Shakespeare’s

Costumes
In this lesson, you are going to be working
towards designing a costume for a
Shakespeare character.
The Elizabethan era is the time during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603).
Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. 

•Between about 1590 and

1613, Shakespeare wrote at least
37 plays and collaborated on
several more. His 17 comedies
include The Merchant of Venice
and Much Ado About Nothing.
Among his 10 history plays are
Henry V and Richard III. The most
famous among his tragedies are
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and
Macbeth.
Elizabethan and Shakespearean Men's Costumes

•Men were permitted to wear whichever clothing they wished to wear, as long
as their clothing was colored according to their social ranking.

• For the most part, both very dark and very bright colors were reserved for
higher-ranking members of society, as it was much more difficult to produce
clothing in these colors.

•The monarch and their direct family members were permitted to wear any
clothing of their choice, although their clothing was usually made of silk and
colored purple.

•Clothing usually consisted of doublets (a long-sleeved, waist-length fitted

jacket), jerkins (a short-sleeved jacket that fit tightly over the doublet), trunks
(puffy shorts), and hose (like tights)

•Depending on the position of a knight, the clothing that was permitted varied

•For instance, Knights of the Garter were able to dress in purple silk much like
the dukes and earls. Knights that were placed in ordinary office were
permitted to wear velvet, leopard furs, and silk with embroideries and colors
of their choosing.
•Lower-class men in Elizabethan times had
lower-quality clothing available to them, as
many of the fabrics and colors of those in
other rankings were quite expensive.

•Lower-class men generally wore clothing

that was brown, beige, green, or blue,
although these colors would not be the deep,
rich tones that those of higher rankings
would wear.

•Commoners would often wear fabrics made

of wool, sheepskin, linen, or taffeta. Peasant
men wore loose-fitting trousers, trunks,
cloaks, and hose much like the noblemen, but
their items were very plain in color, cut, and
fabric.

•Young boys would also wear similar fashions

to their fathers, which showed the status of
their families in society.
In Shakespeare's time, clothes reflected a person's status in
society – there were laws controlling what you could wear. As
plays had kings, queens and wealthy people in them, the
actors' costumes reflected their characters social status.
Costumes were mainly the modern dress of the time.

•Elizabethan Female Costumes

The dresses were full skirted and sleeved.

The Elizabethan era was known for introducing the
high stiff collars which is seen in many paintings of
Queen Elizabeth. The sleeves were worn apart and
the ensemble accessorised with shoes, capes, hats
and reticules (a type of small handbag)
•Characters such as wives of
peasants wore clothing of wool,
sheepskin, and linen.

•The colors for peasant women were

also dull colors, such as beige,
brown, and green, like their
husbands and fathers wore.
 Over the years, Shakespeare productions have become more modernised.

The genius of Shakespeare is that his plays deals with common and universal themes
such as love, hate, jealousy, power, greed, hope. It is what makes his stories so relevant
to modern day.

It is exciting to think that productions of Shakespeare can be performed with a modern

theme, in a modern set in modern costumes and be totally current and make total sense.

Have a look at these images from some more recent productions of

Shakespearean plays.
Directors will consider a concept for their productions (what theme they want to bring
out – or what time period they want to set their version in) and then their costume
designers will try to bring this out in their designs. This includes both costume and set.
Have a look at these different interpretations for The Witches in Macbeth
 Costume designers will need to consider a number of things when designing a costume:

• Which character they are designing the costume for?

• What happens to the character in the play?
• How is the character described in the play?
• What personality traits does the character have?
• What is the time period of the production?
• What is the concept of the production? EG -Is it to be set around a field at night? Or in
a modern world using social media etc?
• How does the character need to move in the production? Do they need to be agile
and run around the stage/ fly/run/ crouch/ hide or are they static and elegant and still.

A good costume designer would need to bring out all of these qualities.
Now look at the character sheets for the lead
characters in ‘The Tempest.’ Your task is to design
a costume for at least one of these characters.