Silks, velvets and heavy brocade fabrics were the order of fashion of the day during the Renaissance, and costumes in the theater reflected this. Feathers were a favored embellishment for costumes for the theaters of the Renaissance. Each aspect of theater production had its own specific structure for presentation. These fabrics were used by the tailors, craftsmen and fabric dyers to complete the visions of the writers of the comedies, librettos, intermezzi and allegorical presentations of Renaissance theater productions.
Theater presentations reflected the rebirth thinking of the time. Plays were spectacles presented after weeks of preparing of staging and costuming. Special effects were popular among playwrights of the Renaissance theater, and elaborate costuming went hand-in-hand with these elaborate sets. Plays were divided into parts with intermissions or intermezzi presented between the acts of the plays. These intermezzi were in effect mini plays. They required their own costuming aspect. The entire stage was framed by its own arch called the presidium arch.
The intermezzi depicted fantasy scenes. Costumes were diaphanous for some characters and even incorporated animal skins when the intermezzi took place in a world where animals and monsters existed. When the intermezzi depicted heavenly places, costumes were transparent and embellished with glittering stones. When actors portrayed godlike characters who were supposed to be naked, they wore tight flesh-colored silk.
The main performances of Renaissance theater spectaculars were full of bright colors serving to identify characters to the audience. Hue and texture carried many symbols of what plays were expected to portray. Men played most but not all parts. Linings were constructed of linen, canvas and wool. The over garments were made of richer, more embellished fabrics such as silk, velvet, satin and taffeta. These richly embellished costumes used as much as 35 yards of fabric.