Tudor style pewter hooks (known as dress hooks) sold singly or with ribbon girdle for Renaissance or Elizabethan reenactment or fancy dress

• Lead-free pewter
• Approximately 1in (2.5cm) long without bar for girdle attachment
• Two styles, 'Rose' and 'Birds'
• Sold with or without ribbon girdle
• Made exclusively by The Tudor Tailor

Pairs of hooks were regularly recorded in the wills and inventories of women of all ranks throughout the 16th century and, along with pins and wedding rings, were among the few items of jewellery regularly worn by ordinary women.

The pair of hooks is attached to a short girdle which is worn around the back of the waist. The front skirts of the gown are lifted and held in place by the hooks. This arrangement serves a practical purpose in keeping the hem of the gown away from the ground when walking. In addition, it offers an opportunity for the display of rich linings and underlayers. Elizabeth Vargas, gentlewoman to Queen Catherine of Aragon (depicted on page 32 of The Queen’s Servants and included in the photos here) uses hers to display a green satin kirtle underneath her squirrel lined tawny satin gown.

Hundreds of archaeological examples survive and the manner of use in dress can be seen in numerous visual sources including a drawing by Holbein of a Young Englishwoman in contemporary costume dated to 1533-43 in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and a figure on a monument to Richard and Jane Knightley (1534) in the church of St Mary, Fawsley, Northamptonshire (shown in the photos here).

An alternative use for these hooks is to sew them to small items of clothing for securing to other garments. This can be seen on the partlets of the dancing women in Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Wedding dance and Peasant dance.

Our hooks are sculpted by Michael Perry, based on original examples and cast in pewter before being polished. They are sharp enough to pierce woollen fabric but if they are to be worn with silk, or other tightly woven materials we recommend placing a pin horizontally at the point where the skirt is to be lifted and fastening the hook to the pin rather than the fabric.

We offer two designs, 'Rose' (on the right of the main photo) and 'Birds' (on the left of the main photo). Both can be purchased singly without a bar at the top, to be stitched onto a garment, singly with a bar to be threaded onto a ribbon girdle, or as a pair already sewn to a linen ribbon girdle. Girdles come in a choice of black, green or red. Each ribbon girdle measures ⅝in x 36in (1.5cm x 91cm) including the hooks. Please select from the drop down list below.