Did Anne Boleyn wear a farthingale?
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I'm not an expert on Tudor costuming but I did hear that Catherine of Aragon brought the Spanish farthingale over to England from Spain when she came to marry Prince Arthur, so I would assume that Anne Boleyn wore one.
There is a great article about the history of the farthingale at http://des.kyhm.com/?farthhist.
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In the early years of the C16th the Spanish farthingale is associated with Catherine of Aragon and she certainly helped to popularise it here in England. However, with Anne’s main influence for her clothing coming from France, it’s unlikely that she would have worn one all that often, certainly as it carried associations with Catherine. However, certianly when serving in Catherine’s Court, but also when Anne become Queen in her own right, she would observe the etiquette of Courtly fashions and would undoubtedly have worn one for formal occasions. They would have been a particular boon when dancing!
When one studies the fashions of the 1520′s and 30′s, it is fairly unusual to see a farththingale worn in England. However, once we get into the later 1530′s and 1540′s, when the foresleeves have also started to expand to balance the look of h a widening skirt, they become more commonplace and it seems fair to say although they were worn from in England from around 1510 onwards, they came into more general use after Anne’s demise and stayed in fashion right through until the 1590′s, when the French (wheel) farthingale took over.
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Claire Reply:
May 21st, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Thank you so much, Molly, for your expertise, I really appreciate you answering this.
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