Bard Bits: Time Traveler Report
As much fun as it is to read Shakespeare, sometimes it’s easy to get sidetracked and read about Shakespeare, specifically about his life and times. Then again, since not much is known about his life, more is discovered about his times: Elizabethan England.
As the time period suggests, this is during primarily during the time of Elizabeth I, and of her life there is much written, with plenty of cinema bio treats ranging from Bette Davis to Helen Mirren. If needing a bit of a history refresher, the EETP (Elizabethan England time period) was from 1558-1603, basically her reign which is also known as the Golden Age.
However, all was not golden during that age. Even though that particular era ushered in much modernity into the world, it harbored some fairly ruthless aspects including torture, class divisions, lack of hygiene, illness, amidst other important considerations.
Ian Mortimer, a well-regarded historian, wrote a couple of books presented in a guide format as if the reader were dropped into a particular time period and needed some help navigating everyday life. Since information about William Shakespeare is roughly 20% fact and 80% supposition (my opinion) reading about the times he lived in starts to create a fuller portrait of the man.
Picking up Mortimer’s The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England (as a time traveler interested in learning more about Shakespeare), I decide to investigate what a man might wear during EETP because we all know the expression “Clothes make the man” can be very true and applicable.
Did you know?
- Both boys and girls wear skirts in infancy? Boys don’t get “breeched” (a type of hose) until they are around 6 years of age about the time boys head off to school. Girls don’t get to go to school and unless their family can afford a tutor girls are relegated to housewifery lessons. You would think having such an accomplished woman monarch would have inspired the nation to provide to equal education rights.
- The thigh-length shirt a man wears to bed is tucked into his breeches and worn throughout the day. With its slit sides the shirt can be tucked inside the legs to act as drawers (boxers aren’t available yet).
- I hear that question–only the well-off have the affordability to have extra shirts on hand, and bathing wasn’t an everyday occurrence (in fact, bathing was rather a not happening part of EETP), so yes, the times beget rather a distinctive ripeness amidst the population.
- Men wore waistcoats, doublets, cloaks, hats, shoes/boots, and those ridiculous ruffs, those odd scalloped collars that remind a person of the cone-of-shame a dog or cat endures while healing from procedure. And let’s not forget pumpkin pants.
- Both men and women wore ruffs, which encircled the neck being sewn out of cambric or linen, and were originally a small adornment but eventually grew in size to become status symbols requiring a servant to starch and maintain its shape.
Most portraits indicate Shakespeare was balding and wore his sides long, while choosing to have a fashionably trimmed beard. Men could go to the barber or have a home visit. A comb was one of the essential items a man carried, along with a knife (for all sorts of purposes, including eating–no forks yet). The comb had wide teeth at one end (for detangling) and narrow teeth at the other end (for removing nits–now you will never look at your comb quite the same way). Beard style ranged from the pointed to full to goatee to mustache to a combination. Of course, clean-shaven was also an option. Today’s current trend of the ubiquitous five o’clock shadow would be not well-accepted: either beard up fully or shave in Shakespeare’s day. Sorry Jason Statham.
Shakespeare, if following the fashions of his time, would complete with his ensemble with accessories. The comb and knife being mentioned, another item is the purse. This was more of a small leather bag for coins and was attached to the belt. One had to watch out for cutpurses, who did just that. Working as an individual (children were just the right height to snatch and run) or as a gang, purses were cut quickly from belts and the culprit(s)ran off into the crowd. This should have cautioned wealthier individuals from showing off their jewelry; however, one had to show off status. Women weren’t the only ones who liked bling. Men wore gold chains with pendants, or rings, and there is that portrait of Shakespeare wearing a gold earring, although ear piercing among EETP males wasn’t prevalent. A proper gentleman would also carry a sword.
Not only were swords or the thinner rapier, handy for defense, they were also status symbols.
So–
There may not be a plethora of descriptive passages of what Shakespeare wore, although Mortimer provides a fair idea of what he might have worn. Not being a country farmer, nor of royalty, and having achieved some fame and success in the theater, Shakespeare could have attempted to dress in a way that reflected his growing status. He might have looked something like this:
Pam Webb 