"Shown at the age of 36, the sitter in the present portrait depicts a lady of some means, as revealed by her sumptuous costume and accessories. She wears a high winged lace collar which stands above the shoulders to frame her face. Her split sleeves, decorated with scrolling floral embroidery, end in deep lace cuffs which match her collar. Below this she wears a high bodice which elongates her silhouette by bringing the front to a point below the waist forming the cone-shape which was so popular from the mid-16th century until the mid-17th century. Once fastened together by pins or ties, the bodice was held in place by a busk, a vertical strip made of bone, wood or horn which was inserted down the front. To carry her wide skirt, this lady then wears a great farthingale at her waist to form her skirts into a drum shape. To further accentuate the tiny pointed waist of the sitter the farthingale was held down at the front by the busk and up at the back by a bum roll. By 1617, the date of the present portrait, the drum and cone form of dress created with a stiff elongated bodice and a wide, wheel farthingale was beginning to decline in popularity. It was to be replaced by a much more relaxed form of dress with lightweight satins taking the place of the heavy fabrics and softer falling band collars, as seen in the portraits of the court of King Charles I." [1]