New clothes

New clothes

A suit or gown represented a large investment, so even wealthy Elizabethans did not order new clothes often. One of Queen Elizabeth's noble ladies-in-waiting might have had four or five new gowns a year, including one or more castoffs from the queen. Lesser nobles might buy only one or two new suits or gowns annually. Because people could not replace their wardrobes frequently, most developments in fashion involved secondary parts of the outfit, such as undersleeves or trimmings, which were easy to modify. Out-of-fashion garments were often re-cut to the new style or taken apart so that the materials could be reused. Worn-out clothing often was given to servants or to charity. Sometimes, it was sold to used-clothing dealers, who resold it to people of lesser classes.