What Happened to Elizabeth 1’s Clothes?
Queen Elizabeth 1, like any Tudor monarch, loved extravagance and her clothes and jewellery played a prominent role in this. Looking at the numerous iconic portraits made of the Queen during her lifetime, we see a woman draped in sumptuous fabrics and adorned in rare jewels, but most of these items have not survived. In 2020, we have many of Queen Victoria’s dresses, we have many examples of 17th and 18th-century court dress and we even have some of Henry V111’s field armour. So, why don’t we have any of Elizabeth 1’s dress and what happened to them?
The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth 1, circa 1588
Throughout history, royals have used their outward appearance as a way to display their immense amount of wealth as well as their power, and this was no different for Elizabeth. She often wore white and black as a way to show her virgin status of purity and wore cloth of gold and expensive silks to remind people of her status. It was important to the Queen that her subjects dressed according to their status and their class, that way everyone knew where they stood in the pecking order and kept Elizabeth at the very top of the hierarchy. Sumptuary laws have been common since around the 11th century, and are a way to curb expenditure amongst the population. For example, in 1574 Elizabeth passed a new sumptuary law at Greenwich that dictated that only duchesses, marchionesses and countesses were allowed to wear cloth of gold and fur of sables in their gowns, kirtles, partlets and sleeves. Those found dressed in inappropriate clothing could be fined.
As Queen, Elizabeth was constantly being gifted clothing and jewellery (lucky her), which helped her to create a massive wardrobe. On New Year’s day 1587, Elizabeth received over 80 pieces of jewellery, and these were all added to her collection. A collection that, in 1587, we know held 628 pieces of individual jewellery. This is thanks to an inventory compiled by Mrs Blanche Parry on her retirement as Elizabeth’s lady of the bedchamber. Remember Mrs Parry, we will come back to her later! So, how come such an extensive wardrobe has just disappeared? During history, there has often been a culture of recycling and reusing clothing. Altering garments many times over as to keep up with popular fashions were common and Elizabeth often gifted used items of clothing as a way of payment to those in her service. At the time of her death in 1603, over 2000 gowns were recorded as being in Elizabeth’s wardrobe. Many of these would have been handed out to her staff as trinkets and gifts, and what they did with them next was up to them.
The Chequers ring portraits, Elizabeth is the bottom one.
However, a small handful of things have somehow managed to survive. One of these is the Chequers ring, an incredibly personal object that belonged to and was worn by Elizabeth. Made from mother of pearl and featuring the ‘ER’ monogram, from the outside this is a stunningly beautiful ring. When you open its hinge up, however, it becomes so much more interesting. Inside are two miniature portraits, one is very clearly of Elizabeth herself, the other, however, has been rumoured to be of her mother Anne Boleyn. Although, we can never say this for sure. Other possibilities suggest that the second portrait could be of Katharine Parr, to whom Elizabeth was very close, or in fact a younger version of Elizabeth herself. I personally like to think that the second miniature is of Anne Boleyn, but whoever it is, this is still an incredibly rare piece of exquisite jewellery.
There is also the Bacton altar cloth, a piece of fabric that research has proved is from an item of dress from Elizabeth’s own wardrobe, making it the only known surviving article of her clothing. It is made of silver chamblet silk, featuring intricate embroidery of gold and silver thread, materials only used by the very elite of Elizabethan court and royalty. Although we do not know from which dress this cloth comes from, it does closely resemble the dress worn by Elizabeth in the Rainbow portrait, further strengthening the connection between Elizabeth and the altar cloth.
The Rainbow Portrait, circa 1600
Remember Blanche Parry, the lady who inventoried the 628 items of jewellery that Elizabeth owned? She was born near to Bacton church where the cloth has been kept safe for centuries and there is even a small monument to her inside the church and it is likely the cloth was sent to Bacton by the Queen or her ladies-in-waiting in memory of Blanche and her service to the monarchy. It was kept hidden in the church for centuries before being hung in the church in 1909 where it stayed until it was identified as 16th-century court dress in 2016.
As someone who often finds themselves getting frustrated at people who have been dead for centuries because they didn’t think to preserve their clothes for future generations, it is beyond exhilarating that we have a piece of clothing that we know once belonged to the iconic monarch Elizabeth 1.
