What is the white neck brace shakespeare wears called?

Question

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/fear/images/2-35.jpg

that white thing he wears in this pic what is it?

Answer 1

Shakespeare's dog could talk, you know.

Will used to say to him "What's this thing I'm wearing around my neck?" and the dog would reply "Ruff-Ruff."

Honest.

He also used to shout "Baldy" at Shakespeare, and then run like Helen.

Answer 2

Edwardian collar

Answer 3

It is not a brace.

It is called a ruff, and was the fashion in the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth century. It was made of startched material and special irons were used to give it the shape that you commonly seen worn in painting sof Shakespeare or Queen Elizabeth I.  

Answer 4

A ruff