The Pride of Women: Ruffs

About this artwork

This engraving satirizes women's fashion, specifically the elaborate ruff collars popular around 1600, created by Netherlandish artist Maerten de Vos. The print depicts figures wearing the extremely wide pleated collars that were among the most emblematic features of late 16th and early 17th-century European dress, presenting them in a satirical or moralizing context. Ruffs originated in the 1560s as an evolution from small frilled collars and by 1600 could be wider than the wearer's shoulders, ...

Art Historical Context

Step into the world of 17th-century fashion satire with *The Pride of Women:uffs*, an engraving by Netherlandish artist Maerten Vos, created around 1600. This witty print from the Metropolitan Museum Art's Costume Institute pokes fun at the extravagant ruff collars that defined elite European dress. Picture women—and perhaps skeletal figures underscoring the vanity theme—sporting collars so vast they spanned wider than shoulders, a status symbol born from humble frilled edges in the 1560s and stiffened with starch for dramatic effect. De Vos, a master designer whose 1,600 prints spread across...