17th Century European Dress
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 60 items of seventeenth-century European dress dating from 1600 to 1700. This collection, the majority of which is in the Burrell Collection, encompasses both men's wear, women's wear, accessories and lace, including several items of very high quality. Of particular international significance is a rare embroidered silk petticoat panel and a group of falconry accessories that were owned by James VI of Scots and I of England (1566–1625).
The Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scots became King of England provided a relatively smooth transition between dynasties. The courts of James and his wife, Anne of Denmark (1574–1619), in London led fashion and the taste for highly decorative clothes and accessories. Garments were often covered with expensive embroidery in colourful silk, silver and silver-gilt threads as seen on the petticoat panel, woman's waistcoat, coifs, nightcaps and sweet bags.
The Civil Wars or Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the mid-1600s had an impact on dress. While many on all sides wore flamboyant Cavalier fashions, there was also growing numbers of religious groups that preferred plainer styles. Clothing, even for royalty, also had to be practical if it was to be worn on campaign, as seen in the quilted waistcoat said to have been worn by Charles II (1630–85) when Prince of Wales during the West Country campaign. In 1660 the monarchy was restored and Charles II returned from continental Europe to re-establish a royal court in London. A key symbol of this restoration of royal power is the elaborately embroidered burse that was used to hold the Great Seal of England.
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17th Century European Dress Accessories
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