Sumptuary law in early modern England has been described as unenforced, subject to systematic non-compliance, and ultimately legally inconsequential. A return to the original texts of the Acts to examine the language and form of the legal preambles suggests that another explanation might be available. Studies of surviving artefacts and information from wills and inventories suggest that the trend among the populace was toward compliance, rather than unprosecuted violation. Through to the mid-sixteenth century, when petition-driven statutes were replaced by royal proclamation, the Acts were continually refined and made more precise, closing legal loopholes that were being exploited. Records of ownership, in the form of wills and probate inventories, show minimal signs of violation of the sumptuary laws, although more do appear the higher one looks in the ranks of the nobility. When the sumptuary laws were violated, some prosecutions and fines were levied, and records from the Star Chamber, Chancery Court and Hall's Chronicle all detail instances of punishment for violators. While the small numbers and limited descriptions in wills and inventories make it problematic to frame too sweeping a statement regarding the ownership of offending items, the combination of signs of enforcement, material evidence matching the legal requirements and the boilerplate nature of the wording of the petitions and statutes give new reason to re-evaluate our understanding of sumptuary law in England.

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Des recherches archéologiques portant sur quatre établissements acadiens ont révélé la présence d'un nombre curieusement élevé de paires de ciseaux de couture et de broderie dans les fermes familiales. Le présent article examine ces artefacts et constate que la proportion élevée d'outils pour travaux délicats et le caractère décoratif d'un grand nombre de ces travaux révèlent un intérêt culturel pour la broderie et l'ornementation, et un lien avec l'évolution des conceptions européennes de ce qu'une femme distinguée doit accomplir. Ces signes de statut étaient interprétés de façon différente dans le contexte colonial acadien, ce qui a peut-être contribué à donner aux observateurs de l'extérieur l'impression que les Acadiens étaient indolents et ne respectaient pas la structure de l'autorité coloniale.Archaeological investigations of four Acadian settlements have revealed a curiously high number of pairs of sewing and embroidery scissors present at the homesteads. This article examines those artifacts and finds that the high ratio of fine-work tools and the decorative nature of many of the examples reveal a cultural interest in embroidery and embellishment, and a connection to changing European conceptions of genteel feminine accomplishment. These status signals read differently in the Acadian settlement context, which may in turn have contributed to outside observers' impressions of the Acadians as indolent and without respect for the structure of colonial authority.

Hilary Doda holds a BA in Anthropology from McGill University, completed her Masters in History at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and has taught in the Costume Studies program within Dalhousie's Department of Theatre. Her research focus is on the use of costume as a political tool in sixteenth-century England. Ttie vestiarian controversy, a mid sixteenth-century debate over the use of iiturgicai garments, spoke to more than a simple argument over clericai seif-governance. The religious significance of the garments themseives, their historicai iinks to the Papacy, and the notion that clothing had psychoiogicai and spiritual effects upon the wearer(s) combined to make this argument a pivotai one for English church history. The Cathoiic ciericai garments were dramatic dispiays of wealth and power both spirituai and temporal, used as transformative garments tiiat distinguished the bishop from his congregation. Reformers both during the reign of Edward VI and those returning to Engiand after the coronation of Elizabeth I argued for the acceptance of the Geneva gown, a plain black robe which, they argued, performed the same without the historical weight of the vestments. The debate which arose over the garments was fueled by ideologues on both sides, reformers speaking to the need to separate from the 'bioody butchers' of Rome, versus the Queen's need to assume controi over a liveried and powerful bishopric to further secure her legitimacy. The understanding that ritual garb acted as a material link between humankind and the divine invested the controversy with much more importance than if it had simply been a matter of legal jurisdiction. Beginning in force in 1560, after previous debates in 7550, by the winter of 1566 when debate finally died down, the controversy had spawned poiiticai deadiock, the beginnings of separatist congregations, and attempts at structurai reform of the church itseif