From Valerie Cumming and Aileen Ribeiro to Emilie Gordenker and Anna Reynolds, dress historians have shown that Anthony van Dyck’s portraits necessitate a nuanced reading in terms of the types of garments depicted as well as their artful representation. And yet there has been no analysis of how the garments documented in Henrietta Maria’s wardrobe correspond to those the artist portrays her wearing. This article addresses this question by reading Van Dyck’s portraits alongside the bills from the queen’s wardrobe accounts. Analysis of garment types, trimmings and colours demonstrate connections as well as disparities between the queen’s painted and real-life dress. Notably, the bills show that — quite contrary to Van Dyck’s portraits — Henrietta Maria continued to wear complex, richly adorned gown ensembles throughout the 1630s.
Erin Griffey (Sun,) studied this question.