A question on garters

[Capt. William Drake]

Ahoy me hearties;
  My questions be to you, where there garters in the Renaissance period?  I was thinking about adding a couple to me outfit to represent my "conquests" in the many ports that I have visited.  I thank ye in advance for any all info you be supplying .  Fair weather and smooth sailing to all.

Your faire weather friend
Capt. William Drake

[operafantomet]

Ahoy me hearties;
  My questions be to you, where there garters in the Renaissance period?  I was thinking about adding a couple to me outfit to represent my "conquests" in the many ports that I have visited.  I thank ye in advance for any all info you be supplying .  Fair weather and smooth sailing to all.

Your faire weather friend
Capt. William Drake

Women of 16th century Italy wore garthers, but that's as far as my knowledge goes, and probably not very helpful to you... I think garthers were common in most areas, though, as knitted stockings and tights were still rather new in the late 16th century, and they would need to hold their sewn items up somehow.

I came across a quote which also indicates that Italian men at least wore garthers:
"...it seems logical to suppose that these were edged with lace or precious trimming, albeit possibly less showy than the fashion of the end of the century, when they became similar to those of the men with hanging lace trimmings."

Two picture examples here: http://operafantomet.livejournal.com/228251.html

[serenamoonsilver]

Garter's go back into the middle ages, as the Order of the Garter goes back to the 1350's (I think?).  Both men and women used garters to hold up their stockings until men started wearing trousers in the early 1800's.  While they varied thorugh time, medieval and ren garters wouldn't look like what we call garters today.  They were either simply tied or they had buckles like these

[DonaCatalina]

Even though both men and women wore garters, the only visible garter would have been the English insignia of the Order of the Garter.
Which Philip II is wearing in this portrait. His functional garters would have been under the slops.
I don't think anyone seeing you wearing multiple garters as showing off your conquests.

[Rowan MacD]

Garter's go back into the middle ages, as the Order of the Garter goes back to the 1350's (I think?).  Both men and women used garters to hold up their stockings until men started wearing trousers in the early 1800's.  While they varied thorugh time, medieval and ren garters wouldn't look like what we call garters today.  They were either simply tied or they had buckles like these

Good point-It may be difficult to find 'garters' that are not obviously modern and that would also be recognized as a 'garter' as modern folks would know them.
  Most of us now days  think a garter looks like those ruffled confections found hanging from rear view mirrors, when they were probably just strings or ribbons tied or sewn onto the stocking.
 
 

[isabelladangelo]

Garters were functional -meant to hold the stockings up so you didn't get the dreaded elephant ankles.

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/garter-one-of-a-pair--121955

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/knitted-silk-garter-one-of-a-pair--121957

[gem]

Elephant ankles!! Is that a period term? 

[isabelladangelo]

Elephant ankles!! Is that a period term? 

They had elephants:
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73346/panel-the-oxburgh-hangings/

They had ankles:
http://www.elizabethan-portraits.com/Elizabeth37.jpg

Therefore, the dreaded elephant ankles is a period term.  Actually, dread is from the middle English; elephant is from both the middle English and Latin; and ankles is from the middle English as well. So, all words they knew and knew well- making it perfectly period.   

[gem]

Yes, but knowing the Elizabethans, they'd probably have thought it a *flattering* term, like "goose turd green" (or "sick Spaniard," another period name for the same color).

[isabelladangelo]

Yes, but knowing the Elizabethans, they'd probably have thought it a *flattering* term, like "goose turd green" (or "sick Spaniard," another period name for the same color).

They didn't think it was a flattering term as much as that just what the color *was*.   Even today, we know exactly what shade of green goose turd green is.   There is no question as to what color it was.   Unfortunately, they didn't have a box of crayons handy in the 16th century to hold up to portraits to show what color so and so was wearing over in country X so they used terms that everyone simply "knew".