concentrating mainly on the under-clothing worn by middle- and upper- class Englishwomen in the latter half of the 16th century to create the Elizabethan silhouette. Putting on an English Elizabethan gown is a complicated process, and when you include hair and makeup, can take half an hour or more. Any undies, stockings, shoes, earrings, etc. go on first. Dress your hair and do your makeup before starting; once you're dressed, it'll be nearly impossible. Although Elizabethan women didn't wear underwear per se, they did wear stockings. These usually came to just above the knee, and were held in place by a garter at the top of the calf. See Knitting Period Stockings for more details. There is evidence that Englishwomens' shoes during Elizabethan times were usually thin-soled with leather soles, and had uppers of leather, velvet or other fabrics lined (by the nobility, at least) with scarlet , taffeta, or satin. They were for the most part simple, slipper-type shoes, cut low on the top and round-toed, although heeled shoes became more popular from the 1560s onward. For more information, here's a site containing Patterns for Tudor Shoes. To protect their shoes from the muck and mud of an average English street, women wore pattens, or chopines. Pattens were wooden soles, usually 1/2 to 1 inch thick, hinged at the ball of the foot with leather straps that were strapped on over the shoes, rather like sandals. Chopines, also called pantobles or mules, ranged from sturdy-soled shoes with heels to high, discoesque platforms. Put on your Chemise/smock. This was a simple underdress worn to protect the clothing from sweat and body oils. It often had full sleeves gathered to a cuff, and either gathered to a neckband or fitted close to the chest, although examples exist of ungathered smocks. For more information on the history and variety of Elizabethan smocks, see the section on Elizabethan Smocks and Chemises If you're going to wear an under-pet...
