What did people wear during the Renaissance time?
Women would wear lots of different layers: – A chemise, usually made of linen or cotton, would go on first. It was like their underwear. – Stockings, these were hand knitted and made of wool, though the rich women would have silk ones. – Farthingale or kirtle, this had cirlces of whale bone or wicker and was covered in silk, velvet or wool and were usually brightly coloured. – Corset, also called a ‘pair of bodies’, it was usually made of heavy linen with whalebone to keep it stiff. – Petticoat, this was the underdress and was often coloured and patterned at the front. – Overskirt, this was often open at the front in a V shape to show the petticoat underneath. Poorer women would have a different version of this using cheaper and plainer materials. Women’s arms had to always be covered to the wrists and they usually had to wear hats called hoods, there were different versions of the hood – the english, the french and the gable. Towards the late Renaissance they started to wear bumrolls
