Historical References in Secret London Runs' Six Queens Run Series Medals

If you’re active in Tudor History groups or follow Tudor historians online, you may have seen a lot of us posting about Secret London Runs’ Henry VIII’s Wives virtual mileage challenges! These virtual “races,” which track your progress via fitness tracker and an app on your phone, send you on a historical journey between places that played important roles in each woman’s life. Throughout the journey, as you hit milestones, you get digital postcards from the queen telling you what they did there and what was going on in their life then (you also get a few podcast episodes, but I’ll admit that I haven’t listened to any of those, as I’ve been burned out on podcasts most of this year. Someday I’ll listen to them!). It’s a pretty brilliant concept, and I signed up for the full Six Wives challenge ages ago, back in March I think.

If you live outside the UK and sign up for all six races, the company sends you all six race medals at once. These are individually wrapped and labeled so you know exactly which one to open as you complete each race. The medals are designed to fit together in a circle, and once you’re done with them all, you get a finisher badge that fills in the center.

The medals you get as a reward for finishing up each race are packed full of historical meaning and references, and I thought I’d take a look at the ones I have so far. I’ll add these in as I go; the Anna of Cleves race is VERY LONG and is taking me quite a while to go through.

Catherine of Aragon's Portrait

99 Miles of Dismissal Medal

Catherine of Aragon: 99 Miles of Dismissal

Catherine of Aragon’s race follows her historical journey from The More to Kimbolton Castle, as Henry VIII banished her further and further away from the royal court, placing her into shabbier and shabbier living conditions. This covers events that took place from late 1532 (when Henry moved Catherine to The More) to Jan. 7, 1536, when Catherine died at Kimbolton Castle at the age of 50.

Outfit: The medal features Catherine wearing the dress and jewelry from her most famous portrait. We don’t know exactly which year this portrait was painted, or who the artist was, but it’s clearly of Katherine in her later years, particularly when compared to earlier portraits of her as a teenager or a child.
The undergarments, running tights, and shoes are all obviously anachronistic. I’m not an underwear expert, but my understanding is that Tudor women’s underwear consisted primarily of a smock, and perhaps split drawers or long hose in winter. Fabrics of the time just would not have given you a close enough fit for these sorts of running tights. The lacy cuff on the bloomers also looks wrong for the era. And sneakers like that weren’t invented until 1830s! I do enjoy the rose on the sneakers though!

Catherine of Aragon's Pomegranate Badge

The Tudor Rose entwined with the Pomegranate

Badge: The medal includes a small recreation of Catherine’s famous pomegranate badge, along with her motto, “Humble & Loyal.” The pomegranate was a powerful symbol of regeneration and fertility dating back to the Greek myth of Persephone, the Goddess of Spring. Catherine’s particular use of it dated back to her parents Ferdinand and Isabella’s conquest of Granada in 1492 (“granada” is Spanish for pomegranate). This victory by the Catholic monarchs of Spain over the Moors was so celebrated that the pomegranate was added into the royal arms of Spain.
Pictures of the pomegranate can be found alongside the Tudor Rose in numerous documents issued under Henry VIII’s authority during his marriage to Catherine and in works dedicated to the couple.
The medal also hangs on a burgundy ribbon which matches the pomegranate motif.

Kimbolton Castle Today

A recreation of The More (Credit: Michael Athanson)

Buildings: The buildings at the start (Kimbolton Castle) and the end of the race (Manor of the More) are both reproduced on the medal. Kimbolton Castle was rebuilt in the 1600s-1700s so this isn’t actually what it looked like when Catherine lived there; only a few sections of the Tudor era building remain.
The More was abandoned after 1556 and demolished later in the 1500s and nothing remains of it now, so it looks like the designers based their drawing on a recreation by Michael Athanson, which was originally published on the Three Rivers Museum Trust Blog.

Anne Boleyn's Portrait (Hever Castle)

45 Miles of Forbidden Love Medal

Anne Boleyn: 45 Miles of Forbidden Love

Anne Boleyn’s 45 Miles of Forbidden Love follows her historical journey from Palace of Placentia to Hever Castle. I love this one as, as it follows a time in Anne’s life that isn’t usually featured in pop culture or books. In 1523, Anne entered into a secret relationship with Henry Percy, the son of the Earl of Northumberland, against his father’s wishes. It’s possible that they exchanged vows to marry in the future in a pre-contract, as this came up several times later (Henry Percy’s wife Mary Talbot brought up the pre-contract in an attempt to annul their marriage in 1532 and Thomas Cromwell brought it up again in May 1536 as a possible reason for annulling the king’s marriage to Anne). When their relationship was discovered, the powerful Cardinal Wolsey intervened and Anne’s family sent her home to Hever Castle, away from the royal court. Anne eventually came back to court, but we aren’t sure when; probably at least by Spring 1526, as this is when Henry VIII’s traditional interest in Anne began.

Clothing: The neckline and basic design of Medal Anne’s dress, hood, hair, and jewelry are the same as two of her most popular historical portraits (seen in paintings held at Hever Castle and at the National Portrait Gallery). However, since Henry VIII had the portraits and memorabilia of Anne destroyed after her execution, this portrait may actually have been painted long after her death, during her daughter Elizabeth’s death, and we really don’t know how much it actually resembled the real life Anne.
Her dress on the medal is green, probably in tribute to the common myth that Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves about Anne. For the record, he didn’t. Greensleeves is based off of a romanesca, an Italian style of musical composition that did not reach England until after Henry VIII's death. But it’s a fun story and people like referencing it even if it isn’t true. Plus it probably added some variety to the overall look of the 6 medals all together.
The medal hangs on a green ribbon that matches Anne’s dress.

Badge: Anne’s falcon badge is recreated on her medal, along with her motto, “The Most Happy.” The falcon symbol originally came from the crests of the Butlers, the earls of Olmonde. Anne was actually originally brought back from her time at the court in France to marry a cousin and resolve a dispute over the Ormond inheritance; that marriage obviously didn’t go through, but Henry VIII eventually forced the other claimant to give up the earldom of Ormond and give it to Anne’s father Thomas. The falcon was officially made Anne’s badge when she married Henry in 1533.

Fun fact: There’s a delightful surviving bit of embroidery from Anne Boleyn’s mother Elizabeth dating from ~1530 that features Anne’s falcon badge attacking Catherine of Aragon’s pomegranate badge. This is a pretty amazing discovery, since so much of Anne’s legacy was destroyed after her execution. It also features the Latin motto “Ainsi sera, groinge qui groinge,” which Anne used for a short time in 1530; this translates to "that’s the way its going to be, however much people grumble” (essentially the Tudor way of saying “haters gonna hate”).

Buildings: The palace of Placentia was originally built in 1443 and rebuilt by Henry VII in 1500. It was demolished in 1660, but it appears that this rendition of it was based on drawings of the palace from the Tudor era.

Hever Castle was the Boleyn family’s seat of power dating back to the 1400s, with parts of the castle dating back to 1270. Anne lived at Hever until she joined the court of Archduchess Margaret of Austria in 1513. After the execution of Anne and George Boleyn in 1536, their father Thomas Boleyn somehow kept a hold of his life and his castle for several more years; after he died in 1539, Hever became Henry VIII’s property. It later was given to Anne of Cleves as part of her settlement in 1540.

Jane Seymour's Portrait

167 Miles of Bitter Rivalry Medal

Jane Seymour: 167 Miles of Bitter Rivalry

This race follows Jane Seymour from her family’s home in Wulfhallon the Royal Progress of 1535 to Windsor and then back to Greenwich. We don’t know for sure that Jane was on this trip, but since she served Anne Boleyn as a maid of honor, it’s pretty likely. We don’t actually know when Henry VIII started courting Jane. We know that she had already been at court for years, arriving sometime in the late 1520s/early 1530s and serving both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. The first reported instance of Henry and Jane’s relationship dates back to February 1536, when Imperial Ambassador and professional gossip Eustace Chapuys reported that Henry sent presents to Jane. In April of that year, he sent Jane a purse of money and a letter; she rather famously refused both and instead begged the messenger to tell the King that she valued her honor more than any treasure and if the king wanted to give her money, she asked him to do so when she was married. While Anne was imprisoned in the Tower of London, Henry put Jane up in a house close to his own lodgings at the time, where she was treated like a very grand lady. Henry and Jane were betrothed on May 20, 1535 (the day after Anne Boleyn’s execution) and were married on May 30.

Clothing: In the medal, Jane is wearing the exact outfit and jewelry she wore in her historical portrait. We actually know when this painting was painted and who painted it! It’s by Hans Holbein the Younger and was painted in 1536, the year of Jane’s marriage to Henry. Her outfit, hood, and jewelry are faithfully recreated in the medal, down to the positioning of her arms. In the medal, however, she is holding a green handkerchief which isn’t present in any of her portraits. It’s interestingly of the same color as Anne Boleyn’s dress, and may possibly be a link between the two queens.

Credit: Granpic via Flickr

Badge: A crowned phoenix rising from the fire on top of a castle, with red and white roses surrounding it. Her Motto is also featured on the medal, “Bound to Obey and Serve.”

I couldn’t find any information on the origin of the phoenix and other symbolism in Jane’s badge, but we can guess at a few things. Since Jane rose to her position as queen in the wake of Anne Boleyn’s fall and destruction, she and/or Henry may have seen a parallel in the story of the phoenix, which is famously reborn from the ashes. This also may allude to the Tudor legacy being reborn from the ashes of the Wars of the Roses, since the red rose of Lancaster and white rose of York are both prominently featured in the badge as well; Henry VIII was keenly aware of his legacy and need to have a Tudor heir, and probably saw Jane as his second or third chance at continuing the dynasty.

Credit: Neosnaps via Flickr

Buildings: As I noted in Anne Boleyn’s entry, the palace of Placentia was originally built in 1443 and rebuilt by Henry VII in 1500. It was demolished in 1660, but it appears that this rendition of it was based on drawings of the palace from the Tudor era.

The Wulfhall Jane Seymour knew dated back to 1491 (when her father became Lord of the Manor), but was extensively remodeled and upgraded in the early 1530s by the Seymour family. Henry VIII stayed there for a week during the royal progress of 1535. Alas, when Jane’s brother Edward Seymour fell from power and was executed in 1552, his son was unable to keep up the place, and it fell apart over the years. As of 1571, it was derelict. Although there are some remaining bits of the building that date back the 1550s, they’re really only fragments. An expert on the house (archival historian Graham Bathe) estimates that the surviving building today probably only occupies about 5-10% of the footprint of the original manor house. (More info over at The Tudor Travel Guide). It appears that the medal’s rendition of wulfhall is based on current pictures of the house, which date only to the 1700s or so. Given that we don’t have any contemporary descriptions, drawings, or plans, of what Wulfhall looked like then, this seems like a pretty good compromise.

I’ll be back when I’m finished with Anne of Cleves’ race (363 miles to wedded bliss) to add her info in! I’ve been working on this since…July, and am finally over the 300 mile mark, so i only have about 40 miles left to go. Did I mention that you have the option of doing this race with a friend because it’s so long?

After that, of course, I’ll come back and add in Katherine Howard’s and Catherine Parr’s races as well. :)

Other English History Posts:
An Abundance of Tudor Katherines/Catherines/Kateryns
My Favorite Thomases: A Review of and Often Arbitrary Ranking of Tudor Thomases
Six the Musical Historical Costume References: Queens 1-3 ; Queens 4-6 (I have like 20 posts about Six alone, y’all)
Henry VIII’s Jousting Accident Probably Didn’t Change his Personality
Shakespeare English History Plays Family Tree
Historical Inspirations in Game of Thrones

The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References!)

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!

There are lots of specific Tudor fashion elements found in the Queens' looks when you look closely! I compiled a LOT of painting references and closeups on the costumes so you can see exactly what I’m talking about. These are elements that show up in other musicals and plays set in Tudor times as well, and I’ll try to add references to those soon, as there are, of course, many other works than just Six, lol.

Since I’m going to be talking about a few different periods of history here, I’m going to do a quick overview of the years we’re working with:

• The Tudor period started under Henry VII, Henry VIII’s dad, when he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. Henry VII reigned from 1485-1509.

• Henry VIII lived from 1491-1547 and reigned from 1509-1547.

  • Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) - was married to Henry from 1509-1533.

  • Anne Boleyn (~1501-1507 - 1536) - was married to Henry from 1533-1536.

  • Jane Seymour (~1508-1537) - was married to Henry from 1536-1537.

  • Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) - was married to Henry in part of 1540.

  • Catherine Howard (~1523-1542) - was married to Henry from 1540-1542.

  • Catherine Parr (1512-1548) - was married to Henry from 1543-1547 (when he died).

• Edward VI (Henry VIII’s son with Jane Seymour, 1537-1553) reigned from 1547-1553.

• Mary I (Henry VIII’s daughter with Catherine of Aragon, 1516-1558) reigned from 1553-1558.

• Elizabeth I (Henry VIII’s daughter with Anne Boleyn, 1533-1603) reigned from 1558-1603.

^The gable hood of Catherine of Aragon, the French hood of Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Parr’s feathered hat.

Hairpieces/Head Coverings: Every queen wears a headpiece or hair piece of some sort but they have different styles; this represents that in Tudor times, ALL women would have their hair covered in some way at all times (ignore the hair in The Tudors 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.

^These photos demonstrate the square necks and the plentiful jewelry and neck elements evoking jewelry both in Tudor portraits and the costumes of Six.

Jewelry/Bling: Necklaces and jewelry were big in Tudor times, noble ladies would often wear lots of rings, bracelets, and several necklaces. You can see this in their portraits. The Six Queens play off this by wearing a lot of different sparkly jewelry in their costumes as well. Aragon has a huge pile of gold necklaces, they all wear earrings, Anne Boleyn wears sparkly fingerless gloves, both Boleyn and Howard wear their initial necklaces, and the neckline details seen in the costumes of Seymour, Cleves, and Howard, all evoke the jewelry seen in so many of these portraits.

Necklines: Wide and low cut square necks were very big under Henry VIII, you can see this in the necklines of several of the queens' costumes, including Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves (if you ignore the cross crossing detail on Cleves’ costume). Jane Seymour and Katherine Howard also have wide and low cut necklines, although this is more of a sweetheart look.

Sleeves: All Tudor women would have worn long sleeves coming down at least to the wrist, and sometimes below that. These long sleeves, or elements of them, at least, are seen in the costumes of Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, and Katherine Howard.

Lacing: There's a lot of lacing elements prevalent in the main queens' outfits and in the alternates outfits, in various pairs of pants, sleeves, and necklines, and connections between tops and bottoms. Most of these are cross lacing (Xes) and others evoke spiral lacing or even ladder lacing. These even show up in some of the fabric patterns and the way they’re cut and laid out! This looks to be a reference to the side, front, and back ties often found on Tudor gowns, although in reality, Tudor gowns were generally spiral laced or ladder laced rather than cross laced (Xes); what you see at renaissance faires is not generally accurate. 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.

Major thanks to Festive Attyre’s post on spiral lacing for all their painting references for this section.

Boning/Stay Type elements: I believe the strong vertical and diagonal stripes present in all the queens' costumes, and specifically those that “look” supportive may 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.

Ruffs: Big neck ruffs are seen on The Ladies in Waiting (the in-house, on stage, all female band) and during the Haus of Holbein number. Neck ruffs like this ARE Tudor, but weren’t seen until quite a while after Henry VIII’s death; you didn't really see neck ruffs until Elizabeth I.  (if you’d like to read more about the Ladies in Waiting’s costumes and historical influences, I have a whole blog post on that over here!)

Split Skirts/Contrasting Underskirt: The open front skirt, revealing hot pants under it, are a pretty obvious style reference to the classic Tudor dress look where a kirtle (underdress) was layered under a contrasting overdress. This isn’t too obvious in a lot of the six wives’ portraits, but you can totally see it in the above portrait of Princess Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth I).

Howard is the only main queen that has this style of skirt (Aragon does too, but hers blends in with the rest of her gold and black and isn’t a distinctly contrasting color), but a LOT of the alternate costumes have this look.

Six the Musical Queens 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations

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!

So I’ve gotten pretty obsessed with the musical Six lately, which is based on the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII. It’s set up as a girl group pop concert, in which the six women each sing the stories of their lives.

I’ve been dying for more information about the costumes in the show and haven’t been able to find a ton of information. The costume designer, Gabriella Slade, was nominated for an Olivier award for her work. In one article, she said:

“It was an amazing brief. There needed to be an echo of Tudor fashion, but obviously the contemporary influence of the pop industry. It’s an amazing thing to be able to infuse period costume with contemporary style. Lucy [Moss, writer] had ideas about which pop stars related to which queens. Catherine of Aragon is Beyoncé, Jane Seymour is Adele, Catherine Parr is Alicia Keys, Catherine Howard is Ariana Grande, Anne Boleyn is Lily Allen and Anne of Cleves is Nicki Minaj meets Rihanna.”

Other than that though, I haven’t been able to find a lot about her process or inspiration in designing these costumes. So I decided to look into the costumes myself. I’ll be directly comparing them to their historical counterparts and their modern pop artist inspirations.

These are all just educated guesses (based on lots and lots of reading and photo/portrait examining), but I am by no means a fashion or a pop music expert! If you have any contributions or comments, please send them my way - via the comments here, Twitter (@RachaelDickzen), Facebook (@RachaelDickzenAuthor), or email at Rachael.Dickzen@gmail.com. I’d love to hear what you have to say!

This will be the first of several posts on the costumes in Six. Second post will be Wives 4-6 and the Third will take a look at the alternates’ costumes! I also want to do a post looking at how the costumes evolved over time.

Historical Note: Spelling wasn’t standardized in Tudor times, so you’ll see these Queens’ names spelled a number of different ways.

Portrait of a noblewoman, traditionally considered Catherine of Aragon c. 1502 (but also could be Mary Tudor), by Michael Sittow.

Catherine of Aragon, portrayed by Jarneia Richard-Noel. (Idil Sukan)

My name is Catherine of Aragon
Was married 24 years, I'm a paragon
Of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican
So if you try to dump me
You won't try that again

Unknown artist, oil on panel, early 18th century (copy of a lost original portrait)

Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess, the youngest child of the famous Ferdinand and Isabella (yes, the same ones who sent Christopher Columbus out on his fun genocidal adventure, but THAT’S another blog post). She was Queen of England from June 1509 - May 1533.

She was betrothed to Henry’s older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, when she was three years old and married him when they were both 16. However, he died in 1502, only a few months after they married.
What movies/TV shows don’t often tell you about Catherine of Aragon was that she had a HELL of a hard time after Arthur died (The Spanish Princess on Starz got a /bit/ into this, but didn’t fully explore the length of this time in her life. Henry was TEN when she married his brother). By the terms of her marriage contract, if she returned home to Spain, King Henry VII had to return her 200,000 ducat dowry (half of which he hadn’t even received yet). King Henry was broke and totally couldn’t afford this. He briefly considered marrying her himself (after his wife Elizabeth of York died in 1503 after trying to give him another son to replace Arthur), but eventually it was decided that she would marry Henry, Duke of York. However, he was five years younger than her, so they had to wait for him to grow up. His father also continually delayed their marriage. For the next seven years, Catherine lived in near-poverty in London, trapped between her father and her father-in-law. She had to sell many of her goods to survive and was not often seen at court due to the shabbiness of her clothes.

She finally married Henry after his father’s death and his ascension to the throne in 1509. They were married for the next 24 years and for many years, they appeared to be quite in love. Catherine got pregnant seven times but most of her children either miscarried or stillborn; only three survived the birth, and only one, Princess Mary, survived past two months of life. Catherine was always known as a highly intelligent and religious woman, but as more and more of her children died, she became increasingly devout and more interested in academic matters, particularly in ensuring the education of her daughter.
After Henry became obsessed with Anne Boleyn and his all-consuming desire to have a son, he attempted to get his marriage to Catherine annulled on the basis that she was his brother’s wife first. He also asked Catherine to retire to a nunnery. She steadfastly refused all efforts to put her aside and maintained until her death that she was Henry’s rightful queen and wife. Because of her stubbornness, Henry moved her out of his household and into increasingly shabbier and more isolated homes. He also refused to let her see her daughter, Mary. By the time she died in 1535 (probably of cancer), she likely had not seen her daughter for three or so years.

Catherine’s daughter Mary eventually became England’s first queen regnant and ruled the country for five years.

Historical Influences: The costume has some pretty direct homages to Catherine of Aragon’s portrait as a young woman. You can see that in the gold chains and gold grommeting around the collar, the square neckline, and the overall color scheme of the costume. In addition, Catherine somewhat famously had auburn hair, which is clearly shown in at least this actress’s hair. There are fewer similarities to her second portrait, but I’ve included it anyway. This portrait too, though, features a dark dress with a square neckline and touches of gold. The gold throughout the Six costume could also be referencing the wealth of Spain and her royal credentials.

Beyonce at the 2017 Grammys (Getty Images for NARAS)

Beyonce at the Super Bowl 2016 (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Beyonce in 2018 (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

Pop Culture Influences: The character of Catherine is supposed to be inspired by Beyonce, which comes across pretty clearly in her song “No Way.” Stylistically, it fits with Beyonce’s more melodic songs (like “Irreplaceable,” below), and content-wise, the righteous anger throughout reminds me a lot of some of the songs on the brilliant “Lemonade” album (see “Sorry”).

I also think you can see hints of Beyonce in the costume - particularly in the gold “crown” in her hair. The character’s hair (which appears to be a wig, from videos and photos I’ve seen) is very similar to Beyonce’s, albeit shorter (it does appear that the character’s hair started out a lot longer and then was cut down in both volume and length over time). In addition, the overall cut and strong silhouette of the outfit really seems influenced by Beyonce’s style.

I did find a video in which one of the Aragon actresses said she considered Shakira an inspiration for the character as well, but I’m not really finding any Shakira outfits that are similar to this costume at all. I’m guessing that’s really more of a musical inspiration, as there is a definite Latin beat to Aragon’s song, which represents her Spanish heritage.

Accessories Note: Only two queens in the musical have crown-like spikes in their hair, Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves. This may be because their historical counterparts were royal /before/ marrying Henry VIII.

Anne Boleyn, by Unknown English Artist, oil on panel, late 16th century, based on a work of circa 1533-1536

Anne Boleyn, portrayed by Millie O’Connell. (Photographer Unknown)

Portrait of a Lady, thought to be Anne Boleyn, by Hans Holbein

I’m that Boleyn girl
And I’m up next, see
I broke England from the Church
Yeah, I’m that sexy
Why did I lose my head?
Well, my sleeves may be green
But my lipstick’s red.

Anne Boleyn - Henry’s second wife (who was queen from May 1533- May 1536) is probably the most well-known and notorious, as she was the victim of a vicious propaganda campaign that has lasted for so long that even well-educated people these days will refer to her as a whore. And honestly, I think you can see a lot of that propaganda even in her song from Six, which characterizes Anne as “just tryin’ to have some fun,” which is in my opinion, tremendously unfair to the brilliant woman she really was. I will write a FULL TED TALK LECTURE worth of opinions for a blog post later, but I should probably give you a brief overview so we can talk about the costumes now, yeah? (Note: I have not had the opportunity to see the full show yet , so my posts are just based on the costumes and songs. I’ve been advised that the dialogue provides a much more fleshed out, non-stereotypical view of Anne. I’m seeing it on Broadway in February and may then come back and update my posts!)

Anne Boleyn was Henry’s first English wife, the daughter of a highly respected diplomat and a noble lady from the Howard family (the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk). She was by no means a “commoner,” but she certainly wasn’t a princess like Catherine of Aragon. Anne was considered so precocious and talented that at age 12 (or possibly younger!), she was invited to join the court of Margaret of Austria. In her youth, she also was a maid of honor to Mary Tudor, the new Queen of France, and Queen Claude, the even newer Queen of France (Maids of Honor were young, unmarried noblewomen who attended on women of higher rank). Here, Anne was almost certainly exposed to the ideas of both Renaissance humanism and courtly love (which I’ll explain more in a later post, but didn’t actually involve any physical love), which influenced a lot of her later actions and words.

Anne was recalled to England to marry a cousin to settle a land dispute, but this plan fell through. She went on to the English court to serve Catherine of Aragon and became known as a tremendously charming, intelligent, and quick-witted woman. Henry VIII began pursuing Anne in 1526, but we know from his love letters to her throughout their seven-year courtship that their affair remained unconsummated for a very long time. Both Henry and Anne assumed that his marriage could be annulled fairly easily, as the Pope had granted annulments to several Kings in the past without much fuss. However, Catherine’s connections to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles (her nephew) ensured that this did not happen, and Henry would eventually have to break with the Catholic Church and form the Church of England to get his longed-for annulment. By the that time, most of England and Europe hated Anne and called her a whore. A mob of Londoners actually attacked her during dinner once; she barely got away.

Henry and Anne did eventually get married, after she was already pregnant with the future Princess Elizabeth. By all accounts, she was a doting mother and frequently visited her daughter (and thus, I’m pretty annoyed that Anne’s song in Six literally doesn’t even mention Elizabeth, even though Aragon’s and Seymour’s songs mention their kids). Anne was paranoid for her safety and the safety of her child, and when Henry began pursuing other women at court, she lost her temper at the king publicly several times. Her anger at seeing Henry with Jane Seymour may have led to her final miscarriage.

It’s a bit unclear who actually orchestrated Anne’s downfall - it may have been Henry’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell (although there were numerous sloppy mistakes in the falsified evidence, which seems too careless for Cromwell, IMO). But in the end, Anne would be tried and convicted of high treason due to adultery with five men, including her own brother. All six of the accused were arrested and executed in late April- mid-May 1536. There’s really no evidence supporting any of the charges and historians widely believe that the charges were completely manufactured.

In a final fuck you from the grave though, Anne’s daughter Elizabeth I would ultimately become one of England’s greatest monarchs. She reigned for over 40 years in a golden age of progress and led England to becoming a great world power.

Historical Inspiration: The historical inspiration for this costume is more subtle, but you can still see a few touches. The beading in Anne’s dress is reflected in the silver grommets in the modern costume. The actress also has Anne’s famous dark hair and eyes. Her blush even looks like it might be applied to match Anne’s? And of course, there’s the giant “B” necklace. The green of the costume appears to be tied to the legend that Henry VIII wrote “Greensleeves” about Anne, which is referenced several times in the musical’s soundtrack.

Kate Nash

Lily Allen (PA Images)

Avril Lavigne

Pop Culture Inspirations: Anne is supposed to be inspired by Lily Allen, Avril Lavigne, and Kate Nash (per Millie O’Connell, an early originator of the role). The Lily Allen influence is most obvious in Anne’s song “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” which has the same sort of sassy wit and obvious non-posh British accent usually found in Lily Allen’s work. I’m guessing the use of this accent in the song is meant to refer to Anne’s “commoner” status; although she was from a good family, she wasn’t a Spanish princess! (And yes, that could just be the actress’s natural accent, but I’m sure they would have had her sing with a less emphasized accent if they didn’t want it in the story).

The Lily Allen fashion influence seems to come across in the dress silhouette. The punky checks are reminiscent of outfits commonly worn by both Kate Nash and Avril Lavigne (and also can honestly be seen worn by many female artists with a “punk” style, like Gwen Stefani or Pink). The wrist covers are a common punk fashion element as well.

The hair is more confusing though; I couldn’t find any photographs of the stated influences for Anne wearing double buns. However, double buns are pretty popular among young stars that go to Coachella; the real life Anne had a reputation for being very fashionable, so it’s possible this is a reference to that.

Apparently the green hair accessories shown in this photo have been replaced with leather and spikes. Anne’s costume is the only one that exposes the shoulders and a significant amount of arm.

Accessories Note: It appears from photos that the only two queens in the show with choker necklaces/choker style necklines are Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, who were both beheaded. They were also cousins and are the only queens to sport their initials on their necklaces.

Left: Kendall Jenner (Credit: Madison McGaw / BFA.com)
Right: Chiara Ferragni (Credit: Ari Perilstein / Getty)

Jane Seymour, Queen of England. Oil on Wood. 1536, by Hans Holbein.

Jane Seymour, portrayed by Natalie Paris. (Photographer Unknown)

Jane Seymour, from “The Family of Henry VIII” c. 1543-1547. Unknown artist, after Holbein. Hampton Court Palace.

Jane Seymour, the only one he truly loved
(Rude.)
When my son was newly born
I died, but I’m not what I seem?
Or am I?
Stick around and you’ll
Suddenly see more

Jane Seymour was Henry VIII’s third wife and Queen of England from 1536-1537. She was his second English born spouse and the daughter of a courtier who was knighted by Henry VII. She had a much more traditional woman’s education than either Catherine of Aragon or Anne Boleyn and though she could read and write, she was better at household management and needlework. She was from a large family, which may have contributed to Henry’s interest in her, as presumably, she was as fertile as her mother.

Jane was definitely a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon as of 1532, but may had been serving her for several years before that. She then went on to serve Anne Boleyn. The first reports of Henry courting Jane are from February 1536, about three months before Anne’s execution and indicate that Jane had rejected a gift from Henry. In March, he sent her another gift; she responded by saying that she had “nothing in the world but her honour, which she would not wound for a thousand deaths.” Jane eventually did accept a small portrait of the king, which she wore on a necklace. Henry had given a similar present to Anne during their courtship; it’s reported that Anne snatched the necklace from Jane’s throat when she saw it.

in April 1536, Jane’s brother and sister-in-law moved into Thomas Cromwell’s former chambers in Greenwich, which were connected to Henry’s apartments by a secret passage. Henry visited her there with her family as chaperones. Jane was kept away from court during Anne’s trial, but was betrothed to Henry only a day after Anne was executed. They were married within two weeks.

She had well-publicized sympathies with Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary and took efforts to reunite Henry with both of his daughters. She was praised by various ambassadors and courtiers as being very gentle, peaceful, and meek (basically the polar opposite of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn).
Jane Seymour became pregnant in early spring 1537 and gave birth to Prince Edward on October 12. Later that day, she reportedly was sitting up in bed writing letters and received guests on the day of Edward’s Christening. However, she fell ill and passed away on October 24. It’s believed she died of puerperal fever, an infection that can occur after childbirth.

Henry wore black for months after Jane’s death and did not remarry until 1540. Years later, when a family portrait was painted for Henry VIII, the painting included Jane Seymour, her son Edward, and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. When he died in 1547, he was buried next to Jane’s grave on his request.

Historical Influences: I’m not seeing much of an homage to Seymour’s portrait here, aside from slight similarities in the neckline and necklace line. Jane’s character is depicted with the longest skirt by far, which may be a reference to her meek reputation. She also has the heavy grommets seen in the other costumes, but in silver, rather than in gold. The white in the costume may refer to her peace-making efforts. Jane’s dress also has strong armor vibes, although I’m a bit unclear on what that could refer to.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this post initially, the designer has confirmed that Jane Seymour’s costume is heavily influenced by Tudor architecture. I’ve added in an example of a Tudor style house below.

Tudor House, Southampton

Lady Gaga in her music video for “Telephone”

Adele (Credit: Kevin WInter / Getty)

Pop Culture Influences: Adele, Sia, and Lady Gaga have been listed as inspiration for Jane Seymour in Six. Jane’s power ballad “Heart of Stone” has a definite Adele power ballad feel to it. The piano background is reminiscent of numerous Adele and Lady Gaga songs. The high whistle notes part at the end is a bit more Mariah Carey than any of these singers though, IMO; Gaga and Sia are both known for high /belting/ at the end of songs, but that’s not quite the same.

Adele is known for wearing a LOT of black (in one interview, she said she sometimes goes out wearing color and people don’t recognize her) and she often goes for long sleeves and classic silhouettes that emphasize her hourglass figure, just like Jane’s costume. Sia uses black and white in her wigs and costumes on a pretty regular basis.

I initially thought I’d have trouble finding Lady Gaga inspirations, but the prison dress outfit from the Telephone music video definitely seems similar to Jane’s strong black and white stripes ensemble, plus they both share that trademark light blonde hair. Jane’s pulled back hair with volume seems like a pretty clear Adele reference as well.

Accessories Note: Earlier photos of Jane show that her costume used to incorporate a black leather hair piece with little silver spikes, but that appears to have been removed at this point.