Hello Shakespeare!
 

The costuming in Shakespeare's plays was modeled after the clothing and fashion of the day with many of the costumes being donated or bought through servants and estates. Fashion statements were continuously being made during the Elizabethian Era because the citizens couldn't help showing off their newfound wealth through jewels, exotic fabrics, sophisticated tailors, and number and variety of garments in which they could afford to appear (McDonald 2001). Due to the increasing prosperity and exchange, English fashions were changing rapidly and becoming more and more elaborate and various with the topic becoming a source of outrage for Puritan's and a favorite source for dramatic satire (McDonald 2001). The wealthy would spend very large amounts of money on clothing with one outfit without jewelry or embellishments costing 50-60 pounds, ten times the amount of the annual wages of a laborer (McDonald 2001). Make-up of the time was worn mostly in red and white so that there would be a large contrast between the lips, cheeks, and the rest of the face (McDonald 2001). The make-up of the era was also a favorite source for dramatic satire which is seen in Hamlet's remark to Ophelia "God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another" [3.1.143-144] (McDonald 2001). During this time the clothing and appearance of people would be a symbol of their class and statuses in society but with the increasing prosperity of the English people these class/societal lines became blurred (McDonald 2001).