erest in finding new materials and methods that they never desired before. If an item was new, it was valuable and wanted by many. Through the 16th century, Spanish fashion was individualized and people liked that. The drastic spread of Spanish costume through Europe came from the prestige the Spaniards gained from the discoveries of Christopher Columbus who, although did not find an immediate sea route to transport silk, recognized the immerse flow of precious metals from the Americans to Spain (Boucher 131). This gave Elizabethans a sense of pride that they could be different but still fashionable. This is why England was infatuated with it. But nonetheless the Spanish style was not a style of its own. It had gone through many influences itself. It had taken traits form other countries like Germany France and Italy and combined it together to make a style that everybody wanted. Spain had incorporated haberdashery from Venice and Germany, Gems and combs from France, fine linen form Flanders, and velvet or Milanese gold thread form Italy (Leed 3). They had taken every countries style and created the ideal foreign style that was greatly desired at this time as a result of Christopher Columbus. This style appealed to Queen Elizabeth and therefore the rest of the Elizabethan society wanted it. Because of the cost of importing, the foreign style was a style that belonged to the wealthy in England and it help determines the upper nobles from just the nobles. The desire to fit an ideal is a desire that is pres...
