The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool hosted a fantastic Tudor exhibition this summer. I caught up with British historian Ruth Goodman to find out more about the Tudors and how she became involved with this exhibition. Ruth and her husband run a re-enactment group called The Tudor Group in which art and fashion are very important aspects. About 10 years ago, they got involved in a different Tudor exhibition at the Walker Gallery and so they were contacted again for this past exhibition.

What did the Tudors use to get different colour dyes?

They used three basic materials. Madder, wode, weld, and combinations of those were used to produce pretty much every shade you can think of. Other dyes, such as indigo, were arriving from other countries, which put British dye producers out of business. Blacks are often just over-dyeing and over-dyeing.

Did these differ between the rich and poor?

“Something that’s not dyed is going to be cheaper than something that’s dyed.” Ruth explained that “ordinary people would often wear “sheep colors” eg. Creams, greys, browns as they didn’t need dying which made them cheaper. Clothes were very expensive so people left them to relatives in their wills. “We find a lot of red petticoats and black clothes [in people’s wills]” the historian informed me. This would be because they are more expensive and worth passing down. The cheapest dye available was pale blue which was often used for uniforms - just as it is today! Madder was next cheapest, then weld. “One would guess from the evidence, that for ordinary people, basic is sheep colors, pale blues, orangey reds that you get from madder, and black for Sunday best”, Goodman mused. Black was always used for status as it was expensive to make. “The black that was so popular, because it’s over-dyed and over-dyed is actually quite damaging to the fabric.” Whilst black garments from the Tudor period do exist, they are decaying at a rapid speed due to the many layers of dye. Ruth exclaimed that these garments are “gradually turning into dust…400 years seems to be its life span then bang, gone.” 

How did these dyes differ from paint pigments used by artists?

Ruth jumped straight in by explaining dyes and pigments. Pigments are “a colored dust glued to the surface. A dye is a stain that works in between the fibers of the cloth. So they actually often come from completely different sources. Madder can be used for both dyeing clothes and painting.” Ruth states that “madder as a dye gives an orangey red. Madder as paint gives a pinky color.” Black paint, on the other hand, is made from different types of soot so it’s quite cheap, whereas black dye is over dying so it’s more expensive. The painter needs to choose colors that are cheap for him but make the clothes look expensive. Ruth muses as to why you can’t always trust a portrait; “when you look at a painting you are looking at the artist’s attempt to represent something. He may well have changed the color. He may well have made it a black dress when it wasn’t originally a black dress.”

How reliable would you say that art/paintings of people from the Tudor period are in terms of historically accurate silhouettes, garments, and colors?

“One never knows. I mean you can’t prove it can you”, was Ruth’s immediate answer to this question. Silhouettes also depend on what that artist and the person paying for the painting have agreed on. She goes on to say that “an artist is a craftsman, a tradesperson who has got a paid gig. He’s being told to paint a thing and the person who’s paying him the money has very clear ideas about what they want painted.” 

Is there anything invented during Tudor times that we still use in fashion today?

“People mine this era for fashion all the time…It’s such a dramatic visual era that it would be madness if everyone ignored it.” Ruth really showed her passion for the subject here! Corsets are such a huge trend at the moment, just as they were in the Tudor period where they first evolved and they have come and gone so many times since. Continuing to discuss recurring trends, Ruth mentions that “fashion falls for that concept of using those under structural garments of all sorts of shapes and sizes and that’s a theme that designer after designer continues to come back to.” As well as corsets themselves, the Tudor use of pattern and texture is often reoccurring.

What do you love most about the Tudor period as a whole?

I think it’s the vast amount of social churn that is going on and all the old rules get ripped up and reassembled. But most importantly there’s the reformation.” Britain starts interacting with other countries after being an isolated island which is unfortunately something we’re going back to. Trade and people are brought over to Britain and we mix more. There’s new ideas and new ways of thinking. Everyone in society is involved in the social change, not just the upper class and elite. Ruth closes this question with, “they’re so open to new ideas” which really sums up the Tudor period.