© 2013 Sue & Eamonn O’Rourke

Fashion in Tudor times tended to originate at court and because communication was such a slow process in those days it could take between 5 and 15 years for a new clothing fashion to travel from London to other areas of the country.

The Tudor era spans over a hundred years of British history and fashions for the wealthy changed a great deal in this time however for the poorer people it was a different story. The poor wore simple garments of coarse linen or wool while the rich indulged themselves with silks, satins, velvets and lace.

The middles classes tended to be people like merchants, doctors and lawyers. Their mode of dress would often denote their profession. Quite often the merchants were wealthier than the nobility and therefore could afford more costly fabrics. It was common practice for merchants to marry their children into the nobility in order climb the social ladder.