The Tudor Revolution

Strawberry Hill Miniature Before moving to Oklahoma I had fallen in love with this miniature believed to be Anne Boleyn in the Strawberry Hill Galleries. As I studied the miniature and compared the look to my previous Gable Hood I decided this was clearly an earlier and more conservative version of the hood. Instead of looking to Holbein and Jane Seymour for more understanding on the construction I looked backward to the styles worn by Katherine of Aragon. Even if this miniature is not Anne, the elongated shape of the hood and wider curtain style veil off the back suggest she was attending court and was sporting a style Katherine of Aragon can been seen wearing in many portraits from the mid to late 1520's. Katherine of Aragon by Wenceslaus Hollar My reading and research lead me to a book called The Queen's Servants. It is a sequel to the Tudor Tailor and focuses on fashions earlier during Katherine of Aragon's reign as queen. The updated hood research for ha...

Anne Boleyn by Lucas Horenbout Strawberry Hill ID: sh-000468 My pattern for the kirtle was based on the Henrician kirtle in The Tudor Tailor . I constructed it using 2 layers of linen canvas and on outer layer of white silk. As an experiment I did not stiffen this kirtle with reeds or boning as the Tudor Tailor originally suggested. Now that I have worn the kirtle a few times I may change my mind and add channels for reeds to be inserted and stiffen the bodice front. This bodice does not feel as supportive as my previous kirtles. I will give this style without boning a few more chances though before I stitch in all of the channels required to apply reeds or boning. I hand stitched the side seams of the bodice using white silk and I bound the bottom of the kirtle in scraps of white silk. All of the eyelets were worked by hand using an awl and metal rings. I chose to use the button hole stitch for working the eyelets, in cotton embroidery floss. These rings can be purchased thr...

Anne Boleyn by Lucas Horenbout Strawberry Hill ID: sh-000468 My newest Tudor project has been researching this portrait to reproduce it the image. Scholars have identified this as Anne Boleyn, from her time serving in the household of Catherine of Aragon. The gold frame now around the miniature identifying this miniature as Catherine was added in the 19th, century. This miniature also bares a good resemblance to Anne's commemorative medal which was struck in 1534, with a more fashion forward version of the English hood. This medal is now housed in the British Museum. Anne is known to have used her clothing to make political statements. During this period of history, people used their clothing to show alliances. Fashion was very political. Anne is famous today for her preferences for French fashions, manners, and politics. What is commonly overlooked or forgotten is that she was English first. Anne wanted to be seen as a virtuous, English Queen. To better fit this role for stat...