Shakespeare’s Dress in His Portraits

Abstract

N the year i6oo, it is likely that a portrait painter, and certain that a sculptor, would not have depicted a male sitter in the clothes he actually wore, although his requests about details of armor, jewelry, or even embroidery would have been respected. To each his appropriate attire-the robes of knightt) 4 Q pu hood, the courtier's bravery, the doctor's gown, the soldier's buff jerkin, all indicated a man's profession-thereby reflecting one of the primary functions of dress throughout the ages, namely to show who we are and what we are doing. That the Elizabethans and their successors were aware of this is proved by the divided portraits of which authors and students were so fond, when any of them was to be regarded as acting in two capacities-Tam Marte quam Mercurio, soldier and writer, George Gascoigne kneels to present to Queen Elizabeth his book Hemetes the Hermit, and he is dressed half as a soldier and half as a scholar.' If Shakespeare therefore was to be depicted for the pleasure of his friends, he must appear as a poet, as a playwright, as an actor, or as a citizen of Stratford-upon-Avon. What clothes would indicate these four professions, these four aspects of the same man? As all the portraits with which we have to deal are half-length or even less, and bare-headed, the number of garments which will need to be described is small. Throughout the whole period the basic garment for the upper part of a man's body was the doublet. This, as its name implies, was made of more than one thickness of material or else lined; often it was stiffened with pasteboard, and padded or quilted as the French term pourpoint (Latin, perpunctum) requires. The doublet was fastened down the center of the chest with buttons set close together, and sometimes it was laced (braced) as well. It rose high on the neck with a tight collar and had a protective value almost like a suit of armor; indeed its military form, the arming doublet, was designed to be worn as a padded defence under armor. Not a wrinkle should show anywhere on the body, and to its lining the breeches or hose were securely laced by points of leather. The sleeves were tight, sometimes padded, occasionally slashed in patterns or paned lengthways to allow easier movement; they were sewn in to the broad shoulders under welted rolls of material (wings), which came to project like epaulets. Doublets were made of many materials, cloth, linen, leather, covered with silk or velvet, and decorated with metal or silk braid. There were sumptuary regulations in England, which were formally reenacted from time to time, but I British Museum. MS. Roy. I8 A. xlviii (reproduced, Shakespeare's England, to face p. I86).