Rachael Dickzen

& Juliet is a 2019 musical now up in the West End in London that starts off at the end of Romeo & Juliet. Instead of killing herself, Juliet survives, and runs off to Paris with some friends to avoid being sent to a convent by her parents. Shenanigans ensue. There’s also a frame story about William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway (no, not that one) arguing over how to plot out the story. All the songs in the musical are by Max Martin and were previously big pop hits; think “I Want it That Way,” “…One More Time",” “It’s Gonna Be Me, “Blow,” and other songs by Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, NSync, and other artists.

& juliet cast 5.jpg — Credit: Johan Persson

I’m not SUPER familiar with the musical, but I’ve listened to a bit of the soundtrack, have read through the WIkipedia page, and have seen some awesome photos of the costumes, which mash up renaissance and modern elements. So of course, I want to go through and analyze some of the costume elements through the lens of Tudor history. I’m not going to go AS in depth with these costumes as I previously have with Six, because & Juliet has WAY more than six characters and plenty of those characters seem to have several costumes. I’m also sure I won’t be able to get all the costumes, so I’m honestly not going to fuss about it too much.

Although Romeo and Juliet technically takes place in Italy, and most of this musical takes place in France, the costumes seem to be far more English renaissance inspired; there were a lot of similarities in renaissance dress in these three countries, but also some pretty striking differences.

Because there are so many characters and SO many costumes in this show, I’ve had to divide up this post into two to make it more manageable. :) Part two should come out next week, and will focus more on men’s costumes, although a few women and an awesome nonbinary character will also be covered.

(FYI: A fair amount of the explanation of the different elements is borrowed from my previous post on the Tudor fashion elements of the costumes in Six the Musical. )

Juliet from &Juliet (Credit: Michael Wharley)

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, 1598. Artist Unknown.

Juliet (Miriam-Teak Lee)- As the main character, Juliet has numerous costumes, but at least in the few I’m seeing here, it seems like she usually wears tops that resemble corsets, with the stiffness and lines of boning and/or stays evident, but without lacing. She also sports a lot of wide square necklines, long sleeves, and a fair amount of bling, in the form of necklaces and bracelets. Of interest: the white jacket she wears at the end of the show has little cross hatching and beading details on it that actually somewhat resemble Elizabeth I’s sleeves in the portrait I’ve included above.

Several of her skirts are very poufy, resembling both the volume of Tudor skirts. Her blue outfit also features big poufy pants, which are similar to some men’s styles of the time. It looks like she’s wearing similar pants in the photograph at the top of this post, only in pink, but I couldn’t find any close up pictures of this costume to confirm it.

It looks like almost all the shoes used in the musical are very deliberately worn and a little ragged around the edges, with a few specific exceptions. I wonder what the meaning of that is.

A great farthingale. Elizabeth I, "The Ditchley Portrait", c.1592. By Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger

Spanish farthingales. Retable of St. John the Baptist, ~1470-1480, by Pedro García de Benabarre.

Details of paintings from (starting top left, going clockwise): Anne of Cleves, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, Elizabeth I, Mary I, and Catherine Parr.

Poufy Skirts - The voluminous skirts Juliet wears in her pink and white outfits seem inspired by Tudor skirts, which were of a decent size. Tudor skirts weren’t even close to the biggest skirts in history (that honor belongs to the French court dresses of the 1760s-70s-ish, which often featured panniers, structured undergarments which stretched the skirts out horizontally by several feet) but they were still rather large at times! That’s generally due to the farthingale, but bum rolls contributed a bit as well (I’ll talk about bum rolls later in this post).
Catherine of Aragon brought the Spanish farthingale (hoop skirt) fashion into England when she married Prince Arthur (Henry VIII’s older brother, who died less than a year into their marriage). These early farthingales were usually made with wood; the name actually derives from the Spanish word verdugo, which means “green wood.” French farthingales, which started showing up in England in the 1520s, possibly due to Anne Boleyn’s influence on fashion, were often stuffed with cotton and stiffened with hoops of wood, reed, or whalebone. Although we know the materials that made up these undergarments, as tailor’s receipts and such have survived, we don’t know exactly what they look like, because, as an undergarment, they weren’t visible in paintings (boudoir art that showed women in their underwear wouldn’t be culturally acceptable in England for a LONG time).
Later, by the time of Elizabeth I, these French farthingales became “great farthingales,” which ballooned the skirts out all around. You can see that in the portrait of Queen Elizabeth in the previous section. The classic Tudor silhouette you see in portraits, showing an inverted triangle waist dropping down into a voluminous skirt, is created by farthingales.
Wide square necklines - Wide and low cut square necklines were very big in women’s fashion under Henry VIII, from about 1500-1550.
Bling- In Tudor times, noble ladies would often wear lots of rings, bracelets, and several necklaces. You can see this in their portraits.
Sleeves - All Tudor women would have worn long sleeves coming down at least to the wrist, and sometimes below that. These often were very voluminous at the top.

& juliet blue.jpg — Credit: Johan Persson

Henry IV, King of France, by Frans Pourbus the Younger

Elizabeth I’s effigy corset and examples of boning in modern recreations

Boning/Stays - The supportive looking lines in Juliet’s blue top refer to boning within dresses and supportive stays. These aren’t overtly Tudor, as they’re generally associated with later time periods, and I unfortunately don’t have any painting references for this because they were explicitly /underwear/ and not something that would show up in art, but we do know that whalebone was used for support in women’s garments at least by the time of Elizabeth I’s death, as her effigy wore a corset containing whalebone. I’ve included a picture of the effigy corset and a few pictures of historical reproduction corsets so you can see what I mean.
Poufy pants - These are actually called trunkhose. They were voluminous breeches that usually ran from the waist to the middle of the thigh, and were worn with tight fitting hose under them. They were worn by men in the 16th and 17th centuries. They kind of look like onions, right?
I’m trying to pin down more information about when exactly men started wearing trunkhose and why (if there is ever a reason for fashion), but unfortunately, I’ve found it’s much more difficult to find information on men’s renaissance fashion than women’s (see: reasons I’m putting off the second post of this series until next week).

A 1708 drawing that purportedly shows Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife.

Anne Hathaway (Cassidy Janson) - This outfit features cross-lacing, a corset style top that appears to have the stiffness and structure of boning/stays, a wide, square neckline, and a belt at the waist, all elements commonly seen in noble lady fashions during Henry’s reign.

The vest is interesting. In terms of Tudor fashion, it most resembles an overcoat, which was normally worn by men (see the portrait of Charles Brandon to the right), and is covered with gorgeous colorful embroidery. I’m guessing this refers to her role in the play, in which she takes some of the story-telling power away from her husband.

I’ve included a purported portrait of the historical Anne Hathaway for reference, but it’s basically just her face and a ruff. I don’t think there’s much inspiration to be found here.

Cross-Lacing - The “corset” top here is cross-laced, looking like a shoelace tie. This is pretty much what you see at every renaissance faire. In reality though, Tudor gowns were generally spiral laced or ladder laced rather than cross laced (Xes) You can see what I mean in the collection of painting references; all of these show spiral lacing or ladder lacing except for one Italian painting, which shows Xes which are almost certainly more decorative than practical. The other forms of lacing are simply more supportive and adjustable, which is the entire idea behind having lacings in an outfit anyway, after all.
Embroidery - Since almost every young girl was taught to work with a needle, and pretty much every noble lady could embroider, embroidery was very commonly seen in the clothing of nobles. You can see many different examples in the portraits I’ve shared throughout this post.
There were sumptuary laws that restricted what color and type of clothing and trims could be worn by people of various ranks; embroidery was pretty much only allowed for nobles or knights, so it’s questionable whether the historical Anne Hathaway would have been allowed to wear embroidery, as Shakespeare was neither a nobleman nor a knight. However, sumptuary laws were relaxed onstage, and actors could wear clothing that they’d be banned from wearing otherwise, as long as they were performing in a play at the time.

Angelique, Juliet’s nurse (Melanie La Barrie) - This honestly looks like the most renaissance costume in the show, complete with a fanny pack resembling a belt and purse and a hair covering. This is a very standard outfit for a female peasant, featuring a woolen undershirt, and a matching skirt and corset style top (with more of that cross lacing). In actuality, the entire orange layer would probably be a single dress, known as a kirtle, which commonly featured square-necks and came down to the ankles.

Details from portraits, showing the gable hood of Catherine of Aragon, the French hood of Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Parr’s feathered hat.

Belt and Purse - The fanny pack is a wonderful little touch, as people generally did wear purses on their belts.
Hair Covering - Angelique also is sporting a hair covering here; historically, almost everyone would be wearing a hat or hair covering of some sort (ignore the hair in The Tudors and The White Queen y'all, it's just...hilariously wrong). Famous hats included the Gable hood (seen on Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour) and the French hood (popularized by Anne Boleyn and seen in her portrait and in Katherine Howard's supposed portrait). Women even started wearing male hat styles at times, as seen in Catherine Parr’s portrait.

Elisabeth of Austria by Francois Clouet, ca. 1571

Portrait of a Woman, anonymous, 1525-1549

Judith (Grace Mouat)- This costume features numerous Tudor costume elements, including a ruff, white cross hatched sleeves, a double layered skirt rendered in rich orange and reddish orange colors and decorated with copious embroidery, and cross lacing in her leg warmers. I found the Elisabeth of Austria portrait above to demonstrate the sleeves but wow, this costume might actually be totally inspired by it? The color scheme and collar set up is very similar. The anonymous portrait below demonstrates a mesh look more clearly though.

Ruffs - Neck ruffs like this ARE Tudor and specifically, Elizabethan (as opposed to the previously discussed square necklines, which were very Henrican). You didn’t really see them until the 1560s. Keep in mind: Henry VIII died in 1547, his son Edward VI ruled from 1547-1553, his daughter Mary I ruled from 1553-1558, and his younger daughter Elizabeth I ruled from 1558-1603; William Shakespeare lived from 1564-1616 and was active as a playwright probably from the mid-1580s to 1613.
Ruffs were made of fabric, usually cambric but sometimes lace (particularly if you were rich) and were later stiffened with starch imported from continental Europe (think around the Netherlands). They were separate pieces so you could wear a ruff with multiple different outfits, and specifically over the high necklines common to Elizabeth I’s reign. They started out pretty small, but once starch was discovered, ruffs became larger and larger, sometimes up to a foot wide. Really big ruffs had a wire frame to support them.
Fun fact: Apparently ruffs are still part of the ceremonial garments for the Church of Denmark!
Double layer skirt - There were lots of layers to women’s garments at this time and often, an over dress, shirt, and skirt were all visible.

From left, going clockwise: details of paintings of Catherine Parr , Mary I, another of Catherine Parr, and Princess Elizabeth.

Lucy (Danielle Fiamanya) - This costume includes split skirts worn with a bum roll, boning/stay type elements in the top, and a tied ribbon choker necklace.

Bum Roll - Roll farthingales, or “bum rolls” were padded rolls covered in cotton fabric. They sometimes included wiring. The roll would be placed around the hips and under the kirtle. The one shown in Lucy’s costume appears to be a demi-roll, since it is clearly defined under the skirt but doesn’t completely encircle the body.

Nell (Jocasta Almgill) - This outfit is so fun. Tudor elements include her hair covering (which vaguely resembles a French hood in shape), the boning/stays, the splitskirt layered over denim shorts, and stockings. I can’t quite tell, but it looks like the t-shirt over the outfit has some sort of writing on it? Does anyone know what this is?

Split skirts - Nell’s and Lucy’s costumes both evoke the look of a classic Tudor dress under Henry VIII, in which a kirtle (underdress) was layered under a contrasting overdress. You can see this demonstrated at right, which includes details from portraits of Mary I, Princess Elizabeth.

Anne Boleyn, late 16th century, based on a ~1533-1536 work, by an Unknown English artist.

From left, going clockwise: details of paintings of a young Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, and Anne of Cleves.

Susanna (Kerrin Orville) - Here you’ve got boning/stay elements, a top that vaguely looks like an overdress, a belt, layers of a skirt over shorts, a wide square neckline, and a choker necklace.

Chokers - Chokers were super popular in renaissance times! You can see several examples in portraits I’ve shared throughout this post. Even the famous “B” necklace from Anne Boleyn’s portrait is a choker.

jocasta almgill and ivan defreitas the capulets.JPG

I don’t have the time to analyze every single costume in the show, and since I haven’t seen the show and don’t have plans to go to London any time soon, I don’t have any way to check if I found all the costumes or not. But I’ve put together a gallery from various photos I can find on Instagram of other costumes anyway; look at how gorgeous they are!

All My Six Posts!
Over-Analyzing All the Historical References in Six- “Ex Wives,” “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Your Head” “Heart of Stone” “Haus of Holbein” “Get Down”
The Tudor Crown Inspiration in Six’s Logo; The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
Six the Musical Wives 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations; Six the Musical Wives 4-6: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
The Ladies in Waiting of Six: Historical Inspirations and Costumes; Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram Takeover
The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London
Updated Six the Musical Costumes for Broadway!; The Shoes of Six the Musical
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical; How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen
Virtual Dance Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!

One of the coolest things I’ve learned about Six is that not only is the entire CAST of each show all female, the backing band is all female too! Each musician is named for a real lady in waiting to one of the queens of Henry VIII. The only queen who doesn’t have a historical lady in waiting represented in the band is Catherine Parr.

First off, what’s a lady in waiting anyway? Each royal lady of the Tudor court were served by numerous attendants and servants. Although most members of a Queen’s household would be male, those who served her personally or kept her company were always women.

The Ladies in Waiting of Six, West End cast.

In Tudor times, the Queen would basically never be alone; she must always be accompanied by noble ladies, day and night. Even at night, if the Queen wasn’t actually spending the night with the King (royal couples kept separate bedrooms in those days), she would likely have someone sleeping in the bed next to her.

Ladies-in-waiting (also known as “ladies-of-honor”) were married noble women who held the highest rank in the Queen’s household. These women often were married to the King’s own personal attendants. These ladies accompanied the Queen both privately and in public, at various ceremonial or casual occasions. They were all expected to be excellent dancers, singers, musicians, and needed to be proficient at whatever other games or past times the Queen was interested in. Although the Queen might choose her own ladies, often times, the King actually chose them, as a favor to a friend or because of his own interest in the woman. They spent long periods at court and were expected to put their positions before their own families.

Next in rank were the maids-of-honor, who were unmarried well-born women, generally young girls age 16 or older. It was a great honor to be asked to serve the Queen or Princess in such a fashion. It was very common practice for nobles to send their children off to work at another family’s home for a few years as an attendant of some sort to teach them the skills they’d need to run their own households and move up in the world. Positions at the royal court were greatly coveted; there, nobles’ daughters could meet many powerful people and make good marriages.

Maids-of-honor were expected to be beautiful, accomplished, and highly virtuous, as while they were at court away from their families, the queen acted in loco parentis; any scandal attached to a maid-of-honor would reflect poorly on their mistress.

Photo by Melissa Jo York Tilley, from when I myself played a maid of honor at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in 2011!

Elizabeth I, Francis Drake, and some of her court. Jean-Leon Huens—National Geographic/Heritage-Images — Elizabeth I, Francis Drake, and some of her court.
Jean-Leon Huens—National Geographic/Heritage-Images

Henry VIII ended up marrying three of his former queens’ maids-of-honor – Anne Boleyn, who served Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, who served Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Howard, who served Anna of Cleves. This was actually very unusual for the time; kings were expected to marry for advantage, to cement powerful alliances or to achieve other goals that would serve the good of the country. Henry VII married Elizabeth of York to help bring about the end of the Wars of the Roses; Henry VI and his father Henry V both married French princesses as part of peace treaties with various entities in efforts to try to end the 100 Years’ War. Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was a rich Spanish princess and the daughter of two powerful monarchs – Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon; she brought legitimacy to the Tudor dynasty as Henry VII (whose claim to the English crown was pretty weak, actually) worked to fight off pretenders to his throne.

The Banquet of Henry VIII in York Place (Whitehall Palace), 1832, by James Stephanoff — The Banquet of Henry VIII in York Place (Whitehall Palace), 1832,
by James Stephanoff

The ladies-in-waiting and maids-of-honor assisted the Queen in her daily tasks, helping dress her in the layered clothing of the period and lacing her into her dresses. They washed and bathed her and even assisted her with using the privy (yup. That was a thing. And it was actually a very sought after position). The Queen and her ladies often sewed, read, or danced together.

Each Queen had different preferences for their ladies. Catherine of Aragon was known for reading devotionals to hers. Anne Boleyn gave her ladies little books of prayers and psalms to carry with them always, and had them sew garments for the poor. Jane Seymour had strict rules as to her ladies’ garments; trains had to be so long and different parts of clothes had to have a specific number of pearls embroidered on them.

I’ve noticed before that historical dramas always seem to have fewer attendants around the Kings and Queens then would have been there in reality; if the real numbers were represented, it would probably be a bit overwhelming to modern eyes, as we just have very different standards of privacy and necessity. During Henry VIII’s time, there were usually 6-8 “great ladies of the household” serving the Queen at any time, and Catherine of Aragon had 30 maids-of-honor, while Anne Boleyn had 60! After Henry started living separately from Catherine of Aragon, she actually had around 250 maids-of-honor, as he didn’t want to be accused of treating her poorly (at that time, anyway)! Although I’m sure they likely served the queen in different shifts, that’s still a huge amount of women who served the queen throughout the week. Can you even imagine?

Maria de Salinas, by an unknown artist (lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon)

Catherine Willoughby, Maria de Salinas’s daughter, by Hans Holbein the younger.

Maria - María de Salinas, known as Baroness Willoughby after her marriage (maid-of-honor and lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon) – Drums

Maria de Salinas actually came with Catherine of Aragon from Spain and served her as a maid-of-honor until 1516, when she married an English nobleman named William Willoughby (and became a lady-in-waiting to Catherine). She was devoted to Catherine; although she was ordered to leave Catherine and stop communicating with her after Catherine’s marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, she begged permission to visit her later. In the final days of Catherine of Aragon’s life, Maria simply disobeyed all orders to avoid her and forced her way into the castle where her beloved mistress lived; Catherine died in Maria’s arms two days later.

Maria’s daughter, Katherine Willoughby, became a ward of Henry VIII’s buddy Charles Brandon after Baron Willoughby’s death; Brandon ended up marrying her after his third wife (Henry VIII’s sister, Princess Mary Tudor, the dowager Queen of France) died. They married when Katherine was 14 and Charles was likely 49 (eww), but by all reports had a pretty happy marriage. Katherine was actually friggin awesome and I’d love to see more portrayals of her in media; she apparently named her dog Gardiner after a bishop she detested, because it amused her to call “Gardiner” to heel. Her name was floated as a possible seventh wife for Henry VIII at a time when he was considering placing Catherine Parr aside, although of course, that never went anywhere. She was also named the guardian of Parr’s child with Thomas Seymour after the death of both of her parents (it’s not known what happened to this child, but she doesn’t appear in the records, so she likely died very young). As a fierce Protestant, Katherine fled to Europe with her second husband and their two children and lived in exile during the reign of Queen Mary.

Another interesting fact: Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife, was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon’s lady-in-waiting Maude Parr. It was possible that she was actually named after Catherine of Aragon.

Margaret Wyatt, Lady Lee (1540), by Hans Holbein the Younger

Maggie - Lady Margaret Wyatt, later known as Margaret Lee after her marriage (served Anne Boleyn) - Guitar

Margaret served Anne Boleyn and was likely her long-time friend, as the Boleyn’s estates lay near the Wyatt’s. The sister of Thomas Wyatt, the poet who fell in love with Anne Boleyn and wrote MANY passionate poems about her, Margaret was serving Anne as a lady-in-waiting at least by 1532, when she accompanied her to Calais, when it is presumed that Anne and Henry VII secretly decided to marry /very soon/. Margaret was Mistress of the Queen’s Wardrobe, a role that placed her in charge of Anne’s clothing and jewels.

It is believed that Margaret attended Anne at the Tower of London and at her execution; she served as chief mourner at her funeral. Anne gave her a prayer book in farewell, and wrote in it “Remember me when you do pray, that hope doth lead from day to day.”

I’m really glad Maggie is included in the Ladies-in-Waiting. Anne Boleyn is portrayed in basically every TV show, movie, and book I’ve ever watched/read about her as not really having any close friends; it’s wonderful to learn that that wasn’t really the truth. I feel like women’s friendships are often erased from the narrative, both historically and in fiction. Men get to have same-sex buddies, but women don’t. That neither seems fair nor realistic, so I’m happy to learn more about a woman I really didn’t know much about before.

Possibly a portrait of Elizabeth “Bessie” Blount, by Lucas Horenbolte,

Bessie Blount’s son with Henry VIII, Henry Fitzroy, at age 15.

Bessie - Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount (maid-of-honor to Catherine of Aragon, lady-in-waiting to Anna of Cleves) - Bass

Bessie Blount is a really interesting choice for the backing band in Six, as historically, she was the only acknowledged mistress of Henry VIII who did not go on to become his wife. We have no known portraits of Bessie, but I’ve included a possible painting of her.

Bessie was around 7 years younger than Henry VIII, and 13 years younger than Catherine of Aragon. She was reputed as a beauty, and their relationship lasted around eight years (much much longer than most of his other affairs). She gave birth to an illegitimate son named Henry FitzRoy in 1519 (FitzRoy was a common surname of the illegitimate offspring of royalty, as it literally means “son of the king”); this is the only illegitimate child that the King ever acknowledged as his own. This birth was pretty important, as by this time, Catherine of Aragon had been pregnant numerous times (in 1509, 1510, 1513, 1514, 1515, 1517, and 1518), yet only one child, Mary, had lived beyond a few months of age (most of her children were miscarried, stillborn, or died within a few hours). Thus, the existence of Henry Fitzroy proved that Henry COULD have healthy male children. This helped fuel Henry’s desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon later in life.

For a while in the 1520s, when it became clear that Catherine of Aragon would not be able to have a legitimate son with Henry, the king seriously considered naming Henry Fitzroy as his heir; he did give him the royal title of the Duke of Richmond at a certain point. This plan fell to the wayside though, when Henry decided to marry Anne Boleyn. Henry Fitzroy later died at the age of 17.

Joan/Jane Meutas, by Hans Holbein the younger

In 1522, a few years after her son with Henry was born, Bessie married her first husband. She apparently was absent from court for many years while raising her children with her first and second husband, although she later served Anne of Cleves briefly. However, Bessie’s poor health caused her to leave court before even her mistress’s 6 months as queen were done. She died shortly thereafter.

Joan - Jane/Joan Astley, known as Jane/Joan Meutas after her marriage (maid-of-honor, then lady-in-waiting to Jane Seymour) - Keyboard

I haven’t found a ton of information about Jane Astley, also known as Joan. We know she served Jane Seymour and got married in 1537, probably shortly before Jane Seymour’s death after birthing her son, the future Edward VI. Jane and her husband were granted several estates and positions after Jane Seymour’s death, so they likely remained in favor at the royal court.

The most notable part of Jane’s life appears to be the drawing of her portrait by the famed Hans Holbein the younger.

Her maiden name, Astley, is the married name of Elizabeth I’s famed companion, Kat Astley, so it’s possible that she’s related to her husband somehow, but there’s no actual proof for that. I’m just guessing, tbh. I wonder why her name was chosen for the Ladies in Waiting? There are several other more famous ladies-in-waiting to the Queens of Henry VIII that could have been a good choice: Jane Parker/Boleyn perhaps.

The Costumes of the Ladies-in-Waiting: The ladies-in-waiting of Six all wear very similar costumes, with only very slight variations. Each band member wears the same long sleeved black shirt with silver and pearl trimmings. They specifically have parallel silver lines all down their sleeves and diagonal silver lines on the main shirt meeting in downward points like chevrons. Beads resembling pearls are scattered throughout. Some of the band members have shirts that are longer than others’, which is probably just a comfort thing.

The ladies also sport what look like leather/pleather ruffs. These are an interesting historical detail, as ruffs weren’t actually worn at all until at least 13 years (1560s) after Henry VIII’s death (1547) ; so they’re anachronistic in a way that most historical details in Six costumes aren’t (keeping in mind that like, the costumes are obviously not intended to be exact historical replicas). I plan to talk a lot more about ruffs in a later post about the Haus of Holbein’s ruffs, so I’ll leave it at that for now. :D

You know, in looking at the pictures side by side, I’m wondering if the Ladies-in-Waiting shirts were specifically based off of this one portrait of Maria de Salinas. It’s not great quality, and it’s hard to tell what’s going on in it (I’m 90% sure that collar is supposed to be fur or ruffles, but not A Ruff, as that wouldn’t exist for many decades yet). Despite that, the similarities are very evident!

The pearls all over the costumes may actually be a reference to the pearl requirements of Jane Seymour’s ladies in waiting/maids of honor, which I mentioned briefly earlier. We actually have historical records showing that her ladies were required to wear girdles/belts with a specified number of pearls; if there weren’t enough pearls (at LEAST 120), they weren’t allowed to appear before the Queen.

Pearls also edge the band members’ neck ruffs and headbands, which seem pretty obviously based off of a French hood. Look how similar the headbands are to Anne Boleyn’s French hood from her portrait.

The layout of the pearls on the shirt actually reminds me a LOT of some historical armor, specifically the brigandine. Brigandines are made of heavy cloth or leather with steel plates riveted to it, and are pretty distinctive, as you can tell from these renaissance painting examples.

The chevrons on the shirt may be a reference to popular skirt or doublet styles in Elizabethan times. Alternatively, chevrons were commonly used in renaissance heraldry, so these may be referencing that.

The band members wear black pants with lacing up the front that resemble one of the Catherine-Parr-in-Six variations, although their pants are significantly more shiny and leather looking than Parr’s, which are matte cloth. The pants also seem to be a deliberate reference to renaissance cloth or leather armor, which was generally worn with close fitting pants

The temporary costumes that have been pulled out a few times for main Queen cast members when their costumes need emergency repairs and for emergency alternate step-ins (like the awesome time that co-writer of the show Toby Marlow and original soundtrack Anne of Cleves Genesis Lynea stepped in to perform at two sold-out shows after the cast and alternates were badly affected by illness) also appear to be based on the Ladies in Waiting costumes. As you can see, the main portion of the shirt is the same, although it may be worn with or without sleeves and with or without an additional neck piece. Lauren Drew of the UK tour cast is shown wearing shorts that look an AWFUL lot like the Anne of Cleves shorts, although I don’t think I’ve seen those cool chain closures on the side before. Toby and Genesis are shown just wearing plain leather/pleather shorts.