noticed at the time that it made the skin look grey and shrivelled. There were women who plastered on their make-up so thickly that it cracked if they moved their faces.

Red lipstick and rouge were called fucus. This was made from a pigment like red sandalwood, mercury sulphide or cochineal mixed with egg whites, green fig milk and gum Arabic, which comes from trees. Women could wear a wig or dye their hair. One hair dye recipe uses concentrated sulphuric acid, which is extremely dangerous.Elizabeth was tall and striking, with pale skin and light red-gold hair. She exaggerated these features, particularly as she aged, and other women sought to emulate them. Queen Elizabeth almost died of Smallpox in 1562 so was left with scars on her face – these were covered with the heavy white make-up which was fashionable at the time. Elizabeth’s curly red hair presented challenges as women tried to achieve the same look. Red wigs became a popular alternative, which Elizabeth also took to wearing. As Elizabeth aged her teeth to decay. Her influence by this time was so all-pervasive that some women even went so far as to blacken theirs to mimic her appearance!

This fantastic gown has been created in extravagant gold silk embroidered with flowers and adorned with tiny ruby jewels.The bodice has the pointed narrow waist so favoured at this time and can be seen in portraits of this period. It has been boned, lined with satin and laces up at the back. The neck is cut high at the back to accommodate the large ruff.This impressive ruff was inspired by a ruff worn by Helen Mirren in a recent version television drama depicting Elizabeth’s later years. This ruff has been created of gold buckram edged with wire – it is lavishly decorated with a silk organza inner ruff edged with gold lace and has been embellished with jewels, lace trim and pearls.

The full skirt has been created by cartridge pleating the silk fabric onto the bodice. It has been lined with taffeta to give it weight so it not only hangs beautifully but rustles when worn. A bum roll worn under the skirt to creates the correct Elizabethan shape. The front edges of the skirt are decorated by ruby jewels and pearls and a beautiful underskirt created of gold/cream damask decorated with gold lace is worn under the skirt. The sleeves match the underskirt. They are fastened by gold jewelled buttons and have white silk ‘puffs’. The hem of the sleeve is decorated with white silk ruffle and stitched with gold lace/ pearls and ruby jewels. Beautiful long hanging sleeves are attached at the shoulder to add elegance. They have been made of gold silk and lined with sumptuous claret satin.

Elizabeth’s beautiful gold headdress has been created from buckram fabric edged with wire. It has been covered with gold damask fabric and gold netting. The headdress is lavishly decorated with gold lace, jewels, wired pearls and gold beads. It is adorned with a large pearl drop. It is similar to the type worn by Elizabeth in the ‘Darnley Portrait’.

No Queen would be seen at court without her lavish jewellery. A heavy three row pearl necklace is worn – Elizabeth loved pearls and this type of necklace can be seen in many of her portraits. She also wears a pearl and gold necklace with a large ruby/orange jewel and a pearl and jewel girdle with a pendant.

A beautiful peacock fan embellished with gold completes this lavish outfit.

I am sure you will agree that this gown is conveys the power and status of the greatest Queen of all – Queen Elizabeth I!

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Elizabeth I Gown