The Clothing Accessory Choices of Rachel, Countess of Bath, and Other Mid-Seventeenth-Century Women

Abstract

This article examines the clothing accessory choices of Rachel, Countess of Bath, for the period of her first marriage, 1639–54. Her General Account Book listing purchases she made, and the other account books, from the Tawstock Estate in Devon and the London household, show the accessories she bought, both for herself and her servants. It will consider how much she spends on her accessories and, through the evidence of surviving tradesmen's and individuals' probate inventories, whether these accessories were also available and purchased by women lower down the social scale. It will look at the differences in accessory costs and fabrics across society.