Dressing Up As A Tudor Lady with After Elizabeth

Ever since I was twelve years old, leafing through a photo book on the six queens of Henry VIII, I wanted to at least once wear a Tudor dress. I have always been fascinated with the cut of the designs, the fabric and how everything fit together. What would it have felt like? And was it comfortable, or difficult to walk - or sit - in?

Tudor Gown, Lisa Armstrong, After Elizabeth

Thanks to dress and costume designer Lisa Armstrong of After Elizabeth, I got to find out. Lisa is best known for the many bridal dresses and gowns she has created over the last decade, but also loves to design and make clothing inspired by fantasy and history. She makes corsets too, which I had fun trying on. One of the photos on her Instagram feed which I absolutely loved was a gorgeous green Tudor gown that she made, along with a video of the process behind it. Lisa was kind enough to spend a few hours with me talking about body shapes, different styles of corset, and, naturally, laced me into a beautiful red Tudor dress while we chatted.

Tudor Gown, Lisa Armstrong, After Elizabeth

As it turns out, Tudor styling is not something you can achieve 'off the peg', which explains why sixteenth-century accounts books are all about buying lots of different colours and textures of cloth and not complete gowns. People measure different heights and widths. Our torsos are not all the same length, just like some people have longer legs or arms than others. When gowns were given to loved ones in wills, they were adjusted or remodelled into other clothing that suited the new wearer and their lifestyle. This went on over many generations until the fabric was all used up. The Bacton Altar Cloth, for so long used as an altar cloth at St Faith’s Church in Bacton, Herefordshire, is a very rare example of surviving Tudor fabric, believed to have been given by Elizabeth I to one of her gentlewomen Blanche Parry. It’s even been suggested that it may have once been one of the queen’s own dresses, being very similar in style to the one worn by her in the Rainbow Portrait of 1600. I was lucky enough to get a close-up look at the Bacton cloth at Hampton Court Palace a few years ago and it really was stunning, woven with cloth of silver that glinted in the cabinet.

Gown After Elizabeth/Photography Chris Harris/Model Christine Pillow

Standing in my underwear, I was slipped into a white kirtle with a jewelled edge, which was then laced up at the sides to create a more snug and close fit. Then the gown went on, arms in like a coat, and was laced up at the front. The sleeves were tight, but this was important for that classic Tudor shape, with the longer outer sleeves hanging down near the wrists. Underneath were beautiful white sleeves with a frilled edge sewn with pearls that you could just see poking out from the outer sleeves. Some tightening of laces and adjusting of necklines and I was done.

Gown After Elizabeth/Photography Raluca Save/Model Liv Free

The first thing I noticed about the dress was that it was actually quite comfortable. This obviously wasn’t something you would have worn ploughing fields or brewing ale – but it was perfectly adequate for business at court or receiving visitors as a Lady of the Manor or similar. It gave wonderful support – the lacing and the firmness of the fit forced me to stand up straight, and my back felt really well supported. Despite its snugness and slight pressing of the chest area I could breathe really comfortably and the gown felt kind of heavy on, but I didn’t really notice until I went to take it off and held it in my hands. The feeling was just a firm and well-supported gown. It was also, like all of Lisa’s other work, really beautifully made and the choices of the fabric sensitive to the colours chosen by Tudor queens and courtiers. Red and gold, grey and brown and green and pearl – all combinations we see in our favourite Holbein paintings and Elizabethan miniatures. Lisa said she’s thinking of making a black version next, which I’m excited to see, too.

Lisa has made other styles of period fashion as well – some Marie-Antoinette-style ribboned stays, Victorian-style full corsets, Georgian gowns and a beautiful Elizabethan gown with puffed shoulders. Go and check out her Instagram to see more of her creations. I never thought I’d want a period gown in my wardrobe but now I can’t stop thinking about it! As I joked to Lisa, I'd probably love it so much I'd wear it down to the supermarket!

Gown After Elizabeth/Photography Tigz Rice/Model Liv Free

Check out Lisa on her Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and follow her to see what new history-inspired clothing she’s making next. 

 

Thanks again to Lisa for spending the afternoon with me, I loved it!

Enjoyed this? You might also like The Will of Elizabeth Fitherbert of Norbury 1490, Medieval and Tudor Apple Fritters and Tudor Wedding Dresses.

 

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