The Gender Dynamics of Dress Gifts from Elizabethan Men at the Court of Elizabeth I

This article explores the gender dynamics of giving dress gifts at the Elizabethan court (1558–1603). Current scholarship considers the role of elite women and the ‘favourite’ in giving dress gifts. In contrast, this article seeks to understand the significant but largely overlooked role of merchant and courtier men as both givers of dress to Elizabeth I and holders of vital information that others relied upon in giving dress gifts to her. Drawing on New Year's gift lists, correspondence and records of progresses this article shows how an approach informed by material culture and situated in a gendered framework actually complicates our understanding of the Elizabethan court's culture of dress gifts. A gendered analysis highlights that merchant and courtier male subjects, sometimes in tandem with their wives, played a vital role in shaping the fashion and economy of early modern England by providing innovative and tasteful offerings to their queen. Dress gifts from male subjects strongly influenced Elizabeth's image of magnificence and made the English court one of the most fashionable in Europe.