What were William Shakespeare's clothes like?

Answer 1

There are only two images of Shakespeare which we know to have been approved and described as accurate by people who actually knew him--one is the funeral monument in Stratford Church which his family erected, and the other is the engraving by Droushout which appears at the becinning of the First Folio and is far and away the most famous image of Shakespeare. There is also the Chandos portrait which is far and away the best-authenticated painting of Shakespeare. Using these images historians have told artists what they think he looked like and then they painted or have drawn it.

From the Droushout portrait especially we get the image of a huge head against a starched ruff (you know, the pleated white collar), a frail body, a protruding forehead, and a crescent-shaped scar below his right eye (which might just be a bag under his eye). He was bald (all the images show him as such), and his hair was dark, probably black. He wore a small beard and moustache although full beards were the fashion.

Periodically, someone claims that an Elizabethan portrait of an unknown gentleman is really of Shakespeare. The evidence for that can be pretty thin, and often the portrait looks nothing like the images we know to have been of Shakespeare. An example is the Cobbe portrait, which shows a man with a small head, a full beard, a full head of fawn-coloured hair and a low sloping forehead. He had a moustace, a monobrow, and a scar from when he fell off a wall he also had one foot bigger than the other

Answer 2

There are only two images of Shakespeare which we know to have been approved and described as accurate by people who actually knew him--one is the funeral monument in Stratford Church which his family erected, and the other is the engraving by Droushout which appears at the becinning of the First Folio and is far and away the most famous image of Shakespeare. There is also the Chandos portrait which is far and away the best-authenticated painting of Shakespeare. Using these images historians have told artists what they think he looked like and then they painted or have drawn it.

From the Droushout portrait especially we get the image of a huge head against a starched ruff (you know, the pleated white collar), a frail body, a protruding forehead, and a crescent-shaped scar below his right eye (which might just be a bag under his eye). He was bald (all the images show him as such), and his hair was dark, probably black. He wore a small beard and moustache although full beards were the fashion.

Periodically, someone claims that an Elizabethan portrait of an unknown gentleman is really of Shakespeare. The evidence for that can be pretty thin, and often the portrait looks nothing like the images we know to have been of Shakespeare. An example is the Cobbe portrait, which shows a man with a small head, a full beard, a full head of fawn-coloured hair and a low sloping forehead. He had a moustace, a monobrow, and a scar from when he fell off a wall he also had one foot bigger than the other

Answer 3

He had a small mustache and beard and had advanced male pattern baldness. He was quite fat. He wore the kind of clothes which were worn in Britain at that time by middle-class men. Indeed, it was illegal to wear the clothes of a different class of people unless you were an actor performing on stage. And he wore an earring in his left ear.

Answer 4

William Shakespeares clothes were mostly the same as any rich mans clothing in the 1500 and 1600s. Most portraits show him with a lace frill others show him with a broad collared shirt and a collarless jacket. His plays would of had top notch clothes

Answer 5

William Shakespeare would have worn a doublet that was stuffed with horse hair or wool to keep its shape. He would have had worn hose from the waist down and breeches that covered his waist and the upper part of his legs. He would have also worn a starched white ruffle at his neck and a hat.

Answer 6

William Shakespeare wore something from the 1500 and 1600, the type of clothing he use is most probably rich materials and always a broad collard shirt and jackets.

Answer 7

Thee are no pictures or descriptions of Shakespeare as a child.

Answer 8

There are many portraits that are supposed to look like him but the most accurate is the Chandos portrait.

Answer 9

Unfortunately, anyone who actually met him has been dead for a long time and can't tell us.