Starch

Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset by William Larkin (1618).

The Elizabethan ruff was stabilized with a thick paste of starch made with egg white. During the starching process, ruffs were frequently tinted with gentle vegetable dyes that yielded soft shades of pink, yellow, or mauve—colors that were far more flattering to the complexion than plain white. However, these delicate hues are rarely evident in surviving portraits, largely because later art restorers, assuming that all ruffs had originally been white, “cleaned” them accordingly. Some ruffs were even colored a light blue through the use of smalt, though this particular fashion fell out of favor after 1595. That year, Queen Elizabeth, in a striking display of monarchical authority, issued a decree forbidding the use or wearing of blue starch. The directive was conveyed down a long chain of command—from the Lord Mayor to the aldermen, then to the parish beadles, and finally to every household—announcing that “Her Majesty’s pleasure is that no blue starch shall be used or worn by any of her Majesty’s subjects,” prompting the obedient populace to quickly switch to cochineal and dye their ruffs a more acceptable mauve.