There are eighteen extant particular accounts for the Great Wardrobe, or King's Wardrobe, during the reigns of Henry vii and Henry viii. Only three are written in English and it is these documents which are calendared in this volume: two complete accounts, one for 1498–9 (Henry vii) and one for 1510–11 (Henry viii), together with an extract of the account relating to the French voyage of 1544 (Henry viii).

Printed in modern English, they are easy to read and provide a wealth of information on clothing the king and the royal household during the early Tudor period. The accompanying glossary is particularly good on the technical terms for sixteenth-century textiles, trimmings and clothing, and items for the king's stables and horses.

Making use of all the surviving particular accounts and subsidiary accounts of the Great Wardrobe from 1485 to 1547, together with other relevant documents, the introduction puts the three calendared documents in context. It provides a detailed and informative background to the workings of the Great Wardrobe, based in the City of London. Of particular interest is its interaction with local suppliers and craftspeople together with the London-based Italian merchants and how they influenced the London textile trade. Using these same documents are detailed lists of all the recipients of the clothing in the form of two appendices.

The Great Wardrobe obtained and stored textiles, especially luxury silks. Lowlier cloth was bought in as required when warrants were received or was brought in from one of the other stores, such as the silk store at Westminster. All of the king's clothing was bespoke, as were most livery clothes. Certain livery items such as shoes and hats were bought ready-made. The recipients of the clothes from the Great Wardrobe included the king, his children, household servants and officials, specific places such as the king's stables and privy chamber, and specific events such as the Maundy service and the Garter ceremony.

The 1498–9 particular account includes details of the clothes provided for the Pretender Perkin Warbeck while he was imprisoned in the Tower, and for Lady Catherine Gordon, his wife. Although the queen had her own wardrobe accounts, the 1510–11 Great Wardrobe account includes the provision of linen for Catherine of Aragon's lying in for the birth of the short-lived Prince Henry in 1511. The 1544 particular account relates solely to the equipping of Henry's army for war at a cost of more than £666. Details are included of the colourful red and yellow livery, with embroidered motifs of crosses and roses, for those in the core army who were under the direct control of the king.

Each warrant for clothing from the Great Wardrobe listed in the accounts records the recipient together with details of the type, colour and origin of the textiles, linings and furs used for each garment. Both the artisans who made, furred, embroidered, trimmed and lined the garment and the suppliers of the materials are named. Each stage of the work is meticulously costed.

These accounts show that clothing in early Tudor England was all about status. The hierarchy of the court was displayed to perfection to the outside world by the wearing of certain colours, furs and textiles by the king and his household. The young Henry viii's extravagance, compared with that of his father, is clearly shown in the account for 1510–11. His love of hunting led to huge expenses in furnishing the royal stables. The royal horses were equipped with green and white livery horse houses, or blankets, and luxurious crimson velvet horse harness fringed with gold.

The enormous amount of work involved in producing such a publication warrants a wider audience than the title suggests. Anyone who is interested in early sixteenth-century clothes, livery, textiles, furnishings, textile trade, status and ceremonial, artisans, merchants and merchant-tailors, equestrian accoutrements and the workings of a department of the royal household should make a point of reading this volume. The number and diversity of tradespeople involved in the supply and making of clothing are revealed together with the sumptuous display of clothing of the king, his family and the royal household at the courts of these first two Tudor monarchs.