I am consistant... but let me start at the beginning...

Well over a decade and a half ago, I was asked to be in a friends wedding... It started off with a meeting of minds, on how everyone would be dressed, and generally we all agreed Tudor suited the bride best, and the groom did not seem too opposed to being seen in very posh garb. (He looked great in it, in fact.)

Months went by, in fact almost a year went by and though the velvet had been purchased, the three brides maids still did not actually have their fabric, nor did we have even the mereist hint of a pattern.

So, a less than a month away, and we get the fabric, and a vague description of what the Matron of Honour's dress would be.... panic insued... and we, the three brides maids and our lovely fourth (a tailor) started he flurry of active research into Tudor clothing.

The sleeves, the bodice, stomacher/forepart, cartridge pleated skirt....
Within two weeks we all had bodices, and just as we were about to do the skirts, we were told that hoop skirts would be required.  (They had been mentioned in the past, but again, there was very little communication.) Note, that the Matron's dress was done by now, and we were to suddenly change any plans we had to make sure we 'matched' but didn't look better than her dress.

So, we had to have enough material in the skirt, and it had to be designed in such a way that a large hoop would fit.

Now, I'm going to pause here, and give you a couple of actually portraits...

A painting of Queen Jane by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) Oil on wood, 65x40.5 cm

This is the portrait of Jane Seymour that is most famous. Often called "The Lady in Red" it is the penticle of Mid-Tudor Fashion. Clean, elegant lines... and, you'll note, impossible to tell exactly what the skirt is doing. You can see the chemises,, the kirtle peeking up, the overdress and the stomacher, fastened with tiny gold pins.  The foresleeves which should end at the elbow and were extremely decorative, the blackwork at the cuffs and edge of the chemise' neckline, the decorative forepart of the kirtle on the skirt....

Then, following that, you look at other paintings of Jane alone, and find that the skirts flow and puddle at the floor.

While the line of the dress has a definate 'a-line' appearance, it is also evident that there is a definiative flow to the ground and training out....Not, dancing about her feel like the bloody Liberty Bell.

And, another picture, of her sitting down.  If you've ever sat in a hoop, you know that it is impossible to get the lines seen in this image. (for a larger link: http://tudorhistory.org/groups/whitehall.jpg ) Note that you can see where her knees bend as she's sitting....

So, by looking at these things, I immediately wondered exactly why in the world we were wearing hoops beneath our dresses.  The response I recieve 'we don't have time to make farthingales, and hoops are close enough.

WRONG!

The Spanish farthingale was brought to Tudor England by Katherine of Aragon, but quickly during her first few years at court she set the cumbersome and strange (to the English) style aside for the current British fashion.  It is important to note that one of the fashions of the time was to have the 'hoops' be on the outerskirt. Link: Spanish verdugada (farthingale) .)

It is also imporant to note that by 1525 farthingales on the outside of apparel became 'lower class' attire. (Anderson, 209, Dickson)  While the upperclass in Spain continued to wear them, the fashion changed on the whim of the Queen, most often, in England.  Anne Bolyn brought french fashions to height during her reign, but it is important to note that the French Farthingale, did not emerge until the late 1570s...and into the height of the Elizabethan era.

Either way, the undergarmets that helped support the clothing of Early to Mid Tudor clothing were not Civil War era Hoop Skirts.

While there is still quite a bit of controversy over when farthingales were worn, it is very evident that the following picture doesn't cut it: 
Though the gentleman escorting me, looks quite smashing.  (the dress rang like the liberty bell, I promise.)
It now hangs in my closest, somewhat reconstructed and I am attempting to make it work... hopefully, it's salvagable...We'll have to see.


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