Ruffs in Jamestown
Why did early English settlers in Virginia bring with them an impractical folded collar to wear? Lauren Working considers the symbolism of neckwear in colonial America.
The discovery of goffering irons, the tools used to shape ruffs, by an archaeological dig in North America, gives us clues about the way the first English settlers lived. Lauren Working's essay looks at the symbolism of the Elizabethan fashion for ruffs. Now back in fashion on zoom, they were denounced by Puritans, shown off in portraits of explorers like Raleigh and Drake, and seen by the Chesapeake as a symbol of colonisation, whilst the starch was used for porridge at a time of scarcity and war.
Lauren Working teaches at the University of York and was chosen in 2021 as a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by ±«Óãtv Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council which turns research into radio. You can find another Essay by Lauren called Boy with a Pearl Earring /programmes/m0014y52 and hear her in a Free Thinking discussion about The Botanical Past /programmes/m000wlgv
Producer: Luke Mulhall
Last on
Broadcast
- Thu 28 Apr 2022 22:45±«Óãtv Radio 3
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