“Barocco“ (Portugese, English: uneven, odd) describes a pearl of irregular shape and was introduced retrospectively to describe the style of the 1600s in a negative light. In the Baroque era, the clear forms and unity of the preceding Renaissance was not wholly abandoned but changed into a more flourishing style. The dominant power that Spain had had in the preceding epochs, especially in the 16th century faded slowly. The Baroque era was a rather troubled one for Europe with The Thirty Year's War, the counter-reformation and rising absolutism.  A very small nation, however, began to rise: The Netherlands remained in mostly untouched by the Thirty Years' War and became an economical and commercial power to reckon with Legal changes allowed unmarried women to have financial powers and engage in trade and business. 

Clothing underwent radical changes, beginning in the geometric, sculptural style of the Renaissance and gradually shifting to much softer styles and silhouettes with flowing skirts and draped bodices and sleeves. Rubens' portrait of the Marchesa Brigida Spinola Doria in 1606 shows her in a steely silver dress with long, curved stomacher, a full skirt, giant ruff and utterly wrinkle-free padded sleeves that imitate body armour.

In the low countries, trading connections grew the wealth of an expanding middle class. This was reflected in fashion.  Rubens painted himself with his wife Isabella in 1609. She is wearing a distinctive style of dress with a fitted bodice with a very long stomacher, much like that of Marchesa Brigida Sinola Doria. She is wearing a blue skirt under a red silk skirt trimmed with gold braid.

Her huge millstone ruff is carefully starched and edged with expensive lace. On the top of her head sits a high and broad-brimmed hat, in a rather masculine style as was the fashion at the time. Isabella's sleeves are long, tight and end in fine linen cuffs. Around each wrist she wears a golden bracelet set with gemstones. There is still a lot of Elizabethan era dress in this with the very long stomacher. In the decades to come, fashion would become softer and more flowing. A  considerable change was, however, the elimination of the Elizabethan farthingale in favour of hip padding. Consequently, the skirts fell softer and the whole silhouette appeared less geometric and more flowing. Ladies wore a mass of underskirts, made of as fine fabrics as could be afforded.

The cut of the sleeves widened, so that they could be styled in various ways: A popular method was to tie it with a ribbon at the height of the elbow or at more places. Furthermore, lace or linen cuffs were added to every kind of sleeve. In the 30s and 40s of the 17th century, the female fashion was relatively flowing and natural. The skirt was moderately wide and the bodice was short, close-fitting and low-cut.

The neckline was square-cut or baring the shoulders like a Carmen neckline. The ruff collar remained, huge as ever, until it changed to a cape-like collar of fine(st) lace in the 1630s, called Vandyke collars. The décolletage was not longer covered with kerchiefs, just adorned around the neckline with lace, trimming or ornamental gem-studded clasps.

As the decades went on, fashion did not stand still. The waistline drops again and the long pointy stomacher returns. Hieronymus Janssen's "Charles II Dancing at a Ball at Court" shows this excellently. This style increasingly forms shape of two triangles that meet at one tip. The upper triangle symbolizes the straight Carmen neckline from shoulder to shoulder and the tip where it meets the lower one is the small waist. The other two tips of the lower triangle are the left and right edge of the skirt's hem.
The low neckline is quite baring as it reveals (when uncovered by a kerchief) a part of the bust raised and pushed by the tightly laced and stiffened stays Usually the bodice is adorned with (golden) braid running from the midst of the neckline and from under the sleeve holes to the pointed hem of the bodice. The sleeves are made of the same fabric as bodice and skirt and are quite loose-fitting, ending in at the wrist or below the elbow in lace cuffs or linen ruffles. Yet they are no longer so spherical as in the 1530s. 

The low neckline is quite baring as it reveals (when uncovered by a kerchief) a part of the bust raised and pushed by the tightly laced and stiffened stays Usually the bodice is adorned with (golden) braid running from the midst of the neckline and from under the sleeve holes to the pointed hem of the bodice. Normally, the skirt is trimmed, too. The sleeves are made of the same fabric as bodice and skirt and are quite loose-fitting, ending in at the wrist or below the elbow in lace cuffs or linen ruffles. Fashionable was furthermore to wear sleeves cut in the virago style: loose-fitting sleeves held in place by colourful ribbons. The ribbons are tied arm-tight around the broad sleeves and thus give the impression of sleeves consisting of several “fabric balls”. Soft colours and pastel shades were used. Brooches and bodice ornaments were the decoration.

A Dutch invention was the Matinee, a very loose-fitting jacket for home wear. Reaching down to the thighs, these jackets were usually made of colourful fabric and trimmed with fur along the seams. Vermeer painted several pictures showing women with a yellow Matinee.

Towards the late 1600s, at the court of Louis XIV, fashion has moved on to form the Mantua style from which later the Robe à la Francaise would descent. It seems incredible that Elizabeth I and Louis XIV were alive in the same century, so far apart does Tudor England feel from Versailles.

The gown had opened in the front under the waist to a split skirt. This revealed the beautiful skirts beneath (and required even more fabric). The two garments were called Manteau and Jube (Skirt). The sleeves could not escape a change either; they tightened significantly, reached to the elbow and ended in ruffles of fine lace, called Engageantes.

Shoes:

The heel lost nothing of its popularity – but it wandered slowly towards the middle of the foot. Consequently, the angle that the foot describes with the floor increased – no existing footbed and nearly no anatomic forming lead to an inclination of the whole foot and not just of the heel as today. The toe-caps used to be horribly pointed and walking in them was sure as fate very painful for the wearer. Cut-outs were a popular element and typical for this time.

The shoes were closed with a buckle or tied with a band or were just to slip in. Those who could afford it had the shoes made of fine materials like high-quality leather, velvet or damask. Decorative elements increased the luxurious look even more. Pattens with high plateau heels used to protect the fine footwear from mud and dirt on the streets.

Beauty:

Contrary to common belief, people bathed regularly provided they could afford it, or washed at least. Yet, the overall state of houses and towns without a proper sewage system, as well as the sketchy knowledge in all things medical allowed epidemics to spread. The pox epidemics were particularly merciless, killing numerous people and leaving the survivors with scars. To cover them, make-up and decorative little plasters called "mouches" were used. High quality face make-up was unfortunately made from lead (Ceruse) and its toxicity was well known although it did not stop the fashionable set from applying it.

Nonetheless, it is an enduring cliché that powdered wigs and faces white with make-up are Baroque. This was by no means the case, powdered wigs would not come up until the Rococo era. Make-up was used but generally sparingly and visual and written sources tell us that most people presented with a fresh, natural look.

Hair:

After the first quarter of the 17th century trendy married women did not longer want to hide their elaborate hairstyles under caps and began wearing their hair uncovered or with a big (black) hat. The hair was usually parted in the middle and fell down in curls on both sides of the head (shoulder-long). Some women had the upper layer of their hair drawn straight to the back of the head into a flat-topped style, there bound with decorative bows, while the rest of the hair fell down to the shoulders in neat small curls. The face was framed by lots of small curls.

Towards the middle of the 1600s in Central and Western Europe, the hair is released from the strict hairdos to fall in ringlets around the face. At the Spanish Court, however, hair remained highly sculptural and geometric. In the style which can be best observed in Velazquez' painting of Infanta Maria Theresa, the hair is arranged through false hair, padding and wire to create a semicircular frame to the face.