John Anderson (tailor)

John Anderson was a Scottish tailor working in Edinburgh in the 1540s and 1550s. He made clothes for Margaret Douglas, Countess of Arran and her daughters.[1] At this time, the James Hamilton, Earl of Arran was Regent or Governor of Scotland, and the treasurer's accounts include details of clothing bought for his family.[2][3]

Occasionally, Anderson travelled to Hamilton and Linlithgow for fittings and to complete garments for "My Lady Governor".[4] Margaret, Countess of Hamilton had riding cloaks and "wardygards", a Scots language word for a "safeguard" riding skirt. Some of her garments were trimmed with fur supplied by John Craig.[5] An embroiderer, John Cochran, carried out specialised work on cutting out satin sleeves and skirts.[6]

An entry for tailoring work in February 1553 reads:

Item to Jhone Andersoun tailyeour for making of this foresaid clethying viz tua gownnis of sating, ane goun of velvote, with paitlattis, hudis, skyrttis, slevis, gorgettis, furnessing of glaspis, & other necessars _ xxx s.

Item, to John Anderson tailor for making of this foresaid clothing viz: two gowns of satin, a gown of velvet, with partlets, hoods, skirts, sleeves, gorgets, furnishing of clasps, & other necessities _ 30 shillings.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Melanie Schuessler Bond, Dressing the Scottish Court 1543-1553: Clothing in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Boydell, 2019), pp. 384, 657-8.
  2. ^ James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1913), p. xiv.
  3. ^ Melanie Schuessler Bond, 'Social Status in Sixteenth-Century Scottish Fashion', Cordelia Warr, Medieval Clothing and Textiles 18 (2024), pp. 165–190.
  4. ^ Melanie Schuessler Bond, Dressing the Scottish Court 1543-1553: Clothing in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Boydell, 2019), pp. 392, 396, 398, 460.
  5. ^ Melanie Schuessler Bond, Dressing the Scottish Court 1543-1553: Clothing in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Boydell, 2019), pp. 104, 395, 400.
  6. ^ Melanie Schuessler Bond, Dressing the Scottish Court 1543-1553: Clothing in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Boydell, 2019), p. 400.
  7. ^ Melanie Schuessler Bond, Dressing the Scottish Court 1543-1553: Clothing in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Boydell, 2019), p. 400.