Ruff (clothing)

A ruff from the early 17th century: The Regentesses of St Elizabeth Hospital, Haarlem (detail) by Verspronck
A ruff from the 1620s

A ruff is an item of clothing worn in Western, Central, and Northern Europe and Spanish America from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century. The round and flat variation is often called a millstone collar after its resemblance to millstones for grinding grain.

Ruff of c. 1575. Detail from the Darnley Portrait of Elizabeth

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