Whalebone and the Wardrobe of Elizabeth I

Abstract

During the sixteenth century the bodies of Europe’s elites began to change in size and form as both men and women adopted wide starched ruffs and collars, ballooning sleeves, stiffened or bombast upper garments and puffy lower garments. This early modern aristocratic body was the result of many different ideas that emerged during the sixteenth century, such as self-control, civility and physical uprightness. Often overlooked in explanations of late sixteenth-century fashions is the availability of new raw materials that allowed artisans to fabricate clothing that portrayed these aristocratic ideals. This article traces the emergence of baleen, an animal material derived from whales, in the wardrobe of Elizabeth I of England, to argue that the emergence of the queen’s recognisable early modern aristocratic European silhouette was closely tied to this industry and the trading networks it created. The use of whalebone to create the ostentatious fashions of the late sixteenth century demonstrate that fashion and whaling have been inextricably linked since at least the sixteenth century.