In Fine Style - The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion

From an iconic portrait of a young Elizabeth I to the many paintings of Charles I by Flemish master Anthony Van Dyck and the glamorous “Windsor Beauties” of the court of Charles II, sixteenth and seventeenth-century portraiture has long been a source of great interest to costume historians. Given the scarcity of surviving garments, it also tells us most of what we know about Tudor and Stuart dress. We’re all familiar with the stockings, voluminous breeches, and elaborate lace ruffs, but did you know that the clothing seen in many of these paintings cost more than the paintings themselves?

For In Fine Style, Anna Reynolds, curator of paintings at the Royal Collection, has drawn on the art of the period, as well as wardrobe inventories, literary references, contemporary accounts, and surviving garments to offer a fascinating account of the elite fashions of the day and the ways in which they were recreated in paint. The gold threads seen throughout the forepart of Elizabeth’s gown were costly, while the red dye that colored it came from crushed beetles and would have had to have been imported from Spain. Other works show their subjects with intricate ruffs, bright stockings, or broad farthingales, each item extravagantly adorned. Indeed, the main focus of Tudor and Stuart clothing was on rich materials that communicated the ability of the wearer to afford them, and, with the rise of the moneyed merchant class, sumptuary laws were established to limit their use to the nobility. Other forms of attire, including ornate hairdos held in place with wire and pleats that had to be set each time the garment was worn left absolutely no doubt as to the fact that the wearer had an army of servants and a wealth of spare time with which to attend to appearance.

Published to accompany an exhibition that will open at Buckingham Palace in May, In Fine Style features works by, among many others, Rembrandt, Rubens, Lely, and Holbein, and is the first book to examine Tudor and Stuart fashion through the use of art.

Hardcover: 288 pages

Publisher: Royal Collection Trust; 3.2.2013 edition (June 15, 2013)

Language: English

Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 1.1 x 11.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds

Reviews

“A sumptuously illustrated, large-format catalogue by Anna Reynolds provides an excellent accompaniment to the exhibition. The photographs include many enlarged details, making it possible for the reader to focus on very specific features of the fashions described. . . . The high-quality close-up reproductions of the portraits also make it possible to examine the technique of the various painters, including how they conveyed information about texture, sheen, or construction,. The quality of the catalogue’s text is equal to that of its illustrations: Reynolds has provided a fuller and more nuanced analysis of the same range of topics presented in the exhibition.”

(Renaissance Studies 2014-02-04)

"Exquisite book. Second only to being there in person. Excellent research material for anyone interested in the clothing of the 16th and 17th Centuries."

- Lois

"This book has a collection of clothing from the and Stuart and Tudor period. The detailed pictures are so detailed that some could easily be copied for needlework and other textiles."

- Heather Langford

"This oversized book brings large, beautiful pictures, just about all in color of mostly Tudor and Stuart superrich in their best finery, as well as some surviving garments. With mostly such large photos, you can really appreciate the detail. Book is divided into chapters, covering the dress of men, women, children. First, dive into all the pictures, and then go slowly through each chapter, including insights into how fabric was woven, what was popular and how clothing defined status. There is also some coverage of jewelry, even a surviving piece and how different artists depicted it, alongside the actual jewel."

- C. ABEL

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About the Author

Anna Reynolds is curator of paintings at the Royal Collection, where she is responsible for the care and display of more than twelve thousand paintings and miniatures.