Fashionable Fiction: The Significance of Costumes in The Tudors

Abstract

Hans Holbein’s full-length image of Henry VIII recorded in the Whitehall cartoon presents the modern viewer with an imposing and impressive portrait of the king responsible for the Break with Rome.¹ Sixteenth-century observers, like their more recent counterparts, also would have been confronted by the artist’s skillful montage of the assertive pose, the firm gaze, and the sense of physicality created by the size of the king’s body and enhanced by his clothes. From his bonnet to his shoes, via the broad shoulders accentuated by the gown, the sumptuous doublet and the prominent codpiece, Henry VIII’s clothing, along with the full range of masculine accessories and jewelry, served to stress his place at the top of English society.² Tudor clothing, and especially elite male Henrician clothing, was intended to convey numerous messages about the age, status, and wealth of the wearer which contemporaries were well practiced at interpreting. Interpretation is also at the heart of the discussions about all aspects of The Tudors, including the prize-winning costumes. Predicated on the premise that there is a fundamental difference between the clothes made and worn in a specific time and costumes made after the fact to convey an idea of the period being recreated, this chapter is divided into two parts, the first exploring the differences between clothes and costumes and the second providing case studies on the king, his wives, and children.

I would like to thank Erin Bateson for her help with this chapter.