Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velásquez: A Tailor at the Court of Philip IV, Amanda Wunder

This book conjures the sumptuous drama of 17th-century Madrid through the deft hands and sharp eye of royal tailor Mateo Aguado. Drawing on fresh archival research, the volume reconstructs the long‑lost garments and grand accessories that framed the Spanish Golden Age, weaving their stories into the lavish oil portraits of Velázquez. Aguado’s creations—towering farthingales, stiff bodices, starched collars—emerge not merely as embellishments but as instruments of political theatre and royal identity, their fabrics and forms shaping both domestic pageantry and Spain’s international image .

Richly illustrated with both painted masterpieces and surviving fragments of court couture, the book acts as both visual feast and scholarly treatise. Wunder’s narrative lays bare how Aguado’s design choices—proportions, structure, ornamentation—catalysed the evolution of a distinctly Spanish mode of dress. In so doing, it reveals the quiet but potent influence of court artisans: the tailor’s midnight labours, his silken blue-threaded buttonholes, and the whisper of structured skirts across palace floors all become integral to how we see Golden-Age Spain today 

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About the Author
Dr Amanda Wunder is Associate Professor of History at Lehman College and faculty in Art History and History at CUNY’s Graduate Center. She directs the Global Early Modern Studies program and is celebrated for her expertise in Iberian visual and material culture—bridging archival diligence with a vivid appreciation for the details of dress.

Publication date: 2024
Publisher: Yale University Press
Pages: 272
ISBN: 9780300246544