Why Elizabeth I had black teeth, and how she introduced the fashion for them (5 photos)

Today, fashion is dictated by designers, and of course, with their help, by celebrities, mainly from the sphere of show business. What was it like in the old days?





Of course, ordinary peasants and artisans had no idea how high the collar on their clothes should be. But to know... She, of course, looked up to even more noble people, in other words, royalty. Today we will talk about one such style icon of the 16th century, the English Queen Elizabeth I.

Fashion for virgin youth

When the daughter of Henry VIII ascended the throne, she was already 25 - not a little at that time. Many of her subjects saw their queen for the first time and were amazed at how young she looked. After all, her peers by such years were already exhausted by repeated miscarriages and difficult childbirth, and Elizabeth was not married, moreover, she assured that she was a virgin and intended to preserve this virginity until the end of her days.



Why she did this and whether she really observed the vow of chastity is a separate and very interesting story; it is known that subsequently Elizabeth in every possible way supported the image of the eternally young, divinely beautiful “Virgin Queen”. The dazzling whiteness of the skin, as befits fiery red-haired people, was set off by the dark colors of the clothes, generously strewn, like the hair, with jewelry, especially pearls, a symbol of innocence.

However, from year to year it became more and more difficult to maintain this image, especially at that time. Elizabeth suffered from smallpox, her disease-riddled face was masked under a very thick layer of makeup. These whitewashes contained harmful substances and were very harmful to skin and hair. Therefore, over time, the queen went bald and wore a wig.

“Good Bess,” as she was called, was even forced to execute one careless young man who was horrified at the risk of seeing how his queen looked without makeup. Of course, a more “weighty” reason was found: the queen is chaste, and even doctors are forbidden to examine her body, especially strictly, by a separate decree, it was forbidden to examine the body of the “Virgin Queen” after her death!





Black-toothed smile is a royal trend

There is no mistake here - not white-toothed, but quite the opposite. The queen could put on makeup and wear dazzling clothes, eclipsing with her appearance not only her subjects, but also other royalty. But what to do with your teeth?

The teeth were the weak link in the appearance of the eternally young queen, for they were yellow and uneven from childhood, and over time they became even worse.



It is believed that Princess Bess adored sweets from her youth, and therefore her teeth quickly deteriorated. Well, let's say that in the Middle Ages, very few people could boast of a white-toothed smile. And therefore, not only in the ceremonial portraits of Elizabeth we see a stony face and tightly closed lips. But how can you maintain an eternally youthful image in life and in communication?

There is evidence that at receptions Elizabeth had a white cloth placed over her teeth; it was uncomfortable and interfered with speaking; the monarch’s slurred diction was noted by contemporaries, for example, the French ambassador.

Of course, at first she tried to whiten her teeth - this is what all young girls of that time did until they got married. Because teeth whitener also contained harmful substances and completely destroyed both enamel and health.



Abandoning this idea, the queen... introduced the fashion for black teeth as the highest chic, as an indisputable proof of wealth, which allows you to eat expensive sweets in abundance.

To be fair, let’s say that the fashion for black teeth allowed young girls... to keep them. After all, imitating their queen, and thereby demonstrating their wealth, the young creatures began to blacken their teeth with special means, which turned out to be more gentle on the enamel than the bleaches of that time, strengthened it and protected it.

By the way, the fashion for blackening teeth also existed in other countries, for example, in Japan.