[Philip]

Well, they certainly knew how to dress extravagantly way back in 1595, as this Spanish lady demonstates. She is wearing a French farthingale, a large bolster worn just below the waist or made of radiating spokes of whalebone. This device made possible the effect that you see here; the fabric speading out by as much as 60cm all round and dropping sharply to the floor. The circular frill above it was added in order to hide the hard line created by the farthingale.

Bodices ended in a long point. Heavily padded sleeves were buttoned and tied on with ribbons or laces at the shoulders or armpits. Folks were so fond of sleeves that they even added false, floating sleeves. The lady's stiff pose is held in place by that torture instrument, the corset, as serious devotees of fashion demanded tiny waists and flat bosoms. Goodness knows why but ruffs became a huge status symbol. The larger your ruff, the further distanced you were from the horny-handed sons of the soil. Doesn't make sense.

I so enjoyed building the 1460 doll posted earlier that it was only a matter of time before I got round to building another one. She's 20cm tall and can be found in "Make Your Own History of Costume" by Rosemary Lowndes and Claude Kailer, Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., London, 1977.