An Elizabethan Maundy

Fabric Color Myths

Myth: Blue colored garments are for servants only.

"Livery of a shade lighter than the midnight-sky-blue, but near the sky-blue of a clear October day, was the mark of servitude in the sixteenth century."

Also

" 'Seruingman wears broadcloth . . . and for his colours, they are according to the season; in the summer he is apparelled like the heauens in blew, in the winter, like the earth in freese', i.e. in russet. ".

Blue was not just for servants during the 16th century, as Queen Elizabeth I is seen in An Elizabethan Maundy wearing a blue gown, as are other nobles in the image. The next myth shows woad blue wool of a similar servant's shade.

Blue became associated with servants in the 17th century whose blue colored garments were similar to their masters. Therefore those of high station might avoid blue garments in the 17th century.

An Elizabethan Maundy, attributed to Levina Teerlinc, c.1565.

Info on blue from Costume in the Drama of Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, by M.C. Linthicum. Pg 27, and note #3 on same page.