In the 17th Century from Head to Toe: the Wardrobe

A common vision of the 17^th century fashion is that Puritans used to wear black and white all the time. This is not entirely true.

Indeed, black dye was very expensive, that is the reason why people would wear black on sundays or court clothing. Yet, many paintings represent women and men wearing black and white which mostly explains why most people think these colors were very common to wear. In fact, people would wear black and white when they knew a painting would be made of them so as to look the best way they could and in the richest way. At the time, people would dress to impress. The way people dressed indicated their social status. Gigantic lace collars were very fashionable at the time but expensive as well.

Portrait of Jerónimo de Cevallos by El Greco, 1613

Portrait of a woman by Frans Hals, 1622

Lady in Black by Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1640

Portrait of a young woman by Gerard ter Borch, 1663

But in everyday's life, people would tend to wear colors, even the elite. 
Women would wear expensive jewellery and ornated dresses. That is the case of the women with a high status in Salem, the TV series. 
 In Women in Early America: Struggle, Survival and Freedom in a New World published in 2004, Dorothy A. Mays gives interesting details about the fashion of the time:

"Although Virginia and other southern colonies had limited sumptuary laws, New England regularly passed and attempted to enforce their legislation to a far greater extent than elsewhere in the colonies. Part of this might have been the rejection of the extravagant fashions popular in England, where men wore long wigs, high heels, and tight breeches. Women's faces were painted, and dramatically plunging necklines were flaunted. These ostentatious, gender-bending styles were part of what drove Puritans to flee Europe, and they sought to prevent such fashions from tainting the purified world they had traveled accross the ocean to establish. Particular styles and artticles of clothing were often permitted only to the wealthy. New England proclaimed £200 to be the dividing line between the elite and the working classes. The overwhelming majority of women who were not among the elite were forbidden from wearing silk hoods, excessively wide sleeves, or plunging necklines. Flamboyant display of gold, silver buttons, ribbons, and lace was also forbidden. Hairstyles came under censure too. In 1679, the Massachusetts General Court was prompted to express their offended sensibilities by writing : « Whereas there is manifest pride openly appearing among us by some women wearing borders of hair, and their cutting, curling, and immodest laying out of their hair, » women were advised to choose more modest styles (Fischer 1989, 41). (…) A low-necked dress, dripping with exprensive lace, was a sign of vanity, pride and undue attention to material goods. Puritans did not summarily reject the concept of beauty. Indeed, they believed outward beauty often expressed inward virtue. Modest dressing for seventeenth- century Puritan America allowed for forfitting and flattering clothing, as evidenced by portraits of stunningly attired women. Clothing was considered immodest only when it displayed too much flesh, too much wealth, or anything that blurred gender lines."

Emulation appeared at the time, that is to say, even though the way people dressed indicated their social status, poorer women started to wear expensive clothing, making it difficult or impossible to guess if they were servants or mistresses.

Lady Anne Pope by Robert Peake, 1615

 The costume designer represented the women in the series so as the viewers know their position at first glance. The higher in society, the more colourful and detailed the dress is.

Joseph A. Porro, Costume Designer for Salem

Mary Sibley, who is George Sibley's wife, the mayor of Salem, is thus the woman in the highest position of all Salem. She often wears somptuous dresses with many details and beautiful jewellery. 
 

The color used may imply different symbols and significations.

Black symbolizes neutrality but also death, reminding us that she is a witch. Moreover, she often wears black in public for she told everyone that her husband was severily sick, it is thus a way to appear in total sobriety in the eyes of everyone.

Green usually represents jalousy but here, it would represent evil. Green is often associated with snakes, vipers, which are considered as evil creatures, so as Mary. 

She also appears in gold which would refer to her wealth and by the same effect, her power in society. It could also refer to her magic powers; indeed, dressed entirely in gold makes her look like a queen or even like a goddess, that is to say a true rival to God, and so she is.

It is also the case of the Countess Marburg, a very rich and powerful woman who happens to be a witch as well, but a very old one. In order to keep her youth and beauty, she practices the art of blooming which consists in bathing into young woman's and children's blood.

The Countess Marburg, Season 2, Episode 9

Later, in season 2, Mercy Lewis also wears beautiful dresses. This is a means to reveal that she is reborn and more feminine and beautiful than ever. She only appears wearing pink dresses with a lot of rubbons, the pink color symoblizing youth, femininity and innocence which comes both in contrast and in adequation with the character of Mercy Lewis. Indeed, on the one hand, she is a pure and innocent child whose life has been teared apart because of the witches, she is a victim of evil, but on the other hand, she is a monster herself, hence the fact that she recovered her beauty from bathing in the blood of her own friend, Lollie.

Mercy Lewis' first appearance after learning the art of blooming, Season 2, Episode 7

Mercy Lewis, Season 2, Episode 13

Thus, some liberties have been taken by the costume designer to create an entertaining and beautiful wardrobe, but we can come to the conclusion that the costume crew still tried to be historically accurate and the mix between both works perfectly well.