What did peasant men wear in Elizabethan times?

Answer 1

The Elizabethan period fell in the middle of what climatologists call the "Little Ice Age". Peasants (i.e. agricultural laborers) worked out doors in very cold weather most of the year and went home to drafty cottages. They tended to dress in layers (more layers than you'll probably choose to wear if you are making a costume). Over their shirts they wore "doublets"- fitted jackets made of wool, soft leather, heavy linnen or canvas (from hemp). In the most common style of doublet the body of it came to around waist level where a mid-thigh length skirt was stitched on. Upper class doublets sometimes had removable sleeves that laced to the body of the garment, lower class doublets might have had removable sleeves(there's a lot we don't know about what the lower 80% of society was wearing). Over this they wore "jerkins" which were basically identical to the doublets but they were larger/ looser fitting and sometimes didn't have sleeves. When they did have sleeves they tended to be wider so the doublet sleeves would fit comfortably underneath. If the jerkin had skirts they might be made from a piece of fabric longer than waist's circumference and pleated to fit the bodice. See- QUIP FOR AN UPSTART COURTIER in the links below (the guy on the right is the peasant, the one on the left is the upstart courtier).

On their lower bodies Elizabethan peasants wore a wide range of coverings, but the most common would have been some sort of knickers buttoning below the knee (called "venetians"). These came in two predominant styles. There were fairly fitted ones a that were a bit full at the top where the excess was gathered into a waist band, that narrowed to fit below the knee where there was a small slit along the seam and a button to close it. There were baggy venetians cut like two big cylinders that also had the excess gathered into bands below the knee (also with a slit and a button or tie). On the lower half of the leg they would wear knit woolen hose or knee socks (try looking in camping and ski shops). Earlier in the century peasants were wearing long hose, the visual equivalent of slightly baggy tights, and a cod piece. Some peasants may still have been wearing these especially in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign.

Their shirts were made of bleached or natural (beige-ish) linen (occasionally hemp canvas) and would not have been dyed as they contacted the skin and had to be washed occasionally with lye, ammonia or other bleaching agent. They weren't allowed certain colors by law (and expense) so they wore a lot of natural wool colors; faded black, gray and brown clothes. Less often they would have dyed outer clothes ( roughly 25% of garments were dyed by one estimate). Common dyed colors were blue (from the plant woad), red (madder root- usually giving rusty or brickish tones), green (woad blue dyed over various yellow dyes-probably medium to light green). None of these colors would have been dark, rich or bright. Check out the links to Bruegel the Elder's paintings of dutch peasants for a better idea about colors.

Crafts men often wore a leather apron and were called "leather aprons". Generally there was a pair of slip on shoes or boots and a hat. knit and woven cloth caps were common, especially with craftsmen and other indoor workers. Peasants (who had to be out in the elements) were more often illustrated in broad brimmed hats of felt or woven straw. These tended to have rounded or near cylindrical crowns and might be decorated with a hat band of braided strips of colored cloth. At the beginning of the period trousers had no pockets so a belt purse was a necessity for every man and they came in a range of styles. Belts were worn around the waist, not the hips, over the jerkin and served only to help carry things (not to hold up the breeches, which were laced to the doublet instead). Commonly belts would be about an inch wide and made from leather with brass fittings. Workers in the field often carried food and other items in a "skrip" or shoulder bag (like what bike messengers use today). By the end of the period some venetian breaches had pockets worked into the side seam right below the waist band, but belts and pouches were still common. Peasants were not allowed to wear swords, but the might have pushed the definition of "knife" as far as they could.

If you are serious about recreating authentic clothes (or just want to read about them) the book THE TUDOR TAILOR by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcolm-Davies is great .

the TUDOR COSTUME PAGE in the links below is also helpful (even if the men's costumes demonstrated seem more geared to indoor servants than peasants).

If you want to make a costume and don't feel the need for rigorous authenticity (or effort) there are a few short cuts you can take. Instead of making a sleeved jerkin or doublet with a pleated skirt you could just make a long vest and belt it at the waist (giving about the same silhouette as a sleeveless jerkin). Baggy venetian breaches can be reasonably faked by taking an over-sized draw string pajamas pattern, cutting it off a bit below the knee and putting in casings and drawstrings. Muslin can be substituted for shirt linen and heavier cottons (such as duck cloth) for wool in jerkins and breaches- a good idea if the costume is going to be worn somewhere hot. If you choose to go with tights try to find some that are thick (opaque) and dull colored if possible. The shirt would usually be tucked into the hose and if you don't have a jerkin that covers your crotch you will want to fake some sort of cod piece and tack it into place. This could be a simple triangle of cloth or it could be a gloriously padded 3-D affair. Slip on "kung-fu" type shoes work as do some of the closed toe styles of Birkenstock. The costumers for "Shakespeare in Love" got away with dressing some of the lower class extras in those wool caps from Afghanistan that can sometimes be found in import shops. Craft, import shops, and thrift stores often have suitable straw hats.