Showtime’s The Tudors Clothing Featured in Museum Replicas Catalog

Museum Replicas Limited catalog has been around for many years with swords and clothing for fans of medieval and renaissance items. Some of their items they have carried the same for years on end while others have followed current trends. They have expanded their clothing line to follow these trends as well. One of the newest lines is from the hit show The Tudors.

The line has been out for about a year and has expanded from a few outfits and jewels to include more clothing, boots, and accessories of King Henry. This is perfect for those who want to dress like a king or queen or even the king’s mistress, Anne Boleyn. The outfits are not completely period as the show itself is not either but they are beautifully made. And they are recreated with permission of Showtime itself so there is not problem with Museum Replicas selling them.

Jewels or chains of office are available as well for those wanting to complete the look they pick. You can even purchase King Henry’s jousting helmet, although it is not full size, or a letter opener with the ceremonial sword of the famous monarch. And for those who want to own the royal seal Henry VIII uses on the show, there is a paperweight of this seal. The reverse side has the seal of the pope.

There is more of King Henry’s clothing than anyone. I think with the show being about him and Anne Boleyn there would be more of her dresses. But perhaps they are harder to recreate easily since most women’s outfits back then were layers. I would caution that the dresses might not fix exactly as they say. I once purchased a dress and had to return it because while it fit the waist, it was not designed for voluptuous women and thus did not fit me. But if you want to walk around like a queen, get the gown and be the envy of many.

And if you are interested in purchasing them you can visit Museum Replicas at museumreplicas/thetudors

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If you’ve never been to an SCA event before and don’t really know anyone in the SCA, you may probably have no idea what you can wear to your first event.  You might think it needs to be elaborate or expensive to work but this is not the case.  Depending on what you have in your closet, you may be able to pull something out that will work easily or with slight modification.  There are some things you need to be careful of in the SCA however.

 Simple garb, as medieval clothing is called, is really all you need to wear.  Women just need to wear a simple, long skirt and basic peasant blouse.  Men can wear plain trousers, no jeans, with a peasant shirt out, not tucked in.  For shoes in the SCA wear plain slippers or black boots.  As a woman, you can wear a circlet with a white piece of cloth over your hiar, but make it a simple circlet. Anything ornate or with jewels and you can, and probably will, be mistaken for royalty.

You do need to be carful of a few things like belts and certain colors.  In the SCA a white belt, sash, or baldric (which is a belt across the chest) is for members of Chivarly only.  Red, green, or yellow belts are for students of a particular person who has been honored in the SCA for something, such as a knight.  In fact, red is an indication of a squire to a knight.  Chain link necklaces without ornamentation also have meaning in the SCA, so do not wear those as well.

If you do not think you have any of these things in your closet, you can make them yourselves from sewing patterns.  They are not completely accurate but most people will not say anything about that.  You could find someone in your group who will trade an outfit with you for some other item that you can make or get for them.  Or you can even buy one from stores online.  Don’t worry about it too much though.  The more events you attend, the more opportunities you will have to acquire clothes.

The middle ages were a time of kings, queens, peasants, and serfs.  We are fascinated by it to this day with festivals to remember the times and groups that study and relive the era.  Joining such a group, like the SCA which is the largest one, can seem like fun.  One of the most common areas people think of is the British Isles.  And then of course if you want to belong to a group that relives this wonderful past, what medieval clothing would be worn in everyday life on the British Isles?  The answers may surprise you. In the early medieval ages there was not much difference between what the nobles and peasants wore due to road conditions and thieves.  Instead nobles used jewels to show their status.  During the eleventh century this changed as the roads got better and nobles could control thieves better.  Even later in medieval times there were laws passed so that only certain fabrics and styles could be worn by the nobles. For women the dress was called a kirtle or gown from about the eleventh century to early fourteenth.  The undergarments during this time were varied however.  They were not seen at all until the beginning of the thirteenth century when noble women let the bottom show.  The sleeves on went from tight to full and then back tight.  The early fourteenth century brought about a drastic change with the dress being changed to a surcoat that covered the kirtle, which was the undergarment and now visible.  The mid to late-fourteenth century had women wearing both a smock and kirtle under their cote-hardie or surcoat.  Unmarried women would often only wear the undergarments.  The late fourteenth century changed the smock to a chemise and cote-hardie was common.  However at the end of this time women were wearing houpplandes and the high neck that previously existed was open or belted just underneath the breasts.  The fifteenth century brought about women only wearing the houpplandes.  However a color was worn early on and after 1415 this was changed to a lace closed collar.  Long sleeves went away during the 1420’s and an empire waist became fashionable.   Men’s style was a bit different in that the pants did not change much between the beginning of the eleventh century and the end of the fifteenth.  At the beginning of the eleventh they were a drawstring style with colored hose pulled up back over the pant legs.  At the end of this century the pants became tighter.  Once this change came about the only thing that was different was how the hose were attached.  Crossbands were worn from mid-twelfth century to the beginning of the thirteenth.  Here men began to wear hose with soles.  In the mid-fourteenth century the pants attached at the gypon and that was the last change for a while, long hose included. For men’s top clothing tunics were wore constantly.  The late eleventh brought tunics so long they trailed the ground.  In the late twelfth century the tunic began to be cut in a bat-wing pattern and a slit down the front was added.  This design gave way to an over-tunic being worn.  In the early fourteenth century the clothing became more form fitting and men left the sleeves unbuttoned and hanging free from the elbow.  The early to mid-fourteenth century is when we see the most change in the clothing here.  The tunic became known as the gypon and supertunic as the cote-hardie.  The sleeves were long enough to cover the knuckles and eventually buttons were replaced with tippet streamers that attached to the upper arm.  The late fourteenth century had the gypon become padded in the front.   The collar on the cote-hardie was high and rolled down.  Later in this time period the houppelande became popular to wear.  The end of the century brought about only collar changes again with the gypon’s being higher but showing, the cote-hardie longer, and the houppelande’s collar low cut with slits on the sides and front but unseen. It’s interesting how some fashions changed slightly while others were very drastic.  Some clothing didn’t even change except in name.  So dressing can be easy and mixed if need be since the fashions were so similar.