The Renaissance Faire is a peculiar event that sprouted from a high school history project in Southern California during the early 1960’s. It has grown into a sub-culture that spans across the United States, Canada and Europe. Some events are solid historically based events, others are hysterical spectacles of flesh and fantasy, clinging to a thread of Renaissance history…
Indian Block Printed Cotton (The Real Thing) Roughly 16th Century
Real cotton was known in Europe, the British Isles and the New World during the 16th and 17th centuries. Cotton was used by Native civilizations in the Americas, in the Far and Near East, as well as Africa during the time of the European Renaissance. However, it wasn't used extensively by Europeans. As I stated in a previous post on the proper cloth for our portrayal of this era, you can use cotton (calicoe), but remember, it is a rare commodity, it is imported, and not often seen.
That brings me to the term "cotton". In 16th century Britain, cotton was not...cotton. There is a type of thin wool cloth that the Elizabethans termed "cotton", and it makes for a bit of confusion...
William Baylye, a sailor of Barnstaple, recounted how he was hired by the pirate captain, Stephen Haynes, in Studland Bay during October 1582, when he was unemployed and ‘in greate extreamitye for wante of raymente and moneye’. He was given a suit of clothing of green cotton by Haynes, whose company of about thirty wore a similar outfit. (Appleby, 2011)
Cotton, as the Elizabethans knew it, was a narrow wool, loosely woven and fairly lightweight; there was no cotton in this material. Raising the nap of this wool was know as "cottoning". Translation: cotton was cheap, and readily available for making common clothing. (Mikhaila. Malcolm-Davies, 2006)
"Calicoe", what we know as "cotton" was expensive, and the lower classes probably did not have access to this cloth. Nevertheless, I'm sure it's fine to have a shirt made of it. So use it, luxuriate in the coolness of its drape...but if you're a peasant, just tell everyone it's linen...
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Appleby, John C. (2011). Under the Bloody Flag: Pirates of the Tudor Age. The History Press
Mikhaila, Ninya. Malcolm-Davies, Jane. (2006). The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing 16th-century Dress. Costume and Fashion Press
Another example of what you might be able to import from India during the Elizabethan Era...