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Gentlemen
Gentlemen
Head
Hats
A hat, always have a hat! Whether it is on your head or in your hand, always have a hat.
Don’t be caught without one. Of course, the middling class characters would never be so déclassé as to wear a laborer’s hat like a straw hat! Such things are for the little people! The middle class man is looking for more style, something that befits his station or denotes his status as a man of learning.
The ubiquitous flat cap is still the uniform of the time but in loftier fabrics (Wool or velvet). Middle class characters also may wear the “tall hat” which is sort of like a top hat or a flat-topped fedora, only with a narrower brim. Sometimes they’re made from buckram (or plastic canvas if you cheat) and covered in fashionable fabrics which is pleated into the brim. Though oft times they are blocked from felt much like a modern hat.
If you’re a scholarly gent, consider the biggin cap worn beneath the black doctor’s cap, which is essentially a square flat cap, forerunner of the modern “mortarboard” worn at graduations.
Italian bonnets, skull caps and other options exist as well.
Most hats of the period were black. Variances should be made carefully and in consultation with the guild master/costume director.
Torso
Shirts
A long-sleeved, white full-bodied shirt with a collar. The higher up the societal food chain you are, the whiter your fabric should be. The sleeves should be a little billowy without attaining piratical dimensions and the neck and wrists adorned with block-pleated frills.
A small amount of “black work” edging (essentially a buttonhole stitch along the edges of the cuff or collar or frill) is a great high-falutin’ look. More heavily embroidered sleeves, collars and shirtfronts are not beyond the grasp of the up-and-coming nobleman! Keep in mind that most embroidery and shirt making was done at home so the level of embroidery should equate to the leisure time of ones’ wife and/or the number of people you can afford to pay to do such things for her.
Remember that your shirt is on par with a Hanes undershirt in the view of the Elizabethan person. Rarely did one go about without something over it, no matter what the weather, unless one is seeking to attain a certain uncouth look.
Jerkin and doublet
(WITH sleeves!)
Contrary to what a costume-vendor may tell you, in period, “jerkin” and “doublet” were used interchangeably to refer to the item of men’s clothing we would call a jacket. Later in the period, they began to delineate that jerkins were sleeveless and generally made of heavier fabrics (or leather) and the doublet a lighter inner garment with sleeves. So I have adopted that nomenclature here.
The doublet must have sleeves attached, though they may be of the detachable sort if one desired the flexibility in their wardrobe such a feature provides. It makes little difference. The doublet and jerkin can be made from linen, linen/cotton blends (called ‘fustian‘), wool or leather and the two should be of at least slightly contrasting colors.
It’s worthy of note that the gals who wrote Tudor Tailor did an exhaustive search of period wills (garments were items of wealth to be passed on) and found that a huge percentage of the doublets of the period were a. White and b. Fustian. So there you go.
Outerwear
Men of distinction, within the court and without wore a variety of outer garments to protect their expensive clothing from the rain, snow, sleet and hail of Scotlan's intemperate climate. From the simple black woolen scholar's robe to the short cape of the townsman, they were uniformly built to sustain a man in a harsh climate. Go thou and do likewise.
In addition to trim restrictions noted elsewhere, avoid fur trims. They simply scream "Noble" no matter what animal they're from.
Lower Body
Slops/Venetians
Short breeches of many sorts were worn and are appropriate to men of this station. They were usually laced to the doublet via lacing strips sewn to the inside of the doublet. This is called ‘pointing’. The belt didn’t hold up your pants, it held your purse and your sword.
“Slops” or are stuffed breeches that give the wearer a wide ‘pear shape’ in profile. They may be paned (a layer of light fabric overlain with strips of another fabric, usually contrasting colors) or solid and made of almost any fabric except leather. In our period this is usually - though not always - worn with a codpiece covering the fly.
“Venetians” are a short pant. They tend to be cut very full and end at about the knee. Decorations vary widely and they may be made from any of the approved fabrics. The fly is usually buttoned.
Stockings
Don’t wear tights. They’re not period and they’re too hot anyway. Men should wear knit, solid-colored hosen that come up over the knee and are tied in place or “gartered” with strips of cloth or leather.
NO BARE LEGS AT ANY TIME!!
Male Accoutrements
Weapons
A sword and dagger carried en suite would not be entirely out of line for a gentleman of means in this rough & tumble age. It is a myth that only nobility carried them. Most rapiers with the fancy wire swept hilts are 17th century confections. Go for something with a bit more heft to it and a simpler hilt. As a member of the gentry, you would have been schooled in the artes of defence since you were a boy.
Belt
Belts in the 16th century were not really the wide brass-buckled piratical monstrosities one so often sees. They tended to be thinner with appropriately smaller furniture. From it should depend your purse and your sword and little else. The tankard is a necessity of faire survival, but keep the ‘Batman’ utility belt look out of your costuming portfolio. If you need something that badly, put it in your purse.
Page contents Copyright 2006, SW Perkins except where noted.
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