The sophisticated processes of personal image-making in the 16th and 17th centuries are revealed in the wonderful book by Royal Collection Trust curator Anna Reynolds, In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion (2013). Fashionable clothing from 1485 – 1714 was elaborate and leading tastemakers of the era were indeed ‘walking pictures’.
Surviving garments are scarce, so much of the record of the incredible finery exists in paintings by such masters as Holbein, van Dyck and Rembrandt. This book is a must, both in content and imagery, as one appreciates the intensive labor and meaning behind these exquisite garments from the past, and why traditions in textile production that remain today are so important!