Monthly meeting and Talk: Dressing Joan Alleyn

We will be dressing a volunteer in a replica of the costume she wore for this portrait from 1586. It is typical of the clothes worn by a middle-class woman at the end of the Tudor period in the late 16th century.

It was a time of great changes in the structure of society from predominantly agricultural to much more urban with people moving into towns, especially London. This was driven by an increase in the merchant class, who imported goods from all over the known world, many of them becoming very wealthy.

This is reflected in the clothing people wore. Luxury fabrics were becoming more readily available but had to comply with sumptuary laws, which determined what materials and even what colours people were allowed to wear according to their position in society.

It was a time of great changes in the structure of society from predominantly agricultural to much more urban with people moving into towns, especially London. This was driven by an increase in the merchant class, who imported goods from all over the known world, many of them becoming very wealthy.

This is reflected in the clothing people wore. Luxury fabrics were becoming more readily available but had to comply with sumptuary laws, which determined what materials and even what colours people were allowed to wear according to their position in society.