Go to Links for Further Study: 17th Century Costume and choose one (or more if they are short) of the contemporary texts to read. See if you can figure out whether the writer is exaggerating, or being literal, & what �ax� is being ground. Write a short synopsis of the text, and reflections on the attitude towards dress in it.
This section of The Gentlewoman�s Companion, (1675) discusses how a girl/woman should dress. In short, it says that one�s choice of dress should be in proportion to your own body; appropriate to your age and station in life; that it should exhibit decency & moderation: �sober, modest & moderate� were it�s words, avoiding profusion in details.
In one, the author presents a word picture of a small man wearing a very large hat: �nor can I now abstain from laughter, when I see a man of small stature with a monstrous broad brim'd Hat; I have often thought the Hat hath walkt alone, and that the narrow Breeches and short Coat shrunk, for fear of the Hats greatness, into an exact fitness for an overgrown Monky or Baboon.� It does indeed present a comical image in the mind.
In another excerpt, the author discusses the use of beauty patches. This is the ax the author has to grind. The patches are called �Face-spoiling� and further: �these Patches are cut out into little Moons, Suns, Stars, Castles, Birds, Beasts, and Fishes of all sorts, so that their Faces may be properly termed a Landskip of living Creatures. � The vanity and pride of these Gentlewomen hath in a manner abstracted Noah's Ark.� On the same topic, the author does not see why anyone would want �to deform the face with black Patches, under a pretence to make it appear more beautiful. It is a riddle to me, that a blemish should appear a grace, a deformity be esteemed a beauty: I am confident were any of them born with those half-Moons, Stars, Coach and Horses, and such like trumpery, by which a Lady becomes a stranger to her self, as well as others, she would give more money to be freed from them.�
Several things crossed my mind as I read this text. One was that I had forgotten how hard it is to read the verbiage in primary sources. Think �Chaucer�s Canterbury Tales, in Middle English� from your high school/college courses! It takes a while to accustom your brain to following the meaning.
I thought the general tone of the advice was very much like our school dress code: clothing should be clean, neat, covered up & not of a distracting nature.
Another thought was, �what goes around comes around�,and, as King Solomon said, �There is nothing new under the sun.� (Ecclesiastes 1:9) And, what a commentary this is on the slavish following of fashion fads!
The section on beauty patches made me think of the variety of body-piercing and hair colorings that we see today. My first reaction to seeing these is �How can you make yourself more unattractive?� Sounds like the author might have a similar attitude on these fashions of today. I was gratified to hear that a couture wedding dress designer who also lectures/mentors students at Drexel University teaches her students to avoid many body piercings & to dress conservatively when going on job interviews. (You won�t see this quote on her web-site)
Taken as a whole, the attitudes towards dress in this article would seem to be good advice for any age: be sensible & let your natural beauty show through!