The 'Ideal' Elizabethan Woman
Although the fashion for women changed to a more seductive look it was important for Queen Elizabeth to maintain her image and the beauty of a 'Virgin Queen'. The Elizabethan view of pure beauty was a woman with light hair and a snow white complexion complimented with red cheeks and red lips. A pale complexion could only be achieved by a woman of the upper class. Lower class women were expected to work outside and therefore acquired a suntan! The pale complexion was therefore a sign of wealth and nobility - an immediate identification for a person from the upper classes! This alabaster complexion was therefore also required by Elizabethan men! Queen Elizabeth achieved this picture of ideal beauty by using white make-up.
This explains the odd white face make-up seen in many of her portraits. This image of the Virgin Queen was further enhanced by the work of Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) in his epic poem 'The Fairie Queene' which was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth.