ABSTRACT
Henry VIII's clothes represented a substantial financial investment and they required regular care. James Worsley's wardrobe book reveals that the officers of the robes not only managed the silk store held within the wardrobe of the robes, they also allocated that cloth to the king's artificers. Like the king's wardrobe, the queen's wardrobe of the robes had the same staffing structure of a yeoman, a groom, and a page. The best known and most successful holder of the office of yeoman was Sir Anthony Denny. While the yeoman and other officers of the king's laundry were male, the launderer was often female. For Henry VIII's funeral, the officers of the laundry received black livery. According to Edward IV's Black Book, the wardrobe officers were expected to 'put to theire hondz to amend many defautz with the needle worke, but specially they clense and purify all that longeth' to the wardrobe.
