How did ruffs become fashionable and then went out of fashion?
Upvote:2
The following is just a speculation; I have nothing to collaborate it with.
First please take a look at this question about wigs. It attributes the fashion of wearing wigs and powdering one's face that appeared in 16th century to the epidemic of syphilis.
Notice now that the ruffs appeared roughly at the same time or slightly earlier, and they started as relatively modest collars that covered one's neck. Is it possible that their function was analogous to that of wigs and powdered face? As the wigs would cover up the signs of the 2nd stage of syphilis on one's head and power would cover the rash on one's face the ruff would cover the sign on one's neck. Just powdering the neck would be less effective than powdering the face because the movements of flexible neck would partially remove the powder.
That doesn't imply that the wearer of the ruff necessarily had syphilis: ruffs, as well as wigs and powder, quickly became the socially required fashion that would let the one who needs them for cover-up blend in.
This explanation is just a speculation, of course, and is has a couple of gaping holes, such as numerous portraits with wigs but without ruffs and vice versa.
Upvote:4
It's hard to say why fashion changes, but ruffs was originally a French fashion that spread to the various countries of Europe.
They may have started as a small drawstring collars in early 1500s on the chemise to protect the upper body garment from soiling.
Portrait paintings from the era gives a good illustration of the evolving fashion, from small collars in the mid 1500s to enormous contraptions towards the year 1600. Obviously only the very rich could afford elaborate ruffs of costly materials.
Ruffs remained fashionable the longest in Spain, in the Netherlands and the parts of Italy under Spanish control. In the 1630s they were outlawed among many other items of luxury by Gaspar de Guzmán,the de facto ruler of Spain 1622-1640, during the reign of Philip IV.
More post
- 📝 Why didn't cheese spoil when it was given as rations to soldiers?
- 📝 How many troops did Hitler send back from the Eastern front to face the Allies' assault?
- 📝 In American Civil War era paper cartridges, what was taking up the space between powder and bullet?
- 📝 How did mid-19th century American legislation affect the corporate structure of railroad companies?
- 📝 Which names are correct? Mala vs Malka Zimetbaum and Edward vs Eduard Galinski?
- 📝 Did any European monarch execute their sister or other direct female relative?
- 📝 Why did people in some countries start to drive on the right?
- 📝 Would occupying Big Round Top have been a good idea for the Confederates?
- 📝 How did people travel to remote islands like Easter Island?
- 📝 When did prostitution become illegal in the United States and why?
- 📝 Did other countries stop recognizing Austria, after the German annexation?
- 📝 Why did Italy abandon its alliance with Germany in WW1 and join the Allied side?
- 📝 Was the name 'Valerie' used during the Regency Era (1811-1836)?
- 📝 Why did the Capetian kings of France come into conflict with the Roman church?
- 📝 Examples of wars without power as a motive
- 📝 Were Napoleon's chances of being caught after Waterloo high or low?
- 📝 When was the concept of electoral districts / constituencies with their own borders (as opposed to pre-existing towns/counties) invented?
- 📝 Why was Lakhdar Boumediene, in the Boumediene v Bush case, acquitted of his charges? And, why was the habeas corpus not suspended?
- 📝 What's the significance of "Sprinkler" (bottle)
- 📝 Did the Axis engage in trade with other countries during the war?
- 📝 Why didn't the Wehrmacht pull back to a short frontline in 1945?
- 📝 What was the role of a 'Tidy Man' and what might their duties have been?
- 📝 Is there evidence that the annual pilgrimage to Mecca facilitated cultural exchanges?
- 📝 How were Mongols defeated on the field?
- 📝 How did it happen that countries and cities got different names in different languages?
- 📝 How accurate/realistic is the conception of 'the kindly slave owner'?
- 📝 What was the difference in taxation amounts before and after the American Revolution?
- 📝 How many stones high are the pyramids of Giza?
- 📝 When (and where) did public polling start taking place on topics other than elections?
- 📝 What was this bet that Montgomery lost?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How did ruffs become fashionable and then went out of fashion?
- 📝 When and how did the USA and the UK become allies?
- 📝 When and how did the Han ethnic group become by far the biggest ethnic group in China?
- 📝 How and why did trade unions in America become influenced by organised crime, but unions in Britain didn't?
- 📝 How did Moldova and Romania become separate in the first place?
- 📝 How did Saudi Arabia become and remain strongly Wahhabi?
- 📝 How did residents of Estonia and Latvia prove that their family settled in the country prior to 1940, in order to become citizens in 1989?
- 📝 How and why did the Cavalry lance temporarily fall out of favour during the 16-18th centuries?
- 📝 When and how did Thailand cease to be Siam and become the modern Thailand?
- 📝 When and how did David become the mascot of Florence?
- 📝 How did Ram and Krishna become the dominant Gods in Hinduism?
- 📝 How did Sweden come out so unscathed physically and morally from WW2?
- 📝 How long did it take arriving passengers to become indentured servants and where did they stay until then?
- 📝 How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?
- 📝 How did the USSR manage to innovate in an environment characterized by government censorship and high bureaucracy?
- 📝 When and how did people begin to consider slavery immoral?
- 📝 How did Italy and Germany get rubber in WWII?
- 📝 When and why did having long hair become associated with women, and short hair with men?
- 📝 Transatlantic Zeppelin trips usually took > 100 hours. How did they stock enough food, and where did they sleep?
- 📝 How did Moscow become the capital/most important city in Russia?
- 📝 When and where did socks become common?
- 📝 How did the ruling class in the Muslim world react to the discovery and colonization of the Americas?
- 📝 Were secret treaties ratified? How did they become official while remaining secret?
- 📝 When did the round house fall out of vernacular use throughout Britain and Ireland?
- 📝 How long did it take for a diplomat to travel between Berlin and Vienna in the 1770's?
- 📝 Gender Color Association: When did boys become blue and girls pink?
- 📝 How did Islam and Hinduism thrive together in Medieval India?
- 📝 How and why did e.g. Chechnya differ in status from entities like Armenia?
- 📝 When and how did classic "Italian" cuisine come to be?
- 📝 How did Hitler behave towards all those whom he knew in his childhood and youth after he rose to power?