A Handbook of Pictorial History

by Henry W. Donald

On the whole, there were no great innovations of male costume made during the actual reign of Henry VIII., for the same fashions appear to have continued during its whole extent.

Henry passed sumptuary laws regulating the use of the rarer furs, velvets, satins, and damasks to certain classes of society, while the working classes were confined to the use of cloth of a certain price and lamb’s fur only, and were forbidden to wear ornaments of gold, silver, or gilt work. Stockings of silk are generally supposed to have been unknown in England before the middle of the sixteenth century, and Henry VIII. never wore any hose but such as were made of cloth.

The upper portion of the coverings for the legs, called trunk hose, were slashed, puffed, and embroidered, and were fastened by points or laces to the doublet (so called from being made of double stuff with padding between).

They were made of velvets, satins, silks, and golden and silver stuffs. The large sleeves and capes of the various garments were fastened to the body of the dress by means of points or by buttons, and were separate articles of apparel, and often of different colour from the remaining portion of the garment.

The waistcoat was first mentioned in this reign, and was worn under the doublet. Slashed shoes were also worn.

Henry VIII. gave orders for all his attendants and courtiers to wear the hair short, and that, of course, became the fashion for men throughout the land.

The pictures at Hampton Court representing episodes connected with the Field of the Cloth of Gold have been called “general pictorial encyclopædias” of the costume of this reign. The portrait of the Earl of Surrey at Hampton Court is a good illustration of the costume of the nobility during Henry’s reign. He is represented in a short doublet, open at the neck down to the waist, displaying an embroidered shirt. Round his waist is a girdle with a dagger in a richly gilt case fastened to it. His jerkin is made very broad at the shoulder (a characteristic of this reign) and wide at the sleeves, which are gathered, puffed, and slashed.

He also wears full trunk hose reaching to the knees, tight stockings, and a small, flat cap with feathers. His hair is cut short in the prevailing fashion.

It is interesting to note that breeches were often spoken of as “sloppes,” and a certain class of clothier’s shop is still known colloquially as a “slop-shop.”