Fashion in the Time of William Shakespeare: 1564–1616

“This rather short book is actually packed to the gills with information on the fashions those alive during the time of William Shakespeare may have worn. Mostly about the upper classes, we are given much detail on how the fashions evolved during the years of Shakespeare’s lifetime (roughly the late 1500s). Downing gives us many illustrations and paintings to show us how items were worn, even devoting an entire chapter to the ever-expanding ruff. Both men’s fashion and women’s fashion are covered in this slim volume, and details such as cloth types and width of skirts are examined. This book would be invaluable especially to those who write of the period and need visual cues to explain the fashion of the day.” ―Historical Novel Society

“A thought-provoking and well-illustrated introduction to the subject. As well as images, she uses many quotations from contemporary writings to demonstrate how controversial clothes could be. Sarah-Jane Downing explores the development of many kinds of clothing including the different styles of farthingales, jerkins and doublets.” ―The Shakespeare Blog