Queen Elizabeth`s Language of Clothing and the Contradictions in Her Construction of Images

Abstract

本文探討十六世紀英格蘭「時尚女王」－伊莉莎白一世(Elizabeth I, r. 1558-1603)的服飾特色，並與其整體形象塑造相對照。伊莉莎白女王形象的研究早已有深厚的傳統，但既有的作品多忽略服飾的重要性：雖然有少數研究服飾的學者注意到伊莉莎白的穿著，卻又多偏重物質面，即服裝的剪裁、用料、風格等。本文企圖矯正這兩種研究的不足，亦試圖建立起兩者間溝通的橋樑，以期能更深入瞭解伊莉莎白本人對服飾的想法、她如何利用服飾傳達政治訊息，以及服飾在她整體形象塑造中所扮演的角色。 \r\n人類學家或社會學者常將服飾比擬為一種語言，或一種溝通的模式，具有傳遞信息與情感的功能，並可用以塑造穿者的形象。此理論固然有助於本文主題的研究，但它忽略了另一種形式的服飾語言，即在日常對話或正式演說中，我們如何訴說與服飾相關的話語，或利用服飾作為隱喻傳達訊息。本文的研究方式將涵蓋這兩種不同的「服飾語言」，第一種是透過伊莉莎白的肖像，服飾清冊(inventories of the Wardrobe of Robes)及相關文字記載，來瞭解伊莉莎白透過服裝所要顯現的政治形象；第二種是從伊莉莎白的談話與演說內容，特別是她曾提及與服飾相關的話語中，來分析服飾對她個人的意義、對她形象塑造的重要性。這兩個層次，前者是視覺上的傳達，後者是語彙上的傳達，共同構成了伊莉莎白藉由服飾所訴說的「政治論述」此外，本文將在這兩種研究的基礎上，將伊莉莎白的服飾形象與其主體形象相對照，並指出其中矛盾或為難之處。\r\nThis article considers the Renaissance \"fashion queen,\" Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603), and how her policy of dress compared with the general construction of her political images. Several scholars have investigated her dress from portraits or the inventories of her Wardrobe of Robes. Nevertheless, most of the study of her costume has dealt with the cuts and textiles, that is, the materiality of actual garments; Elizabeth`s own attitude towards clothes, her policy of clothing and its connection to her political image, have not yet received their due. In addition, few scholars have located Elizabeth`s clothing policy in the context of her overall images, and even fewer have noted the antithesis between her clothing and her dominant representations. \r\nThis article approaches those questions through the connection between language and dress. At one level, it interprets the messages expressed by Elizabeth`s attire that appears in her portraits, the inventories of her Wardrobe of Robes and textual records. At another level, it considers how she referred to garments or used them as metaphors in her verbal communications. These two strata together constitute Elizabeth`s political discourse through clothing. Moreover, this article compares her clothing language with her political speeches and other representations to better understand the role clothing played in her overall policy of image-making. It argues that Elizabeth`s highlighted femininity through clothing and her favour of foreign fashions and textiles were not in accord with her dominant image of androgyny and of Englishness. Thus, the perspective of clothing reminds us that the study of Elizabeth`s representations finds contradictions and ambiguities.