Renaissance Self-Fashioning

Renaissance self-fashioning refers to how individuals during the Renaissance (14th to 17th centuries) consciously crafted their personal identity and social image, often through clothing, art, and behavior. People used these tools to communicate their values, status, and intellectual ideals, shaping how others perceived them. This process was a way of actively constructing one's identity within the changing cultural landscape, emphasizing personal agency in defining oneself amid new ideas about human potential, beauty, and social roles. It highlights the importance of appearance and presentation in the period’s emerging sense of individualism.