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Title: Chats on Costume
Author: Rhead, G. Woolliscroft
Language: English
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CHATS ON
COSTUME
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
_Fully Illustrated, and with Coloured Frontispieces. 5s. net_
CHATS ON OLD CHINA
By ARTHUR HAYDEN
SECOND EDITION. Revised, with many New Illustrations.
"A handsome handbook that the amateur in doubt will find useful, and
the china-lover will enjoy for its illustrations, and for the author's
obvious love and understanding of his subject."--_St. James's Gazette._
"All lovers of china will find much entertainment in this
volume."--_Daily News._
"It gives in a few pithy chapters just what the beginner wants to know
about the principal varieties of English ware. We can warmly commend
the book to the china collector."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
By ARTHUR HAYDEN
"The hints to collectors are the best and clearest we have seen; so
that altogether this is a model book of its kind."--_Athenæum._
"A useful and instructive volume."--_Spectator._
"An abundance of illustrations completes a well-written and
well-constructed history."--_Daily News._
"Mr. Hayden's taste is sound and his knowledge thorough."--_Scotsman._
"Should be as indispensable to collectors and lovers of antique
furniture as the author's 'Chats on Old China' is to connoisseurs of
old china."--_Lady's Pictorial._
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS
By ARTHUR HAYDEN
(_In Preparation_)
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
[Illustration: MISS ELLEN TERRY as "LADY MACBETH,"
BY J. S. SARGENT, R.A.
CHATS
ON COSTUME
BY
G. WOOLLISCROFT RHEAD, R.E.
AUTHOR OF "THE TREATMENT OF DRAPERY IN ART," "THE
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN," "A HANDBOOK OF ETCHING,"
"STUDIES IN PLANT FORM," ETC., ETC.
WITH 117 ILLUSTRATIONS, INCLUDING 35 LINE DRAWINGS
BY THE AUTHOR
[Illustration]
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
ADELPHI TERRACE
1906
(_All rights reserved._)
PREFACE
Needless to say the present work is far from exhausting the subject
of costume, which extends, indeed, over the whole field of history.
For reasons of space, neither ecclesiastical nor military costume is
touched upon. The book makes no pretensions to being anything more than
what its title suggests--a series of chats upon a subject which fills a
considerable place in the minds of, at any rate, the larger half of the
community.
While many works germane to the subject of costume have, of necessity,
been here largely drawn upon in the way of quotation, there will, at
the same time, be found a certain proportion of what may be described
as fresh material, the result of the author's acquaintance with the
subject in his individual practice as an artist. Indeed, the subject of
dress is, or should be, an artistic matter; it was so in the past, and
it will again, in the very near future, come to be recognised as one of
the Decorative Arts, requiring artistic knowledge, and some perception
of the fundamental laws of Design.
The author's thanks are particularly due to Mr. J. S. Sargent, R.A.,
for his kind permission to reproduce his portrait of Miss Ellen Terry.
[Illustration: WILLIAM, DUKE OF JULIERS AND CLEVES.
_By Aldegrever._]
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 5
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9
BIBLIOGRAPHY 15
CHAT
I. A GENERAL SURVEY 17
II. THE TUNIC 59
III. THE MANTLE 81
IV. THE DOUBLET AND HOSE 109
V. THE KIRTLE OR PETTICOAT 133
VI. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CRINOLINE 157
VII. COLLARS AND CUFFS 179
VIII. HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS 203
IX. THE DRESSING OF THE HAIR, MOUSTACHIOS, AND BEARD 235
X. BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET 279
INDEX 302
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAIT OF MISS ELLEN TERRY AS LADY MACBETH, _Frontispiece_
by J. S. SARGENT, R.A.
HORNED HEAD-DRESS: BEATRICE, COUNTESS OF ARUNDEL, 1439 _Title-page_
PAGE
DUKE OF JULIERS AND CLEVES (ALDEGREVER) 6
CHAT I.--A GENERAL SURVEY.
Heading 19
The Comte d'Artois and Mademoiselle Clothilde 21
Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham 23
Ludovicus Rex, by Thackeray 27
Travelling in a Horse-litter (from a Fourteenth Century MS.) 31
William III. 35
Queen Mary 39
Caricature: Pig Walking upon Stilts (Harleian MS.) 43
Caricature: Winged Devil (Cotton MS.) 43
Duchess of Ancaster (after Hudson) 47
Damask in Silk and Gold (Saracenic) 50
Venetian Fabric (Thirteenth Century) 51
London Promenade Dress, 1836 55
CHAT II.--THE TUNIC.
Tunic, Petticoat, and Girdle (Jutland) 62
Hunefer and his Wife ("Book of the Dead," _c._ B.C. 1370) 63
A Priest Burning Incense ("Book of the Dead") 65
Plan of the Tunic 66
The Tunic (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients") 67
Greek Figure (Ibid.) 70
Greek Figure (Ibid.) 71
Treuthe's Pilgryme atte Plow (Trinity College, Cambridge) 75
Anglo-Saxon Dress (Eighth Century) 76
CHAT III.--THE MANTLE.
Heading: The Imperial Coronation Mantle at Vienna 83
Plan of the Toga 86
The Toga (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients") 87
Statue of Queen Matilda at Rochester 91
Lord Burleigh (National Portrait Gallery) 93
Lodowick, Duke of Richmond and Lennox 97
Portion of the Picture of the Miracle of St. Bernard, Perugia 99
Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. 103
Earl of Rochester (National Portrait Gallery) 105
Duke of Buckingham 107
CHAT IV.--THE DOUBLET AND HOSE.
Heading: Italian Cassone (Fifteenth Century) 111
Figure by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Perugia 113
Paris on Mount Ida (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients") 115
Anglo-Saxon Retainer (G. W. Rhead) 116
Knightly Pastimes: Hawking, 1575 119
Sir Thomas Gresham (National Portrait Gallery) 121
Philip II. of Spain (National Portrait Gallery) 123
Henry, Prince of Wales 125
An Exquisite (from Jacquemin) 129
Philippe de Vendôme 131
CHAT V.--THE KIRTLE OR PETTICOAT.
The Close-fitting Jacket, _temp._ Edward III.
(from Viollet le Duc) 137
A Lady of Basle (Holbein) 139
The Children of Charles I. 143
Miss Lewis 145
The Gamut of Love (Watteau) 147
Madame de Mouchy 151
Walking Dress, 1810 152
Promenade Costume, 1833 154
Paris Evening Dress, 1833 155
CHAT VI.--THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CRINOLINE.
Heading: Figure from Jacquemin 159
Queen Charlotte (after Gainsborough) 161
Queen Elizabeth 163
James I. and his Queen, Anne of Denmark 165
Festal Dress, Otaheite 167
Mary Queen of Scots and Darnley 169
"Don't be afraid, my dear!" 171
King and Mrs. Baddeley 173
The Crinoletta Disfigurans (_Punch_) 177
CHAT VII.--COLLARS AND CUFFS.
Henrietta, Marquise d'Entragues 182
Henry IV. of France 185
The Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia 187
Son of the Painter Dirck de Vries 191
Charles I. in three views 193
Cravats 199
CHAT VIII.--HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS.
Heading: Fools in a Morris Dance 205
Mrs. Anne Warren (after Romney) 207
Hunting Hat, Orcagna, Campo Santo, Pisa 210
Hunting Hat (Ibid.) 210
Figure with Long Net-caul (G. W. Rhead) 212
Hat, Fra Angelico, Florence 213
Hat (Ibid.) 213
Heart-shaped Head-dress 216
Horned Head-dress 216
Francis Bacon 219
Thomas Killigrew 221
The Development of the Pot Hat 223
Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex 225
Letitia Bonaparte, mother of Napoleon 228
Anne Day 229
Two of the Wigginses (Gillray) 230
Parisian Head-dresses for 1812 231
Fool's Cap of Leather, German (S.K.M.) 233
CHAT IX.--THE DRESSING OF THE HAIR, MOUSTACHIOS, AND BEARD.
Heading: Comb (Italian, Fourteenth Century) 237
Assyrian Bas-relief 238
Bearded Bacchus (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients") 239
Greek Head-dresses (Ibid.) 241
Roman Head-dresses (Ibid.) 243
Head-dress from Viollet le Duc (Fifteenth Century) 248
A Painted Face (Roxburghe Ballads) 251
Wig, Egyptian, B.C. 1500 (British Museum) 254
Beau Fielding 257
Hyacinthe Rigaud 259
Ridiculous Taste; or, The Lady's Absurdity 261
The French Lady in London 263
Head-dress (from Jacquemin) 264
Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and the Dauphin 269
A Reigning Monarch 272
Philip IV. of Spain 273
CHAT X.--BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET.
Heading: Shoes (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries) 281
Clog or Patten 282
Roman Sandals (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients") 285
Sandals of Italian Peasantry 286
Lords John and Bernard Stuart 287
Shoes, French (Fifteenth and Seventeenth Centuries) 290
Shoes, German (Sixteenth Century) 291
Shoes (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Musée de Cluny) 293
Carved Wooden Shoe, French (Seventeenth Century) 294
Shoe, Dutch Officer of Guards, 1662 296
Shoe of a Musketeer, 1697 296
Top Boot, Louis XIII., 1611 297
Top Boot, Comte de Soissons, 1628 298
Bravoes (Martin Schongauer) 299
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Barclay: Ship of Fools of the World, 1508.
_Bell's Fashionable Magazine, 1812._
Bulwer: Pedigree of the English Gallant.
Carlyle, T.: Sartor Resartus; French Revolution.
Caxton: The Four Sons of Aymon.
Chaucer.
English Costume from Pocket-books, 1799.
Eginhart: Life of Charlemagne, 1619.
Fairholt: Costume in England, 1896.
Froissart's Chronicles, H. N. Humphreys, 1855.
Gregory of Tours: History of the Franks.
Gosson, Stephen: Schoole of Abuse, 1579.
Harding's Chronicle, 1543.
Holme, Randal: Notes on Dress, _c._ 1660.
Hope, T.: Costume of the Ancients.
Jonson, Ben: Plays.
John de Meun }
} Romance of the Rose.
William de Lorris}
Knight of La Tour Landry, 1371, Caxton.
Lydgate, Monk of Bury: Poems.
Le Blanc, H., Esq.: The Art of Tying the Cravat, 1828.
Paris, Matthew.
Piers Plowman: Pierce Ploughman's Vision.
Planché: British Costume, 1874; Cyclopædia of Costume, 1877.
Racinet: Costume.
Roxburghe Ballads, _c._ 1686.
Statutes: Henry III., Henry VIII.
Stothard, C.: Monumental Effigies, 1877.
Strutt: Dress and Habits of the English People, 1842.
Stubbes: Anatomy of Abuses.
Stow, John: Chronicle, 1615.
Stewart, J.: Plocacosmos, or the Whole Art of Hairdressing, 1782.
Viollet le Duc: Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier Français, 1858-75.
Wright, T.: Caricature and History of the Georges, 1868.
William of Malmesbury.
I
A
GENERAL
SURVEY
"You see two individuals, one dressed in fine Red, the other
in coarse threadbare Blue: Red says to Blue: 'Be hanged and
anatomised;' Blue hears with a shudder, and (O wonder of wonders!)
marches sorrowfully to the gallows; is there noosed-up, vibrates
his hour, and the surgeons dissect him, and fit his bones into a
skeleton for medical purposes. How is this; or what make ye of your
Nothing can act but where it is? Red has no physical hold of Blue,
no clutch of him, is nowise in contact with him: neither are those
ministering Sheriffs and Lord-Lieutenants and Hangmen and Tipstaves
so related to commanding Red, that he can tug them hither and
thither; but each stands distinct within his own skin. Nevertheless
as it is spoken so it is done; the articulated Word sets all hands
in action; and Rope and Improved-drop perform their work.
"Thinking reader, the reason seems to me twofold: First, that man
is a Spirit, and bound by invisible bonds to All Men; secondly,
that he wears Clothes, which are the visible emblems of that
fact. Has not your Red hanging-individual a horsehair wig,
squirrel-skins and a plush-gown; whereby all mortals know that he
is a Judge?--Society, which the more I think of it astonishes me
the more, is founded upon Cloth."
CARLYLE, _Sartor Resartus_.
[Illustration]
CHATS ON COSTUME
I
A GENERAL SURVEY
That singular clothes-philosopher, Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, whose
revolutionary theories upon the subject of the "vestural tissue" first
burst upon an astonished world some seventy odd years ago, has, with
characteristic emphasis, drawn attention, amongst other things, to
the fact that man is the only animal who is not provided with some
Nature-made protection against the elements--a protection either of
fur, feather, hide, or what not. Bounteous Nature, however, always
kind, who never withholds a good without affording ample compensation,
has endowed man with that fertile brain and cunning hand whereby he may
convert hide into leather, wool of sheep into cloth, web of worm into
silk, flax and cotton into linen of various kinds, and so restore that
balance of endowment without which man would be at the mercy of every
wind that blew.
The uses of clothes, or costume--the words may be here taken as
synonymous--may be said to be threefold: first, for decency, which was
their first and apparently only use, as we may assume that in Eden the
sun always shone; secondly, for comfort and protection; thirdly, for
beauty and adornment.
First, then, for decency. That is sufficiently clearly established if
we may accept the Mosaic account of the world's juvenescence: "And
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons";
"Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins
and clothed them."[1] This habit of observance of the decencies of
life appears to be common to all nations. No people or tribe, however
primitive the civilisation, but makes some sort of provision in this
respect. The Veddas of Ceylon make girdles of leaves, which gives
them a strangely fantastic appearance. We learn from the accounts of
travellers in Central Africa that "clothing, though extremely simple,
consisting of a little grass-cloth, ornaments of feathers, fur, shells,
glass and metal beads, are worn, and the skin is decorated by stripes
of paint or an extensive series of cicatrices." Among the aborigines
of the Malay Peninsula (Sakais) "the men wear a strip of bark-cloth
twisted round the waist and drawn between the legs. The women sometimes
wear small cotton-cloth petticoats (sarongs) purchased from the
Malays, and the men occasionally adopt Chinese trousers; but in their
native forests, however, none of these luxuries are indulged in."
[Illustration: THE COMTE D'ARTOIS AND MADEMOISELLE CLOTHILDE.]
Secondly, for comfort and protection. The climatic influence on dress
is, and must necessarily be, considerable. This is well illustrated by
the well-known fable of "The Wind and the Sun." The more boisterously
the wind blows, the more closely the man enwraps himself with his
cloak; the more fiercely the sun shines, the more the man divests
himself of raiment;[2] but between the skins of the Laplander,
fashioned by the help of a thorn or a fishbone for a needle, and the
sinews of the animal for thread, and the light gossamer clothing of
the countries of the East there is a vast range, the extent of which,
indeed, is almost boundless. Climate not only determines the amount or
degree of warmth or otherwise, but also, as in architecture, influences
its character both as to form and colour. Moreover, clothes are an
index to the character or temper of an individual or nation. "What
meaning lies in Colour! If the Cut betoken intellect and talent, so
does the Colour betoken temper and heart."[3]
[Illustration: CHARLES HOWARD, EARL OF NOTTINGHAM.
_Engraved by Thomas Cockson._]
Thirdly, for beauty and adornment--and it is with this latter aspect
that this work is mainly concerned. That clothes _should_ be beautiful
is an axiom which, one would think, might readily be accepted; that
clothes _have been_ beautiful is a fact which cannot be denied. (It is
only during the present utilitarian age that the æsthetic principle has
been lost sight of.) That clothes _might again_ be beautiful, without
suffering any loss on the score of utility, is also unquestionable. To
attempt to follow the whims and vagaries of that jade, Fashion, through
all her endless diversities and constant changes, would indeed be a
Herculean task, and might well appal the boldest he (or she, for that
matter) who would wield pen or pencil.
The will-o'-the-wisp of Fashion is, however, a less capricious person
than would appear at first sight. There is some method in her madness.
Similar types, similar decorative _motifs_, appear and reappear
through the centuries with the regularity of the changing seasons.
The veracious chronicler may therefore take some comfort from this
fact; it lightens his burden, and makes his task less difficult than
it would otherwise be. Moreover, dress, as in architectural form, to
the careful student of decorative development, presents really less
inherent variety than one would suppose; historical accuracy is the
favourite bugbear of pedants, and, while appreciating to the full the
great distinctiveness of such periods as the Elizabethan, the Stuart,
and the Georgian, there are certain primitive forms, certain leading
characteristics, which are common to most periods, and which, like
the poor, are always with us. One might hazard the contention that a
painter would be perfectly safe in introducing a pot-hat and a pair
of trousers at practically any period of the world's history--_not in
conjunction, mind_; no, that glorious consummation was reserved for
this happy age of ours. The Greeks, however, as is well known, wore
trousers. Some form of the trouser was worn by the lower classes at
most periods of English history. Ben Jonson makes Peniboy junior walk
in his "gowne, waistcoate, and _trouses_," expecting his tailor. Nay,
do we not read in the Old Testament--in _some_ Old Testaments, at any
rate--that even Adam and Eve made themselves--ahem!--breeches? As for
the pot-hat, its origin is lost in the maze of antiquity. It crops up
in its various developments at all sorts of odd times and periods. A
fearsome variety of it is to be seen upon the head of Jan Arnolfini
in Van Eyck's picture in the National Gallery. It appears in Durer's
engravings and woodcuts, woolly, hairy structures, occasionally of
abnormal height. It is perhaps not generally known that it occurs in
the Raphael cartoons ("Paul preaching at Athens"). One would have
imagined such a singular appearance as a pot-hat, in such surroundings,
to have been evident at first sight. The reason it was not so was on
account of its colour (vermilion). Had it been black, one would have
spotted it at once; and this fact, when one comes to consider it, is
a little singular, since, if one were to march down Piccadilly some
fine afternoon crowned in a vermilion pot-hat, methinks one would not
_altogether_ escape notice.
There is, however, still another aspect of clothes which remains to
be considered, _i.e._, their symbolism. It has been written, "Manners
maketh man." It might also be written with even a still greater degree
of truth, "_Clothes_ maketh man," since clothes contribute so much
to man's dignity. Carlyle finds it difficult to imagine a naked Duke
of Windlestraw addressing a naked House of Lords, and asks, very
pertinently, "Who ever saw any Lord my-lorded in tattered blanket
fastened with a wooden skewer?" His King Toom-tabard (empty gown)
reigning over Scotland long after the man John Baliol had gone! His
quaint conceit of a suit of cast clothes, meekly bearing its honours,
without haughty looks or scornful gesture, has been imitated by
Thackeray in his amusing illustration of "Ludovicus Rex"--the "silent
dignity" of "Rex" as represented by the suit of clothes, the forlorn
appearance of Ludovicus, the magnificence of "Ludovicus Rex," all
testify to the great importance and value of costume, as contrasted
with the relatively trivial character of the wearer.
Who, then, shall dare to belittle the importance of costume? or to
affirm that character can rise superior to its environment? Our subject
is one of the most significant which can be presented to the reader's
consideration. It provides one of the most curious and fascinating
studies in the world.
[Illustration: "LUDOVICUS REX."
_From "Paris Sketches."_]
The materials upon which we base our knowledge of the dress of the
earlier periods of the world's history are necessarily scanty. For
the Egyptian and Assyrian period we are dependent upon monumental
inscriptions and carving, and the few papyri which have survived the
ravages of time. For the Greek and Roman period, upon sculpture,
pottery, and the written description of the more considerable authors.
For the Byzantine, Frankish, and Gothic periods, upon mosaic,
monumental effigies, and illuminated MSS. It is not until what may be
called the age of the _painter_ that we may be said to emerge into the
broad light of day, and the pencils of Holbein, Rubens, and Vandyke
make things clearer for us. The sumptuary laws, however, enacted at
various periods, against excess in apparel and extravagance in dress,
let in a flood of light on the manners and customs of the times, and in
them will be found many curious and interesting details. The principal
Acts are the following: 2 Edw. II. c. 4; 37 Edw. III. cc. 8, 14; 3 Edw.
IV. c. 1; 22 Edw. IV. c. 1; 1 Hen. VIII. c. 14; 6 Hen. VIII. c. 1; 7
Hen. VIII. c. 6; 24 Hen. VIII. c. 13; 1 and 2 Phil. and Mary, c. 2; 8
Eliz. c. 11. All these laws were repealed by an Act of 1 Jac. I.
This grandmotherly legislation, which was never effective, always
evaded and even defied, had a double object in view, first to induce
habits of thrift amongst all classes of the people, and secondly on
æsthetic grounds.
In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Edward III. (A.D.
1363), the Commons exhibited a complaint in Parliament against the
general usage of expensive apparel not suited either to the degree or
income of the people; and an Act was passed by which the following
regulations were insisted upon: Furs of ermine and lettice, and
embellishments of pearls, excepting for a head-dress, were strictly
forbidden to any but the Royal Family, and nobles possessing upwards of
£1,000 per annum.
Cloths of gold and silver, and habits embroidered with jewellery, lined
with pure miniver, and other expensive furs, were permitted only to
knights and ladies, whose incomes exceeded 400 marks yearly.
Knights whose income exceeded 200 marks, or squires possessing £200
in lands or tenements, were permitted to wear cloth of silver with
ribands, girdles, &c., reasonably embellished with silver, and woollen
cloth, of the value of six marks the whole piece; but all persons under
the rank of knighthood, or of less property than the last mentioned,
were confined to the use of cloth not exceeding four marks the piece,
and were prohibited wearing silks and embroidered garments of any sort,
or embellishing their apparel with any ornaments of gold, silver, or
jewellery. Rings, buckles, ouches, girdles, and ribands were forbidden
them, and the penalty annexed to the infringement of this statute was
the forfeiture of the dress or ornament so made or worn.
In the reign of Henry IV. these laws were so little regarded that it
was found necessary to revive them with considerable additions. It was
enacted that--"No man not being a banneret, or person of high estate,"
was permitted to wear cloth of gold, of crimson, or cloth of velvet,
or motley velvet, or large hanging sleeves open or closed, or gowns so
long as to touch the ground, or to use the furs of ermine, lettice,
or marten, excepting only "gens d'armes quant ils sont armez."
Decorations of gold and silver were forbidden to all who possessed less
than £200 in goods and chattels, or £20 per annum, unless they were
heirs to estates of 50 marks per annum, or to £500 worth of goods and
chattels.
Four years afterwards it was ordained that no man, let his condition
be what it might, should be permitted to wear a gown or garment cut or
slashed into pieces in the form of letters, rose leaves, and posies
of various kinds, or any such-like devices, under the penalty of
forfeiting the same, and the offending tailor was to be imprisoned
during the King's pleasure.
In the third year of the reign of Edward IV. an Act was promulgated
by which cloth of gold, cloth of silk of a purple colour, and fur
of sables were prohibited to all knights under the estate of lords.
Bachelor knights were forbidden to wear cloth of velvet upon velvet,
unless they were Knights of the Garter; and simple esquires, or
gentlemen, were restricted from the use of velvet, damask, or figured
satin, or any counterfeit resembling such stuffs, except they possessed
a yearly income to the value of £100, or were attached to the King's
Court or household.
It was also forbidden to any persons who were not in the enjoyment of
£40 yearly income to wear any of the richer furs; also girdles of gold,
silver, or silver-gilt were forbidden.
[Illustration: TRAVELLING IN A HORSE LITTER.
_From the MS. 118 Français in the Bibliothèque Nationale (late
Fourteenth Century)._]
No one under the estate of a lord was permitted to wear indecently
short jackets, gowns, &c., mentioned by Monstrelet, or pikes or
poleines to his shoes and boots exceeding two inches in length. No
yeoman, or person under the degree of a yeoman, was allowed bolsters or
stuffing of wool, cotton, or cadis in his purpoint or doublet under a
penalty of six shillings and eightpence fine, and forfeiture awarded;
the unfortunate tailor making such short or stuffed dresses, or
shoemaker manufacturing such long-toed shoes for unprivileged persons,
being under the pain of cursing by the clergy for the latter offence,
as well as the forfeit of twenty shillings--one noble to the King,
another to the cordwainers of London, and the third to the Chamber of
London.
It will readily be seen that these laws were necessarily the cause of
great hindrance to trade, which was, indeed, not the least of the evils
occasioned by these absurd laws. Richard Onslow, Recorder of London,
1565 (given in Ellis's "Original Letters," vol. ii.), describes an
interview which he had with the civic tailors, who were puzzled to know
whether they might "line a slop-hose not cut in panes, with a lining of
cotton stitched to the slop, over and besydes the linen lining straight
to the leg."
The statutory laws, however, were not the _only_ hindrance to trade,
since it would appear that during the Plantagenet period _dishonesty_
in trade was as rife as it is at the present time, and foreign
competition as keen; the conditions, however, were slightly different,
the foreign merchants obtaining high prices for their goods, instead
of dumping cheap goods into the country at low prices. The remedy was
directed to the enforcement of greater honesty in trade dealings,
rather than to fortify themselves behind tariff walls.
It was enacted in the third year of the reign of Edward IV. c.
1:--"Firste, whereas many yeres paste & nowe at this daye, the
workemanshyp of clothes & things requisite to the same, is & hath bene
of such fraude disceite & falsite, that the sayde clothes in other
landes & countreis, is had in small reputacyon, to the greate shame of
this lande. And by reason thereof a great quantite of clothes of other
strange landes be brought into this realme, & here solde at an highe
& excessyve pryce, evydently shewynge thossens defaulte & falsyte of
the maykynge of wollen clothes of this lande. Our soveraigne lorde
the Kynge, for the remedy of the premisses, & to the preferment of
such labours & occupacions, which hath been used by the makynge of the
sayde clothes, by thaduyse assent & request & auctoritie aforsayd,
hath ordeyned & establysshed, that every hole wollen clothe called
brodclothe, which shal be made & set to sale after the feaste of
Saynt Peter called ad vincula, which shal be in the yere of our Lorde
M.CCCC.LXV. after the ful waterynge & rackyng straynyng or tenturyng of
the same redy to sale, shall holde & conteyne in length xxiiii yardes,
& to every yarde an ynche, conteynynge the bredthe of a mannes ynche,
to be measured by the creste of the same clothe. And i brede ii yardes,
or vii quarters at the leaste wythyn the lystes. & if the clothe be
longer in measure than xxiiii yardes & the ynches than the byer therof
shall paye to the seller for for as moche as doth excede such measure
of xxiiii yardes, after the rate of the measure above ordeyned. Also
it is ordeined & establisshed by auctoritie of the sayd lordes, that
all maner clothes called streytes, to be made & put to sale after
the same feaste, after the full watering & rackyng, streynynge or
tenturynge therof redye to sale, shall holde & conteyne in lengthe xii
yardes & the ynches, after the measure aforsaid, & in brede one yarde
within the lystes. Also it is ordeyned & establysshed by thauctoritie
aforsaid, that every clothe called kersey, to be made & put to sale
after the sayde feaste, after the full waterynge & rackynge straynynge
or tenturynge of the same redy to sale, shall holde & conteyne in
lengthe xviii yardes & the ynches, as is aforsayd, & in brede one yarde
& a nayle, or at the leaste one yarde within the lystes. & also it is
ordeyned & establysshed, that every halfe clothe of every of the sayde
hole clothes, streytes, & kerseys, shall kepe his measure in length
& brede after the rate fourme & nature of his hole clothe aforsayde.
& that no persone, whiche shall make or cause to be made any maner
wollen clothe to sel after the said feaste shall medle or put in or
upon the same cloth, nor the wolle, whereof the sayd clothe shall be
made, any lambes wolle, flockes or corke in any maner, upon payne to
forfayt xx_s._ for every clothe or halfe clothe, wherein & wherupon any
such lambes wolle, flockes or corke shall be put or medled. The one
halfe thereof to be to the Kyng, & the other halfe to hym that shall
leyse the same clothe, & duely prove the same to be made contrarie to
this ordinance, excepte that he shall chose to make of lambes wolle by
itselfe without mynglyng with any other wolle. Excepte also that corke
may be used in dyenge upon woded wolle, & also in dyenge of all suche
clothe, that is onely made of woded wolle, so that the same wolle &
clothe be perfytly boyled & madered, except also that corke may be put
upon clothe, whiche is perfectly boyled & madered"--but enough of this.
The sumptuary laws continued to be enacted against this, that, or the
other abuse, or fancied abuse. If a new fashion sprung up, a brand new
law would be immediately fashioned for the purpose of keeping it within
bounds. It was to no purpose, however; the sumptuary laws continued
to be disregarded as heretofore. "How often hath her majestie with
the grave advice of her honorable Councell, sette downe the limits of
apparell to every degree, & how soon again hath the pride of our harts
overflowen the chanell!"[4]
[Illustration: GUILJELMUS III.
D. G. ANGLIÆ, SCOTIÆ, FRANCIÆ et HIBERNIÆ REX.
WILLIAM III.]
It was the same with the satirists, whether of horned head-dresses
or other extravagances; Monk Lydgate might rave, might shout himself
hoarse, but the women would have their horns.
It was indeed inevitable that the vagaries of fashion and the love
of fine feathers should become the favourite butt of the satirists,
purists, and other persons who assumed the character of mentor. Among
the most insistent of these were the priesthood. St. Bernard thus
admonishes his sister, perhaps with greater candour than politeness, on
her visiting him, "well arraied with riche clothing, with perles and
precious stones":--
"Suster, yet ye love youre bodi, by reson ye shuld beter love youre
soule: wene ye not that ye displese God and his aungels to see in you
suche pompe and pride to adorn suche a carion as is youre body.... Whi
thenke ye not that the pore peple that deyen for hungir and colde, that
for the sixte part of youre gay arraye xl persones might be clothed,
refresshed, and kepte from the colde?... And thanne the ladi wepte,
and solde awey her clothes, and levid after an holy lyff, and had love
of God, aungeles, and holy seintes, the whiche is beter thanne of the
worldely pepille" ("Knight of La Tour Landry," 1371).
The sister of St. Bernard, however, evidently lacked the power of
repartee of St. Edith, daughter of King Edgar, who, though brought
up in a convent at Wilton, and destined to the life of the cloister,
nevertheless had a weakness for clothes which seemed too fine and
gay for a nun. St. Ethelwold, who, it is clear, must have shared the
opinions of St. Bernard upon the subject of finery, and ventured to
upbraid her, received this crushing reply: "God's doom, that may not
fail, is pleased only with conscience. Therefore I trow that as clean
a soul may be under those clothes that are arrayed with gold as under
thy slight fur-skins." He was reminded also that St. Augustine had said
that pride could lurk even in rags. This latter sally calls to mind
the story of Diogenes spitting upon the floor of Plato's house and
exclaiming, "Thus I trample on the pride of Plato." "With _greater_
pride, O Diogenes," was the quiet rejoinder.
Dowglas, the monk of Glastonbury, writing against the extravagances
which were rife during the latter half of the reign of Edward III.,
says: "The English haunted so much unto the foly of strangers, that
every year they changed them in diverse shapes and disguisings of
clothing, now long, now large, now wide, now strait, and every day
clothingges, new and destitute, and devest from all honesty of old
arraye or good usage; and another time in short clothes, and so strait
waisted, with full sleeves and tapetes of surcoats and hodes, over long
and large, all so ragged and knib on every side, and all so shattered,
and also buttoned, that I with truth shall say, they seem more like to
tormentors or devils in their clothing, and also in their shoying and
other arraye than they seemed to be like men."
The authors of the "Roman de la Rose," William de Lorris, who died
in 1260, and John de Meun, who continued and finished the poem about
1304, are amongst the most severe of these satirists. In alluding to
the unnecessary length of their trains, the author advises the ladies,
if their legs be not handsome, nor their feet small and delicate, to
wear long robes trailing on the pavement to hide them; those having
pretty feet are counselled to elevate their robes, as if for air and
convenience, that all who are passing may see and admire. This has been
imitated by Ben Jonson, who in his "Silent Woman" makes Truewit say:--
"I love a good dressing before any beauty o' the world. Oh, a woman is
then like a delicate garden; nor is there one kind of it; she may vary
every hour; take often counsel of her glass, and choose the best. If
she have good ears, show them; good hair, lay it out; good legs, wear
short clothes; a good hand, discover it often; practise any art to
mend breath, cleanse teeth, repair eyebrows, paint, and profess it."
[Illustration: MARIA
D. G. ANGLIÆ, SCOTIÆ, FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REGINA.
QUEEN MARY.]
The author of the "Roxburghe Ballads" ("A Woman's Birth and Education")
informs us that when Cupid first beheld a woman--
"He prankt it up in Fardingals and Muffs,
In Masks, Rebatos, Shapperowns, and Wyers,
In Paintings, Powd'rings, Perriwigs, and Cuffes,
In Dutch, Italian, Spanish, French attires;
Thus was it born, brought forth, and made Love's baby,
And this is that which now we call a Lady."
Nor was it the fair sex only who were thus lampooned. The men also came
in for their share, and were as much the objects of the satirist's
wrath as were the women:--
"Your ruffs and your bands,
And your cuffs at your hands,
Your pipes and your smokes,
And your short curtall clokes,
Scarfes, feathers and swerdes,
And their bodkin beards;
Your wastes a span long,
Your knees with points hung
Like morrice-dance bels
And many toyes els."
SKELTON, _Elinor Rummin_, 1625.
The Knight of La Tour Landry, writing towards the close of the
fourteenth century, in order to deter his daughters from extravagance
and superfluity of dress, recounts a story of a knight who, having
lost his wife, applied to "an heremyte hys uncle" to know whether she
was saved or not and how it "stode with her." The hermit, after many
prayers, dreamed that he saw "Seint Michelle & the develle that had her
in a balaunce, & alle her good dedes in the same balaunce, & a develle
& alle her evelle dedes in that other balaunce. & the most that grevid
her was her good & gay clothing, & furres of gray menivere & letuse; &
the develle cried & sayde, Seint Michel, this woman had tenne diverse
gownes & as mani cotes; & thou wost welle lesse myghte have suffised
her after the lawe of God; ... & he toke all her juellys and rynges,
... & also the false langage that she had saide ... & caste hem in the
balaunce with her evelle dedes." The "evelle dedes passed the good, &
weyed downe & overcame her good dedes. & there the develle toke her, &
bare her away, & putte her clothes & aray brennyng in the flawme on her
with the fire of helle, & kist her doune into the pitte of helle; ... &
the pore soul cried, & made moche sorughe & pite ... but it boted not."
Lydgate, the famous monk of Bury, and one of the foremost poets of his
time, was unwearying in his condemnation of the extravagances of dress,
his pet aversion being the horned head-dresses which obtained during
the York and Lancastrian period. In a "Ditty of Women's Horns," he
unbosoms himself as follows:--
"Clerkys recorde, by gret auctoryté,
Hornes wer yove to bestys for dyffence;
A thing contrarye to femynté,
To be maad sturdy of resystence.
But arche wives, egre in ther vyolence,
Fers as tygres for to make affray
They have despit, and ageyn concyence
Lyst nat of pryde, then hornes cast away."
But the most insistent of all the satirists was Philip Stubbes, who
wrote his "Anatomy of Abuses" in the reign of Elizabeth. In lampooning
the feminine habit of aping masculine dress, he says: "The women have
doublets and jerkins as the men have, buttoned up to the breast, and
made with wings, welts, and pinions on the shoulder-points, as man's
apparel in all respects; and although this be a kind of attire proper
only to a man, yet they blush not to wear it."
Artists also, as well as writers, joined in the general chorus of
condemnation of the extravagances of fashion. Strutt gives a cut from
the MS. copy of Froissart in the Harleian Library, of a pig walking
upon stilts playing the harp, and crowned with the high steeple
head-dress which prevailed during the reign of Edward IV.
In the Cotton MS. (Nero, C4) there is an illustration of a winged
devil arrayed in a costume with elongated sleeves tied in knots, the
prevailing fashion of the period.
It must be confessed that the satirists were occasionally a little too
severe in their strictures, for while doubtless extravagance prevailed
at most periods--indeed, must always prevail--the dress of such a
period as that of the Plantagenets, as well as that of Elizabeth,
was sumptuous to a degree. In fact, it is difficult for us moderns,
so surrounded as we are by commonness, cheapness, and vulgarity, to
realise the extreme splendour of the Middle Ages, either as regards
their dress or their surroundings. Plenty of extravagance there is at
the present time, but no real magnificence, either as to invention or
material.
[Illustration]
With respect to material, by far the most sumptuous fabric employed for
purposes of adornment in past times is undoubtedly cloth of gold. This
truly regal fabric has been in use from the earliest periods. "And they
shall make the ephod of _gold_, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet,
and fine twined linen, with cunning work. And the curious girdle of
the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the
work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
twined linen."[5]
It is recorded of the wife of the Emperor Honorius, who died about the
year 400, upon the re-opening of her grave in 1544, the golden tissues
which formed the shroud were melted, and amounted in weight to 36 lbs.
About the body of the Frankish King Childeric, when his grave was
discovered in 1653, were found numerous strips of pure gold, pointing
to the fact that the body must have been wrapped in a mantle of golden
stuff for burial.
The sumptuary laws which were enacted at various periods of English
history, regulating and restricting the wearing of this precious fabric
to persons of estate, have already been referred to, and serve to show
in what high estimation this fabric was held.
It will readily be imagined that cloth of gold was necessarily costly.
The Princess Mary (afterwards Queen), thirteen years before she came
to the throne, "Payed to Peycocke, of London, for xix yerds iii qrt of
clothe of golde at xxxviij_s._ the yerde. xxxvij_li._ x_s._ vj_d._" and
for "a yerde & dr qrt of clothe of silver xl_s._" In later times the
use of the pure gold thread was discontinued except for very costly
garments, and tissues were made of silver-gilt or copper-gilt thread.
The thin paper which we now know by the name of tissue paper was
originally made for the purpose of being placed between the pieces of
stuff to prevent tarnishing when laid by.
Silk, like the sun, and so many other good things comes to us from
the "sacred East." The earliest mention of it is in Aristotle, who
refers to the importation into the Western world of raw silk. Silken
garments were brought to Rome from a very early period, but on account
of their costliness were worn only by a very few. Heliogabalus was the
first Emperor who wore silk for clothing. By the revised code of laws
issued for the Roman Empire in 533 A.D., a monopoly of silk
weaving was given to the Court, looms being set up in the imperial
palace and worked by women. The raw material, however, had still to
be brought from abroad. The story of the introduction of the silkworm
into Constantinople will serve to show how jealously the secret of the
rearing of the worm was kept by the peoples of the East. The eggs of
the silkworm were brought, hidden in their walking staves, by two Greek
monks, who had lived many years amongst the Chinese and learnt the
process of rearing the worm, and who carried them to Constantinople and
presented them to the Emperor. Very soon afterwards the Western world
reared its own silk.
Silk was known under different names at various periods, according
to its colour, texture, or design. Samite, Samit, Examitum, is a
six-threaded tissue, and consequently costly. The hand which grasped
the sword Excalibur when it was thrown into the lake was clothed in
white samite--
"Launcelot and the Queen were cledde
In robes of a rich wede,
Of samyte white, with silver shredde."
Ciclatoun was a substance of light texture, and was used both for
ecclesiastical purposes and for the more stately dresses of a secular
character. Chaucer, in his "Rime of Sire Thopas," says:--
"Of Brugges were his hosen broun
His robe was of ciclatoun."
Cendal was a less costly fabric, and was also used largely in
ecclesiastical vestments.
Taffeta was a thin transparent textile, and was used, as well as
cendal, during the Middle Ages for linings.
Sarcenet also is a light webbed silk, and by degrees supplanted cendal.
Satin was also used in the Middle Ages, and is mentioned by Chaucer in
his "Man of Lawe's Tale," but was not brought into general use until
later. The beauties of the Court of Charles II., as pictured by Sir
Peter Lely, are usually clad in satin.
Velvet, that most sumptuous material, has always been held in high
estimation on account of the richness of its texture and fold. It has
always been used, since its introduction into the West, for robes of
state and for the more sumptuous kind of dress. The place of its origin
is not known, but it probably comes from China.
[Illustration: DUCHESS OF ANCASTER (AFTER HUDSON).]
In a letter preserved in the Record Office (_circa_ 1505) to Edmund de
la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, from his steward Killingworth (De la Pole had
been indicted of homicide and murder, "for slaying of a mean person in
his rage and fury," and had fled to Flanders), conveying excuses from
some person un-named, mentioned only as "your friend," for not having
communicated with De la Pole earlier, as he had hoped, to send him news
from England, the writer continues:--
"For your gown he axked me howe many elles velvet wold serve you.
I told hym xiiij Englishe yerdis, and then he saied, 'What lynyng
thereunto?' I answerde 'Sarcenet' by cause of the lest coste to helpe
it forward. And he saide to me, 'Wel, I shal see what I can doo
therin.' Soo, sir, if it please you to write to him in Duche, and thank
him, and geve but oon worde therin towching your gown, I doubte not ye
shal have hyt."
The patternings of woven brocades, damasks and other textiles afford
an interest quite apart from mere utility, or the purpose for which
they were intended to serve as an ornamental adjunct to dress, since
by their means we are able to trace the great ornamental traditions to
their original source in the East.
The history of the art of weaving in China is lost in obscurity, but we
may reasonably infer from our knowledge of the character of its people
that neither their methods nor the character of the ornamentation have
materially changed during a period of as much as two thousand years.
Dionysius Periegetes informs us that the Seres "make precious figured
garments resembling in colour the flowers of the field, and rivalling
in fineness the work of spiders."
It is certain that the Egyptians practised the art of weaving from very
early times, although the earliest ornamental fabrics found in Egypt
are of the sixth century A.D. In later times, however, their
woven fabrics were exceedingly sumptuous. Shakespeare's description of
the barge of Cleopatra will be familiar to all--
"The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne
Burned on the water:
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were love-sick with them; she did lie
In her pavilion--cloth of gold, of tissue," &c.
The Sicilian brocades of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were
the finest in the world. The character of their ornamentation betrays
their Eastern origin, and we may trace in them the various influences
which were brought to bear upon them by their successive conquerors,
and which left a lasting mark upon their art. The earliest ornamental
influence was that of Byzantium, which followed upon the conquest
of the island by Belisarius in 535. The patternings are made up of
grotesque animals, birds, griffins, chimeras, &c., intertwined with
conventional foliage or ornament of a purely abstract character. After
the Saracen conquest, resultant upon the preaching of Muhammad, we find
Arabic inscriptions freely introduced as part of the general decorative
motive. Gold thread is lavishly used, and, together with an admixture
of colour, usually forms the pattern, upon a coloured ground, dark or
light, as the case may be.
[Illustration: DAMASK IN SILK AND GOLD (SARACENIC, ELEVENTH TO
THIRTEENTH CENTURY).]
The tradition spread to the mainland of Italy, and looms were set up
in Lucca, Florence, Venice, Genoa, and elsewhere; the character of
the ornamentation gradually changing, however, as the Renascence
influence began to make itself felt. Even the most cursory study of
Italian painting will serve to give an idea of the splendour of the
dresses of the Italian Gothic and Renascence periods.
[Illustration: VENETIAN FABRIC IN SILK AND GOLD (THIRTEENTH CENTURY).]
It was Louis XI. who introduced the art of silk weaving into France,
and looms were established at Tours in 1480. In 1520 looms were set up
in Lyons by Francis I.
In England also the art of weaving flourished, and was employed for
ecclesiastical vestments, hangings, furniture, and other purposes, as
well as for civil dress. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward II. occurs
the item: "To a mercer in London for a green hanging of wool with
figures of Kings and Earls upon it, for the King's service in this hall
on solemn feasts at London," &c.
For the "mantell of the Garter" of Henry VII. "a pound and a half of
gold of Venys" was employed "aboute the making of a lace and boton."
Instances of the splendour of the costume at the different periods of
the past might be multiplied indefinitely.
The monk of Malmesbury describes the banner under which Harold fought
at Hastings as having been "embroidered in gold with the figure of
a man in the act of fighting, studded with precious stones, woven
sumptuously."
Chaucer describes the King's daughter in the "Squire of Low Degree" as
having--
"Mantell of ryche degre
Purple palle and armyne fre."
In the "Romaunt of the Rose" the dress of Mirth is described as
follows:--
"Full yong he was, and merry of thought,
And in samette, with birdes wrought,
And with gold beten full fetously
His bodie was clad full richely."
. . . . .
"A coronell on hur hedd sett,
Hur clothys wyth bestes and byrdes wer bete,
All abowte for pryde."
And now contrast all this with the extreme poverty of the dress of
the present day, and turn our thoughts for a moment to those terrible
cylindrical enormities the pot-hat and trousers.
Dress? we don't dress--we simply cover our nakedness--as in
architecture we are content if we keep out wind and wet. We have
forgotten how to dress as we have forgotten how to build, and beauty
has forsaken dress as it has forsaken the rest of the decorative arts.
Dress is, or should be, one of the decorative arts; the adornment of
a "human," assuming that Nature's marvel must be covered, is, to say
the very least, as important as the adornment of a brick wall. What
is the explanation of the wave of Philistinism which swept not only
England but the rest of the world at the beginning of the nineteenth
century? Can it be the rise of science, which, bringing in its wake
the mechanical fiend, has reduced everything to rule and compass, and
thus brought about the death of the æsthetic sense? No other period of
the world's history but some country forged ahead and kept alight the
sacred lamp of beauty.
* * * * *
Trousers are apparently eternal; they date from the beginning, and will
endure, one fears, to the end of sublunary time. Of late there has
been a tendency, especially amongst middle-aged and elderly men, to
affect the knickerbocker, although whether the æsthetic principle is
the mainspring of this tendency, coupled with a natural and pardonable
desire to exhibit a well-developed calf, or whether, peradventure, the
"too old at twenty" cry is at the bottom of it, is a question which
provides food for reflection.
What, then, in view of this eternity of the trouser, can be done to
bring it abreast of modern taste and thought? because we _do_ move
in matters of taste, although almost imperceptibly. Speaking as a
designer, it seems only possible to develop the trouser in one of
two different directions--that of the peg-top or the bell-bottom.
Bell-bottoms may at once be ruled out of the running, since they have
become so identified with the coster fraternity that no man of fashion
would dream of adopting them. These, then, are the two extremes or
opposite poles. There is, however, as the late Mr. Gladstone would have
said, a third and middle course--_their columnar character might be
retained, and even emphasised_. The shafts might be fluted, as in the
Corinthian Order, or festooned, as in the "Prentice pillar."
[Illustration: LONDON PROMENADE DRESS, 1836.]
In all seriousness, however, the trouser is an absurdity even from
the point of view of mere comfort. A man cannot sit down without
first hitching himself up at the knee. The knee is the natural place
for the garment to be drawn in, as a certain degree of looseness is
necessary at that point in order to allow of the free movement of the
limb. Nature herself rebels against the trouser, and does her level
best to produce variety of fold, which makes for beauty. Philistine
man, however, decides otherwise, and that singular invention the
trouser-stretcher--true emblem of the modern spirit of incongruity--is
called into play, to undo during the night Nature's doings of the
previous day.
The late Lord Salisbury, in his speech at the Royal Academy Banquet on
April 30, 1887, is reported as saying: "Then consider the costume of
the period. Dresses seem to have been selected by the existing English
generation with a special desire to flout and gibe at and repudiate
all possibility of compliance with any sense of beauty. I am taxing my
memory, but I cannot remember any sculptor who has been bold enough to
give a life statue of any English notability in the evening dress of
the period. I am quite sure that if that man exists he must be strongly
tempted to commit suicide the moment his work appears."
The _Tailor and Cutter_--delightfully fascinating print!--has thrown
out many dark hints lately of impending startling changes in men's
attire. By the way, _who_ are the Rhadamanthine spirits who sit
mysteriously in judgment upon these high matters, issuing their fateful
decrees, regulating the delicate and subtle curves of the brim of a
pot-hat or the turn of a coat collar? Perhaps the _Tailor and Cutter_
knows, but, upon the principle that knowledge is power, declines to
say; anyway, whatever changes the immediate future may have in store
for us, we may take comfort from the fact that they must necessarily
be in the direction of betterment, since, having recently emerged from
that bottomless pit of all that is æsthetically terrible--the Victorian
era: the era of the crinoline, the antimacassar, and of wax flowers
under glass--we could not possibly strike a lower depth.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Gen. iii. 7, 21.
[2] This fable is so quaintly told in Lyly's "Euphues" (1580), that
it may be worth while to repeat it. "A gentleman walking abroard, the
Winde thought to blowe of(f) his cloake, which with great blastes and
blustering striving to vnloose it, made it to stick faster to his
backe, for the more the winde encreased the closer his cloake clapt to
his body, then the Sunne, shining with his hoat beames began to warme
this gentleman, who waxing som(e)what faint in this faire weather,
did not on(e)ly put of(f) his cloake but his coate, which the Wynde
perceiuing, yeelded the conquest to the Sunne."
[3] Carlyle, "Sartor Resartus."
[4] Stephen Gosson, "The School of Abuse."
[5] Exodus xxviii. 6-8.
II
THE
TUNIC
"Where were the variegated robes, works of Sidonian women,
which god-like Paris himself brought from Sidon, sailing over
the wide sea, along the course by which he conveyed high-born
Helen?"--_Iliad_, vi. 289.
II
THE TUNIC
The earliest made-up garment, that in which the art of the tailor was
called into play, was doubtless a simple bag, more or less closely
fitting to the body and of varying length, with holes for the arms
and an opening for the neck. Such a primitive garment has been worn
in varying forms at all periods of the world's history, and is in use
at the present time in the form of the ordinary singlet. The modern
singlet is, in fact, the simple, primeval type of the tunic.
The coat of many colours which Israel made for his son Joseph was
unquestionably an embroidered tunic, although probably made loose and
ample. The little coat which the mother of Samuel made for her child
when he was dedicated to the priesthood, and brought to him from year
to year, was doubtless of the same character.
Sir Henry Layard, describing the dresses of the Assyrians, says "many
are represented naked, but the greater number are dressed in short
chequered tunics with a long fringe attached to the girdle."
[Illustration: TUNIC, PETTICOAT AND GIRDLE, BRONZE AGE.
_From "Industrial Arts of Old Denmark" (Worsaae)._]
Some remarkable discoveries have been made during the last thirty years
in different portions of Scandinavia, which serve to give us a very
clear idea of the dress of both men and women of the remote period of
the Bronze Age. The dresses were found in coffins made of an oak-tree
split in two and hollowed out, the bodies having been buried completely
dressed. An illustration is given of a simple woollen tunic with short
sleeves and a petticoat with girdle. This was found at Borum, in the
neighbourhood of Aarhus, Jutland.
[Illustration: HUNEFER AND HIS WIFE IN ATTITUDE OF ADORATION.
_From the Papyrus of Hunefer, or "Book of the Dead," c. B.C.
1370._]
The tunic was worn by the Egyptians. It is seen in their sculptures,
paintings, and papyri, and may be said to have formed their principal
garment, after the mere loin cloth. The illustrations given are taken
from the papyrus of Hunefer, or "Book of the Dead," in the British
Museum. The first cut discovers Hunefer, "overseer of the palace of
the lord of two lands, Men-maât-Rā (Seti I., King of Egypt about
B.C. 1370), and overseer of the cattle of the lord of the two
lands, the royal scribe," and his wife Nasha, a lady of the college of
the god Amen-Rā at Thebes, in the attitude of adoration.
Hunefer wears a long tunic with sleeves, ornamented at the throat
and neck, with a broad sash around the waist. His wife also wears a
long tunic with sleeves, probably tied in with a band underneath the
breasts; it is not clear in the drawing. The material is of a light
tissue, semi-transparent.
The second illustration shows a priest wearing nothing but a loin cloth
and a leopard skin.
In the Victoria and Albert Museum is a child's tunic, discovered in a
tomb at Alkmîm (Panopolis), Upper Egypt. It is of unbleached linen,
dyed blue, with a pattern produced by means of what is called "a
reserve," the design being first stamped on the fabric by means of a
waxy substance which protected those portions of the dress from the dye
into which it was afterwards dipped. The "reserve" was then removed by
a second bath, leaving the pattern in the original colour of the fabric.
[Illustration: _From the Papyrus of Hunefer, or "Book of the Dead," c.
B.C. 1370._]
With the Greeks the tunic was the principal article of attire. It was
worn next to the skin, and was of a light tissue. In the earlier time
it was composed of wool, in later periods of flax, and in the latest
periods it was either of flax mixed with silk or of pure silk. The
illustration given will serve to show its construction. It was a simple
square bag, open at the two ends, made sufficiently wide to admit of
the folds being ample, and sufficiently long to allow of its being
gathered up about the waist and breasts. It was kept in its place by
various means, either by a simple girdle round the waist or by cords
drawn crosswise between the breasts, over the shoulders, looped at the
back, and again drawn round the waist, or by an arrangement of cords or
ribbons drawn over each shoulder and attached to the girdle.
Over the tunic was a second garment, intended to afford additional
protection to the upper part of the body. This was a kind of bib or
super-tunic, and was composed of a square or rather oblong piece of
stuff, suspended round the chest and back and secured at the shoulders
by means of fibulæ or buttons. In some cases the bib was made deeper
under the arms, so as to allow the garment to fall in regular zigzag
folds, ending in a point, which was weighted with little pellets of
lead in order to ensure a better falling of the folds.
[Illustration: THE TUNIC.]
The tunic, as well as the super-tunic, was often ornamented with rich
borders and diapered with sprigs, spots, stars, &c. The tunic of the
Roman women reached to the feet, with the exception of that worn by
the Lacedemonian girls, which was short, and also divided at the sides
so as to show their thighs; and "this indecency," says Strutt, was
countenanced by the laws of Lycurgus.
[Illustration: THE TUNIC.
_From Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
Horace, in his twenty-fifth Ode, addressing an old woman affecting
youth--"flaunting wife of the indigent Ibycus"--exclaims--
"What becomes thee best is a warm woollen dress;
Get thee fleeces from famous Luceria."
Broadly speaking, classic dress consisted of but two elements--the
tunic and mantle, both being worn of a thicker material during cold
weather. Ulysses exclaims, in the "Odyssey"--
"I have no cloak; the fates have cheated me,
And left alone my tunic."
Dion Cassius has given us an account of the dress of Boadicea, Queen of
the Iceni. He says she wore a tunic woven chequerwise in purple, red
and blue, and over it a shorter garment open on the bosom. Her yellow
hair floated in the wind, and upon her shoulders was a mantle fastened
by a fibula. It was, in fact, a variation of the Roman dress of tunic
and mantle or toga. This was the dress which was common to all nations,
both Gaul, Goth, Visigoth, and Vandal, from the Roman period to the
time of Charlemagne, varied, however, according to climatic conditions,
and ornamented in the manner peculiar to the particular country.
Mr. Planché ("Cyclopædia of Costume") says: "That in this chequered
cloth we see the original _breacan feile_, the garb of old Gaul, still
the national dress of the Scotch Highlanders, there can be no doubt;
and that it was at this time the common habit of every Keltic tribe,
though now abandoned by all their descendants except the hardy and
unsophisticated Gaelic mountaineers, is admitted, I believe, by every
antiquary who has made public his opinion on the subject."
Eginhart, a writer of the ninth century, has left us a detailed
description of the dress of Charlemagne. It consisted of the following
parts: The shirt, the drawers, the tunic, the stockings, the leg
bandages, the shoes, the sword-belt, and sword. In the winter he added
the mantle and the _thorax_, which was, as its name implies, a covering
for the chest and throat. It was made of otter's skin, and was probably
worn underneath the tunic, as no pictured or other representation of
this garment is available.
His tunic was ornamented with a _border of silk_. The material of the
tunic itself is not mentioned, but Strutt thinks that, according to the
custom of the time, it was made of linen. It was the _short_ tunic,
as the historian positively asserts that he wore the longer tunic but
twice in his life.[6]
Another French writer quoted by Strutt mentions stockings and
_trowsers_, the latter of linen, but ornamented with precious
workmanship, _i.e._, embroidery as forming part of the dress of the
Franks.
[Illustration: GREEK FIGURE.
_From Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
Fortunately, we are able to form a very complete idea of Frankish dress
from the sculptured effigies of Clovis and his Queen Clothilde on the
façade of the Cathedral of Chartres, and other records which have
come down to us. The pencil, or the sculptor's chisel, must necessarily
be more eloquent and convincing than any written description can
possibly be. The general appearance of the Queen may, however, be
described as follows: She wears a long loose tunic of soft material,
reaching to the ground, confined by a falling girdle with an oval clasp
in front, in which emeralds, amethysts and rubies vie with each other
in their brilliance. The sleeves are long and ample, the edges serrated
in the form of leaves. The long flowing embroidered mantle is fastened
by a gold fibula at the throat. Her flaxen hair falls in two long
double plaits in front of her person, reaching almost to the ground;
the plaits being first bound singly by a dark ribbon, and each pair
bound together by a lighter ribbon. A thin gauze veil covers the head,
which is surmounted by a crown of exquisite workmanship.
[Illustration: GREEK FIGURE.
_From Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
The dress of the Byzantine women, at the time of the dismemberment of
the Roman Empire in 395, was still the loose or semi-loose tunic, with
sleeves added, elaborately ornamented in the rich diapered patterns
peculiar to that period and nation, and confined at the waist by a
girdle. This costume, with variations, obtained until the Norman
Conquest, when costume began to be more complex. The long loose gown
is variously described in documents of the period by the names of the
tunic, the _gunna_ or gown, and the kirtle. There was a short tunic,
with sleeves reaching only to the elbows, and there was a long tunic,
with tight sleeves, worn underneath. The kirtle, such as we are
familiarised with in the dress of a later period, had not come into
being. As a matter of fact, the term "kirtle" is indiscriminately used
in the description of various garments. Tyrwhitt describes it as "a
tunic or waistcoat."
In the "Romaunt of the Rose" the "damoselles right young" are arrayed--
"In kirtles and noon other wede,"
evidently here intended for a long gown or tunic.
The dress of the twenty young squires chosen by Guy of Warwick is thus
described:--
"Kyrtyls they had oon of sylke
Also whyte, as any mylke.
Of gode sylke and of purpull palle
Mantels above they caste all.
Hosys they had uppon, but no schone;
Barefote they were everychone."
Both Strutt and some other writers on the subject of costume appear to
be puzzled by the _colouring_ of the earlier illuminators, principally,
however, with respect to the colour of the hair and beard, but
also in regard to the various details of costume. They remark the
curious circumstance of the hair and beard being painted _blue_. "In
representations of old men this might be considered only to indicate
_grey hair_; but even the flowing locks of Eve are painted blue in
one MS., and the heads of youth and age exhibit the same cerulean
tint." Strutt argues from this that some art of tinting or dyeing was
practised. A writer who quotes Strutt says: "The hair being painted
sometimes _green_ and _orange_ is in favour of this argument, but
such instances are very rare, and may have arisen from the idleness
of the illuminator, who daubed it, perhaps, with the nearest colour
at hand." This, however, was not in the least so. The explanation
is, as any _educated_ artist knows (artists are not _all_ educated),
that with the old illuminator _the decoration of the page_ was his
first consideration--rightly so; and the colour of the hair and beard,
together with the precise tint of the gown, would incline to either
blue, red, or yellow, accordingly as the exigencies of the general
colour scheme demanded. This fact should always be kept in mind in
considering the colour of any illuminated MS.
This colouring is amusingly parodied by Mr. Punch in his book of
British costumes (1860). He gives a fragment of a love song, "commonly
believed to have been written by King Vortigern, who was inveigled into
marriage with the daughter of old Hengist":--
"Rowena is my ladye-love,
Her robe itte is a gunna;
Shee wears blewe haire her ears above,
O is shee notte a stunna!"
He adds: "Critics disagree as to the meaning of the word 'stunna,' but
we incline, ourselves, to think it was a bit of Saxon slang, and from
the context we imagine it was used by way of compliment."
[Illustration: "TREUTHE'S PILGRYME ATTE PLOW."
_From the MS. R. 3, 14 in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge._]
A development of the super-tunic was the surcoat, which was worn by
either sex during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It assumed
a variety of forms, and was either a long loose outer garment,
variously shaped and sleeveless, or, as during the reign of Richard
II., was a shorter, closely-fitting jacket or coat with sleeves, and
usually trimmed with miniver or other fur.
The surcoat, or super-tunic, during the Anglo-Saxon period, was worn by
the nobility only, and was therefore made of the most costly material,
of silk or of finest linen, and often richly embroidered. As a matter
of fact, embroidery always forms a conspicuous element in Anglo-Saxon
dress, the Anglo-Saxon women being famous for their skill with the
needle. We learn from Eginhart that the four Princesses, daughters of
Edward the Elder, and sisters to Æthelstan, were celebrated for their
skill in spinning, weaving, and embroidering, and Editha, the wife of
Edward the Confessor, was a perfect mistress of the needle.
[Illustration: ANGLO-SAXON DRESS (EIGHTH CENTURY).]
A somewhat remarkable feature of Anglo-Saxon dress of the eighth
century was the long super-tunic with long sleeves, worn in travelling
or during cold weather. The sleeves not only cover the hands, but
reach considerably below the tips of the fingers. The sleeves worn by
the Chinese mandarins at the present time are identical with the long
sleeves of the Anglo-Saxon period.
The tunic, so far as women's dress is concerned, may be said to have
finally disappeared by the time of the Tudors, when a woman's dress
consisted of kirtle or petticoat, and bodice or stomacher. Indeed, the
tunic proper may be said to have disappeared with the general change
which came about in costume immediately after the Norman Conquest,
the Saxon word "gunna" and the Norman "surcoat" better describing the
dresses of that period.
The term "tunic" is also applied to the military surcoat of the present
time, this article of military costume, however, bearing no sort of
affinity to the original tunic.
An important adjunct of the tunic was the girdle, by which the garment
was looped up and confined within reasonable limits. In the case of the
men, as Strutt observes, it served a double purpose, that of confining
the tunic, and supporting the sword.
Girdles were of various kinds--a sash of silk or other materials; or
formed of leather, either a simple thong or ornamented in various ways;
or of different cloths, richly embroidered and studded with jewels; or
of metal. The girdle of Charlemagne was composed of gold and silver.
"A girdel ful riche for the nanes
Of perry and of precious stanes."
_Ywaine and Gawin._
The Imperial girdle of the Holy Roman Empire was woven in silk and
gold, having a woven inscription upon the narrow border, and clasped by
means of a heavy gilt buckle.
It is recorded that upon the return of Henry VI. to England after his
coronation in France in 1432 the Lord Mayor of London rode to meet him
at Eltham, "being arrayed in crimson velvet, a great velvet hat furred,
a girdle of gold about his middle, and a baldrick of gold about his
neck trailing down behind him."
Numerous fine examples of the girdle occur among the early brasses. It
was used also by both sexes for the purpose of suspending or sustaining
the pouch or purse which was invariably worn during the Middle Ages, as
it was the only form of pocket--
"And by his gurdil hyng a purs of lethir,
Tassid with silk, and perled with latoun."
_Miller's Tale._
The name "cut-purse" applied to thieves is derived from the
circumstance of the leather thongs which attached the pouch to the
girdle being slit with a knife.
* * * * *
Some few years ago a movement, having its origin, singularly enough,
in the United States, above all places, was instituted for the purpose
of inducing the modern Greeks to adopt the ancient costume of their
forefathers, several prominent Americans masquerading in the streets
of Athens in tunic and peplum. The only result of the movement was to
create a diversion amongst the inhabitants, who probably regarded their
would-be instructors as harmless lunatics. The result was, indeed,
inevitable; such sentimental movements are predestined to failure.
A national costume is of slow growth; it is the natural outcome of
the general habits, mode of thought, and temper of a people. It is as
impossible to bring about a sudden change in dress as it is to create a
new style of architecture.
* * * * *
At the annual congress of Prussian female elementary school teachers
held recently at Altona, some interesting papers were read which are
germane to this subject of costume, and which serve to show that some
of the continental peoples are more alive to the importance of this
subject than we are. We give a short _résumé_ which appeared in the
pages of the _Daily Chronicle_ a short while ago. The italics are ours.
"School-Inspector Muller urged the necessity of reform of children's
clothes, stating _that the human body is a most magnificent work of art
which is frequently maltreated with corsets and other tightly fitting
garments_.
"Fraulein Lischnevska, of Spandau, said a return must be made to the
pure art of the ancient Greeks. During gymnastic exercises children
must be naked, and only immoral persons would regard this as immoral.
This remark was greeted with a storm of applause.
"Fraulein Bertha Jordan, of Mulhausen, _deplored the fact of people
becoming so greatly estranged from art, a circumstance which she
ascribed to the degradation of work and the severance from nature, both
resulting from industrialism_. The remedy, she considers, lies with
schools and school education, and she argued that much can be done by
a careful selection of pictures on the class-room walls, by awakening
faculties of observation in children and arousing their interest in
nature which surrounds them."
FOOTNOTES:
[6] With the object of making more complete a work on ancient textile
fabrics which the Prussian Government is issuing, the sarcophagus at
Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral in which the remains of Charlemagne rest has
been opened, and certain pieces of valuable silk have been extracted in
order that they may be examined and photographed. The great Frankish
Emperor's bones were wrapped in these costly cloths. One of them is
ancient Constantinople work, the production of the celebrated Imperial
Byzantine workshops, and represents a brilliantly coloured surface with
elephants embroidered in circles. The other piece is believed to be of
Sicilian origin, with a design of birds and hares.
Charlemagne's bones are still intact, with the exception of the
skull and one arm, which are in another part of the Cathedral.
Medical men who have examined these bones say that the Emperor was
a man of huge proportions. The Kaiser is greatly interested in the
preparation of this work on ancient tissues, and it was his Majesty
who induced the Archbishop of Cologne to consent to the opening of the
sarcophagus.--_Daily Paper._
III
THE
MANTLE
The gret Emetreus the Kyng of Ynde
Uppon a steede bay trapped in steel
Covered with cloth and of gold dyapred wel
Cam rydyng lyk the god of armes mars
His coote armour was a cloth of Tars
Cowched of perlys whyte round and grete
His sadil was of brend gold newe bete
A mantelet upon his schuldre hangyng
Bret-ful of Rubies reed and fir sparclyng
His crispe her lik rynges was i-ronne
And that was yalwe and gliteryng as the sonne.
CHAUCER, _The Knight's Tale_.
[Illustration: THE CORONATION MANTLE.
_Preserved in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna._]
III
THE MANTLE
Of the famous mantles recorded in history, one of the first which will
occur to the mind is that of Elijah, in which he hid his face when he
stood in the cave at Horeb, and heard the still, small voice, which
came after the fire, which came after the earthquake, which came after
the great strong wind which rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the
rocks before the Lord. And afterwards, when he "found Elisha the son
of Shaphat who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he
with the twelfth, Elijah passed by him and _cast his mantle upon him_."
And again, on the shores of Jordan, "Elijah took his mantle, and
wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither
and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground."
. . . . .
"And it came to pass as they still went on, and talked, that, behold,
there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them
both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
"And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more; and he took
hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces."
"He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went
back, and stood by the bank of Jordan."
. . . . .
"And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw
him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came
to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him."
St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, soldier of God, dividing his mantle with
the beggar at the gates of Amiens, is one of many similar stories in
the earlier history of the Christian Church. It is a variation of the
story of St. Christopher, and is intended as a lesson in charity. The
legend recounts that Christ appeared to him the following night covered
with the half of his mantle.
What schoolboy but does not remember the story of Raleigh's mantle,
which he cast into the mire in order that Queen Elizabeth's feet might
not be soiled? "The night had been rainy, and just where the young
gentleman stood, a small quantity of mud interrupted the Queen's
passage. As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant, throwing his cloak
from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot, so as to ensure her
stepping over it dryshod. Elizabeth looked at the young man, who
accompanied this act of devoted courtesy with a profound reverence, and
a blush that overspread his whole countenance. The Queen was confused,
and blushed in her turn, nodded her head, hastily passed on, and
embarked in her barge without saying a word."[7]
The mantle is the cloak or outermost covering to the body, and was
originally worn either when the weather was unpropitious, or, as
occasion demanded.
The peplum of the Greeks was, in fact, a mantle, worn by both sexes,
and was occasionally very long, passing twice round the body, first
underneath the arms and then over the shoulder. In rainy or cold
weather it was pulled over the head, and also in times of mourning.
The peplum had no clasps or fastenings of any sort, but was kept in its
place by its own involutions, of which the combinations were almost
endless.
It will readily be understood that the natural foldings of drapery,
possessing in themselves so much variety and interest, when thrown
over a form so beautifully proportioned as is the human figure, gave
the utmost grace of line and form, and this fact makes it all the more
surprising that the natural foldings of drapery are not taken greater
advantage of in modern dress. The peplum was often diapered with
sprigs, spots, stars, or other patternings, and was occasionally richly
bordered.
The Greeks also occasionally wore a shorter and simpler cloak, called
chlamys, in lieu of the more ample peplum; such a short mantle is the
one which we see upon the shoulders of the Apollo Belvidere.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TOGA.]
The Roman toga corresponded to the Greek peplum, but differed from
it in shape, and was more ample, for while the peplum was square, or
rather oblong, the toga assumed the form of two semicircles--a larger
and a smaller one, or, more correctly speaking, a semicircle and the
smaller segment of a circle, which was doubled over the semicircle
before adjustment. One end of the toga was then placed upon the left
shoulder in such a position that the end or point just touched the
ground, the rest of the garment drawn round the back of the figure,
underneath the right arm, and flung again over the left shoulder; a
sort of loop or bag was then drawn out at the waist in front and
served as a pocket. The toga measured 18 feet from tip to tip, or three
times the height of a man. It was worn always over the tunic--at any
rate during the later Roman time. Horace, in his fourth Epode, thus
satirises an upstart:--
"Mark, as along the Sacred Way thou flauntest,
Puffing thy toga, twice three cubits wide."
[Illustration: THE TOGA.
_From Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
The material of the toga was wool, in the earlier time and for the
common people; afterwards silk and other materials were used, coloured
or bordered according to the rank or station of the wearer.
The mantle--that is, the simple square or oblong cloak which was
derived from the Greek peplum--was worn in different ways from the
Roman period onwards, either thrown loosely over the shoulders as was
the peplum, or fastened at the shoulder or breast by means of fibulæ,
rings, or cords. In a bas-relief found at Autun and engraved in
Montfaucon, an archdruid is represented with a long mantle reaching to
the ground, the ends drawn through a ring upon the left shoulder.
The large coronation mantle of the Holy Roman Empire, preserved in
the Imperial Treasury at Vienna, is semicircular in shape, of red
silk, richly embroidered in gold thread, the outlines emphasised by
rows of seed pearls. The design, which is divided in the middle by a
representation of a palm tree, figures on either side a lion springing
upon a camel, and is treated with that noble convention characteristic
of early Sicilian design. On the border of the curved edge is worked an
Arabic inscription (common in earlier Sicilian fabrics), stating that
the robe was worked in the Royal factory at Palermo in 1134.
One of the gifts which the five maidens present to Beryn from Duke
Isope is a purple mantle--
"The thirde had a mantell of lusty fressh coloure
The uttir part of purpell i-furred with peloure."
_The Tale of Beryn._
The mantle was a distinguishing feature of the costume of the Franks,
which was a variation of Roman or classic dress, _i.e._, the loose
tunic and mantle, with the addition of hose or leg covering with cross
gartering; both tunic and mantle were often elaborately bordered in a
style of ornament which strongly betrayed, in fact, was a development
of, Byzantine influences.
King John of Gascogny having been counselled by his barons to yield
up to Charlemagne the four sons of Aymon, after much sorrow, summons
his secretary--"Come forth, syre Peter, and write a letter from me to
the Kinge Charlemagne, as I shall telle you: It is that I sende hym
salutacyon wyth goode love, and yf he wyll leve me my londe in peas, I
promyse hym that afore ten dayes ben paste, I shall delyver unto hym
the foure sones of Aymon, and he shall fynde theym in the playne of
Valcolours clothed with scarlette furred wyth ermynes, and ridynge upon
mewles, berynge in theyr handes flowres and roses for a token, bycause
that men shall better knowe them."
Charlemagne calls then his chamberlain--"Make a lettre to Kyng Yon of
Gascoyne in my behalve. Wryte that I sende hym salutacyon and goode
love, and that yf he dooth for me as he sayth, I shall encrease his
royame wyth fourtene goode castelles, and therof I gyve hym for surete
our lorde and saynte Denys of Fraunce, and that I sende hym four
mauntelles of scarlette furred wyth ermynes, for to clothe wythall the
traytoures, when they shall goo to the playne of Valcoloures, and there
they shall be hanged, yf God wyll."[8]
The Venetian mantle which Charlemagne wore was, according to an early
French writer quoted by Strutt, of a grey or blue colour. It was
quadrangular in its form, and so doubled that when placed upon the
shoulders it hung down as low as the feet before and behind, but on the
sides it scarcely reached to the knees.
In the Anglo-Saxon dress of the earlier period, the mantle is a simple
square with a border on the outer side, the two upper corners being
gathered together at the shoulders and fastened with brooches connected
by a chain. It is an instance of a very decorative effect being
produced by simple means.
The coronation mantle of Edward the Confessor was richly embroidered by
his Queen, Editha.
William of Malmesbury mentions a mantle presented to Henry I. by Robert
Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln, which was lined with black sables with white
spots, and cost £100, a large sum in those days.
The mantle, during the Norman period, underwent little change. It was
fastened, either upon one of the shoulders, generally the right, or in
front, by means of fibulæ or pins of an ornamental character. In the
earliest sculptured effigies of English Sovereigns which we possess,
those of Henry I. and his Queen Matilda at the west door of Rochester
Cathedral, the King is represented in a long dalmatic, with a loose
mantle thrown over his left arm. The Queen has a more formal mantle,
resting upon either shoulder, the system of fastening of which is
hidden by the two long plaits of hair which fall down on either side,
but which was probably some kind of ornamental strap. The ordinary
mantles of this period were often provided with a "capa" or cowl, which
was drawn over the head and frequently used in lieu of a hat.
[Illustration: STATUE OF QUEEN MATILDA AT ROCHESTER.]
In the effigies of the Plantagenet Kings, the mantles are generally of
the long flowing character above described, varied by rich borderings
or embroiderings. Henry II., however, introduced a shorter mantle
(cloak of Anjou), from which circumstance he obtained the sobriquet of
"Curt manteau." The effigy of Eleanor of Castile, his Queen, in the
Abbey of Fontevraud in Normandy, shows a mantle embroidered with a
"powdering" of gold crescents. That of Cœur de Lion, in the same
Abbey, has a square-bordered mantle fastened at the breast by a fibula
at the upper corners. The two lower corners are plainly shown in the
statue folded over each other.
During the reign of Henry III. costume generally increased in
splendour. The effigy of this monarch, however, exhibits a loose plain
mantle, fastened by a fibula on the right shoulder, the folds of the
mantle hanging in a series of regular festoons over the front of the
figure.
In the Harleian MSS. is a satirical Latin "Song upon the Tailors" of
this reign (Henry III.), an English version of which is included in Mr.
Wright's "Political Songs," published by the Camden Society. Addressing
the tailors, it commences:--
"I have said ye are gods; why should I omit the service which should
be said on festival days? Gods certainly ye are, who can transform an
old garment into the shape of a new one. The cloth, while fresh and
new, is made either a cape or mantle; but, in order of time, first it
is a cape, after a little space this is transformed into the other:
Thus ye change bodies. When it becomes old, the collar is cut off;
when deprived of the collar it is made a mantle: Thus in the manner
of Proteus are garments changed. When at length winter returns, many
engraft immediately upon the cape a capuce; then it is squared; after
being squared it is rounded, and so it becomes an amice. If there
remain any morsels of the cloth or skin which is cut, they do not want
a use: of these are made gloves. This is the general manner, they all
make one robe out of another, English, Germans, French, and Normans,
with scarcely an exception. Thus _cape_ is declined, but _mantel_
otherwise: in the first year while it is fresh, the skin and the cloth
being both new, it is laid up in a box; when, however, the fur begins
to be worn off, and the thread of the seams broken, the fur is clipped
and placed on a new mantle, until at last, in order that nothing may be
lost, it is given to the servant for his wages."
[Illustration: LORD BURLEIGH, 1520-1598.
_National Portrait Gallery._
_Photo by Emery Walker._]
The vestments of the most noble Order of the Garter, founded, as every
student of history knows, in the reign of Edward III.,[9] consisted
originally of a mantle, a tunic, and capuchon, of blue woollen cloth,
cut to the fashion of the period, the knights differing only from the
monarchs in respect of the tunic being lined with miniver instead of
ermine. All three garments were closely diapered or powdered with
garters of gold, the mantle having one larger than the rest on the left
shoulder, enclosing a shield, Argent, with the cross of St. George,
Gules.
The vestments of this Order have been constantly altered during
different periods. In the seventh year of Richard II. the surcoat or
tunic was of "violet in grain," in the eleventh year white, and in the
twelfth and nineteenth of "long blue cloth." They were changed again to
white in the first year of Henry V., another change to scarlet in the
reign of Henry VI., and afterwards back again to white.
The number of embroidered garters on the coat and chaperon were in
this reign limited to 120 for a duke, 110 for a marquis, 90 for an
earl, decreasing in the same ratio to 60 in the case of a knight
bachelor. The King's was unlimited; on the surcoat and hood of Henry
VI. there were 173.
The material of the mantle was changed to velvet during this reign,
lined with white damask or satin.
In the reign of Henry VII. an important addition was made to the
insignia of this Order, that of the _collar_. The whole habit sent to
the King of Castile in the twenty-seventh year of this reign consisted
of mantle, kirtle, hood and _collar_, and was of purple velvet lined
with silk or sarcenet, the embroidered garters entirely disappearing.
The Statutes of the Order were reformed by Henry VIII., who also
altered the dress to the fashion of the period. The flat velvet hat
or cap, so familiar in Holbein's portraits, superseded the chaperon
or hood, which was, however, still worn hung or depending upon the
shoulder, and called the _humerale_. Both hat and surcoat were of
crimson velvet.
The lesser _George_, or jewel of the Order, was introduced during this
reign, suspended upon the breast by either a gold chain or riband,
which latter was _black_.
In the reign of Elizabeth, the flat hat gives place to one with a
higher crown, being more in keeping with the fashion of the time, but
no other alteration of the habit was made.
During the reign of Charles II. ostrich or heron plumes appear in the
cap, and the broad blue riband was worn over the left shoulder and
under the right arm.
As at present worn, the mantle is of purple velvet lined with taffetas,
bearing on the left shoulder the badge of the Order, viz., a silver
escutcheon charged with the red cross of St. George and enriched with
the garter and motto. In chapters it is worn over the uniform or Court
dress. The surcoat, or short gown without sleeves, is made of crimson
velvet, lined, like the mantle, with white taffetas silk. The hood,
worn on the right shoulder of the mantle, is made of the same velvet as
the surcoat, and lined with the same material.
Matthew Paris, describing the solemnisation of the marriage of
Alexander III. of Scotland with the Princess Margaret, sister of Henry
III., says:--
"There were great abundance of people of all ranks, multitudes of the
nobility of England, France, and Scotland, with crowds of Knights and
military Officers, the whole of them pompously adorned with garments
of silk, and so transformed with excess of Ornaments that it would
be impossible to describe their dresses without being tiresome to
the reader, though it would excite his astonishment. Upwards of one
thousand Knights on the part of the King of England attended the
nuptials in vestments of silk, curiously wrought in embroidery; and
these vestments on the morrow were laid aside; and the same Knights
appeared in new robes of still more magnificent decoration. The nobles
of Scotland and of France did not fall a whit below those of England
in their show and parade. The Barons and the Knights were habited in
robes of divers colours; sometimes they appeared in green, sometimes
in blue, then again in grey, and afterwards in scarlet, varying the
colours according to their fancies, or the wills of the ladies to whom
they had dedicated their amorous vows. Their breasts were adorned with
fibulæ, or brooches of gold; and their shoulders with precious stones
of great magnitude, such as emeralds, sapphires, jacinths, pearls,
rubies, and other rich ornaments. The ladies who attended had rings of
gold, set with topaz stones and diamonds, upon their fingers; their
heads were adorned with elegant crests or garlands; and their wimples
were composed of the richest stuffs, embroidered with pure gold, and
embellished with the rarest jewellery."
[Illustration: LODOWICK, DUKE OF RICHMOND AND LENNOX.
_Engraved by J. Barrà._]
In an inventory of the wardrobe and jewels of Henry V., taken in 1423
at his decease, mention is made of _heukes_ of scarlet cloth and
camlet, and _pilches_ of grey fur. The word _pilche_ is a corruption
of the Latin _pelliceus_, or the Saxon _pylce_, and represented a coat
of fur worn during cold weather. The modern word _pelisse_ used to
describe a child's coat is derived from the same source.[10]
"After grete hete comith colde,
No man cast his pilche away."
CHAUCER.
A farewell letter of Bishop Ridley (Foxe's "Book of Martyrs"),
describing the sufferings of Christ's true soldiers, says:--
"They were stoned, hewn asunder, tempted, fell, and were slain upon the
edge of the sword; some wandered to and fro in sheep's pilches, in
goats' pilches, forsaken, oppressed, afflicted."
[Illustration: PORTION OF THE PICTURE OF THE MIRACLE OF ST. BERNARD.
_By Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Pinacoteca, Perugia._]
In the inventory above referred to are mentioned, "gounes de noier
damask, furrez de sides de foynes et marterons." The cost of these furs
is also given--"iii pares de foyns, chascun cont' c. bestes, pris le
pec' x_d._ xii_li._ x_s._," the marteron being more costly.
The foyne appears to have been the same as the polecat or fitchet.
The pylce was in common use during the Anglo-Saxon period, and worn by
all classes. In Michel's "Chroniques Anglo-Normandes," _c._ 1185, is
described a meeting on a little bridge near Westminster between Tosti,
Earl of Huntingdon, and Siward, Earl of Northumberland. "The said Earl
approached so near to Siward on the bridge that he dirtied his pelisse
(_pelles_) with his miry feet; for it was then customary for noblemen
to use skins without cloth." This evidently referring to a long mantle
or cloak.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions the great gifts and many treasures
of skins decked with purple, pelisses of marten skin, weasel skin, and
ermine skin, which King Malcolm of Scotland and his sister Margaret
gave to the Conqueror in 1074.
During the general change which came about in costume in the reign of
Richard II. a shorter mantle or cloak began to be worn, which continued
at intervals and under various forms until the universal adoption of
coats at the close of the reign of Charles II.
In the tempera painting of the miracle of St. Bernard by Fiorenzo
di Lorenzo in the Pinacoteca at Perugia, a young man is wearing a
short cloak or mantle, hanging in very formal folds from the shoulder
and reaching a little below the middle. The mantle is buttoned upon
the right shoulder, thus repeating the principle of the Roman toga,
which leaves the right arm free. A similar short cloak is figured in
a copy of Froissart's Chronicles in the Harleian MSS. in the British
Museum. There was a reason for the mantle being fastened upon the right
shoulder; it was that the right arm is the sword-arm. This, however,
does not apply to the toga, which is the last garment that a man would
fight in. Two other figures in the picture above mentioned are habited
in long cloaks reaching to the feet, with full sleeves; the cloak of
the dark figure lined and bordered with miniver, and the other of a
different fur.
These long robes with ample sleeves constantly occur in Benozzo
Gozzoli's frescoes in the Campo Santo at Pisa, either flowing loosely
or confined by a girdle, and generally lined and bordered with miniver,
which appears to be a favourite enrichment with Benozzo. These garments
are worn usually by more elderly persons.
In a small but extremely elaborate and beautiful picture by Fra
Angelico, in the Convent of San Marco at Florence, a figure appears
habited in one of these long robes, having openings for the sleeves of
the under garment, which are of a different material, to pass through.
The dress is confined by a rich girdle.
During the reign of Elizabeth the short cloak, or cape cloak, continued
to be worn. It reached scarcely below the waistbelt, was provided with
a collar, which was often deep, and was lined with silk or satin of a
different colour to the outside, often extremely rich.
"Here is a cloke cost fifty pound, wife,
Which I can sell for thirty when I have seen
All London in't, and London has seen me."
BEN JONSON, _The Devil is an Ass_.
The Spanish cloak was thrown loosely over the shoulders somewhat after
the manner of the toga. It was customary to wrap it around the left arm
to serve as a shield in duels.
In the portrait of Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. (p. 103), the
Prince is figured as wearing a long mantle reaching to the knees. It
has a collar, a richly jewelled border, and is lined with silk damask.
The Puritan cloak did not differ materially in shape from that worn by
the Cavaliers, but, like the rest of Puritan dress, was entirely bare
of ornament:--
"He was tall and fair, and had plain but very good cloaths on his back"
(Bunyan, "Life of Mr. Badman").
There are a number of references to dress in Pepys's "Diary," which
covers a period of ten years, 1659-69.
Under date July 1, 1660, he writes: "This morning came home my fine
camlett cloak, with gold buttons, and a silk suit, which cost me much
money, and I pray God to make me able to pay for it."
About this time a shorter cloak, reaching to a little below the waist,
came into fashion. On October 7th (Lord's Day) of the same year, 1660,
occurs the entry: "To Whitehall on foot, calling at my father's to
change my long black cloake for a short one, (long cloakes being now
quite out), but he being gone to church, I could not get one."
[Illustration: PRINCE HENRY, ELDEST SON OF JAMES I.]
Under date October 22, 1663, occurs an entry which refers to the
_material_ of the cloak. The Queen was ill of the spotted fever, and,
upon hearing that she had grown worse, he sends to his tailor to stop
the making of his velvet cloak (presumably coloured) "till I see
whether she lives or dies."
The velvet, however, referred to the lining of the cloak, which was
often richer than the outside. On the 29th of the following month (the
Queen had recovered and was about again) he dons his best black cloth
suit, trimmed with scarlet ribbon, very neat, and his "cloak lined with
velvet, and a new beaver, which altogether is very noble."
In the reign of William III. the long skirted coats of the men,
with waistcoats reaching to the knees, rendered any outer clothing
unnecessary, except for the coldest weather, when long cloaks were
worn, together with muffs, by the beaux.
Muffs were at this period worn as commonly by men as by women, and this
fashion continued for nearly a century.
The beau with his muff is thus satirised in the comic opera "Lionel and
Clarissa," by Isaac Bickerstaff, _c._ 1768:--
"A coxcomb, a fop, a dainty milk-sop;
Who, essenc'd and dizen'd from bottom to top,
Looks just like a doll for a milliner's shop.
A thing full of prate, and pride and conceit;
All fashion, no weight;
Who shrugs and takes snuff; and carries a muff;
A minnikin, finicking, French powder-puff!"
[Illustration: EARL OF ROCHESTER, 1641-1711.
_Kneller, National Portrait Gallery._
_Photo by Walker & Cockerell._]
The mantle does not appear to have particularly excited the wrath of
the satirists. It is, indeed, so entirely reasonable a garment both
for men and women, that it is difficult to see how it could possibly
provide material for satire.
Broadly speaking, there are three conditions necessary to beautiful
dress, namely, beauty of material, excellence of workmanship, and
variety of fold. If ornament be introduced, it should be of a good
character, and employed rather in accordance with those well understood
laws of contrast than an indiscriminate covering of the whole field; in
fact, this defeats its own purpose, as richness of effect depends upon
concentration, as a painter focusses light, colour, or other interest
in a particular part of his work and allows nothing to detract from it.
As a general rule, plain spaces are best adapted for ornamentation,
although in the rich brocades of the fine periods the foldings of the
material give an added richness and variety to the patterning.
The mantle, therefore, is usually bare of ornament or simply bordered,
except for occasions of high ceremony; certainly plain if worn loosely,
and many foldings ensue; and any richness of ornament is confined
to the more closely fitting portions of the dress. In a word, the
decorative conditions of dress are as well defined, as absolute, as in
any other of the ornamental arts.
[Illustration: DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.]
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Scott's "Kenilworth."
[8] "The Four Sons of Aymon," Caxton's version.
[9] This chivalrous monarch not only founded the Order of the Garter,
but even contemplated the revival of the Round Table.
[10] Pilch or pilcher, a scabbard, a _covering_ for the sword.
IV
THE
DOUBLET
AND HOSE
"Monsieur, the King's elder brother, has set up for a kind
of wit; and leans towards the Philosophe side. Monseigneur
d'Artois pulls the mask from a fair impertinent; fights a duel
in consequence,--almost drawing blood. He has breeches of a kind
new in this world;--a fabulous kind, 'four tall lackeys,' says
Mercier, as if he had seen it, 'hold him in the air, that he may
fall into the garment without vestige of wrinkle; from which
rigorous encasement the same four, in the same way, and with more
effort, have to deliver him at night.'"--CARLYLE, _French
Revolution_, Book II., Chap. I.
[Illustration: ITALIAN CASSONE (FIFTEENTH CENTURY).
_South Kensington Museum._]
IV
THE DOUBLET AND HOSE
The absence of wrinkle or fold, alluded to in the above quotation,
is commonly suggestive of the modern spirit in dress. The first
thing an artist does in painting a figure in hose is to indicate the
little wrinkles or folds at the knee and ankle. This, as serving two
purposes, first as a decorative enrichment to the limb, and secondly
as indicating, together with the colour of the material, the fact that
the limb is clothed. There are, however, such things as "fleshings,"
which are made of some material possessing elasticity, and so reducing
the wrinkles and folds to a minimum; but if there is one thing more
than another which is characteristic of clothing or drapery, it is its
_folds_--their constant and endless change varying with every movement.
The ideal of modern tailoring appears to be something which shall have
as near as possible the appearance of a deal board, to eliminate as far
as possible the foldings of drapery with their infinite variety and
almost endless play of light and shade.
With the doublet and hose we deal with a comparatively recent period,
when dress generally assumed a more formal character, and the loose
tunic gave place to the more closely fitting doublet.
Long before this, however, the sleeves had developed in various ways,
in strange and fantastic shapes. In the reign of Richard II.--
"Cut worke was great both in Court and townes,
Bothe in men's hoodes and also in their gownes,
Broudur[11] and furre and goldsmith's worke all newe
In many a wyse each day they did renewe."
HARDING'S _Chronicle_.
The tight sleeves of the reigns of the three Edwards had given place
to a sleeve of more ample proportions. The monk of Evesham speaks of
"pokys" shaped like a bagpipe: "The devil's receptacles, for whatever
was stolen could be popped into them."
The "cut work" above alluded to was extremely fantastic, the jagged
edgings of the sleeves, and, indeed, the rest of the costume, taking
the shape of the serrations of leaves, as well as other ornamental
devices.
In the reign of Edward IV. the short jackets, doublets, or pourpoints,
were provided with closely fitting sleeves, which were divided at the
elbow and shoulder, allowing the shirt or under-garment to appear as
puffing, tied with ribbons at these points, and laced underneath up the
whole length of the arm.
[Illustration: FIGURE FROM THE MIRACLE OF ST. BERNARD.
_By Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Pinacoteca, Perugia._]
Another development of the sleeve, which lasted for a long period, was
the addition of an outer sleeve with a slit in the middle to allow of
the arm with its tight sleeve being passed through, the rest of the
sleeve hanging down. This was ornamented in a variety of ways, either
by edgings of fur or by embroidery.
Hose, that is, the more or less tightly fitting nether garments,
be they breche, hosen, or what not, have been worn from a very
early period. An illustration is given, from Hope's "Costume of the
Ancients," of Paris on Mount Ida, in which he is figured as wearing a
closely fitting garment which covers the whole body and limbs, being
buttoned all the way up the legs and arms; a short tunic, also buttoned
up the front, being worn over this dress. A similar tightly fitting
dress was, in fact, worn by the Amazonian women.
The cross-gartering, worn by the Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and other
nations, is referred to under the "shoe," of which it usually formed
a part. Some kind of hose, stockings, or bandages was invariably worn
underneath the gartering, which often extended the whole length of the
leg. This cross-gartering probably originated with the practice among
the peasants of enswathing the legs with hay-bands.
The short trouser of the Normans, or tunic and trouser in one, with
short sleeves attached, of which so many examples occur in the Bayeux
tapestry, is a garment which has puzzled many writers, on account of
the apparent difficulty of putting it on. It appears to have been put
on from below upwards, by being drawn on the thighs, and afterwards
putting the arms in the sleeves. In the illustration given of a similar
dress (p. 116), the metal plates or pieces of leather which serve as
armour are added to the front of the dress only. The cross-gartering in
this instance would probably not reach above the knees.
[Illustration: PARIS ON MOUNT IDA.
_From Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
From the Norman period onwards, tight hose continued to be worn, and
presented little variation except in the matter of colour and material.
The parti-coloured hose of the Plantagenet period and later called
forth many strictures from the satirists and moralists, chiefly
clerical, of the time. "The red side of a gentleman, they declared,
gave them the idea of his having been half roasted, or that he and his
dress were afflicted by _St. Anthony's fire_!"[12]
[Illustration: ANGLO-SAXON RETAINER.]
This parti-colouring presented many variations. The legs were either
plain, dark and light alternately, of various colours, black and red,
black and yellow; or a variation of one colour, red, yellow, or grey,
as the case may be; or one leg was striped in various ways; or the
parti-colouring would assume various forms, as a zig-zag on the thigh,
or calf, or both; in fact, the leg was regarded as a field for the
dress designer to exercise his ingenuity in the matter of contrast,
upon the principle of what is known in ornament as counterchange.
In Field's play of "A Woman is a Weathercock," 1612, one of the
characters exclaims, "Indeed, there's reason there should be some
difference in my legs, for one cost me twenty pounds more than the
other."
At the beginning of the sixteenth century a new development appears,
which began as an upper garment reaching only to the knees, also at
this period called hose, upper stocks, and "trawses," which were
puffed, slashed, and embroidered in various ways; this was the
precursor of the _breeches_, or trunk-hose, which by the end of the
century had developed to such enormous proportions.
Numerous examples of the "slashed" period will be found in the drawings
by Holbein and Durer, and the engravings by Hans Burgkmair. The
"slashings," which may be regarded as ornament _in relief_, presented
as many variations as did the flat ornament of the earlier period on
the plain surface of the leg. The garment was either slashed downwards,
horizontally, or diagonally, and occasionally slashed to such an extent
that it appeared merely as a system of ribbons. Variety of colour was
arrived at either by the under-garment, stocking, or hose being of a
different hue to the upper; or by a system of puffing, in which another
or third colour was introduced. The puffing was also of a different
material, either of silk or other light material, while the upper or
slashing was of cloth or velvet.
It was an exceedingly rich, ornate, and fantastic period; the _jerkin_,
or body garment, together with the sleeves, were also cut and slashed
on the same principle as the lower garment, or _vice versâ_, the
slashings on the body usually appearing diagonally on either side.
In two female portraits, however, by Holbein at Basle, the slashings
appear perpendicularly underneath the breast, the sleeve being slashed
on the same principle.
The greatest richness of slashing always appears in the sleeve, a
common form being to slash the sleeve in ribbons, which hang loose from
the shoulder to the elbow. In the instances of several of the foot
soldiers in Hans Burgkmair's "Triumphs of Maximilian," the outer sleeve
is simply cut to ribbons, which stream loosely from the shoulder; and
it seems, indeed, a little curious that at present, when all sorts of
devices are employed for the purpose of producing variety, that some
fashion of this sort has not been adopted for women. It represents,
however, the most extreme development of the slash; it would be
impossible to carry the principle farther.
We now arrive at the period of the enormous trunk-hose, _temp._
Elizabeth and James I., of which an example of their highest
development appears in the illustration of "Knightly Pastimes--Hawking,
1575," and in which the middle of the body appears inflated like a
balloon, the "bombasting" of the breeches being carried to its utmost
limit. Their gipcieres are well in evidence in each instance. This
article of costume was, no doubt, originally a game bag, but was
afterwards generally used as a pocket or pouch--
"An anlas and a gipser al of silke
Heng at his gerdul white as morne mylke."
CHAUCER.
[Illustration: KNIGHTLY PASTIMES: HAWKING, 1575.]
The trunk-hose are, according to Stubbes ("Anatomy of Abuse"), of three
kinds--the French, the Gallic, and the Venetian hosen. The French hose
"are of two divers making; the common sort contain length, breadth,
and sideness sufficient, and they are made very round; the other sort
contain neither length, breadth, nor sideness proportionable, being not
past a quarter of a yard on the side, whereof some be paned or striped,
cut and drawn out with costly ornaments, with _canions_ adjoined,
reaching down beneath the knees.
"The Gallic hosen are made very large and wide, reaching down to the
knees only, with three or four gardes apiece laid down along the thigh
of either hose. The Venetian hosen reach beneath the knee to the
gartering-place of the leg, where they are tied finely with silken
points, and laid on also with rows or gardes, as the other before. And
yet notwithstanding, all this is not sufficient, except they be made
of silk, velvet, satin, damask, and other precious stuffs besides;
so that it is a small matter to bestow twenty nobles, ten pounds,
twenty pounds, forty pounds, yea, an hundred pounds, upon one pair of
breeches; and yet this is thought no abuse neither."
It has been stated by various writers that silk hose, _i.e._, stockings
of silk, were unknown in England prior to the middle of the sixteenth
century. However this may be, silk stockings were, in the reign of
Edward VI., considered as a gift worthy of a king's acceptance; it is
recorded that Sir Thomas Gresham (whose portrait appears on p. 121)
presented this monarch with a pair of long Spanish silk hose.
[Illustration: SIR THOMAS GRESHAM, 1519-1579.
_Sir Antonio More, National Portrait Gallery._
_Photo by Emery Walker._]
In the inventory of the wardrobe of Henry VIII., taken after his
decease, appears: "One pair of short hose, of black silk and gold woven
together; one pair of hose, of purple silk and Venice gold, woven
like unto a cawl, and lined with blue silver sarsenet, edged with a
passemain of purple silk and of gold, wrought at Milan; one pair of
hose of white silk and gold knit, bought of Christopher Millener; six
pair of black silk hose knit."
We learn from Stow that Mistress Montague, the Queen's silk-woman,
presented Elizabeth with "a pair of black knit silk stockings,
which pleased her so well, that she would never wear any cloth hose
afterwards."
The "bombasting" of the trunk-hose (the word is usually applied to
the doublet, but may be applied equally well to the trunk-hose) was
effected by means of a stuffing of rags, wool, tow, hair, and even
bran. Holinshed relates a story of a man "who is said to have exhibited
the whole of his bed and table furniture, taken from these extensive
receptacles." The name trunk-hose would seem a peculiarly appropriate
one! The story is probably apocryphal (although quite plausible) of
the young man who, engaged in animated, and apparently rather excited
conversation with several ladies, caught his trunk-hose in a nail, and
let out the bran, the hose collapsing suddenly, to the consternation of
their wearer and the corresponding amusement of the ladies.
[Illustration: PHILIP II. OF SPAIN, 1527-1598.
_National Portrait Gallery._
_Photo by Emery Walker._]
Ben Jonson, "Every Man out of his Humour," thus recounts a misfortune
which happened to Fastidio in a duel: "I had on a gold cable hatband,
then new come up, of massie goldsmith's work, which I wore about a
murrey French hat, the brims of which were thick embroidered with
gold twist and spangles; I had an Italian cut-work band, ornamented
with pearls, which cost three pounds at the Exchange.... He, making
a reverse blow, falls upon my embossed girdle--I had thrown off the
hangers a little before; strikes off a skirt of a thick satin doublet
I had, lined with four taffataes; cuts off two panes of embroidered
pearls; rends through the drawings out of tissue; enters the lining,
and skips the flesh; and not having leisure to put off my silver
spurs, one of the rowels catched hold of the ruffle of my boot, it
being Spanish leather, and subject to tear; overthrows me, and rends
me two pairs of stockings, that I had put on being a raw morning--a
peach-colour and another."
In the same play, Fungoso, reckoning up the price of Fastidio's dress,
says: "Let me see; the doublet--say fifty shillings the doublet--and
between three and four pounds the hose,--then the boots, hat, and
band;--some ten or eleven pounds will do it all."
By the year 1583 the trunks are rifled of their contents in order to
provide stuffing for the doublet. It will be noticed in the cut of
knightly pastimes that the girdle meets at a point in front. This shape
was emphasised, the doublet protruded in front, and hung down for some
distance, and the peas-cod bellied doublet was developed. We must again
turn to our old "anatomist" Stubbes: "Certain I am there was never any
kind of apparel invented that could more disproportion the body of a
man than their doublets with great bellies do, hanging down beneath the
groin, as I have said, and stuffed with four or five, or six pounde
of bombast at the least. I say nothing of what their doublets be
made; some of satin, taffata, silk, grograine, chamlet, gold, silver,
and what not; slashed, jagged, cut, carved, pinched, and laced with
all kinds of costly lace of divers and sundry colours, of all which,
if I could stand upon particularly, rather time than matter would be
wanting." The peas-cod bellied doublet is still perpetuated in the
person of our esteemed contemporary, Mr. Punch.
[Illustration: ILLUSTRISSIMI GENEROSISSIMIQUE PRI. HENRICI MAGNÆ
BRITANNIÆ ET HYBERNIÆ PRINCIPIS,
Vera Effigies.
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES.
_Engraved by Simon Passe, 1612._]
An excellent example of the trunk-hose of the latter part of the reign
of James I. appears in the engraved portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales.
The hose consists of a series of richly embroidered straps discovering
the silk or velvet trunk in the narrow intervals between.
With the reign of the "martyr King" Charles, both peas-cod bellied
doublets and trunk-hose disappear, and the costume of this period is
strikingly picturesque. Charles was a man of cultivated taste, and
handsome to boot; he undoubtedly influenced the costume of his time.
The earliest engraved portraits, by Francis Delaram and William Hole,
exhibit him in long, loose breeches reaching to the knees, with the
doublet still pointed at the waist. The more familiar costume of this
monarch is, however, that which is seen in the various portraits by
Vandyke. The costume of the Cavaliers is well described in a little
book on British costume published in the "Library of Entertaining
Knowledge" in 1834: "It consisted of a doublet of silk, satin, or
velvet, with large loose sleeves, slashed up the front; the collar,
covered by a falling band of the richest point lace, with that
peculiar edging now called Vandyke; a short cloak was worn carelessly
on one shoulder. The long breeches, fringed or pointed, as we have
already mentioned, met the tops of the wide boots, which were also
ruffled with lace or lawn. A broad-leafed Flemish beaver hat, with a
rich hatband and plume of feathers, was set on one side of the head,
and a Spanish rapier, hung from a magnificent baldrick or sword-belt,
worn sashwise over the right shoulder."
We now arrive at the period of the dandiacal Pepys, who describes
with great unction the various changes and details of his costume.
On September 13, 1660, the Duke of Gloucester died of the small-pox
"by the great negligence of the doctors." He was buried on the 21st
at Westminster, and on the 22nd our chronicler "purchased a pair of
short black stockings to wear over a pair of silk ones for mourning."
On April 23, 1661, the occasion of the King's going from the Tower to
Whitehall, he rose with the lark, made himself as fine as he could, and
put on his velvet coat, the first day that he put it on, "though made
half a year ago."
"_September 29th, 1661._--This day I put on my half cloth black
stockings, and my new coate of the fashion, which pleases me well, and
with my beaver I was (after office was done) ready to go to my Lord
Mayor's feast, as we were all invited."
The long laced coats, familiar during the latter part of the reign of
the "Merry Monarch" and the succeeding reign, had already come into
vogue. On May 11, 1662, Pepys repaired in the afternoon to Whitehall,
and "walked in the parke," where he saw the King, "now out of mourning
in a suit laced with gold and silver, which it was said was out of
fashion."
The costume of the masses during the Commonwealth and Restoration, was
the well-known knee breeches and stockings, with doublet or jerkin.
In a poem called "Wit Restored," _c._ 1658, is described the holiday
dress of a countryman when courting:--
"And first chill put on my Zunday parell
That's lac't about the Quarters;
With a pair of buckram slopps,
And a vlanting pair of garters.
With a sword tide vast to my side,
And my grandfather's dugen and dagger,
And a peacock's veather in my capp,
Then, oh, how I shall swagger!"
About the year 1658 petticoat breeches crossed the silver streak
from Versailles, and became the vogue at the Court of Charles II.
Randal Holme, writing in 1659, describes the dress as follows:--"A
short-waisted doublet and petticoat breeches, the lining being lower
than the breeches and tied above the knees; the breeches are ornamented
with ribands up to the pocket, and half their breadth upon the thigh;
the waistband is set about with ribands, and the shirt hanging out over
them." The petticoat breeches were not ridiculous in themselves--the
modern Scotch kilt, which is an extremely picturesque and even
reasonable costume, is made upon precisely the same principle; it was
the absurd lace ruffles, which hung drooping below the knee, which
were worn with the petticoats during the earlier period, and in which
Charles II. is figured in Heath's Chronicle, 1662, which made the
costume a banality. The figure of the exquisite of 1670 from Jacquemin
wears the petticoat breeches, but without the ruffles or frills at the
knees. It must be confessed, however, that the gentleman possesses a
sufficiency of frill!
[Illustration: AN EXQUISITE.
_From Jacquemin._]
Petticoat breeches had disappeared by the end of the reign of Charles
II., and we have now to deal with another distinct change in the
national costume. In an inventory of apparel of Charles II. in 1679
appears a suit of clothes of one material, and consisting of _coat_,
waistcoat, and breeches. William III. is figured in 1694 in a long
laced coat with enormous sleeve cuffs, the waistcoat almost as long as
the coat, with large flaps and pockets also richly laced, the nether
garments being knee breeches and stockings with buckled shoes, the hat
cocked according to the fancy of the wearer. This coat, indeed, has,
with variations, existed up to the present time. The gold lacings,
the rows of buttons down the front, the huge cuffs, indeed, have
vanished; but the modern coat is, fundamentally, the same as its
earliest prototype. The two buttons at the back, which now serve no
purpose other than an ornamental one, once buttoned up the flaps, and
constitute the last remains of the coat's former glories.
Towards the middle of the eighteenth century the coat fits tightly
to the body, the skirts being long and ample, and made to stand out
stiffly by being lined with buckram; the large Kevenhuller hat has
given place to one of much more moderate proportions.
[Illustration: PHILIPPE DE VENDÔME, GRAND PRIEUR DE FRANCE.
_From an old print in the British Museum._]
The fop of the day is thus ridiculed by Diana in the play of "Lionel
and Clarissa," by Isaac Bickerstaff, 1768:--
"Ladies, pray admire a figure,
Fait selon le dernier gout.
First, his hat, in size no bigger
Than a Chinese woman's shoe;
Six yards of ribbon bind
His hair en baton behind;
While his foretop's so high,
That in the crown he may vie
With the tufted cockatoo.
Then his waist so long and taper
'Tis an absolute thread-paper:
Maids, resist him, you that can.
Odd's life, if this is all th' affair,
I'll clap a hat on, club my hair,
And call myself a man."
The short hair and large bishop's sleeves of the clergy are satirised
in the same play:--
"Lauk! Madam, do you think, when Mr. Lionel's a clergyman, he'll be
obliged to cut off his hair? I'm sure it will be a thousand pities,
for it is the sweetest colour! and your great pudding-sleeves, Lord!
they'll quite spoil his shape, and the fall of his shoulders. Well,
Madam, if I was a lady of large fortune, I'll be hanged if Mr. Lionel
should be a parson, if I could help it."
FOOTNOTES:
[11] Embroidery.
[12] Fairholt, "Costume in England."
V
THE
KIRTLE
OR PETTICOAT
"_Falstaff._ What trade art thou, Feeble?
"_Feeble._ A woman's tailor, sir.
"_Shallow._ Shall I prick him, sir?
"_Falstaff._ You may; but if he had been a man's tailor he would
have pricked you--Wilt thou make as many holes in an enemy's
battle, as thou hast done in a woman's petticoat?
"_Feeble._ I will do my good will, sir; you can have no more.
"_Falstaff._ Well said, good woman's tailor! well said, courageous
Feeble! Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, or most
magnanimous mouse--Prick the woman's tailor well, Master Shallow;
deep, Master Shallow."
V
THE KIRTLE OR PETTICOAT
The kirtle or petticoat is in reality a development of the tunic. It
is the tunic which has become a closely fitting bodice, with long
draperies, more or less formal, attached. The names of the different
portions of dress have at different periods varied almost indefinitely.
The first item of the habit of the Order of the Garter is successively
described as tunic, coat, surcoat, and _kirtle_.
The kirtle, therefore, takes up the story of costume from the time when
the loose tunic gave place to a more formal attire--broadly speaking,
from the Norman Conquest.
During the eleventh century, however, woman's dress was still the loose
tunic, the principal change being in the remarkable development of
the sleeves, which, although close fitting along the whole length of
the arm, either had an extraordinary attachment at the wrist in the
form of a bag or pouch, or were abnormally extended and widened at the
wrist and tied in knots to avoid treading on them. This fashion is
satirised in the figure of the devil from the Cotton MSS., given in
the introductory chat of this work.
In the "Romaunt of the Rose," written at the close of the thirteenth
century, John de Meun relates the story of Pygmalion, representing
him as adorning the statue he had created with a succession of the
garments of the fashion of the period of the poem, with the purpose of
discovering which became her best:--"He clothed her in many guises;
in robes, made with great skill, of the finest silk and woollen
cloths; green, azure, and brunette, ornamented with the richest skins
of ermines, minivers, and greys: these being taken off, other robes
were tried upon her, of silk, cendal, mallequins, mallebruns, satins,
diaper, and camelot, and all of divers colours. Thus decorated, she
resembled a little angel; her countenance was so modest. Then, again,
he put a wimple upon her head, and over that a coverchief, which
concealed the wimple, but hid not her face. All these garments were
then laid aside for gowns, yellow, red, green, and blue; and her hair
was handsomely disposed in small braids, with threads of silk and
gold adorned with little pearls, upon which was placed, with great
precision, a crestine; and over the crestine, a crown or circle of
gold, enriched with precious stones of various sizes. Her little ears
were decorated with two beautiful pendants of gold, and her necklace
was confined to her neck by two clasps of gold. Her girdle was
exceedingly rich, and to it was attached an aulmoniere, or small purse,
of great value."
In the reign of Edward III. the close-fitting bodice appears, with
the girdle over the hips, the sleeves either tight or provided with
an upper sleeve with long tippets or streamers from the elbow. Later
a kind of "spencer"[13] jacket, or waistcoat, was worn, faced and
bordered with miniver or other fur. These "spencer"-like jackets lasted
for a considerable period. An example appears in the effigy of Joan of
Navarre, Queen of Henry IV. A similar jacket again appears in the reign
of Henry VI.
[Illustration: THE CLOSE FITTING JACKET.
TEMP. EDWARD III.]
The Italian _cassone_, or marriage chests, of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, furnish us with many examples of graceful dresses
of a character peculiar to that period and nation, but which fashion
obtained to some extent elsewhere; a good deal of the grace of these
things is due, however, to the fine convention adopted in the work of
this period. A feature of this dress is the long wide sleeves streaming
from the shoulders, part sleeve and part cloak. The illustration which
forms the heading of Chat IV. will serve to give some idea of this
dress.
At the commencement of the Tudor period the costume of the ladies is
still that of the period of high head-dresses of the middle of the
century. The waist is still high and narrow, the gown long, ample
and flowing, often edged with fur, and with fur collar and cuffs. By
the end of the reign of Henry VIII., however, costume had undergone
a marked change. The waist suddenly drops, the stomacher appears,
together with the bell-shaped open gown, with richly embroidered
petticoat, which lasted for a considerable time--to the time of Charles
I., in fact. Both cut gown and inner petticoat were ornamented, either
by woven patterns or embroidery, the richest ornaments being reserved
for the petticoat; the turnovers or "collars" of the skirts being
plain, in contrast to the rich ornaments of the upper surface.
An interesting portrait of Queen Mary (Red Mary) by Lucas de Heere,
in the possession of Sir William Quilter, was recently shown at the
exhibition at the Guildhall of the works of Flemish painters. She
wears a black dress with stiffened collar behind, ornamented with gold
embroidery, open at the neck, disclosing a pink bodice also richly
embroidered, the sleeves furred at the elbows.
The era of petticoat inflation began about this time; it was such a
remarkable development that the consideration of it is reserved for a
separate chat.
In Holinshed's Chronicle, 1577, appears an amusing cut of "Makbeth
and Banquho" met by "the iij weird Sisters or Feiries." "Makbeth" is
figured as wearing an astonishing Life Guard helmet and plume. "The iij
weird Feiries" are fascinating creatures, gaily dressed in ornamented
kirtles, with panniers, puffed sleeves and shoulders, and, in one
instance, with a remarkable peaked turban with streamer on her head.
[Illustration: A LADY OF BASLE.
_Holbein._]
The dress of the Tudor period was magnificent beyond description. In a
wardrobe account of Henry VIII., seven yards of purple cloth-of-gold
damask is apportioned for a kirtle for Catherine of Arragon. As in the
case of the men, the sleeves were invariably the richest portion of
women's dress. "Amongst the inventories of this reign we find: three
pair of purple satin sleeves for women; one pair of linen sleeves,
paned with gold over the arm, quilted with black silk, and wrought with
flowers between the panes and at the hands; one pair of sleeves of
purple gold tissue damask wire, each sleeve tied with aglets of gold;
one pair of crimson satin sleeves, four buttons of gold being set on
each sleeve, and in every button nine pearls."
This extravagance was more than continued during the reign of
Elizabeth. It is thus satirised by Beaumont and Fletcher in "Four Plays
in One."
"I went then to Vanity, whom I found
Attended by an endless troop of taylors,
Mercers, embroiderers, feather-makers, fumers;
All occupations opening like a mart,
That serve to rig the body out with bravery;
And through the room new fashions flew like flies,
In thousand gaudy shapes; Pride waiting on her,
And busily surveying all the breaches
Time and decaying nature had wrought in her,
Which still with art she piec'd again, and strengthened.
I told your wants; she shew'd me gowns and headtires,
Embroider'd waste coats, smocks seamed through with cut-work,
Scarfs, mantles, petticoats, muffs, powders, paintings,
Dogs, monkies, parrots; all of which seem'd to show me
The way her money went."
The beauties of the Court of the Merry Monarch are made familiar to us
by the pencil of Sir Peter Lely.[14] The age was distinguished in the
case of the women not so much for the magnificence of its costume as
for the scantiness of it. It was to a certain extent a return to the
simplicity of Nature!
"If," says Addison, writing in the _Spectator_, "we survey the
pictures of our great-grandmothers in Queen Elizabeth's time, we see
them clothed down to the very wrists, and up to the very chin. The
hands and face were the only samples they gave of their beautiful
persons. The following age of females made larger discoveries of their
complexion. They first of all tucked up their garments to the elbow,
and, notwithstanding the tenderness of the sex, were content for the
information of mankind to expose their arms to the coldness of the air,
and injuries of the weather."
They affected a mean between dress and nakedness, which occasioned the
publication of a book entitled "A Just and Seasonable Reprehension of
Naked Breasts and Shoulders," with a preface by Richard Baxter, _temp._
Charles II.
Herrick's lines may be said to foreshadow the period:--
"A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness;
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction;
An erring lace, which here and there
Enthrals the crimson stomacher;
A cuff neglected, and thereby
Ribbons to flow confusedly;
A winning wave, deserving note
In the tempestuous petticoat.
A careless shoe-string, in whose tie
I see a wild civility;--
Do more bewitch me, than when art
Is too precise in every part."
The remarks of our diarist Pepys on the subject of dress are always
entertaining, although he displays perhaps less interest in his wife's
dresses than in his own.
"_April 15th, 1662._--With my wife, by coach, to the new Exchange,
to buy her some things; where we saw some new-fashion petticoats of
sarcanett with a black broad lace printed round the bottom and before,
very handsome, and my wife had a mind to one of them."
[Illustration: THE CHILDREN OF CHARLES I.
_After Vandyck. Engraved by Sir Robert Strange._]
His wife's dressmaker's bill is apparently a much less serious item
than his own dress expenses, which is perhaps the reverse of the
present order of things.
"_October 30th, 1663._--To my great sorrow find myself £43 worse than I
was the last month.... But it hath chiefly arisen from my layings-out
in clothes for myself and wife; viz., for her about £12, and for myself
£55--or thereabouts,(!) having made myself a velvet cloak, two new
cloth skirts, a new shag gown, trimmed with gold buttons and twist,
with a new hat, and silk tops for my legs, and many other things, being
resolved, henceforward, to go like myself"(!!).
"_March 2nd, 1669._--My wife this day put on her first French gown,
called a Sac, which becomes her very well."
May Day of the same year: "My wife extraordinary fine with her flowered
tabby gown that she made two years ago, now laced exceeding pretty;
and indeed was fine all over. And mighty earnest to go, though the day
was very lowering; and she would have me put on my fine suit--which I
did"(!).
A certain affectation by the ladies of male costume made its appearance
towards the close of the century. Laced and buttoned coats and
waistcoats were worn, together with a smartly cocked hat surmounted
with a feather. It also appeared earlier, during the reign of
Elizabeth, and was satirised by Stubbes, and later, in the _Spectator_,
by Addison. We picture Die Vernon in a habit of this kind, which was
chiefly worn for riding, but also for walking. Fielding describes the
appearance of Sophia Western at the inn at Upton in a similar habit.
[Illustration: MISS LEWIS.
_Engraved by James Macardell._]
The rigidity of the bodice at the commencement of the Hanoverian
period was an echo of an earlier time, when Good Queen Bess strutted
it in wheeled farthingale. It was strongly fortified with whalebone
strips, and formed a V in front.
One of the chief characteristics of the dresses of this period was
the naturalistic floral patternings, which were seen everywhere, and
even invaded the dress of the men, whose waistcoats were gay with
embroidered flowers. This floral patterning was the outward and visible
sign of the general interest which was then taken in natural form.
Linnæus, at Upsala, was propounding his botanical system; gardening
was generally popular. Mrs. Delany thus describes a dress which she
saw at Court in February, 1741, and which is sufficiently indicative
of the generally prevailing taste: "The Duchess of Queensberry's
clothes pleased me best; they were white satin embroidered--the bottom
of the petticoat brown hills covered with all sorts of weeds, and
every breadth had an old stump of a tree that ran up almost to the top
of the petticoat, broken and ragged and worked with brown chenille,
round which twined nastersians, ivy, honeysuckles, periwinkles,
convolvuluses, and all sorts of twining flowers, which spread and
covered the petticoat; vines with the leaves variegated as you have
seen them by the sun, all rather smaller than nature, which makes them
look very light; the robings and facings were little green banks with
all sorts of weeds; and the sleeves and the rest of the gown loose,
twining branches of the same sort as those on the petticoat. Many of
the leaves were finished with gold, and part of the stumps of the
trees looked like the gilding of the sun."
[Illustration: THE GAMUT OF LOVE.
_From an engraving after Watteau._]
The quilted petticoat with figured panniers which is associated with
the name of Dolly Varden is a charming dress of the rustic or idyllic
sort. Like the rigid bodice, it was a development of the dress of
an earlier period; it was, in fact, the stiff outer kirtle of the
Elizabethan and Stuart periods looped up in folds.
The fashionable luxuries of the latter half of the eighteenth century
are thus commented upon in the _London Magazine_ of February, 1773:--
"The modes of dress, as well as those of house-keeping, are articles of
incredible expense. Here the ladies are beyond description extravagant.
"They have spring and summer, autumn and winter silks; brocades, gold
and silver stuffs; some of which are bought at the enormous price
of thirty guineas a yard. The birthday suit is never worn a second
time. Their heads are adorned with Dresden and Mechlin lace, enriched
with jewels of immense value: large estates hang upon their ears. How
brilliant are their diamond necklaces and stomachers, their watches,
and other trinkets!--their very buckles are set with pearls and
precious stones."
A character in "Bon Ton; or, High Life Above Stairs," by David Garrick,
1775, exclaims:--
"This fellow would turn rake and maccaroni if he was to stay here a
week longer--bless me, what dangers are in this town at every step!
O, that I were once settled safe again at Trotley-place!--nothing
to save my country would bring me back again: my niece, Lucretia,
is so be-fashioned and be-devilled, that nothing, I fear, can save
her; however, to ease my conscience, I must try; but what can be
expected from the young women of these times, but sallow looks, wild
schemes, saucy words, and loose morals!--they lie a-bed all day, sit
up all night; if they are silent they are gaming; and if they talk,
'tis either scandal or infidelity; and that they may look what they
are, their heads are all feather, and round their necks are twisted
rattlesnake tippets--O tempora, O mores!"
In the _Lady's Magazine_ for April, 1782, the following announcement of
fashionable dress at Paris is given:--
"The Queen of France has appeared at Versailles in a morning dress that
has totally eclipsed the levée robe, and is said to be the universal
rage. The robe is made of plain sattin, chiefly white, worn without
a hoop, round, and a long train. It is drawn up in the front, on one
side, and fastened with tassels of silver, gold, or silk, according
to the taste of the wearer; and this discloses a puckered petticoat
of gauze or sarsenet, of a different colour. The sleeves are wide
and short, drawn up near the shoulder with small tassels, or knots
of diamonds; under sleeves of the finest cambrick, full plaited, and
trimmed at the elbow with Brussels or point, give infinite charms to
the whole. The fastening of the waist is not straight down the stays,
but gently swerved, and trimmed with narrow fur, as is the bottom of
the robe. A round pasteboard hat, covered with the same sattin, and
without any other ornaments than a diamond buckle, or an embroidered
one, finishes the dress, which, it is said, will be worn through the
summer, made of lighter materials."
The French Revolution was productive of many things--not the least of
which was the change it brought in the matter of dress. The revival
of classicism in costume during the Empire, which was to a great
extent due to the influence of the painter David, was an echo of the
earlier classic revival in architecture, mainly represented in this
country by the work of the brothers Adam, who designed, as well as
architecture, carriages, furniture, plate, and even a sedan chair for
Queen Charlotte. With the advent of the Revolution the fashion suddenly
changes. The oft-quoted couplet--
"Shepherds, I have lost my waist;
Have ye seen my body?"
a parody on a popular song, "The Banks of Banna"--expresses the
disappearance of that portion of the body, which had previously been
absurdly long. The ample flowered skirts of the middle of the century
gave place to light gauze clinging coverings which exhibited as much
of Nature's form as was--desirable. The _merveilleuses_ appeared in
gossamer gowns, slit from the hips and buttoned at the knees after the
fashion of the Macedonian girls alluded to in a previous chat, the
legs encased in fleshings. "Behold her, that beautiful citoyenne, in
costume of the ancient Greeks, such Greek as painter David could teach;
her sweeping tresses snooded by glittering antique fillet; bright-dyed
tunic of the Greek woman; her little feet naked as in antique
statues, with mere sandals and winding strings of riband--defying the
frost."[15]
[Illustration: MADAME DE MOUCHY, IN BALL DRESS.
_Engraved by Pierre-Louis Surugue._]
"English Costume from Pocket-books," 1799, tells of a Russian officer,
who, having been accustomed at home to estimate the rank of a lady by
the _warmth_ of her clothing, offered a woman of fashion a penny, in
Bond Street, under the impression that from her nakedness she must be a
pauper!
[Illustration: WALKING DRESS, 1810.]
The Empire gown is figured in the illustration of a walking dress,
1810. It lasted practically until the advent of the crinoline in the
forties, when it finally disappeared. There has been recent talk of its
revival, but dancing men are found to be opposed to it, if for no other
reason than the difficulty of knowing where to place their arms; and
dancing men are apparently a necessity.
The really fashionable people are those who are not in the fashion.
This may at first sight seem a paradox, but a moment's consideration
will be sufficiently convincing. The Empress of Germany gives an
order to her dressmaker for four dresses, on the strict understanding
that no others are to be made like them (_vide_ daily paper). _This_
is the genuine woman of fashion. The people who are "in the fashion"
are the sheep. "Bell-wether takes the leap and they all jump over." In
other words, there can be no really beautiful dress unless the spirit
of individualism is fostered. Dress should "express" the wearer and
provide an index as to character. Indeed, it does, as the spectacle
of a woman or a man following blindly the dictates of fashion is
sufficient evidence that he or she possesses no character at all.
There is also a manner of dressing and of wearing, a certain elegance
that distinguishes people of taste from the vulgar, which gives each
portion of the dress its due importance, and imparts a harmony to the
whole, as in the composition of a picture, which weaves every detail
into one design and impresses the beholder as a masterpiece.
[Illustration: PROMENADE COSTUME, 1833.]
Moreover, there is a charm and piquancy of manner quite apart from
the dress itself, or even the personal beauty of the wearer, which
distinguishes the fascinating woman. A character in "The Belle's
Stratagem" exclaims--with what degree of truth the reader himself must
determine:
"Pho! thou hast no taste! English beauty! 'tis insipidity: it wants
the zest, it wants poignancy, Frank! Why, I have known a Frenchwoman,
indebted to Nature for no one thing but a pair of decent eyes, reckon
in her suit as many counts, marquisses, and petits maîtres, as would
satisfy three dozen of our first-rate toasts. I have known an
Italian marquizina make ten conquests in stepping from her carriage,
and carry her slaves from one city to another, whose real intrinsic
beauty would have yielded to half the little grisettes that pace your
Mall on a Sunday."
[Illustration: PARIS EVENING DRESS, 1833.]
FOOTNOTES:
[13] The term "spencer" is a modern one, and is said to originate from
an accident to Lord Spencer, in which he lost his coat-tails during a
hunt, _temp._ George III.
[14] "This day I did first see the Duke of York's room of pictures of
some Maids of Honour, done by Lilly; good, but not like."--_Pepys's
Diary._
[15] Carlyle.
VI
THE RISE
AND FALL
OF THE
CRINOLINE
"For I will goe frocked and in a French hood,
I will have my fine cassockes and my round verdingale."
_Booke of Robin Conscience._
[Illustration: THE CRINOLINE.
_From Jacquemin._]
VI
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CRINOLINE
Fielding, in his description of the beauty and many graces of Sophia
Western, feeling his subject to be more than ordinarily sublime,
introduces his heroine "with the utmost solemnity, with an elevation of
style, and all the other circumstances proper to raise the veneration
of the reader": "Hushed be every ruder breath. May the heathen ruler of
the winds confine in iron chains the boisterous limbs of noisy Boreas,
and the sharp-pointed nose of bitter-biting Eurus. Do thou, sweet
Zephyrus, rising from thy fragrant bed, mount the western sky and lead
on those delicious gales, the charms of which call forth the lovely
Flora from her chamber, perfumed with pearly dews, when on the first of
June, her birthday, the blooming maid, in loose attire, gently trips
it over the verdant mead, where every flower rises to do her homage,
until the whole field becomes enamelled, and colours contend with
sweets which shall ravish her most.
"So charming may she now appear; and you, the feathered choristers
of nature, whose sweetest notes not even Handel can excel, tune your
melodious throats to celebrate her appearance. _From love proceeds your
music, and to love it returns._ Awake, therefore," &c.
If one were fortunate enough to possess the power of description and
imagination of a Fielding, methinks the crinoline would provide a
sufficiently inspiring theme.
It has been said that Milton was a man from his birth. The crinoline,
like Milton, is an exception to every law of development. It had, like
Milton, neither infancy nor adolescence, but sprang full armed, like
"Athene from the brain of Zeus," or perhaps, like Topsy in "Uncle
Tom's Cabin," it never was born, but just "growed"--and it grew--like
a mushroom (which indeed in form it somewhat resembles), in a night.
Or, to adopt yet another comparison, like the sun, which bursts in the
morning suddenly in its full refulgence, is obscured for a time by
clouds, to blaze again in unabated splendour, and in its turn is again
obscured, but only to reappear in glorious sunset.
The crinoletta, which followed, may be described as the twilight or
sweet afterglow--beautiful, tender as the blush on a maiden's cheek,
and almost as evanescent, but with none of the glory of the preceding
day.
[Illustration: QUEEN CHARLOTTE.
_After Gainsborough._]
In the charming passage from Fielding above quoted, Love, it will be
seen, figures as the presiding spirit. This is peculiarly appropriate
to the present subject, for, be it known, _Dan Cupid begat the
crinoline_. It is said to have been originally invented for the purpose
of concealing the illicit amours of a Princess of Spain; but singularly
enough, and in a sort of contradictory spirit, is first identified with
the august person of the "Maiden Queen."
The earlier portraits of Elizabeth exhibit her in a dress similar to
that of her sister and predecessor, and in an interesting portrait of
Catherine Parr at Glendon Hall, Northamptonshire, this Queen appears
in a richly embroidered petticoat widened at the base. A similar
petticoat or kirtle, widened a little at the hips, is shown in the
portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots, with Darnley (p. 169). The hooped
petticoat or _vardingale_, however, appears only in the later portraits
of Elizabeth. In the famous print by William Rogers, of which a
reproduction is given, she is figured in the great ruff with which she
is most identified, the interminable stomacher, and the enormous wheel
farthingale, with, as Walpole observes, "a bushel of pearls bestrewed
over the entire figure"; she also wears a long light mantle edged with
lace, a portentous collar, also edged with lace, expanding like wings
on either side of the head. She carries the ball and sceptre in her
hands.
[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH.
_From an engraving by William Rogers._]
The legend at the foot of the plate runs as follows:--
"The admired Empresse through the worlde applauded
For supreme virtues rarest imitation,
Whose Scepters rule fame's loud-voyc'd trumpet lawdeth
Into the eares of every forraigne nation.
Cannopey'd under powerfull angells winges
To her Immortall praise sweete Science singes."
The great wheel farthingale was worn by the nobility during the latter
half of the reign of Elizabeth, and during the whole of the succeeding
reign. The engraving by Renold Elstracke of James I. and his Queen,
Anne of Denmark, shows the latter in a farthingale, which in size and
general structure is identical with that worn by Elizabeth. It is,
however, box pleated round the top of the drum, the farthingale being
divided in front and discovering the kirtle underneath.
The following story is told by Bulwer in his "Pedigree of the English
Gallant": "When Sir Peter Wych was sent ambassador to the Grand Seignor
from James I., his lady accompanied him to Constantinople, and the
Sultaness having heard much of her, desired to see her; whereupon Lady
Wych, attended by her waiting women, all of them dressed in their great
vardingales, which was the Court-dress of the English ladies at that
time, waited upon her highness. The Sultaness received her visitor with
great respect, but, struck with the extraordinary extension of the hips
of the whole party, seriously inquired if that shape was peculiar to
the natural formation of English women, and Lady Wych was obliged to
explain the whole mystery of the dress, in order to convince her that
she and her companions were not really so deformed as they appeared to
be."
[Illustration: JAMES I. AND HIS QUEEN, ANNE OF DENMARK.
_From an engraving by R. Elstracke._]
In the reign of Charles I. the farthingale, although still worn by the
lower gentry and citizens' wives, is discarded by the upper classes,
and disappears entirely; and it is not until the latter part of the
reign of Queen Anne that it rises again, like the Phœnix from its
own ashes, but in another form, however, that of the enormous hoop,
which grew to such portentous proportions during the reigns of George
I. and II., the outstanding steel or whalebone foundation being
mainly at the bottom of the skirt instead of at the hips. Sir Roger
de Coverley thus expresses the difference between the earlier hooped
petticoats and those of the era of the _Spectator_: "You see, sir, my
great-great-grandmother has on the new-fashioned petticoat, except that
the modern is gathered at the waist; my grandmother appears as if she
stood in a large drum, whereas the ladies now walk as if they were in a
go-cart."
[Illustration: FESTAL DRESS, OTAHEITE.]
It is surprising to find in dress, as in ornamental design, the same
ideas, the same ornamental _motifs_, occurring to the people of
countries widely separate. There is a curious dress appropriated to the
young women of Otaheite who are appointed to make presents from persons
of rank to each other; one of these was deputed to present cloths to
Captain Cook on his last voyage. A representation of the dress is
given in the engraving, which is from Cook's Geography, 1801. The
proportions of the drum exceed even that of Queen Elizabeth; in general
shape, however, it is similar. It is decorated round the uppermost edge
with ornamental festoons of feathers, &c., and constitutes the complete
dress of the lady, with the exception of a sort of chemise which
appears underneath the breasts, and, presumably, covers the loins and a
portion of the lower limbs.
The hoop petticoat now approaches its highest meridian; its
re-appearance was duly announced by Addison, who, in No. 129 of the
_Spectator_, relates an adventure which happened in a little country
church in Cornwall: "As we were in the midst of service, a lady, who
is the chief woman of the place, and had passed the winter at London
with her husband, entered the congregation in a little head-dress and a
hooped petticoat. The people, who were wonderfully startled at such a
sight, all of them rose up. Some stared at the prodigious bottom, and
some at the little top, of this strange dress. In the meantime the lady
of the manor _filled the area of the church_ and walked up to the pew
with an unspeakable satisfaction, amid the whispers, conjectures, and
astonishments of the whole congregation."
Between 1740 and 1745 the hoops spread out at the sides extensively in
oblong fashion, resembling a donkey carrying its panniers. Indeed, the
simile of the donkey was a favourite one with the caricaturists. In
1860 _Punch_ adopts the idea, and issues a warning to ladies who would
ride in crinolines on donkeys, and gives a cut of a lady in an enormous
crinoline riding on a donkey, with nothing but the donkey's hind legs
seen below.
[Illustration: PORTRAITS OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, AND DARNLEY.
_From an engraving by R. Elstracke._]
A poetic description of ladies' dresses in 1773 directs:
"Make your petticoats short, that a hoop eight yards wide
May decently show how your garters are tied."
Indeed, the hoop of this period had attained to such enormous
proportions that, as Fairholt observes, the figure of a lady was
considerable; for they were now not only the better, but the larger,
half of creation, and half a dozen men might be accommodated in the
space occupied by a single lady.[16]
In a print entitled "The Review," of the latter part of the reign of
George II., the inconveniences of the hoop petticoat are exhibited in
a variety of ways, and various methods for their remedy are suggested.
One of the most ingenious is that of a coach with a moveable roof and
a frame with pulleys to drop the ladies in from the top, in order to
avoid the disarranging of their hoops which would necessarily attend
their entrance by the door.
Hoop petticoats disappeared early in the reign of George III., and the
genius of extravagance then turned its attention to the head-dress.
[Illustration: "DON'T BE AFRAID, MY DEAR."
_Engraved by Isidore-Stanilas Helman._]
In the expiring years of the fifties of the last century the crinoline
_proper_ appeared. There had been hints of it earlier, not to say
threats, in the bell-shaped skirts which obtained in about 1835, of
which the charming creature in the London promenade dress (p. 55)
provides an example.
The chief satirist of the crinoline is _Punch_, although, amongst
others, an amusing skit on the difficulties and dangers of the
crinoline appeared about 1870, with a number of coloured illustrations
by "Quiz," now very rare.
_Punch_ appears to have been particularly impressed by the "roomy"
character of the crinoline, as, in an amusing if somewhat laboured skit
in the early days of 1860, he unbosoms himself as follows:
"Among the million objections to the use of the wide petticoats not
the least well-founded is the fact that they are used for purposes of
shoplifting. This has many times been proved at the bar of the police
courts, and we wonder that more notice has not been attracted to it.
For ourselves, the fact is so impressed upon our mind, that when we
ever come in contact with a Crinoline which seems more than usually
wide, we immediately put down the wearer as a pick-pocket, and prepare
ourselves at once to see her taken up. Viewing Crinoline, indeed, as an
incentive to bad conduct, we forbid our wives and daughters to wear it
when out shopping, for fear that it may tempt them to commit some act
of theft. A wide petticoat is so convenient a hiding-place for stowing
away almost any amount of stolen goods, that we cannot be surprised
at finding it so used, and for the mere sake of keeping them from
roguery, the fewer women have it at their fingers' ends the better.
Some ladies have a monomania for thievery, and when they go on a day's
shopping can hardly keep their hands off what does not belong to them.
Having a commodious receptacle in reach, wherein they may deposit
whatever they may sack, they are naturally tempted to indulge in their
propensity, by the chances being lessened that they will be found out.
[Illustration: KING AND MRS. BADDELEY.]
"As an instance of how largely the large petticoats are used in acts
of petty larceny, we may mention a small fact which has come within
our knowledge, and which it may be to the interest of shopkeepers to
know. Concealed beneath the skirts of a fashionably dressed female
were, the other day, discovered by a vigilant detective the following
choice proofs of her propensity to plunder: viz., twenty-three shawls,
eleven dozen handkerchiefs, sixteen pairs of boots (fifteen of them
made up with the military heel), a case of eau-de-Cologne, a ditto
of black hair-dye, thirty pairs of stays, twenty-six chemises, five
dozen cambric handkerchiefs, and eleven ditto silk, nineteen muslin
collars, and four-and-forty crochet ones, a dressing case, five hair
brushes (three of them made with tortoiseshell and two with ivory
gilt backs), a pair of curling irons, eight bonnets without trimmings
and nine-and-twenty with them, a hundred rolls of ribbon, half a
hundredweight of worsted, ten dozen white kid gloves and twenty dozen
coloured ones, forty balls of cotton, nine-and-ninety skeins of silk,
a gridiron, two coal-scuttles, three packets of ham sandwiches,
twenty-five mince pies, half a leg of mutton, six boxes of French
plums, ten ditto of bonbons, nine pâtés de foie gras, a dozen cakes
of chocolate and nine of portable hare soup, a warming pan, five
bracelets, a brace of large brass birdcages, sixteen bowls of goldfish,
half a score of lapdogs, fourteen dozen lever watches, and an eight-day
kitchen clock.
"After this discovery, who will venture to deny that Crinoline with
shoplifters is comparable to charity, inasmuch as it may cover a
multitude of sins?"
A curious advertisement in the _Illustrated London News_ of October
10, 1863, announces that--"Ondina, or waved Jupons, do away with
the unsightly results of the ordinary hoops, and so perfect are the
wave-like bands that a lady may ascend a steep stair, lean against a
table, throw herself into an armchair, pass to a stall in the opera, or
occupy a fourth seat in a carriage without inconvenience to herself or
to others, or provoking rude remarks of the observers, thus modifying
in an important degree all those peculiarities tending to destroy the
modesty of English women, and lastly, it allows the dress to fall
into graceful folds. Price 21s. Illustrations free." With all these
advantages, who would not wear a crinoline?
In the new year of 1860 _Punch_ gives a cut ("Some good account at
last") of a skater in pot-hat and pegtops, encircled by the framework
of an enormous crinoline, cutting graceful figures upon the ice and
exclaiming, "Entirely my own idea, Harry--ease, elegance, and safety
combined--I call it the skater's friend." "Some good account at last"?
Unkind Mr. Punch! Must we, then, measure the value of everything in
this world by its bare utility? The crinoline will endure as a sweet
solace to senses tired by the ennui of this dull earth. The memory of
it will outlive the ages.
In the early seventies we find our old friend _Punch_ again upon the
warpath, and the Venus of Milo dons the crinoletta! This, however, is
only a repetition of his satire on the crinoline in his "Essence of
Parliament," May, 1860:--
"Lord Aberdeen's son, Lord Haddock, or some such name, made a supremely
ridiculous speech upon the impropriety of allowing money to any school
of Art in which the undraped she-model was studied from. His father,
who was called Athenian Aberdeen, and has so earnest a love for Greek
Art that he actually favoured Russia because she has a Greek Church,
ought to have cured his Haddock of such nonsense. Poor old Mr. Spooner,
naturally, took the same really indelicate view of the case. Sir George
Lewis expressed his lofty contempt for the Haddock, and Lord Palmerston
kippered him in a speech full of good fun. It is impossible that the
same country which contains Macdowell's Eve, and Bailey's Eve at the
Fountain, can hold Haddock and Spooner. Mr. Punch must avow that he
prefers keeping the diviner images, and somehow getting rid of the
coarser ones. Pam wanted to know whether the latter would like to stick
crinoline on the models, or would be content with African garb. The
other Wiscount observed, with more truth than politeness, 'Nude,
indeed! I knewed Addock was a Nass.'"
[Illustration: THE CRINOLETTA DISFIGURANS.
AN OLD PARASITE IN A NEW FORM.
_By Linley Sambourne ("Punch")._]
An illustration is appended to the article of a figure resembling
a fish in the act of adjusting a crinoline on the Venus de Medici.
The crinoline rests upon the shoulders of the statue like a huge
extinguisher.
As previously hinted, the crinoletta was only a faint echo of the
glories of its earlier prototype. It was a cylindrical contrivance,
made up of steels or whalebones, either covered with a series of
flounces, or worn underneath the dress like a big bustle. In fact, it
began as a bustle, and gradually extended its proportions, wagging and
swaying from side to side like the tail of a dragon, as the wearer
moved. One well remembers--shall we, indeed, ever forget?--these
singular "contraptions" displayed unblushingly in drapers' shops, and
even hanging in bundles at the doors.
"Hang out our banners on the outward walls;
The cry is still, 'They come.'"
FOOTNOTES:
[16] Fairholt, "Costume in England."
VII
COLLARS
AND
CUFFS
"_Theodorus._ Have they not also houses to set their ruffes in, to
trim them and to trick them, as well as to starch them in?
"_Amphilogus._ Yea, marry have they, for either the same starching
houses do serve the turn, or else they have their other chambers
and secret closets to the same use, wherein they tricke up these
cartwheeles of the divels charet of pride, leading the direct way
to the dungeon of hell."
STUBBES, _Anatomy of Abuses_.
VII
COLLARS AND CUFFS
It is to be understood that the terms "collar" and "cuff" are here only
intended to refer to those of linen, lace, or similar material, which
are more or less separate from the rest of the costume. A "collar" is
simply a neck-band, and may be of any material; in the case of Gurth,
"born thrall of Cedric the Saxon," it was of iron, and was the symbol
of his servitude. The term "collar" is also applied to certain articles
of jewellery--
"The collar of some order, which our King
Hath newly founded, all for thee, my soul."
TENNYSON, _Last Tournament_.
Collars are of a comparatively modern origin, although some form of
covering for the neck has been employed from a very early period. The
Romans made use of chin-cloths for the protection of the neck and
throat, which were termed "focalia." These were worn by public orators,
who from professional considerations were fearful of taking cold, and
who, doubtless, contributed in no small degree to render the fashion
of chin-cloths general. Some, says a writer on Roman antiquities (the
Rev. Father Adam), made use of a handkerchief (sudarium) for this
purpose. This is probably the origin of the cravat, which is in many
countries called neck-handkerchief.
[Illustration: HENRIETTA, MARQUISE D'ENTRAGUES.
_Engraved by Wierix._]
The thorax, of otter's skin, worn by Charlemagne during the colder
months, has already been referred to in a previous chat.
The wimple, also, which was a development of the Roman chin-cloth, and
which was worn for such an extended period from the Norman Conquest
onwards, is noticed under head-coverings.
During the greater part of the period of York and Lancaster necks were
worn bare, the "camise" appearing at the V-shaped junction of the
bodice, the neck being ornamented with jewellery.
Shirt-bands were originally connected with neck-ruffs, and the ornament
adjoined to the wristband of the shirt was known by the denomination of
"ruffle," and was originally called the hand-ruff. In the inventory of
apparel belonging to Henry VIII. occurs the item, "4 shirts with bands
of silver and ruffles to the same, whereof one is perled with gold."
The ruff is said to have been first invented in the reign of Henry VI.
by a Spanish lady of quality, to hide a wen which grew upon her neck.
Its first appearance in England was about the time of the marriage of
Queen Mary with Philip of Spain, these personages being represented
upon the Great Seal of England in 1554 with small ruffs on the necks
and wrists. The ruff appears in none of the portraits by Holbein,
with the exception of one at Antwerp, which is dated 1543, the year
before the painter's death, and is, moreover, a doubtful work. In many
portraits by this master, however, the lawn or cambric shirt appears
at the neck with the edges ruffled, and often delicately embroidered.
In the well-known portrait of the Duchess of Milan belonging to the
Duke of Norfolk, and at present in the National Gallery, such a ruffle
appears at the neck and also at the wrists, the edges emphasised by a
narrow embroidered border in black silk. This black embroidering was
very generally employed during the reign of Henry VIII. It appears in
a number of Holbein's portraits, both at the wrists and at the neck,
and is quite probably due to Holbein's influence. There can be no
reasonable doubt that this great painter influenced the dress of his
time. The influence of his artistic personality would be considerable,
and it is known that he designed dresses for the ladies of the court,
several drawings for which are in the Basle Museum. In the inventory of
the apparel of Henry VIII. appears: "One payer of sleves, passed over
the arms with gold and silver, quilted with black silk, and ruffled at
the hand with strawberry leaves and flowers of gold, embroidered with
black silk."
Starching at this period had not reached England; ruffs, therefore,
must have been an expensive luxury, as the starched linen, imported
from Flanders, could not be worn after being washed.
In 1564, one Madame Dinghen, who, as her name suggests, hailed from
Flanders, set up as a clear starcher in London, and appears to have
made the trade of clear starching an extremely lucrative one. Her terms
were four or five pounds for teaching "the most curious wives"[17] to
starch, and one pound for the art of seething starch. The "curious
wives" subsequently made themselves ruffs of lawn; whereupon arose
the general scoffing by-word that they would shortly make their ruffs
of spider's web.
[Illustration: HENRY IV. OF FRANCE.
_From an engraving by Goltzius._]
A certain Richard Young, described as a justice, for a long time held
the monopoly of the manufacture of starch in this country. From the
Elizabethan State Papers we learn that in 1589 there was a prosecution
against an infringer of the patent, to wit, Charles Glead, a gentleman
of Kent, who declared to the Queen's messengers that he would make
starch in the face of any patent or warrant yet granted, unless set
down by Act of Parliament.
Setting-sticks, strutts, and poking-sticks were the tools used in the
process of starching; the first made of wood or bone, and the latter
of iron, which was heated in the fire. It was this heated tool which
produced that beautiful regularity characteristic of this article of
attire.
"They be made of yron or steele, and some of brass kept as bright as
silver, yea, and some of silver itselfe; and it is well if in processe
of time they grow not to be gold. The fashion whereafter they be made,
I cannot resemble to anything so well as to a squirt, or a squibbe,
which little children used, to squirt out water withall; and when
they come to starching and setting of their ruffes, then must this
instrument be heated in the fire, the better to stiffen the ruffe ...
and if you woulde know the name of this goodly toole, forsooth, the
devill hath given it to name a putter, or else a putting sticke, as I
heare say" (Stubbes, "Anatomy of Abuses").
Upon the introduction of these tools, together with starch, ruffs
rapidly increased in their proportions.
[Illustration: THE INFANTA ISABELLA CLARA EUGENIA.
_Engraved by Jan Muller._]
"They became," says Stow, "intolerably large," and were known in
London as the "French fashion," in Paris as the "English monster."
The greatest gallant was he who possessed the longest rapier and the
deepest ruff. It became necessary to apply one of the usual remedies
against these and other extravagances of dress--a proclamation, or
an Act of Parliament; in this instance a proclamation. Citizens were
compelled to reduce their rapiers to a yard in length and their ruffs
to "a nail of a yard" in depth.
The unfinished engraving of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia,
Archduchess of Austria,[18] will serve to give a very good idea of the
dimensions and general appearance of these articles of attire.
Thus friend Philip Stubbes:--"They have now newly found out a more
monstrous kind of ruff, of twelve, yea, sixteen lengths apiece, set
three or four times double, and it is of some, fitly called, 'three
steps and an half to the gallows.'"
The "divells cartwheele" attained its greatest circumference in 1582,
when that love of change, inherent in the feminine breast, or possibly
the grave and reverend appearance of the ruff, occasioned a revolt
amongst the younger women, who were disinclined to hide the beauties
of their swan-like necks and throats. The ruff was therefore opened in
front and elevated behind. This was the gorget or whisk, which was used
both plain and laced.
A curious advertisement appears in the _Mercurius Publicus_, of May 8,
1662:--
"A cambric whisk, with Flanders lace, about a quarter of a yard broad,
and a lace turning up about an inch broad, with a stock in the neck and
strap hangers down before, was lost between New Palace and Whitehall.
Reward, twenty shillings."
These whisks appear to have had a special proclivity for getting lost.
Planché ("Cyclopedia of Costume") gives a similar advertisement:--
"'Lost, a tiffany whisk, with a great lace down and a little one up,
large flowers, with a rail for the head and peak' (_The Newes_, June
20, 1664)."
On account of the weight of the "whisk"--it was formed of a wire
framework covered with point lace--the "piccadilly" or stiffened collar
was devised.
Hone in his "Everyday Book" writes--
"The picadil was the round hem, or the piece set about the edge or
skirt of a garment, whether at top or bottom; also a kind of stiff
collar, made in fashion of a band, that went about the neck and round
about the shoulders: hence the term 'wooden picadilloes' (meaning the
pillory) in Hudibras. At the time that ruffs and picadils were much
in fashion, there was a celebrated ordinary near St. James's, called
Piccadilly, because, as some say, it was the outmost or skirt house,
situate at the end of the town; but it more probably took its name from
one Higgins, a tailor, who made a fortune by picadils, and built this
with a few adjoining houses. The name has by a few been derived from a
much frequented house for the sale of these articles; but this probably
took its rise from the circumstance of Higgins having built houses
there, which, however, were not for selling ruffs."
Picardil is the diminutive of "picca," a pike or spear head, and was
given to this article of attire from the resemblance of its stiffened
edges to the points of spears. Philips ("World of Words," 1693) defines
pickardil as the "hem about the skirt of a garment--the extremity or
utmost end of everything." Whether the collar gave the name to the
district or the district to the collar is a matter of some uncertainty;
probably, however, the former. The thoroughfare which we now know as
Piccadilly certainly did not exist at the time the picadil was first
worn, and the district was then "the utmost end of everything"--that
is, beyond the confines of the town.
Piccadilly as a place, or thoroughfare, is mentioned in "The
Rehearsal," by George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, produced in
the winter of 1671:--
"His servants he into the country sent,
And he himself to Piccadillé went."
A pickadil is mentioned in the old comedy of "Northward Ho" as part of
a woman's dress.
On the visit of James I. to Cambridge in 1615, the Vice-Chancellor of
the University thought fit to issue an order prohibiting "the fearful
enormity and excess of apparel seen in all degrees, as, namely,
_strange piccadilloes_, vast bands, huge cuffs, shoe-roses, tufts,
locks and tops of hair, unbeseeming that modesty and carriage of
students in so renowned a university."
The Church was still more fierce in its denunciation of these articles
of attire. Hall, Bishop of Exeter, in a sermon, after having severely
censured ruffs, farthingales, feathers, and paint, concludes with these
words, which more than equal anything in Stubbes: "Hear this, ye
popinjays of our time: hear this, ye plaster-faced Jezabels: God will
one day wash them with fire and with brimstone."
[Illustration: SON OF THE PAINTER DIRCK DE VRIES.
_Engraved by Goltzius._]
There appears to be considerable contradiction of terms, as applied
to the different collars, both with the writers of the time and with
subsequent writers. Barnabe Rich, in his "Honesty of the Age," says:
"The body is still pampered up in the very dropsy of excess.... He
that some forty years sithence should have asked after a pickadilly,
I wonder who should have understood him or could have told what a
pickadilly had been, either fish or flesh."
There was, however, the small ruff, such as is seen in the portraits of
Sir Thomas Gresham and Philip II. of Spain (pp. 121-123). There was the
large formal ruff which appears in the portrait of Lord Burleigh (p.
93), and the still larger ruff of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia
(p. 187). There was the less formal ruff which fell upon the shoulders,
which is seen in many portraits by Franz Hals. There was the high
standing pointed collar, such as appears in William Rogers's print of
Queen Elizabeth. There was a plain high-standing collar without lace,
which went round the back of the head. There was the plain collar of
the Cromwellians, which covered the shoulders, and there was also the
rich lace collar of the latter part of the reign of Charles I. The
plaits of the ruff were occasionally pinned, the rows being sometimes
two and three deep. In the "Antiquary," a comedy by Shakerley Marmion,
1641, quoted by Strutt, a lover says to his mistress: "Do you not
remember what taskes you were wont to put upon me when I bestowed
you gowns and petticoats: and you in return gave me bracelets and
shoe-ties? How you fool'd me, and set me sometimes to pin pleats in
your ruff two hours together?"
[Illustration: CHARLES I. (IN THREE VIEWS).
_After Vandyck. Engraved by W. Sharp._]
In an old play called "Lingua; or, the Combat of the Tongue and the
Five Senses for Superiority," 1607, one of the characters remarks:--
"It is five hours ago since I set a dozen maids to attire a boy like a
nice gentlewoman; but there is such doing with their looking-glasses;
pinning, unpinning, setting, unsetting, formings and conformings;
painting of blue veins, and rosy cheeks; such a stir with combs,
cascanets, purls, falls, squares, busks, bodices, scarfs, necklaces,
carkonels, rabatoes, borders, tires, fans, palisadoes, puffs, ruffs,
cuffs, muffs, pustles, fusles, partlets, frislets, bandlets, fillets,
corslets, pendulets, amulets, annulets, bracelets, and so many lets
that the poor lady of the toilet is scarce dressed to the girdle.
And now there is such calling for fardingales, kirtles, busk-points,
shoe-ties and the like, that seven pedlars' shops, nay, all Stourbridge
fair, will scarcely furnish. A ship is sooner rigged by far than a nice
gentlewoman made ready."
Towards the latter part of the reign of Charles I. both ruff and whisk
give place to the falling band, which was worn both plain and laced. It
had, indeed, appeared earlier, even in the latter years of Elizabeth,
but was not in general use until the time of Charles. The trouble
occasioned by the ruff and whisk appears to have been a factor of their
downfall. A character in the "Malecontent," 1604, exclaims: "There is
such a deal of pinning these ruffles when a fine cleane _fall_ is worth
all."
The cravat, or neckcloth, which succeeded the ruff and band, did not
come into general use until the latter part of the reign of the Merry
Monarch; indeed, some similar form of neck covering became a necessity,
on account of the monstrous size of the periwigs. It formed a large
bow at the chin, with the ends richly laced. There was a variety of
the neckcloth which was twisted like a corkscrew, the ends being drawn
through a ring. This was called a "Steinkirk," from the circumstance
of the French officers at the battle of that name in 1692, who could
not find time to arrange their cravats, and adopted the readier means
of twisting them in a knot. The laced ends of the cravat afterwards
increased in size, and were drawn through the button-hole of the
waistcoat.
"One of the knots of his tye hanging down his left shoulder, and his
fringed cravat nicely twisted down his breast, and thrust through his
gold button-hole, which looked exactly like my little Barbet's head in
his gold collar" (David Garrick, "Bon Ton; or, High Life Below Stairs,"
1775).
From a singular little pocket-manual upon the art of tying the cravat,
by H. Le Blanc, Esq., published in 1828, it would appear that there
are no less than two-and-thirty different styles of tying the cravat.
These are demonstrated in sixteen lessons, with illustrations, together
with portrait of the author, figured, as a matter of course, in an
irreproachable cravat.
"When a man of rank makes his _entrée_ into a circle distinguished
for taste and elegance, and the usual compliments have passed on both
sides, he will discover that his coat will attract only a slight degree
of attention, but that the most critical and scrutinising examination
will be made on the _set_ of his Cravat. Should this unfortunately not
be correctly and elegantly put on--no further notice will be taken
of him; whether his coat be of the reigning fashion or not will be
unnoticed by the assembly--all eyes will be occupied in examining the
folds of the fatal Cravat.
"His reception will in the future be cold, and no one will move
on his entrance; but if his Cravat is _savamment_ and elegantly
formed--although his coat may not be of the last _cut_--every one will
rise to receive him with the most distinguished marks of respect,
will cheerfully resign their seats to him, and the delighted eyes
of all will be fixed on that part of his person which separates the
shoulders from the chin--let him speak down-right nonsense he will be
applauded to the skies; it will be said--'This man has critically and
deeply studied the thirty-two lessons on the Art of Tying the Cravat.'
But again reverse the picture--it will be found that the unfortunate
individual who is not aware of the existence of this justly celebrated
work--however well informed he may be on other subjects--will be
considered as an ignorant pretender, and will be compelled to suffer
the impertinence of the fop, who will treat him with disdain, merely
because his Cravat is not correctly disposed--he will moreover be
obliged to hear in silence, and to approve (under pain of being
considered unacquainted with the common rules of politeness) all the
remarks which he will thus subject himself to--occasionally relieved by
hearing a whisper of, 'He cannot even put on a Cravat properly.'"
The reader will not expect, possibly will experience little desire, to
be taken through the whole of the two-and-thirty lessons in the art of
tying the cravat; a single illustration will probably suffice. It shall
be, however, "the sovereign of cravat ties, the 'Nœud Gordien,' the
origin of which is lost in the obscurity of antiquity."
The discovery of the name of the brilliant genius to whom the honour
of this invention is due has, apparently, defied the most laborious
researches on the part of the author. He can only tell us (what he
believes is generally known) that Alexander the Great, although he
could conquer a whole world, and, like a youthful character in the
works of the immortal Dickens, _sigh for more_ (soup, however, in the
case of the juvenile), was still unable to comprehend the theory of its
construction, and adopted the shorter and easier method of cutting it
with his sword.
"Attention!"
Cravats when sent from the laundress should undergo a careful
examination as to the washing, ironing, and folding, as the set of the
cravat and neatness of the tie _entirely depends upon this_. Whether
it be plain or coloured is apparently of little moment, and does not
in the least affect its formation, but a stout one is recommended as
offering more facilities to the daring fingers of the tyro who would
accomplish this _chef-d'œuvre_.
It now becomes necessary to meditate deeply and seriously upon the five
following directions:--
1. Having carefully chosen the cravat, it must be placed on the neck,
the ends left hanging (first time).
2. Take point K, pass it on the inside of point Z, and raise it (second
time).
3. Lower point K on the tie, now half formed O (third time).
4. Then, without leaving point K, bend it inside and draw it between
the point Z, which you repass to the left Y; in the tie now formed, Y
O, thus accomplishing the formation of the knot.
5. "And last." Having accomplished the knot, flattened it with thumb
and fore-finger, or with the iron (a small iron is recommended, with a
handle, made expressly for the purpose, and moderately warm), you lower
the points K Z, cross them, place a pin at the point of junction H,
at once solving the problem which defied the greatest of the world's
conquerors.
"_The slightest error in the first fold of this tie will render all
succeeding efforts, with the same handkerchief, entirely useless--we
have said it._"[19]
Although, as previously intimated, it is not proposed to wander
through the labyrinth of the whole of the two-and-thirty lessons, two
others may with advantage be referred to. Our author, though somewhat
facetious, is distinctly entertaining.
[Illustration: DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING THE TYING OF THE "NŒUD GORDIEN."
A. The Cravat folded. B. The Cravat à la Byron. S. The Cravat
Sentimentale.]
"The Cravat Sentimentale."
This, as its name implies, should only be adopted by those whose
physiognomy inspires the tender passion. It may be worn from the age of
"seventeen to twenty-seven; after that age it cannot, with propriety,
be patronised even by the most agreeable."
"You, then, whom Nature has not gifted with eyes of fire--with
complexions rivalling the rose and lily; you, to whom she has denied
pearly teeth and coral lips--a gift which, in our opinion, would
be somewhat inconvenient; you, in fact, whose faces do not possess
that sympathetic charm which, in a moment--at a glance--spreads
confusion o'er the senses," &c., pause before adopting the cravat
sentimentale--avoid it, in fact; leave it to more highly favoured
mortals.
"The Cravat à la Byron."
This must be worn by none but those who would mount the topmost slopes
of Parnassus, and drink deeply of the Castalian spring.[20] Our author
does not, indeed, say so, but the fact is sufficiently evident.
It is universally allowed that the least constraint on the body has
a corresponding effect on the mind; a tight cravat, therefore, will
"cramp the imagination and, as it were, suffocate the thoughts." This
is the reason why Lord Byron submitted to the inconveniences of a
cravat, only "when accommodating himself to the _bienséances_ of
society," and explains the fact that "whenever he is painted in the
ardour of composition his neck is always free from the trammels of the
neckcloth."
Black silk cravats, at the time of our author's writing (1828),
were generally worn, and coloured silk handkerchiefs occasionally
patronised. It appears that Napoleon invariably wore a black silk
cravat, but at Waterloo it was observed that, contrary to his usual
custom, he wore a white neckerchief with a flowing bow, although the
day previous he appeared in his black cravat. The superstitiously
inclined will note this fact; it is, however, extremely unlikely that
the change influenced in the slightest degree the result of the battle.
In the late thirties and early forties Dame Fashion turned her
attention in the direction of embroidered muslin. Delicate floral
patterns, often displaying considerable taste in design and a high
degree of technical skill, were wrought upon collarettes, cuffs,
chemisettes, &c.; it was chiefly produced in the north of Ireland, and
an extensive trade arose, finding employment for large numbers of women
and girls in the counties of Donegal, Tyrone, and Down. The delicacy
of the material and the absence of colour, lent itself insensibly to a
naturalistic treatment.
As is usual with the caprices of fashion, the art only lasted for a
comparatively brief period. It still survives, however, in the form of
embroidered handkerchiefs, for which there is even now a demand.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Stow.
[18] This lady, in 1601, registered a vow not to change her linen until
the town of Ostend was taken. The siege lasted three years and three
months, by which time her under-clothing had attained a colour which is
perhaps easier to imagine than to describe. It provided a name for a
stuff, "Couleur Isabella," which was fashionable in France for over a
century.
[19] "What I have said, I have said" (the Right Hon. Joseph
Chamberlain).
[20] The Castalian spring is at the _foot_ of the mountain, but it
should have been at the top, where the tired and thirsty traveller
would be most likely to need it. Besides, it is not to be expected that
we could reverse the order of the paragraph--"_we have said it_."
VIII
HATS,
CAPS,
AND
BONNETS
"'In _that_ direction,' the Cat said, waving his right paw round,
'lives a Hatter; and in _that_ direction,' waving the other paw,
'lives a March Hare. Visit either you like; they're both mad.'"
_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland._
[Illustration: FOOLS IN A MORRIS DANCE.
_Bodleian MS. (free rendering)._]
VIII
HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS
Mad as a hatter? How comes an honest craft to be thus maligned? Hatters
were never mad--that is, not more so than the rest of us--until they
adopted the pot of the chimney as a model.[21]
Nature has provided in the hair a natural covering for the head. Hats
are not really a necessity.
Dr. Jaeger ("Health Culture") discusses the probable reasons for the
greater prevalence of baldness among men than among women. While
rejecting the theory that the competition of the beard is precarious to
the hair of the head, abstracting from the latter its due nourishment,
and pointing out that the long beards and luxuriant heads of hair of
our ancestors refute this theory that the more strenuous head-work
which falls to the share of the male sex is responsible for the loss
of hair; that the unnatural custom of cutting men's hair, first adopted
when nature was abandoned in favour of the fashions of civilisation,
is to blame for it; that drink, dissolute habits, or heredity is the
cause--he finds that a far more probable cause is the difference
between the male and female head-covering, "which latter is, as a rule,
lighter, more airy, and more porous than the usually almost waterproof
and exceedingly absurd male head-coverings, such as the stiff felt
hats, and high hats, with the strip of leather which encircles the
forehead and effectually retains the perspiration."
"The best head-covering would certainly be--none at all. But usage,
and in many cases weather conditions, render this impracticable."...
"Not only are the hard hats, now in such general use, injurious on
account of the pores of the material being closed, impeding the passage
of the exhalation from the head; but the shellac used in stiffening
them has an injurious effect, from which the cherry gum used in the
case of the soft hats is comparatively free." He adds: "Of course,
soft hats cannot be worn in all cases--on ceremonial occasions the
hard hat may be chosen; but ordinarily the hygienically superior soft
hat should be worn." Why, however, on occasions of ceremony? Was
ceremonial non-existent before the advent of the nineteenth century?
It would rather appear that if the nineteenth century is conspicuous
for anything it is for its _absence_ of ceremonial. There is absolutely
no reason why a hat of a particular density, or even of a particular
shape, should be necessary to occasions of high ceremonial. Moreover,
in this connection it may be very pertinently asked, Is artistic
invention so utterly dead that it cannot devise a head-gear which
shall fit in with its surroundings on such occasions as call for more
dignity and impressiveness in the matter of costume? It is, however, an
incontrovertible fact, as a well-known present-day writer has pointed
out, that "revolutions are practicable in everything--in manners,
morals, government, even religion--sooner than in clothes; and that
sumptuary laws are the only laws that have always failed of being
obeyed." It is universally admitted that modern dress is intolerably
ugly; that it fails, not only upon its artistic side, but also upon the
score of utility; yet every suggestion for its improvement is always
met by a flat _non possumus_.
[Illustration: MRS. ANNE WARREN.
_After Romney._]
Some form of hood was, doubtless, the earliest covering for the
head, either as a separately made-up article, or, as in the case of
the Greeks and Romans, formed by the drawing of the pallium or toga
over the head to serve as protection during inclement weather. The
Romans had a hooded cloak (cucullus) which was worn by the commoner
people, and which, in some form or another, has been in use during
all subsequent periods. It is, in fact, generally worn at the present
day in most parts of the Continent of Europe, and forms an extremely
reasonable and convenient article of attire.
The hood formed the principal covering for the head of both sexes
during the twelfth, thirteenth, and part of the fourteenth centuries.
The hood (chaperon) was a separate article of dress as distinct
from the cowl (capuchon), which was attached to and formed part
of the cloak or other article of dress, although the two terms are
indiscriminately used by the earlier writers.
The hood assumed, in the first instance, more or less the form of
the Phrygian cap. The tippet, or tail, was afterwards developed to a
considerable length, in the thirteenth century reaching almost to the
ground. Dante is usually represented in such a hood, with long tippet,
and in the portrait of Cimabue by Simon Memmi, _c._ 1300, the painter
appears wearing a hood with a tippet reaching a little below the middle.
The cap or hood worn by "fools" was simply the hood of the fashion of
the particular period, with the addition of the cock's comb, the pair
of ass's ears and the bells, occasionally worn all together, and often
parti-coloured.
In the wardrobe accounts of Henry VIII. occurs--"Item, for making a
doublet of worsted, lined with canvass and cotton, for William Som'ar,
our fool; item, for making of a coat and cap of green cloth fringed
with red crule and lined with frize for our said fool."
The men's turbaned head-dress of the reign of Richard II. and later is
sufficiently remarkable to warrant a description. It was a long cloth,
wound round and round the head--the edges cut, clipped and jagged in
various ways--one end of which either stood up on the top of the head
or was allowed to fall over the side of the turban, the other end
hanging down in front of the body, longer or shorter according to the
fancy or caprice of the wearer, the whole presenting a very fantastic
appearance, occasionally, however, not ungraceful.
[Illustration: HUNTING HAT.
_Orcagna, Campo Santa, Pisa._]
The beginning of this head-dress was simply a different way of wearing
the hood, as Mr. Planché has shown by means of two diagrams in his
"Encylopedia of Costume." It occurred to some ingenious soul to insert
his head in the oval opening in the hood made for the face, to gather
up in the form of a fan the portion which covered the shoulders, and
to bind it in position by winding the long tippet round the head and
tucking in the end of it. Later, no doubt, the head-dress was formally
made up by the hatter or tailor, as the case may be, and assumed a more
complex character.
[Illustration: HUNTING HAT.
_Orcagna, Campo Santa, Pisa._]
The Greeks, when travelling, protected their heads from the heat or
the wet by means of a flat broad-brimmed hat, tied underneath the chin,
and allowed to hang on the back when not required on the head. This
fashion or device was continued during the Middle Ages, and the hat
was often worn over the hood (although this would seem a superfluity),
the strings were secured at the breast by means of a moveable ring,
which, by being moved up underneath the chin, kept the hat in its place
on the head. Such a hat was figured on the wall of the old Palace at
Westminster, and has been published in the "Vetusta Monumenta" of the
Society of Antiquaries.
During the greater part of the Norman and Plantagenet period the
_wimple_ or neck-cloth was common. It was a development of the
Anglo-Saxon veil or head-cloth (couvre-chef), and an echo of the mailed
coif of the period. It is thus referred to by John de Meun: "Par Dieu!
I have often thought in my heart, when I have seen a lady so closely
tied up, that her neck-cloth was nailed to her chin, or that she had
the pins hooked into her flesh."
Such a wimple is figured from Orcagna (Campo Santo, Pisa) on the
opposite page.
The golden net-caul (crestine, creton, crespine, crespinette) appeared
during the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I., worn either with or
without the wimple and veil, and lasted, in its varying forms, well
into the sixteenth century. It either enclosed the hair as within a
bag or pouch, or assumed the form of a netted cap, as in the so-called
"Beatrice d'Este," attributed to Leonardo da Vinci in the Brera at
Milan; or the net-bag above alluded to was elongated so as to form a
long pigtail, tied at intervals, often extending almost to the feet, as
in the marriage scene in the fresco by Pinturicchio in the Piccolomini
Library at Siena. It was often richly ornamented with jewels--
"Their heads were dight well withal,
Everich had on a jolyf coronal
With sixty gems and mo."
[Illustration: FIGURE WITH LONG NET-CAUL.]
This, however, refers to the chaplet or garland commonly worn by the
ladies of the fourteenth century.
"Thenne was I war of a wommon wonderliche clothed,
Purfylet with pelure the ricchest uppon eorthe,
I-crouned with a coroune, the King hath no bettre;
Alle hir fyve fyngres weore frettet with rynges,
Of the preciousest perre, that prince wered evere;
In Red Scarlet her Rod i-rybaunt with gold;
Ther nis no Qweene qweyntore, that quik is alyve."
PIERS PLOWMAN, _Description of Meed_ (Bribery).
[Illustration: _From Fra Angelico, Florence._]
The hair was now wound up on either side of the head, the coils either
worn without any covering or enclosed within a caul; the veil or
curtain being extended at the sides. This marked the commencement of
those horned head-dresses which were speedily developed to such an
extravagant degree, and so excited the wrath of the satirists of the
time.
John de Meun, who completed "The Romaunt of the Rose," observes that
these horns appear to be designed to wound the men, and adds: "I know
not whether they call gibbets or corbels that which sustains their
horns, which they consider so fine, but I venture to say that St.
Elizabeth is not in Paradise for having carried such baubles."
[Illustration: _From Fra Angelico, Florence._]
In a volume entitled "Jougleurs et Trouvères," by M. Jubinal, is a
satire on horned head-dresses, under the title of "Des Cornetes," from
a MS. in the Bibliothèque Royale at Paris, of the beginning of the
fourteenth century. In this poem it appears that the Bishop of Paris
had preached a sermon directed against extravagance in women's dress,
their horns and the bareness of their necks. "If we do not get out of
the way of the women we shall be killed; for they carry horns with
which to kill men."
This same sermon is quaintly referred to by the Knight of la
Tour-Landry in his advice to his daughters: "He said that the women
that were so horned were lyche to be horned snails and hertis and
unicornes." "I doute that the develle sitte not betwene her hornes, and
that he make hem bowe doun the hede for ferde of the holy water." Also
the good knight told how there was "onis a gentille woman that come to
a fest so straungely atyred and queintly arraied to haue the lokes of
the pepille, that all that sawe her come ranne towardes her to wonder
lik as on a wilde beaste, for she was atyred with highe longe pynnes
lyke a jebet, and so she was scorned of alle the company, and saide she
bare a galous on her hede."[22]
The preaching in the Middle Ages appears to have been remarkably
effective. Monstrelet, in his Chronicles, relates a story of one Thomas
Conecte, a preaching friar, who attacked the steeple head-dresses with
great zeal and resolution. His eloquence was such that the women flung
down their head-dresses in the middle of his sermon and made a bonfire
of them within sight of the pulpit. He frequently had an audience of
20,000 people, the men ranging themselves on one side of the pulpit and
the women on the other, the latter appearing "like a forest of cedars
with their heads reaching to the clouds."
The impression he created was, however, not a lasting one; as soon as
his back was turned the horns again began to grow: "The women that,
like snails in a fright, had drawn in their horns, shot them out again
as soon as the danger was over."
The horn-shaped head-dress appears in no pictorial documents or
monuments older than the reign of Henry IV. The heart-shaped head-dress
began with a flat pad on the top of the head, with the sides slightly
turned up, enclosed in a silken net, which was often jewelled, the hair
being worn in coils above the ears, at the back, or hanging down, as
the case may be. The sides were then turned up sharply in the shape of
a V, and the head-dress heightened. This was developed in a variety of
ways.
The steeple head-dress varied in its height--from a matter of 18
inches or less, to 3 feet--in its ornamentation and colour; it
was either plain, or decorated with simple bands or ribbons wound
crosswise; it varied, however, chiefly in the veiling. There was a veil
thrown over the whole, and falling over the sides of the face, or, the
veil was attached to the summit of the steeple and allowed either to
hang loose, or was looped at some point at the back. There was also a
veil which was attached to the lower border of the steeple at its point
of contact with the head, and which completely shrouded the head, front
and back; there was also the remarkable arrangement of the veil, which
was built up on a system of wires, and which was called the "hennin."
[Illustration: HEART-SHAPED HEAD-DRESS.]
A variation of the "hennin" was the "butterfly," in which the steeple
which formed the base of the head-dress was reduced to a comparatively
short "caul," and the veil extended itself on either side like the
wings of an insect; this, in a slightly different form, continued to
the Tudor period.
[Illustration: HORNED HEAD-DRESS.]
There was also the "balloon" or turban. This, like the heart-shaped
head-dress, commenced with a flat pad, like a cake, which in its
earlier stage was invariably richly ornamented, offering no particular
variety in its form; when it became round, it developed a second
roll around the forehead, with bands at intervals, which formed its
constructive elements.
Notwithstanding the strictures passed upon these head-dresses by
contemporary moralists or purists and by subsequent writers, who simply
echo their sentiments without bringing any independent judgment to bear
upon the matter, and who often possess no artistic knowledge or even
perception, these head-dresses are often extremely piquant and quaint;
extravagance there was, doubtless, and even ugliness; but even the high
steeple was not out of proportion, as it must be remembered that the
gowns and trains were correspondingly long, thus balancing the high
tapering steeple. As a matter of fact, the whole dress was in keeping,
the high tapering head-dress, the long tapering toes, the close-fitting
sleeves (which, however, were occasionally provided with an outer
hanging sleeve, also long), forming an _ensemble_ which would compare
favourably with the dress of any period.
The Tudor period brought about a complete change in the head-dresses of
both men and women; as a matter of fact, dress generally of this period
assumed a graver character. Horns, hearts, steeples, and butterflies
suddenly disappeared, and the head-dress of the ladies of the Court
assumed that diamond-shaped form with which we are familiar in the
portraits by Holbein, who doubtless materially influenced the costume
of this period. It consisted of a cap and coverchief, and sometimes a
hood, the coverchief being generally allowed to fall down on the right
side. The cap was invariably richly jewelled and embroidered. Good
examples may be seen in the drawing of the Lady Vaux at Windsor and the
portrait of Jane Seymour at Vienna. It was a dignified, restrained, and
exceedingly beautiful head-dress; if any confirmation of this statement
were needed, it is to be found in the remarks of the various lay
writers on costume, who invariably describe it as harsh and ugly.
An excellent example of the beautiful flat cap or bonnet worn generally
during the Tudor period is to be seen in the portrait of William,
Duke of Juliers and Cleves, by Aldegrever (p. 6). The cap, in this
instance, is tilted to one side of the head, instead of being worn flat
on the top; it is jewelled at intervals along the brim, and plumed.
The material is most certainly velvet, which is that most generally
used by the nobility, but, in 1571, with the view of encouraging
English manufactures, it was by Parliament enacted that all persons
above the age of six years, except only the nobility and persons of
degree, should on Sabbaths and holydays wear caps of wool, of English
manufacture. Twenty-six years afterwards this law was repealed.
[Illustration: FRANCIS BACON.
_Engraved by W. Marshall._]
This flat cap appears in a number of portraits by Holbein, worn both
tilted on one side and flat on the top of the head. A cap of this kind
might very well be worn by men at the present day, minus, of course,
the plume and jewels, without appearing startlingly obtrusive. It could
be made in any cloth, and would be a great improvement on the caps
which are at present in use. The extreme refinement, however, of the
Tudor cap is due to the material, to the quality of the workmanship,
and, in the instance of the portrait above-mentioned, to the rich
jewels which adorn it.
Similar shaped headgear has, as a matter of fact, been recently
adopted by girls, but they are for the most part vulgar productions,
indifferently made, and sold cheaply, and afford abundant evidence of
the fact that the milliner possessed no artistic knowledge, or even
taste, and had not taken the trouble, possibly had not considered it
advisable, to refer to fine examples.
The simple flat cap above mentioned was developed in various ways
during the Tudor period, both for men and for women; the brim was
either divided in two or more parts, or it was doubled, slashed, and
puffed in various ways, the puffing being of a different material and
colour to the rest of the hat. For women and for the military, large
plumes of ostrich feathers were added. Many examples of the latter may
be seen in Hans Burgkmair's "Triumphs of Maximilian." In the equestrian
portrait of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham (p. 23), we get the
pot-hat proper (Elizabethan version), differing very little as to shape
from that at present in use, but plumed, with three ostrich feathers
and three other pointed ones. The horse is similarly plumed. The hat
can scarcely be said to be a thing of beauty, even with the addition
of its ostrich plume, and adds nothing to the decorative beauty of the
plate, but rather detracts from it.
[Illustration: THOMAS KILLEGREW.
_Engraved by William Faithorne._]
The centenary of the modern pot-hat was celebrated in Paris only last
year, and, amid much jubilation, a number of caustic remarks were
made by Madame Sarah Bernhardt and others on the subject of "man's
cylindrical attire."
On looking at the various developments during the century, as
illustrated in a well-known weekly magazine, the contour of the pot-hat
has changed perhaps less than one might suppose. It has not been a
continuous development, but, rather, an oscillation backwards and
forwards. In point of fact, a continuous development was impossible
without taking leave of the pot-hat altogether; one must either
retrace one's steps or start upon a new track, as will be seen by a
reference to the accompanying diagrams, which must be considered, be it
understood, _merely as diagrams_, and not in any sense as representing
the limits of the artist's power of realism.
The scale of decorative development is, like the scale of tones in
music, _absolute_. It is the principle upon which Nature herself works,
and this principle may be as well illustrated by means of the pot-hat
as by anything else, as the principle holds good, and may be applied to
any "demned thing," as Mr. Mantalini would say.
[Illustration: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHIMNEY-POT HAT.]
We have, then, the two primal, elemental forms to work with, the
straight line and the curved. Fig. 1 represents the pot-hat in what
may be called its primordial state, in which state it stands in
the same relation to headgear generally as did Millbank Prison to
architecture; it would not be possible to produce less variety except
by reducing its height and making its shape an exact parallelogram.
In the next figure, by substituting the curved line for the straight
lines of the sides and brim, we get a hint of those delicate and subtle
curves for which the pot-hat is famous. In Fig. 4--not to weary the
gentle reader with a long dissertation, he will at once perceive the
principle--the degree of curvature is carried as far as is consonant
with dignity or propriety; to carry it further would be to border upon
buffoonery; such vagaries could not by any possibility be entertained
in a work of such gravity and seriousness as the present. The same may
be said of development in the direction of _height_. It only remains
to develop the hat by means of reducing the width of its crown at the
top, since the dimension AA is absolute, as the article must
conform itself to the human cranium, which for present purposes is
a fixed quantity. It is at this point that we take an affectionate
and regretful leave of the pot-hat proper. Fig. 5 represents the
high-crowned hat of the reign of James I., and which, in fact, was worn
during the greater part of the Stuart period. "I send you," writes the
King (James I.) to his son, in 1623, "for youre wearing, the three
bretheren that ye knowe full well, but newlie sette, and the mirroure
of Fraunce, the fellow of the Portugall dyamont, quiche I wolde wishe
you to weare alone in your hatte, with a little blakke feather"; and
to Buckingham he says, "As to thee, my sweete gossippe, I send thee a
faire table dyamont, quiche I wolde once have givin thee before if thou
wolde have taken it, and I have hung a faire pearle to it for wearing
on thy hatte or quhaire thou plaisis, and if my Babie will spaire thee
the two long dyamonts in forme of an anker, with the pendant dyamont,
it were fit for an admiral to weare.... If my Babie will not spaire the
anker from his mistresse, he may well lend thee his rounde broocke to
weare, and yett he shall have jewells to weare in his hatte for three
great dayes."
It was customary to wear jewels either in front of the hat or upon the
brim when turned up. Often a single pearl was depended over the edge
of the brim. Such a pearl may be seen in William Rogers's portrait of
Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex (Elizabeth's Essex), the hat, in
this instance, having a broad brim.
[Illustration: ROBERT DEVEREUX, SECOND EARL OF ESSEX.
_Engraved by William Rogers._]
To return to our diagrams. No. 6, a further narrowing of the top of the
crown, represents the quaint extinguisher hats which have been worn
at various periods, and which are still worn by the Welsh peasantry.
"There came up a Lass from a country town,
intending to live in the City,
In a steeple-crown Hat and a Paragon Gown,
who thought herself wondrous pretty;
Her Petticoat serge, her Stockings were green,
her Smock cut out of a sheet, Sir;
And under it all, was seldom yet seen so fair
a young maid for the street, Sir!"
_Roxburghe Ballads, 1685._
By lowering the crown and widening the brim we arrive at the sombrero,
No. 7.
The slouch hat turned up on one side, of the Stuart period, was the
precursor, historically and decoratively, of the three-cornered hat of
the period of the House of Orange. It was afterwards turned up on two
sides, and in this stage decorated with feathers, and finally turned
up at the back, thus forming the three-cornered hat, which lasted for
a century, the feathers disappearing, and the edges trimmed with lace.
Such turning up of the brim was called "cocking" the hat.
The different modes of cocking the hat were almost innumerable--in
fact, according to the fancy of the wearer; there was the "Monmouth
cock," after the unfortunate Duke of that name; the "Ramillie cock,"
which came in at the Battle of Ramillies in 1706; the military cock and
the mercantile cock; and upon the accession of George III. (1760) "a
hat worn upon an average six inches and three-fifths broad in the brim,
and cocked between Quaker and Kevenhuller."
"When Anna ruled, and Kevenhuller fought,
The hat its title from the Hero caught."
_Art of Dressing the Hair, 1770._
From a chapter on hats in the _London Chronicle_ for 1762 we learn
that--"Some wear their hats with the corner that should come over their
foreheads high in the air; these are the Gawkies. Others do not above
half cover their heads, which is, indeed, owing to the shallowness
of their crowns; but, between beaver and eyebrows, expose a blank
forehead, which looks like a sandy road in a surveyor's plan.... A gold
button and loop to a plain hat distinguishes a person to be a little
lunatic; a gold band round it shows the owner to be very dangerously
infected; and if a tassel is added, the patient is incurable. A man
with a hat larger than common represents the fable of the mountain in
labour, and the hats edged round with a gold binding belong to brothers
of the turf."
[Illustration: LETITIA BONAPARTE, MOTHER OF NAPOLEON.]
With the advent of the French Revolution in 1789 the three-cornered
cocked hat disappears, and in 1803 we find a noticeable change in
costume. "The French anticipated this invasion by sending over the most
unsightly fashions that have ever appeared. The most distinguishing
features were the coverings of the head, which consisted, in the one
sex of an enormous military cap, and in the other of a bonnet,
probably of straw, of a very ungraceful form. They are represented in
the accompanying cut, taken from a caricature entitled 'Two of the
Wigginses--Tops and Bottoms of 1803,' published on the 2nd of July in
that year" (Thomas Wright, "Works of Gillray").
[Illustration: ANNE DAY.
_Engraved by James Macardell._]
In 1765 a large hood appeared called calash, made of a framework of
whalebone hoops, resembling the hood of a carriage (_calèche_), and
pulled over the head by means of a string. It is said to have been
introduced into England by the Duchess of Bedford.
[Illustration: "TWO OF THE WIGGINSES--TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF 1803."
_Gillray._]
What shall we say to the page of Parisian head-dresses from _Bell's
Fashionable Magazine_ for April, 1812, three years before the Battle of
Waterloo?
Goldsmith, in a short essay "on the ladies' passion for levelling all
distinction of dress," says: "Foreigners observe that there are no
ladies in the world more beautiful or more ill-dressed than those of
England. Our countrywomen have been compared to those pictures where
the face is the work of a Raphael, but the draperies thrown out by some
empty pretender, destitute of taste, and entirely unacquainted with
design."
[Illustration: PARISIAN HEAD-DRESSES FOR APRIL, 1812.
_Bell's Fashionable Magazine._]
He adds, by way of compensation to the ladies, "If I were a poet I
might observe, on this occasion, that so much beauty, set off with
all the advantages of dress, would be too powerful an antagonist for
the opposite sex; and therefore it was wisely ordered that our ladies
should want taste, lest their admirers should entirely want reason."
It has always been, however, and is still, a stock saying with
foreigners that English women are ill-dressed, but the saying has
little point in it, since the majority of English fashions still come
from abroad. On the comparatively rare occasions when English women
rely upon their own invention, taste, and judgment, they appear better
dressed than the women of any European country. English women under
these circumstances, therefore, if the above statement as to their
personality be true, must necessarily be the most charming creatures in
the world.
Amongst modern head-dresses the Spanish mantilla undoubtedly stands
out in pleasant relief from the general rule of the commonplace
which obtains at present. It is an entirely becoming head-dress, and
reasonable, as is also the habit of Spanish women of carrying fans,
which are usually attached to the waist, and serve also the purpose of
sunshades, being held up to the head on the sunny side of the street.
The action is a most graceful one, and the convenience is obvious.
The panama hat is certainly the most satisfactory male headgear, both
as regards appearance, health, durability, and comfort.
The "bowler" can scarcely be said to be a thing of beauty. It has,
however, been rendered historic by the Right Honourable John Burns,
who has established a precedent by appearing at Buckingham Palace in
this form of head-covering for the purpose of receiving his seals of
office.
To return once again, and finally, to the chimney-pot. Milan has just
recently inaugurated her third International Exposition of Industries,
Commerce, and Art:--
"An amusing sidelight of the Exhibition is the unprecedented stimulus
to the sale of stovepipe hats occasioned by a rigid regulation
excluding every other kind from the inaugural function. Such a rigid
enforcement is quite unknown in Rome itself, where there are said to
be Cabinet Ministers, Senators, and Deputies who are innocent of ever
having donned one. The story is told that several provincial Deputies
who were invited to Milan were so fearful of mishap that they bought
tall hats _for their wives as well as themselves_" (_Vide_ daily paper).
[Illustration: FOOL'S CAP OF LEATHER, GERMAN.
Worn by the court fool of an Elector of Mayence (seventeenth century).
_South Kensington Museum._]
FOOTNOTES:
[21] It would appear to be a corruption of "mad as an atter (adder)".
The word "adder" is _atter_ in Saxon, _natter_ in German. Its origin,
however, is apparently somewhat obscure.
[22] The above story was told to the knight by a lady of his
acquaintance who was an eye-witness of the event. We give here Caxton's
version:--"For her clothyng and araye was different and no thyng lyke
to theyr, and therefore she had wel her part beholdyng and lokyng.
Thenne said the good ladyes to her, 'My frende, telle ye us, yf it
please yow, how ye name that aray that ye have on your heed?' She
answerde and saide, 'The galhows aray.' 'God bless us,' said the good
lady, 'the name of hit is not faire.'... 'As ferre as I me remembre
of it,' continued the knight's informant, 'hit was highe culewed with
longe pynnes of sylver uppon her hede, after the makynge and maner of a
gybet or galhows, right straunge and merveylous to se.'"
IX
THE DRESSING
OF THE HAIR,
MOUSTACHIOS,
AND BEARD
"_Truewit._ A wise lady will keep guard always upon the place, that
she may do things securely. I once followed a rude fellow into a
chamber, where the poor madam, for haste, and troubled, snatched at
her peruke to cover her baldness, and put it on the wrong way.
"_Clerimont._ O prodigy!
"_Truewit._ And the unconscionable knave held her in compliment an
hour with that reversed face, when I still looked when she should
talk from the other side.
"_Clerimont._ Why, thou shouldst have relieved her.
"_Truewit._ No, faith, I let her alone, as we'll let this argument,
if you please, and pass to another."
BEN JONSON, _The Silent Woman_, Act I. sc. 1.
[Illustration: COMB (ITALIAN, FOURTEENTH CENTURY).]
IX
THE DRESSING OF THE HAIR, MOUSTACHIOS, AND BEARD
There was nothing new, even in the days of Solomon; wigs, curling
irons, hair powder, and turned-up moustachios being no exception to the
rule.
We have abundant evidence, both from the concurring testimony of
authors and from the actual works which have come down to us, that
heated irons were employed from a very early period for the purpose of
curling the hair and beard. Both with the Assyrians, and the Greeks
of the earlier period, the hair and beard were plaited in a series
of symmetrical curls and ringlets, displaying the utmost degree of
formality in their arrangement.
[Illustration: ASSYRIAN BAS-RELIEF.
_Layard's "Nineveh."_]
The hair and beard of Belshazzar when he "made a great feast to a
thousand of his lords," and received an intimation of an unpleasant
character, conveyed to him in an unusual manner, were certainly curled
in such wise, and probably dyed and powdered, as was the custom, the
powder, however, being gold instead of flour, as in more recent days.
As a matter of fact, gold was employed in various ways as an enrichment
to the hair. The Kings of Egypt had their beards interwoven with gold
thread.
Herodotus assures us that the skulls of the Egyptians were much harder
than those of the Persians, owing to the national custom of shaving
the heads of their children at a very early age. He adds, "In other
countries the priests of the gods wear long hair; in Egypt they have
it shaved. With other men it is customary in mourning for the nearest
relations to have their heads shorn; the Egyptians, on occasions of
death, let the hair grow both on the head and face, though till then
they used to shave."
The ceremonies and customs relating to the beard are innumerable. The
management of the beard formed a considerable part of the religion
of the Tartars, who waged a long and bloody war with the Persians,
declaring them infidels, though in other respects of the same faith as
themselves, because they refused to cast their whiskers after the mode
or rite of the Tartars.
[Illustration: BEARDED BACCHUS.
_Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
It has been recorded that the Greeks wore their beards until the time
of Alexander, who, fearful lest the length of their beards should prove
a handle to their enemies, commanded the Macedonians to be shaven,
and the first who shaved at Athens ever after bore the addition of
χοροης (shaven) on medals. Notwithstanding this statement, however,
Philip, the father of Alexander, as well as Amyras and Archelous, his
predecessors, are represented without beards.
According to Pliny, the Romans did not begin to shave until the year of
Rome 454, when P. Titinius brought over a stock of barbers from Sicily.
Pliny adds that Scipio Africanus was the first to introduce the fashion
of shaving daily. It became the custom to have visits of ceremony at
the cutting of the beard for the first time. The first fourteen Roman
Emperors shaved until the time of the Emperor Adrian, who discontinued
the practice and wore a beard, for the purpose, however, of hiding the
scars on his face.
From Gregory of Tours we learn that in the Royal family of France it
was for a long time the peculiar privilege of Kings and Princes of the
blood to wear long hair, artfully dressed and curled; everybody else
was polled, as a sign of inferiority and obedience. To cut off the hair
of a son of France under the first race of Kings was to exclude him
from the right of succession to the crown, and to reduce him to the
condition of a subject.
French historians, however, tell us that Charlemagne wore his hair
short, his son much shorter, and Charles the Bald, as his surname
indicates, none at all.
Good Luitprand furiously declaimed against the Emperor Phocyas for
wearing long hair, after the manner of all the other Emperors of the
East, with the exception of Theophilus, who, being bald, enjoined
all his subjects to shave their heads, like the fox of Æsop, who,
having survived the experience of a trap by the sacrifice of his tail,
harangued the other foxes on the inconvenience of tails in general, and
endeavoured to persuade them to cut off theirs also.
[Illustration: GREEK HEAD-DRESSES.
_Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
In the Church, too, in spite of the beard of Aaron, "that went down
to the skirts of his garments," the Nazarite law, and the reputed
long hair of the founder of Christianity, the priesthood habitually
condemned long hair as being inconsistent with the sacred character
of the priest's office. Pope Anictus is supposed to have been the
first to forbid the clergy to wear long hair. "The Holy Prelate,
Wulstan, reproved the wicked of all ranks with great boldness but he
rebuked those with the greatest severity who were proud of their long
hair."[23] The Nazarite vow is an act of sacrifice in accordance with
the terms of the law laid down in Num. vi. 1-21: "All the days of the
vow of his separation shall no razor come upon his head"; "He shall be
holy, and shall let the locks of his hair grow."
The Nazarite has been regarded as a conqueror who subdued his
temptations, and who wore his long hair as a crown, the hair being worn
_rough_ as a protest against foppery. Another view, however, is that it
was kept elaborately dressed, a proof of the existence of the custom
being seen in the seven locks of Samson:--
"And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and
she caused him to shave off the _seven locks of his head_; and she
began to afflict him, and his strength went from him" (Judg. xvi. 19).
Let us listen to the story in the quaint, silvery music of Chaucer:--
"This Sampson neyther siser dronk ne wyn
Ne on his heed com rasour noon ne schere
By precept of the messager divyn
For alle his strengthes in his heres were.
. . . . .
Unto his lemman Dalida he tolde
That in his heres al his strengthe lay
And falsly to his foomen sche him solde
And slepying in hir barm upon a day
Sche made to clippe or schere his heres away
And made his foomen al his craft espien
And whan thay fond him in this array
Thay bound him fast and put out bothe his yen.
"But er his heer clipped was or i-schave
Ther was no bond with which men might him bynde
But now is he in prisoun in a cave
Ther as thay made him at the querne grynde
O noble Sampson strengest of al man kynde
O whilom jugge in glory and in richesse
Now maystow wepe with thine eyyen blynde
Sith thou fro wele art falle to wrecchednesse."
_Monk's Tale._
[Illustration: ROMAN HEAD-DRESSES.
_Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
While the hair was the pride, the glory, and the strength of Samson, it
was the bane of Absalom, for by the abundance of his hair he met his
death. "In all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom
for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his
head there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head (for it
was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy,
therefore he polled it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred
shekels after the king's weight."[24] Had he polled it at more frequent
intervals he might have made good his succession to the crown, and
Solomon never have been king, for Absalom had "stolen the hearts of the
people of Israel."
As in a mighty river we may trace back its course to the little rill
or rivulet which trickles from the mountain side, so we may often
trace the origin of great events to very small beginnings. How might
the face of both French and English history have been changed but for
Peter Lombard's dislike of a beard! Louis VII. imagined it a matter
of conscience to give an example of submission to the command of
the bishops on the subject of long hair, and to atone for his many
cruelties by being shaved in public. He reckoned, however, without
his--wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, a jocose madcap, who rallied him upon
his short hair and shaven chin. "I thought I had married a prince, but
find I have wedded nothing but a monk." The breach occasioned by a bare
face was widened, and the marriage dissolved. Six weeks afterwards
Eleanor was again a wife--Henry, Duke of Normandy, who afterwards
reigned as Henry II. of England, being the husband, who obtained
with her fair Aquitaine with its three provinces. Hence arose those
wars which ravaged France for near three centuries, in which upwards
of three millions of Frenchmen perished on the fields of Cressy,
Agincourt, and Poitiers, and on many a lesser field.
Henry I. issued an edict for the suppression of long hair, and as a
natural consequence long hair immediately became the rage. This edict,
however, was the result of a visit to Normandy, and the preaching of
a prelate named Serlo, whose eloquence was such that the monarch and
his courtiers were moved to tears. The astute priest, perceiving the
impression he had created, immediately whipped a pair of scissors from
his sleeve and cropped the whole congregation!
The patriarchal beard and long hair of Edward III., as exhibited in
his effigy at Westminster, is in strict conformity with the general
character of this serious minded monarch, strongly contrasting with the
character of his successor, Richard of Bordeaux, who was the greatest
fop of the day.
During the century which followed the reign of Edward III. beards were
worn of every imaginable cut. There was the fantail beard, with its
wadded nightcap for protection during sleep, of the stiffening which
was applied. There was, as later, the cathedral beard, the spade beard,
the stiletto beard, and there was an extraordinary curled tuft which
resembled a corkscrew. There was apparently as much variety of colour
as of form--
"I will discharge it in either your straw-colour beard, your orange
tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your French-crown-colour
beard, your perfect yellow" ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," Act I. sc. 2).
Our Royal "Bluebeard" registered a solemn vow before the French
Ambassador that he would never touch razor till he had visited "his
good brother" upon the Field of the Cloth of Gold, the "good brother"
making a similar vow. With characteristic "English perfidy" Henry broke
his vow, while the Frenchman remained true; it was therefore found
necessary for Sir Thomas Boleyn to apologise for his master's bad faith
by saying that "the Queen of England felt an insuperable antipathy to a
bushy chin."
Henry, indeed, not only shaved his own chin and wore his hair short,
but commanded all his subjects to do the same. He granted the barbers a
new charter, incorporated them with the surgeons, and became a member
of their company.
It was found that the "science and connyng of Physyke and Surgerie"
was practised by unskilful persons, "common artificers, as Smythes,
wevers, and women,"[25] who "boldely and custumably take upon theim
grete curis, and thyngys of great difficultie, in which they partely
use socery and whichcrafte" to the grievous hurt of the Kyng's liege
people. It was therefore enacted that none should practise as a
physician and surgeon in London except by examination, duly approved by
the Bishop of London or Dean of St. Paul's(!). As it seemed needful to
provide skilful surgeons for the "helth of mans body whan infirmities
and seckness shal happen," and as there are many surgeons in London who
give instructions to students, who exercise of the said science "to the
greate relief, comforte, and soccour of muche people, and to the sure
savegard of their bodily helth, their lymmes and lyves," and as two
companies of surgeons exist in London, one "the Barbours of London, and
thother company the Surgeons of London," which company of barbours were
first incorporated "undre the greate Seale of the late King of famous
memory, Edwarde the iiijth, dated at Westminster the xxiiijth day of
February in the first yere of his reigne," these two companies ought
therefore to be united into one body, with a common seal, power to hold
lands, and all the rights of both the old companies.
[Illustration: HEAD-DRESS.
_From Viollet le Duc (Fifteenth Century)._]
It was further found that surgeons were in the habit of taking diseased
persons into their houses, where they "doo use and exercise barbery,
as wasshing and shaving, and other feates therunto belonging," very
perilous to the King's people. Now, "after the feast of the Nativitie
of our Lorde God next coming," no barber in London shall practise
surgery, "letting of bludde, or any other thing belonging to surgery,
_drawing of teth onelye except_." And no surgeon shall "occupye or
exercise the feate or crafte of barbarye or shaving," either by himself
or by any other for him, to his or their use.
It was also provided that any person may keep a barber or a surgeon as
his servant, who may practise in his master's house.
It would appear that the observance of the Lord's day was more strictly
enforced in the seventeenth century than it is at present--
"Att the Councell Chamber on Ouze bridge at York ye xxth of June,
A.D. 1676," it was declared and enacted that whereas barber
surgeons have been shaving and cutting hair on the Lord's day, We
order, that if "any brother of the said company tonse, barbe, or trim
any person on the Lord's day, in any Inn," or other place, public or
private, of which the Lord Mayor shall judge, he shall be fined ten
shillings, and the searchers of the said company for the time being are
to make diligent search in all public and private houses as aforesaid,
for discovery of such offenders.
1745 was the fatal year of the separation of the barbers from their
more dignified colleagues. Their wings were clipped, their privileges
curtailed, the barber's pole and basin, however, still remaining, in
silent, eloquent testimony of their former glory and greatness.[26]
In the reign of Good Queen Bess the campaign against long hair is
continued. Philip Stubbes extols barbers to the skies: "There are no
finer fellowes under the Sunne, nor experter in their noble science of
barbing than they be." Barbers are necessary. "I cannot but marvell at
the beastlinesse of some ruffians (for they are no sober Christians)
that will have their hair grow over their faces like monsters, and
savage people; rather like mad men than otherwise, hanging downe over
their shoulders, as womens haire doth; which indeed is an ornament to
them, being given them as a sign of subjection." In man it is a "shame
and reproch, as the Apostle proveth."
During the reign of the Stuarts long hair was the vogue--with
"love-locks" and "heart breakers."
"A long love-lock on his left shoulder plight,
Like to a woman's hair, well showed a woman's sprite."
"His beard was ruddy hue, and from his head
A wanton lock itself did down dispread
Upon his back; to which, while he did live,
Th' ambiguous name of _Elf-lock_ he did give."
_The Great Oyer._
The absurd fashion of painting and patching the face, much ridiculed by
the satirists, began in the reign of Elizabeth.
"Whers the Devill?
He's got a boxe of women's paint--
Where pride is, thers the Divell too."
_Quips upon Questions, 1600._
"This is an Embleame for those painted faces,
Where devine beautie rests her for awhile,
Filling their browes with stormes and great disgraces,
That on the pained soule yeelds not a smile,
But puts true love into perpetuall exile;
Hard-hearted Soule, such fortune light on thee
That thou maist be transform'd as well as he."
CHESTER'S _Love's Martyr_, 1601.
[Illustration: A PAINTED FACE.
_Roxburghe Ballads._]
By the reign of James I. this ridiculous fashion had become common. All
sorts of curious devices were made use of--spots, stars, crescents,
and in one woodcut a coach and coachman with two horses and postilions
appear upon the lady's forehead. The fashion continued for a long
period; in fact, during the greater part of the Georgian era, when it
had degenerated into mere spots or small patches. At the close of the
eighteenth century it had entirely disappeared.[27]
"Wherfor, faire doughtres, takithe ensaumple, and holde it in your
herte that ye put no thinge to poppe, painte, and fayre youre visages,
the which is made after Goddes ymage, otherwise thanne your Creatoure
and nature hath ordeined; and that ye plucke no browes, nother temples,
nor forhed; and also that ye wasshe not the here of youre hede in none
other thing but in lye and water" ("Advice of the Knight of La Tour
Landry to his iij doughtres").
THE INVINCIBLE PRIDE OF WOMEN.
I have a Wife, the more's my care, who like a gaudy peacock goes,
In top-knots, patches, powder'd hair, besides she is the worst of shrows;
This fills my heart with grief and care to think I must this burden bear.
It is her forecast to contrive to rise about the hour of Noon,
And if she's trimm'd and rigg'd by five, why this I count is very soon;
Then goes she to a ball or play, to pass the pleasant night away.
And when she home returns again, conducted by a bully spark,
If that I in the least complain, she does my words and actions mark,
And does likewise my gullet tear, then roars like thunder in the air.
I never had a groat with her, most solemnly I here declare;
Yet she's as proud as Lucifer, and cannot study what to wear:
In sumptuous robes she still appears, while I am forc'd to hide my ears.
The lofty Top-knots on her crown, with which she sails abroad withal,
Makes me with care, alas! look down, as having now no hope at all,
That ever I shall happy be in such a flaunting Wife as she.
In debt with every shop she runs, for to appear in gaudy pride,
And when the milliner she duns, I then am forc'd my head to hide:
Dear friends, this proud imperious wife she makes me weary of my life.
_Roxburghe Ballads, circa 1686._
Wigs of various kinds have been in use from very early periods, as
the grace and ornament which the hair imparts to the human frame have
always been generally recognised. The want of it has ever been deemed
a subject of reproach, held in ridicule, in all climes; hence the
constant recourse to false hair.
Strutt affirms that the beards of the Egyptians, as well as the
coverings for the head, appear to have been made of false hair, and
removed when the face was shaved. There is no doubt that the Egyptians
wore wigs, as examples are to be seen in the British and other museums.
The wig given in the illustration is probably a woman's, and was found
near the small temple of Isis at Thebes. It belongs to the seventeenth
dynasty, about B.C. 1500; it is formed of natural curlings
of the hair in the upper portion, and the lower portion, which was
originally much longer, consists of long, thin plaits, a number of
which have been broken off and decayed, the thin plaitings contrasting
very happily with the natural curls.
[Illustration: WIG, EGYPTIAN, B.C. 1500.
_British Museum._]
Lamprideses describes the wig of the Emperor Commodus as powdered with
scrapings of gold, and oiled with glutinous perfumes for the powder to
hang by.
Wigs first appear in England during the reign of Stephen, but are
seldom mentioned until the Tudor period. The "Maiden Queen" is
popularly supposed to have had her head shaved, and to have worn a wig.
Mary Queen of Scots had a most complete collection of wigs, and it is
recorded that she wore one at her execution.
The periwig first appears in history as the headgear of a fool. In
the privy purse expenses of Henry VIII. for December, 1522, occurs
the entry: "For a peryke for Sexton the King's fool xx shillings." By
the middle of the same century their use had become general, and it
was dangerous for children to wander alone, as they were liable to be
deprived of their hair for the manufacture of these articles.
The periwig blossomed out during the reign of Charles II., and attained
enormous proportions; it was often gaily decked with ribbons and
allowed to hang over the front and back for some distance.
The gossiping Pepys, complaining in his diary of October 30, 1663, of
his extravagant purchases in wigs, clothes, &c., mentions, amongst
other things, two periwigs, "one whereof cost me £3 and the other 40s.
I have worn neither yet, but will begin next week, God willing."
"A Londoner into the country went,
To visit his tennants, and gather in rent;
He on a brave gelding did gallantly ride,
With boots and with spurs, and a sword by his side.
Because that the Innkeepers they will not score
He lined his pockets with silver good store;
And he wore a wigg cost three guineas and more;
His hat was cockt up, Sir, behind and before."
_Roxburghe Ballads, 1688._
Wigs when first worn were extremely expensive, costing as much as a
hundred guineas, and their value often led to their being stolen from
the head.
The different shapes which the wig assumed were innumerable, and the
different classes of society were identified with particular shaped
wigs. There were the clerical and the physical; the huge tie peruke for
the man of law, the brigadier and the tremendous fox-ear or cluster of
temple curls with a pigtail behind, for the Army and Navy. (The Army
pigtail was shortened to seven inches in 1804, and in 1808 was cut off
altogether.) The merchant, the man of business and of law affected the
grave full-bottom; the tradesman was distinguished by the snug bob or
natty scratch; the country gent by the natural fly and hunting peruke;
"the coachman wore his, as do some to this day, in imitation of the
curled hair of a water-dog."
There were also, as a writer in the _London Magazine_ of 1753 informs
us, the pigeon's wing, the comet, the cauliflower, the royal bird, the
staircase, the ladder, the brush, the wild boar's back, the temple, the
rhinoceros, the corded wolf's paw, Count Saxe's mode, the she-dragon,
the rose, the crutch, the negligent, the chancellor, the cut bob, the
long bob, the half natural, the chain-buckle, the corded buckle, the
snail back, and many others.
[Illustration: BEAU FIELDING.
_After Wissing._]
"The Judge," says Fortescue, "while he sitteth in the King's Courts,
weareth a white quoife of silke, which is the principal and chiefe
insignement of habite wherewith Sergeants-at-lawe are dekked, and
neither the Justice nor the Sergeant shall ever put off the quoife, no,
not in the King's presence, though he bee in talke with his majestie's
highnesse."
The coif-cap is still worn on occasions when the Judge passes sentence
of death, but with the colour changed to black, the cap being worn over
the wig.
Samuel Rogers in his "Table Talk" tells a good story of Lord
Ellenborough's wig. On one occasion when the distinguished Judge
was about to go on circuit, his Lady intimated that she would like
to accompany him. He replied that he had no objection, provided she
did not encumber the carriage with band-boxes, which were his utter
abhorrence. During the first day's journey, happening to stretch
his legs, he struck his foot against something below the seat, and
discovered that it was one of the detested band-boxes. Up went the
window, and out went the band-box. The coachman stopped, and the
footman, thinking that the band-box had tumbled out of the window
by some extraordinary chance, was about to pick it up. "Drive on!"
thundered his lordship. The band-box was accordingly left by the
ditch. Upon his arrival at the court at which he was to officiate, and
arraying himself for his appearance at the court-house, "Now," said
he, "where's my wig?--where _is_ my wig?" "My lord," replied the
attendant, "it was thrown out of the carriage window!"
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE PAINTER HYACINTHE RIGAUD.]
From 1770 onwards was the period of the highest blossoming of feminine
head-gear. The bodies of these enormous creations were formed of tow,
over which the hair was drawn in great curls, rolls, bobs, &c., with
false hair added, the whole freely plastered over with powder, pomatum,
&c., decorated with huge bows, ribbons, feathers, and flowers.
In the "Macaroni Dialogue"--a colloquy between Sir Harry Dimple and
Lady Betty Frisky--in the _Lady's Magazine_, iv. 1773, which is
illustrated by a picture of a lady and gentleman discussing with great
animation the merits of the male and female costumes of this period, in
which they are clad, the gentleman is presenting to the lady a nosegay,
and she invites his interest in the excessively lofty coiffure which
she is wearing.
"Permit me to present your ladyship with this boquet--it has been to
Warren's, doubly perfumed and scented; so that _positively_, my lady,
it has not the least of the vulgar odour of the flowers." "I vow, Sir
Harry, you are a man of such nice sensations that you would do honour
to nobility. I am surprised you have hitherto been overlooked in the
creation of Lords." "To be sure, my lady, my taste has never yet been
called into question. It was I who first dethroned those abominable
monsters the Bucks, and established the reign of the Macaronies--who
first improved upon the Poudre à la maréchale by throwing in a dash of
the violet. This hat your ladyship sees is of my own cocking--those
barbarians the hatters have no more idea of 'de retrousser un
chapeau' for a man of genuine taste, than they know how to wear it, and
send it home with the smell of the dye, almost sufficient to make one
faint. I always order my valet to give it a thorough perfume before it
comes into my presence." "O! exquisite refinement--what do you think of
my cap?" "Amazing, my lady, beyond description--yet, had it been but
an inch higher, it would have been at the very summit of the mode--you
would then have been unable to come into a room without stooping, or
riding in a coach without the top being heightened." "You see, Sir
Harry, I have anticipated you: that upon the table is _two_ inches
higher; I shall wear it to-morrow night at the Pantheon." "I hope I
shall have the felicity of your ladyship's hand to walk a minuet. We
shall have all eyes upon us, no doubt!" "I beg, Sir Harry, that your
club may be increased in proportion to my head, else we shall not be
fit partners." "My lady, I shall have it as large again--my toupee
shall be heightened three inches." "You will then, Sir Harry, be the
emperor of the Macaronies." "And you, my lady, their empress."
[Illustration: RIDICULOUS TASTE, OR THE LADY'S ABSURDITY.]
In a print of the period of the French lady in London, by J. H. Grimm,
published by Carrington Bowles, who appears to have been somewhat
of a wag amongst publishers, devoting himself to the curious and
extraordinary, the lady is seen bowing as she enters the room, the
head-dress reaching to the top of the ceiling. The good man of the
house is so astonished and overcome that he falls to the ground,
bringing the table with him. A large picture upon the wall represents
the Peak of Teneriffe.
[Illustration: THE FRENCH LADY IN LONDON.]
Another print, issued by the same publisher, representing the
fashionable head-dresses for the year 1776, shows two ladies out
walking, attended by their black servant, with head-dresses two yards
high.
In the illustration given of "Ridiculous Taste, or the Lady's
Absurdity," Monsieur le Friseur is mounted on a high pair of steps, and
is operating upon the summit of the lady's coiffure; a gentleman is
taking stock, and giving orders from below.
In the example given from "Jacquemin," the head-dress represents a ship
in full sail.
[Illustration: HEAD-DRESS.
_From Jacquemin._]
In 1776 an etching appeared entitled "Bunker's Hill, or America's
Head-dress." The enormous headgear of the lady represents the battle,
with tents, fortifications, cannon, and battalions. From the crests
of the three hills of the head-dress, which are duly fortified and
defended with soldiery and cannon, three banners are flying, on which
are figured, respectively, a goose, a monkey, and two ladies holding
arrows. The lower portion of the head-dress represents a sea fight.
In the same year appeared "The New Fashioned Phaeton," a mezzotint
representing a conveyance provided with springs, which lifts the lady
and her headgear up to the first-floor window, and does away with the
need for walking up and down stairs.
Another print issued by the same publisher is a "hint to the ladies to
take care of their heads." The ladies' head-dress having caught alight
from a chandelier hanging from the ceiling of a high room, and people
are putting out the fire by means of large squirts.
A charming design for a fancy head-dress is entitled "Betty the Cook
maids Head drest." It is in the form of a heart, the centre of which is
occupied by a Cheshire cheese with mice, surrounded with a border of
greengrocery, &c. On the summit is a stove, with fire alight and meat
cooking. A monkey sits upon the stove, wearing a fool's cap and bells,
and admiring himself in a mirror. On either side of the head-dress are
two trophies composed respectively of a mop and fire-irons and a besom
and cooking utensils.
The legend runs--
"The taste at present all may see,
But none can tell what is to be.
Who knows, when fashion's whims are spread,
But each may wear this kitchen head?
The noddle that so vastly swells,
May wear a fool's cap hung with bells."
High plumes of feathers re-appeared in 1796. Gillray produced a
caricature of a fashionable belle journeying to the Assembly Rooms
at Bath in a sedan chair. The top of the conveyance is opened to
accommodate the lady's head-dress, a monstrous feather projecting yards
above the sedan--a parasol is fastened to a long pole strapped on the
back of the hindermost portion and protecting the top.
During the feather period, a favourite idea was to represent attacks
by ostriches, peacocks, and other interested birds. This occurs in a
number of prints of the period. The print by John Collet, 1779, of
"The Feathered Fair is a Fright; or, Restore the Borrowed Plumes,"
represents two girls attacked by ostriches:--
"Two lassies who would like their mistresses shine,
On their heads clap'd some feathers to make them look fine;
When two ostriches suddenly came within sight,
And put the poor girls in a terrible fright.
"But how the Birds got to England's no matter,
Tho' they certainly made a most terrible clatter;
Fanny screamed as she ran, and scampering Polly,
With her Fan fought the birds in defence of her folly."
If the reader be curious in regard to the _modus operandi_ of these
astonishing creations, he (or more probably it will be she) is referred
to "Plocacosmos; or, The Whole Art of Hairdressing," by James Stewart,
1782, wherein the mysteries of the art are set forth with great
minuteness and elaboration, far too long to be explained here. The
directions for the lady's "nightcap" may, however, be given:--
"All that is required at night is to take the cap or toke off, as
any other ornament, and as you put them on, you can easily know how
to take them off: with regard to the hair, nothing need be touched
but the curls; you may take the pins out of them, and, with a little
soft pomatum in your hands, stroke the hairs that may have started;
do them with nice long rollers, wind them up to the roots, and turn
the end of each roller firmly in to keep them tight, remembering at
the same time the hair should never be combed at night, having always
so bad an effect as to give a violent headache next day. After the
curls are rolled up, touch them with your pomatumy hands, and stroke
the hair behind; after that take a very large net fillet, which must
be big enough to cover the head and hair, and put it on, and drawing
the strings to a proper tightness behind, till it closes all round the
face and neck like a purse, bring the strings round the front and back
again to the neck, where they must be tied; this, with the finest lawn
handkerchief, is night covering sufficient for the head."
"Heads" usually lasted a matter of three weeks, when--'twould be
dangerous, madam, to delay longer the opening of your head. We get a
glimpse of the possible state of a lady's head at the expiration of
that time from the many recipes and advertisements for the destruction
of insects in the magazines of the period, which reminds us of Julian,
who likened his beard to a "forest grown populous with troublesome
little animals."
"Still to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast;
Still to be powdered, still perfumed:
Lady, it is to be presumed,
Though art's hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.
Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free:
Such sweet neglect more taketh me,
Than all the adulteries of art;
They strike mine eyes, but not mine heart."
BEN JONSON, _The Silent Woman_.
The apeing by the tradespeople of the manners of the great is amusingly
told in the _Lady's Magazine_ for August, 1782, in the form of a letter
to the editor, purporting to be from a respectable greengrocer, who
signs himself "Artichoke Pulse." He says: "I wish to God you would
write something smart against fashion. My family is almost ruined by
the article of dress." It appeared that his son Tom had worked himself
into a gentleman's family as footman, and from this circumstance his
troubles began. "You can scarcely conceive, my dear Sir, what an
alteration this acquaintance with the great family has made. Sally,
my eldest daughter, talks of taste and the mode, aye faith, and the
dresses too. I will give you a description of her going to see the
new comedy of the 'East Indian' the other night, in company with her
brothers and sisters, and a lord's footman, who presented them with
orders for the two-shilling gallery.
[Illustration: LOUIS XVI., MARIE ANTOINETTE, AND THE DAUPHIN.
_Engraved by Augustin de St. Aubin._]
"Dick Dusty, the hairdresser's apprentice, who lives in a court
near us, was sent for at two o'clock, and two pound of Sangwine's
eightpenny-halfpenny powder being procured, with a proper quantity
of grease, the operation of the head was begun among the cabbages,
lettuces, turnips, carrots, peas, and beans that surrounded us. Dick,
who was but a novice at his business, cut and slashed away until
he had left just as much hair as he could conveniently dress, and
then, having worked the grease and the flour into a kind of paste, he
plaistered over the head, using his hand as a trowel, until it was
fairly encrusted so as to hide the colour of the hair, or to deceive
the eye into a belief that the head was a pudding bag turned inside out!
"As it was summer, my daughters chose to go without caps, and an
artificial bouquet was stuck in the front of those puddings. The gowns
were silk; but being purchased at a pawnbroker's they were not properly
cut for the fashionable hoop. Hoops, however, were to be wore, and even
my wife resolved for once, to figure away in one of those oval pieces
of nonsense."
. . . . .
"Perhaps in nature, there was never such a figure! Only fashion
to yourself a greengrocer's wife issuing from her cellar in Drury
Lane, with a monstrous hoop, exposing a pair of legs, the ankles as
thick as the calf, and the calf as thick as the modern waist; her
hair bepuddened, her cheeks bedaubed with red, her neck of a crimson
hue, her arms bursting through a pair of white gloves, the contrast
between the two skins being almost the very opposite to each other; a
thick-flowered silk exposing the whole front of a quilted petticoat
that once was white, and then you have the appearance of my wife! Her
daughters made as ridiculous a figure, and Will, I do assure you, was
not the least remarkable in the group."
This sally, recounting the woes of the hapless "Artichoke," provoked
an indignant reply from a champion of the women, which duly appeared in
the next number:--
"I think it high time, then, for every female to exert the little
knowledge she may be possessed of in the scribbling line, when the
wits, under the characters of Green Grocers, dare to insult us, and
speak of our hoops, and other parts of our dress, as freely as they
exercise their authority over the ostlers at a country inn.
"The favour, dear Madam, we wish of you, is to remonstrate with
these smart gentlemen, and, with us, tell them they are incapable
of correcting the foibles in the ladies' dresses, till they have
established a criterion for their own. Did they adopt no other fashions
than useful and becoming ones, they might have some solid reasons for
reprehending us; but how is this to be done? Can they point out of
what use are the high-crowned hats, their shoes tied with strings, the
number of buttons lately added to their coats: of what real service
that ponderosity of their watches and canes? We will even attend to the
Green Grocer, if he can defend them, and no longer despise the opinions
of those scrutators of our dress; but till then we must insist that the
hoop (the battery at which most of their present artillery is played
off against), when of a moderate size, is an addition to the appearance
of a fine woman; it is a finishing grace to their persons, and gives
them that dignity of appearance that every woman in a genteel line of
life has a right to assume."
Although Kings have often vainly endeavoured to impose their will upon
the people in the matter of apparel it has often happened that monarchs
have set the prevailing fashion of the period. This is especially
noticeable in the Cavaliers of Charles I., numbers of whom adopted the
short, pointed beard and moustachios and long hair of their master, in
striking contrast to the close cropped and shaven round heads of the
Cromwellians. It was so with the Bonapartists of the Third Empire, when
the "imperial" became the vogue.
[Illustration: A REIGNING MONARCH.]
At a still more recent period, the illustrious personage who is figured
here, and who, be it known, appears here _strictly incognito_ (we would
fain escape the dire consequences of _lèse-majesté_), has imposed his
imperious will, not only upon his own countrymen, but upon the world at
large, in the matter of the turned up moustachio.
"When you come to be trimed, they will aske you whether you will be cut
to looke terrible to your enimie, or amiable to your freend, grime and
sterne in countenance, or pleasant and demure,--how their mowchatowes
must be preserved and laid out, from one cheke to another, yea, almost
from one eare to another, and turned up like two hornes towards the
forehead" (Stubbes, "Anatomy of Abuses," 1583).
[Illustration: PHILIP IV. OF SPAIN.]
The angle at which it is pointed provides an index as to character,
and of the degree of pugnacity of the wearer. At an angle of, say, 45
degrees forward we may expect to see its owner enter a crowded omnibus
with the point of his umbrella held at the same angle, or as a soldier
makes ready to present arms.
In the dressing of the hair, as in costume generally, the lowest depth
of the commonplace has been reached during the nineteenth century. It
is, however, extremely dangerous to indulge in any kind of sweeping
generalities with respect to our own epoch; we are either, from long
habit and custom, prejudiced in favour of a particular _régime_, or
we are afflicted with that contempt which is born of a too great
familiarity. The chignon, in its many developments, is within the
memory of most of us; the odious Piccadilly fringe still endures with
those persons who are either slaves to habit or who find that the
curling and frizzing of the hair of the forehead destroys its capacity
for growth. Dundreary and mutton-chop whiskers are even now to be found
in out-of-the-way country places. Goldsmith, in one of his delightful
essays, tells a story of a traveller who, on his way to Italy, found
himself in a country where the inhabitants had each a large excrescence
depending from the chin--a deformity which, as it was endemic and
the people little used to strangers, it had been the custom, time
immemorial, to look upon as the greatest beauty. Ladies grew toasts
from the size of their chins, and no men were beaux whose faces were
not broadest at the bottom. It was Sunday; a country church was at
hand, and our traveller was willing to perform the duties of the day.
Upon his first appearance at the church door the eyes of all were fixed
upon the stranger; but what was their amazement when they found that he
actually wanted that emblem of beauty, a pursed chin! Stifled bursts
of laughter, winks, and whispers circulated from visage to visage; the
prismatic figure of the stranger's face was a fund of infinite gaiety.
Our traveller could no longer patiently continue an object of deformity
to point at. "Good folks," said he, "I perceive that I am a very
ridiculous figure here, but I assure you I am reckoned no way deformed
at home."
Lord Dundreary would have been impossible in any other epoch than
the Victorian, although the Dundreary whisker is but a glorified
development of earlier forms--
"A marchaunt was ther with a forked berd,
In motteleye high on horse he sat."
_Canterbury Tales._
Dundreary, with his striped peg-tops, his eyeglass, and his drawl,
exactly fitted his environment. His whiskers represent the very
antithesis of the "Piccadilly fringe," also happily gone, or relegated
to the coster fraternity, together with the bell-bottomed trouser with
which it is in singular affinity.
The Piccadilly fringe was persistently condemned by artists, notably
Mr. G. F. Watts, who pointed out that it obscured and destroyed
the beautiful way in which the hair springs from the forehead. Mr.
Watts, however, was not the first to warn the ladies against the sin
of cropping short and pulling out the hair of the forehead. If there
should, peradventure, be any fair readers who are enamoured of the
beauties of either the Piccadilly or other fringe, or who should be
smitten with the insane desire to pop, paint, or powder the face, let
them listen to the sound advice and good counsel which the Knight of
La Tour Landry gave to his daughters, and to the terrible "ensaumples"
which he held up to them for their consideration and avoidance:
"Alas!" he exclaims, "whi take women non hede of the gret love that God
hathe yeve hem to make hem after hys figure? and whi popithe they, and
paintithe, and pluckithe her visage otherwise than God hath ordeined
hem?" Why indeed! There was once a lady who died and suffered great
tortures in hell, the devil holding her "bi the tresses of the here of
her hede, like as a lyon holdithe his praie...." and the same "develle
putte and thruste in her browes, temples, and forehede hote brenninge
alles and nedeles"; and why was she subjected to all this torment?
_Because she had "plucked her browes, front and forehed, to have awey
the here, to make her selff the fayrer to the plesinge of the worlde._"
It is a very far cry from the good Knight of La Tour Landry to the
wicked Mr. Punch of Fleet Street, who satirises the variations in the
form of the short side whisker still beloved of butlers and ostlers,
and which, in the early days of the Volunteer movement of the
beginning of the sixties, became identified with particular regiments
or companies:--
"HAIRDRESSER: South Middlesex or Keveens, sir? (_Customer
looks bewildered._) Why, sir, many corpses, sir, 'as a rekignised
style of 'air, sir, accordin' to the Reg---- (_Customer storms._) Not
a wolunteer, sir?--Jus' so, sir. Thought not, sir; leastways I was
a-wonderin' to myself d'rectly I see you, what corpse you could a
belonged to, sir."
FOOTNOTES:
[23] William of Malmesbury.
[24] 2 Sam. xiv. 25, 26.
[25] "Phisicke is good, and yet I would wish that every ignorant doult,
and especially women, that have as much knowledge in phisick or surgery
as hath jackeanapes, being but smatterers in the same noble sciences,
should be restrained from the publike use therof" unless they do it
_gratis_ (Stubbes, "Anatomy of Abuses," 1583).
[26] The fillet which encircles the barber's pole indicates the ribbon
used for bandaging the arm in bleeding, and the basin the vessel to
receive the blood.
[27] "He speaks like a lady for all the world, and never swears, as
Mr. Flash does, but wears nice white gloves, and tells me what ribands
become my complexion, where to stick my patches, who is the best
milliner, where they sell the best tea, and which is the best wash for
the face and the best paste for the hands; he is always playing with my
fan, and showing his teeth; and when ever I speak, he pats me--so--and
cries, 'The devil take me, Miss Biddy, but you'll be my perdition--ha,
ha, ha!'" (David Garrick, "Miss in Her Teens," 1747).
X
BOOTS, SHOES,
AND OTHER
COVERINGS
FOR THE
FEET
"'Who is there in the house?' said Sam, in whose mind the inmates
were always represented by that particular article of their costume
which came under his immediate superintendence. 'There's a wooden
leg in number six; there's a pair of Hessians in thirteen; there's
two pair of halves in the commercial; there's these here painted
tops in the snuggery inside the bar; and five more tops in the
coffee-room.'
"'Nothing more?' said the little man.
"'Stop a bit,' replied Sam, suddenly recollecting himself. 'Yes;
there's a pair of Wellingtons a good deal worn, and a pair o'
lady's shoes in number five.'
"'What sort of shoes?' hastily inquired Wardle, who, together
with Mr. Pickwick, had been lost in bewilderment at the singular
catalogue of visitors.
"'Country make,' replied Sam.
"'Any maker's name?'
"'Brown.'
"'Where of?'
"'Muggleton.'
"'It is them!' exclaimed Wardle. 'By Heaven, we've found them.'"
_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club._
[Illustration: FLEMISH (EIGHTEENTH CENTURY).]
[Illustration: FRENCH (SEVENTEENTH CENTURY).]
X
BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET
The good St. Crispin, of blessed memory, cobbling shoes for the poor by
the light of his candle and filling up the interval with preaching, is
a figure which all shoemakers regard with reverence. How did Crispin
become the tutelary saint of shoemakers? Well, it was in this wise.
Crispin, travelling with his brother Crispinian, in company with
St. Denis, to Soissons in France to propagate the Christian faith,
towards the close of the third century, in order that he might not be
a burden to others for his maintenance, exercised at night the trade
of shoemaker, preaching the Gospel by day. The shoes were sold at a
low price to the poor, an angel (so the legend recounts) miraculously
furnishing the leather. According to another version of the legend,
the saint _stole_ the leather, so as to enable him to benefit the poor.
Crispin's efforts, like those of so many other benefactors of their
kind, were poorly rewarded. He was ordered to be beheaded, and suffered
martyrdom in 287 A.D., not, however, for his shoemaking, or
for his thefts, but on account of his religious tenets. Some accounts
state that he and his brother were flung into a cauldron of molten lead.
[Illustration: CLOG, OR PATTEN.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY.]
The brotherhood of the shoemakers has always included men of remarkable
character and parts. Hans Sachs, born at Nuremburg in 1494, the most
eminent German poet of his time; George Fox, first of Quakers, true
follower of Crispin, dividing his time and energies between shoemaking
and preaching; William Gifford, less remembered perhaps as a shoemaker
than for his editorship of the famous _Quarterly_--these are a few
only of the men "who have imparted a glory to the 'gentle craft,' as
shoemaking has been called since the days of the illustrious Crispin,"
and invested it with distinction.[28]
The universal observance by Eastern nations of the custom of removing
the shoes as a mark of reverence is in obedience to the command given
to Moses from the burning bush at Horeb: "Put off thy shoes from off
thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." The
Western practice of uncovering the reverse end of the human anatomy
presents a curious and somewhat startling contrast.
Footgear began as a protection to the _soles_ of the feet, since it
is the soles which necessarily demand some sort of protection until
that time when the "rough places shall be made plain," although Nature
provides her own protection to the soles of feet which are habitually
bare, by thickening the skin. The skin of the habitually barefooted
Irish lassie varies, we are told, from a quarter to half an inch in
thickness, and even more.
The sandal, then, may be considered as the precursor of the shoe.
Most of the early nations wore sandals. The Egyptians, however, were
usually barefooted, with the exception of the priests, who wore shoes
of _byblus_, and were not permitted to wear any other. The Greek sandal
consisted of a strip of thick hide, tanned or untanned, for the sole,
with a thinner piece, assuming some ornamental form, upon the instep,
the whole connected or drawn together with straps drawn crosswise over
the instep and round the ankle, or a cord or thong passing between the
great toe and the first of the smaller toes.
Sandals were worn either with bare feet or with stockings or hose,
in which case a division of the stocking would be necessary between
the great and little toes. Some modern hygienic reformers have,
indeed, recommended toed stockings for present use, _i.e._, stockings
provided with a separate receptacle for each toe, like the fingers
of a glove, to be worn even with the modern shoe or boot, on the
ground of healthiness, and this would seem to be reasonable, since the
objectionable condition of the skin between the toes, which no amount
of cleanliness and care can wholly avert, is due to the inability
of the perspiration to escape when the surfaces are in contact.
"The interposition in the five-toed socks of a layer of woollen or
other material between each toe absorbs the perspiration and rapidly
effects a remarkable change. The skin between the toes becomes dry and
wholesome, and the squeezed, crippled appearance of the toes greatly
alters for the better."[29]
Both the Greeks and Romans wore buskins, which reached to about the
middle of the calf. These were variously ornamented and laced, and were
usually lined with the skins of the smaller animals, the heads and
claws being allowed to fall over the top by way of ornament. Buskins
have, as a matter of fact, been worn at all periods; several examples
are given, notably in the portraits by Vandyke, of Lords John and
Bernard Stuart (p. 287).
[Illustration: ROMAN SANDALS.
_Hope's "Costume of the Ancients."_]
The footgear of the Italian peasant of the present day may be
considered as the most primitive form of sandal. It consists of a
simple oblong piece of thick leather, perforated at the sides and ends
to allow of straps being drawn through, crosswise over the instep
and round the ankle, and half way up the leg, to the knee, either in
circular bands or crosswise, the foot and leg being encased in a more
or less loose stocking or hose, in many instances the whole of the leg
being cross gartered.
[Illustration: SANDALS OF THE ITALIAN PEASANTRY.]
The early Britons wore a shoe which was almost as simple in
construction as the last mentioned. It consisted of a piece of raw
cowhide, with a leather thong fastened at the heel, threaded along the
upper edge, drawing the shoe like a purse over the foot. This form of
shoe, however, was not confined to the early Britons, but was adopted
by most primitive peoples at different periods; in fact, it is the
first and readiest method of covering the feet which would occur to the
primitive mind.
[Illustration: LORDS JOHN AND BERNARD STUART.
_Engraved by James Macardell._]
The Anglo-Saxon shoe was provided with long thongs of leather or other
material attached to the shoe at the ankles and wound crosswise round
the leg to the knee, or round the whole of the leg to the middle,
always, however, with some form of hose. This fashion obtained, more
or less, during the whole of the Anglo-Saxon period, and was common to
most of the Northern nations.
During the reign of William the Conqueror, short boots reaching above
the ankle, with a plain band round the tops, prevailed. Robert, Duke
of Normandy, eldest son of the Conqueror, who died in 1134, was called
"Curta Ocrea," or Short Boots, either from his setting the fashion or
from retaining it when abandoned by the beaux of the day.
The usual footgear of the period, however, is the close shoe, made of
cloth, velvet, leather, or other material, and terminating in a point.
From this period for more than a century onward, shoes varied very
little, except in the character of their ornamentation.
During the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I., a kind of loose top-boot
appeared. These boots resembled loose socks or galoches, drawn over the
hose, sometimes reaching as high as the knee, and occasionally to the
middle of the thigh, but more often half way up the leg only. They were
worn in various forms by all classes, and by the common people during
a long period. They had no fastenings or lacings, but were allowed to
fall at will, according to the stiffness or otherwise of the material
of which they were made.
In the miniatures of the "Facta et Dicta Memorabilia" of Valerius
Maximus, begun by Simon de Hesdin for Charles V. of France in 1375,
and completed by Nicholas de Gonesse for Jean, Duc de Berry, in 1405,
a number of figures have boots, made apparently of soft leather
and coloured either red or white, reaching to the knee; in some
instances the tops turned down, with long, pointed toes. This series
of miniatures is extremely interesting as giving an insight into the
domestic life of the fourteenth century, some of the interiors being
especially so.
During the reign of the Plantagenets, footgear, like the rest of the
costume of that period, was exceedingly sumptuous. The shoes were
usually close-fitting, with pointed toes, and ornamented with the
richest variety of patterning. The tops were of various materials,
soft leather, silk, cloth, cloth-of-gold, &c. The soles were usually
of thicker leather, but occasionally of wood, and even of cork. Upon
the opening of the tomb of Henry VI. of Sicily, the dead monarch was
discovered wearing shoes of which the uppers were of cloth-of-gold
embroidered with pearls, and the soles of cork, covered with
cloth-of-gold.
The reign of Richard II. was the period of abnormally long pointed
toes, which occasionally reached the length of six inches and more,
and assumed various shapes, the toes being stuffed with tow or other
substance to keep them in shape.
This fashion of long pointed toes lasted during the three succeeding
reigns. "Even boys wore doublets of silk, satin, and velvet; and almost
all, especially in the Courts of Princes, had points at the toes of
their shoes a quarter of an ell long and upwards, which they now called
_poulaines_." Paradin describes the men as "wearing shoes with a point
before, half a foot long: the richer and more eminent personages more
than a foot, and Princes _two feet long_, which was the most ridiculous
thing that ever was seen; and when men became tired of these pointed
shoes, they adopted others in their stead denominated duck-bills,
having a bill or beak before, of four or five fingers in length."
The sumptuary laws regulating these matters have been referred to in
the introduction to this work. The Act of 3 Edward IV. restricted the
length of toe to two inches.
[Illustration: FRENCH. FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
FRENCH. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.]
Clogs and pattens were worn from the time of Richard II. onwards as a
protection to the soles of the shoes, and were variously shaped. Randal
Holme calls _pattanes_ "irons to be tied under the shoes to keep them
out of the dirt." In an anonymous work called the "Eulogium," cited
by Camden, it states: "Their shoes and pattens are snouted and piked,
more than a finger long, crooking upwards, which they call _crackowes_,
resembling devils' claws, and fastened to the knees with chains of gold
and silver."
[Illustration: CHILD'S SHOES, FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, GERMAN (SIXTEENTH
CENTURY).
MAN'S SHOE, GERMAN (SIXTEENTH CENTURY).]
This fashion of appending chains to the peaks of the shoes lasted
intermittently for a considerable time. In a work on "Ancient Costume,"
by Major Hamilton Smith, a portrait of James I. of Scotland is
mentioned, in which the peaks of the monarch's shoes are fastened by
chains of gold to his girdle.
There is a manuscript in the Royal collection in which the Duke of
Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., is depicted as wearing a clog.
This has been adopted by Abbey in his famous picture of "Gloucester
and the Lady Anne."
Clogs were of wood, thickened at the heel and ball of the foot for the
purpose of raising it from the ground. Afterwards it was further raised
by means of two pieces set at right angles to the foot, on precisely
the same principle as the Japanese shoes of to-day. An illustration is
given from the Cluny Museum (p. 282).
Another means of raising the foot was the "chopine," which was a kind
of stilt; it was, in fact, the sole, elongated to an extravagant
degree. Hamlet thus addresses the lady players: "What! my young lady
and mistress! By'r-lady, your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw
you last, by the altitude of a chopine!"
Towards the close of the fifteenth century it became the fashion
to bend the long toe over the shoe backwards. The two examples
figured at the head of this chat are from the Cluny Museum, and are
characteristic. Both have high heels, and resemble the shoes with which
the Chinese ladies until quite recently tortured and mutilated their
feet, for the purpose, it is said, of pleasing the distorted fancy of
the men and to be qualified for marriage.[30]
[Illustration: SHOES OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES.
_Musée de Cluny._]
A number of examples of shoes of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth centuries are given from the interesting collection in
the Musée de Cluny, and will serve, far better than any written
description, to give an idea of the character of the footgear of these
periods. The two child's shoes given on p. 291 are of leather, and
are typical of the shoe worn during the greater part of the fifteenth
century. The side view shows the point turned upwards. The man's shoe
is short-toed, richly worked in stamped leather. The ladies' shoes of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries given on p. 293 are of various
materials, and for the most part richly embroidered; two of the three
lower ones show the clog of leather which was fixed from the heel to
the toe, the centre one of the three having a sharp pointed heel and
a rounded sole, surely a most uncomfortable thing to wear. Sir Thomas
Parkins ("Treatise on Wrestling," 1714) says: "For shame, let us
leave off aiming at the outdoing our Maker in our true symmetry and
proportion; let us likewise, for our own ease, secure treading and
upright walking, as He designed we should, and shorten our heels."
[Illustration: CARVED WOODEN SHOE, FRENCH (SEVENTEENTH CENTURY).]
During the reign of the Tudors the character of the shoe suddenly
changed from the long pointed toe to the broad-toed shoe, made either
of various cloths, kid, or velvet, slashed and puffed with silk,
an example of which will be seen in Holbein's picture of the "Two
Ambassadors." The shoes of this period afford a minimum of protection
to the feet, the whole of the instep being uncovered. It was again
found necessary for legislation to step in--this time, however, to
restrict their _breadth_, instead of the length of the toes, as
heretofore.
Bulwer's "Pedigree of the English Gallant" says: "In the reign of
Queen Mary, the people in general had laid aside the long points they
formerly wore at the end of their shoes, and caused them to be made
square at the toes, with so much addition to the breadth, that their
feet exhibited a much more preposterous appearance than they had done
in the former instance; therefore," says the author, "a proclamation
was made, that no man should wear his shoes above six inches square at
the toes." He then tells us that "picked shoes soon after came again in
vogue, but they did not, I presume, continue any great time in use."
In the figure of the exquisite of 1670, after Mitelli (p. 129), the
squareness of the toes is emphasised, the two corners even projecting
from the flat edge. There are small bunches of ribbons at the toes, an
abnormally large stiffened bow at the instep, and, by way of "piling
Pelion upon Ossa," the bend of the stiffened bows is supplemented by
smaller bows, representing the very acme of whimsical extravagance.
Usually these bows or ribbons were allowed to fall loose, in which
case, however, they never reached such extravagant proportions as in
the before-mentioned instance. A square-toed shoe of a Dutch officer
of the Guards, 1662, is given, having a loose bow, also a shoe of a
musketeer with a small buckle on the instep and a large tongue or flap
in front.
[Illustration: DUTCH OFFICER OF GUARDS, 1662.]
Buckles have been worn from quite an early period, an example of a
circular buckle occurring on a brass of 1376. They formed the usual
fastening of the shoe during the Commonwealth, and were worn until
the close of the eighteenth century, when they fell into disuse. The
buckle-makers of 1800, alarmed at their declining trade, petitioned the
Prince of Wales to discard his new strings and adopt the buckle, but,
although the Prince complied with the wishes of the petition, it was of
no avail.
Buckles were often richly jewelled, and consequently very costly. Those
worn by the Hon. John Spencer on the occasion of his marriage were said
to be worth £30,000.
[Illustration: MOUSQUETAIRE, 1697.]
In the anonymous portrait of Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. (p.
103), the shoes are of leather, slashed, showing the coloured stocking
underneath, and otherwise ornamented, with the strap drawn over the
instep, covered by a jewelled rosette, or "shoe-rose." These shoe-roses
had a great vogue during the time of Elizabeth; they were usually
of bunches of ribbons made to form a rose, and were occasionally
ornamented with costly jewels.
"With two Provencal roses on my razed shoes."
_Hamlet_, Act III, sc. 2.
In "Hæc-Vir, or the Womanish Man," 1621, is described a fashionable
man, who "takes a full survey of himself, from the highest sprig in his
feather to the lowest spangle that shines in his shoe-string."
We now come to the period of high-topped boots, which continued with
variations to the time of George II. In the portrait of Charles I. by
Daniel Mytens in the National Portrait Gallery will be seen an example
of the earlier form of top-boot. The tops fit close, and are turned
down at the knee, and the edges again turned up half-way down the calf
of the leg. A large flap with double edges protects the instep.
[Illustration: LOUIS XIII., 1611.]
The form of top-boots was developed in various ways, until it reached
an extravagant pitch in France in the reign of Louis XIV. The
variations were mainly in the shape or adjustment of the tops, rather
than in that portion of the boot which covered the foot. They were worn
by the dandies with a profusion of costly lace. Several examples are
given.
This was the period of the highest, or rather widest, development of
the tops of the boots; so wide, indeed, did they become, that the gait
of a man might be described as straddling rather than walking.
An example is given of a boot worn by the Comte de Soissons, 1628,
which has a stiff rounded top like a basin, with a short hose worn over
the hose proper, turned down below the knee and edged with rich lace.
A variation of the top-boot worn from the time of Elizabeth onwards is
a kind of soft leather hose or buskin drawn up to the middle of the
thigh, the edge folded over and slashed; these were worn during the
slashed period, when everything was slashed--hat, sleeves, doublet, and
tunic (p. 297).
[Illustration: COMTE DE SOISSONS, 1628.]
The "Wellington" boot of the present day is practically identical with
that worn by the illustrious soldier from whom it takes its name, and
is a very slight variation of the form of riding boot which was in use
at the beginning of the eighteenth century, except that it is of softer
leather, allowing the boot to fall into folds at the ankle. The boot
in the portrait of Napoleon by Isabey, in the Musée de Versailles, may
be described as a sort of half Wellington, but the top-boot which is
usually associated with Napoleon is cut away at its upper edge at the
back, the front forming a kind of mask to the knee, a form of boot
which, in fact, had been worn from the time of William III.
[Illustration: BRAVOES.
_Martin Schongauer._]
Cloth and woollen boots and shoes, as were worn in the Middle Ages,
have been recommended for _modern_ wear as being more healthy, and as
allowing the natural perspiration of the foot to exhale, their sponsors
affirming that "cloth and wool are perfectly suitable and safe for wet
weather, as the wetting of the wool does not chill the feet, the heat
of which promptly evaporates the moisture from the covering, which soon
dries." It must, however, be admitted that with a cloth covering, the
dirt and mud of a London winter would be a trial, and here, doubtless,
we have a reason for the cobblestones of mediæval towns. Cobble-stones
are clean, but must at once be ruled out of the question for London.
Cobble-stones would indeed add a fresh horror to London life. But is it
too much to expect the richest city in the world, with its thousands of
unemployed, to keep its streets clean? Is there any reason why large
cities should not be kept clean as well as small cities?
"Boots and shoes should be roomy, to prevent the toes from being
squeezed together, and should be so made that the great toe is not
pressed against its neighbours, but is encouraged to lie in a straight
line drawn from the heel to the root of the great toe. The heel of the
boot should be low and broad."[31]
The Greek ideal of the foot is the true one. The Greeks rightly
regarded the foot as an undeveloped hand, and they endeavoured in their
sculpture to impart that hand-like character to their feet. One has
only to notice the flexible toes of new-born and young babies, in order
to perceive the reasonableness of this position. The Greeks in their
sculpture made a distinct division between the great toe and the rest
of the toes, as between the thumb and the fingers of the hand--the
three toes well forward in a bunch; the first the longest, the next a
little shorter, and the third shorter still; the little toe by itself,
raised up. Now compare with this any natural foot habituated to shoes
or boots. The bunch of three toes is pressed back, and also sideways
against the great toe, thus losing the division between them and the
great toe, and destroying the true contour of the foot. The pads of
all the toes are pressed sideways instead of being immediately under
the nails, and the foot has entirely lost its original character,
and has become grotesquely malformed by corns, bunions, and similar
growths. The most beautiful natural foot, the _only_ beautiful foot
which we ever remember having seen, was a cast in Sir Edgar Boehm's
studio of the foot of a black woman who had never worn shoes.
Of late there has been a disposition to return to the sandal as a
covering or rather protection for children's feet (one fears that it
will be long before grown-ups adopt the sandal, except perhaps at the
seaside or in the country). The change is a healthy one from every
point of view. Upon æsthetic grounds it is especially welcome. One
walks along the street during the summer months, the mind perhaps
preoccupied, and the eye suddenly lights upon the rosy feet of one of
these little ones as they trip along the street. One involuntarily
exclaims, "What a charming design! What a beautiful piece of ornament!"
Of a truth, in place of the uninteresting product of the shoemaker,
which we had become so inured and accustomed to, one is suddenly
introduced to that masterpiece of the Great Designer, the human foot,
and the foot, too, in its natural state, before it has become crippled
and distorted by long confinement in a leather prison.
FOOTNOTES:
[28] Thomas Deloney's "booke called the Gentle Crafte, intreating of
Showmakers," tells how Crispin and Crispianus, sons of King Logrid
of Britain and of Queen Estreda, were sheltered at Faversham, Kent.
Crispin wooed and married Princess Ursula, whose son was born in the
shoemaker's house. Hence the saying, "A shoemaker's son is born a
Prince." From their high lineage, shoemaking is named "The Gentle
Craft."
"I am of Crispin's trade, a brave Shooemaker,
He loved a Princess dear, and ne'r forsak't her....
This craft was never held in scorn, Sir Thomas Eyer did it adorn,
A Shoemaker's son a Prince is born."
_Roxburghe Ballads._
[29] "Health Culture," G. Jaeger, M.D.
[30] A movement, headed by the Empress, has been instituted recently
for the abolition of the practice of mutilating the feet of Chinese
women, which was universal throughout all classes of society. In the
cities, ladies were carried through the streets pick-a-back, and moved
about their houses on their knees. In the fields the women worked on
their knees, being unable to stand.
[31] "Health Culture," G. Jaeger, M.D.
INDEX
Addison, scantiness of dress, 141
Angelico, Fra, painting by, at Florence, 101
Anglo-Saxon super-tunic, 76;
embroidery, 76;
Chronicle, treasures of King Malcolm of Scotland, 100
Barbers, introduction of in Rome, 239;
charter granted by Henry VIII., 247
Barber-Surgeons, 247-249
Beard, formality of Assyrian and Greek, 237;
dyeing and powdering, 238;
ceremonies and customs relating to, 238;
Peter Lombard's dislike of, 245;
edict by Henry I. for suppression of, 245;
various shapes of, 246;
vow of Henry VIII. relating to, 246
Beaumont and Fletcher, quotation from, 140
Bloet, Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, mantle presented by to Henry I., 90
Boadicea, tunic of, 68
Bodice, rigidity of, 144
Boots, shoes, and other foot coverings, 281-301
---- short, 288;
top, 288, 297, 298;
Wellington, 298
Buckles, 296
Buskins, 284-286
Byzantine women, dress of, 72
Calash, introduction of, 230
Cap, flat, of Tudor period, 218-220;
fool's, 209
Carlyle, T., 18, 26, 110
Charlemagne, dress of, 68;
letter to King John of Gascogny, 89;
mantle of, 90
Charles I., costume of, 126
Chaucer, quotations from, 52, 46, 78, 82, 98, 118, 242, 275
Chopine, 292
Chlamys, 85
Cloak, Spanish, 102;
Puritan, 102
Clothes, index as to character, 22;
climatic influence on, 22;
uses of, 20;
their symbolism, 26
Coif-caps, 258
Collar, Gurth's, 181
Collars and cuffs, 181-201
Cotton MS. caricature of winged devil, 42
"Couleur Isabella," 188
Coverley, Sir Roger de, remarks on hooped petticoat, 164
Cravat, origin of, 182;
general use of, 195;
art of tying the, 195-201
Crestine or net-caul, 211
Crinoletta, 160;
"disfigurans," 177;
echo of earlier prototype, 178
Crinoline, rise and fall of, 159-178;
invention of, 162
Crispin, St., 281
Cross gartering, 114, 286
Cut-purse, 78
Dickens, quotation from "Pickwick," 280
Doublet and hose, 111-132
Dowglas, monk of Glastonbury, extravagances of dress of reign
of Edward III., 37
Dress:
should be one of the decorative arts, 53;
conditions of beautiful, 106;
floral patternings of, 146;
modes of, 1773, 148;
fashionable, 1782, 149
Elizabeth, Queen, short cloak, 101
Embroidery, a conspicuous element in Anglo-Saxon dress, 76
Empire gown, 152
Fabrics:
cloth of gold, 43;
silk, 44;
ciclatoun, cendal, taffetas, sarcenet, 46;
patternings of, 48;
satin, 46;
velvet, 46;
Sicilian brocades, 49-51
Farthingale, 162;
great wheel, 164
Fashion, genuine woman of, 153
French Revolution, influence on dress, 150;
disappearance of three-cornered hat, 227
Froissart, Harleian Library, caricature of pig walking upon stilts, 42
Garter, mantle of, 52, 94;
vestments of, 94;
jewel of, 95;
embroiderings of, 94;
as at present worn, 96
General survey, 19-57
Girdle, various kinds of, 77;
of Charlemagne, 77;
imperial girdle of Holy Roman Empire, 77;
of Henry VI., 77;
in brasses, 78
Gosson, Stephen, "Schoole of Abuse," 36
Gozzoli, Benozzo, frescoes at Pisa, 101
Greeks, costumes of modern, 78
Gresham, Sir Thomas, gift of silk stockings to Edward VI., 120
Hair, moustachios, and beard, 237-277
---- length of, privilege of Kings and Princes of the Franks, 240;
condemnation of by the priesthood, 240
Harold, King, banner under which he fought at Hastings, 52
Hat, chimney-pot, 25, 57, 205, 220, 222-224;
development of, 222-224;
centenary of modern, 222;
Greek broad-brimmed, 210;
cocked, 130;
Kevenhuller, 132, 227;
slouch, Stuart period, 226;
panama, 232;
bowler, 232
Hats, caps, and bonnets, 205-233
Headcoverings not a necessity, 205
Head-dresses, extravagances of, 260-271;
horned, 36, 41, 213-215;
heart-shaped, 215;
steeple, 215
Hennin, 216
Hood, Roman hooded cloak, 208;
variations of, 209
Hooped petticoat, 159-175;
inconveniences of, 170;
disappearance of, 170
Hose, tight-fitting, 114;
parti-coloured, 115;
Gallic, 120;
silk, 120;
Venetian, 120
Illuminated MSS., colouring of, 73
Jerkin, 117
Jewels, worn in hats, 224
Jonson, Ben, quotations from "Silent Woman," 38, 236, 268;
"Every Man out of his Humour," 122
Kirtle or petticoat, the, 135-156
Kirtle "Romaunt of the Rose," 73-136;
a development tunic, 135
La Tour Landry, Knight of, St. Bernard's admonition of his sister, 36;
extravagance in dress, 41;
horned head-dresses, 214;
painted faces, 276
Lorenzo, Fiorenzo di, paintings by, 99, 100, 113
Love locks, 250
Lydgate, monk of Bury, satires, 41
Lyly's "Euphues," 1580, fable of wind and sun, 22
Macaronies, 260
Malay Peninsula, clothing of aborigines, 20
Mantle, the, 83-106;
of Elijah, 83;
St. Martin, 84;
Raleigh, 84;
Archdruid's, 88;
coronation mantle of Holy Roman Empire, 88;
Frankish, 89;
colour of Charlemagne's, 90;
Edward the Confessor's, 90;
Norman period, 90;
Queen Matilda's, 91;
of the Order of the Garter, 94
Mary, Queen, description of portrait of, 138
Merry Monarch, beauties of the Court of, 141
Merveilleuses, 150
Moustachios, Charles I., third Empire, a reigning monarch, 272
Muffs, 104
Nazarite law, 240-244
Ondina or waved Jupons, advertisement in _Illustrated London News_, 1863, 175
Otaheite, festal dress, 166
Painted faces, 250-252
Paris, Matthew, description of marriage of Alexander III. of Scotland, 96
Pattens, 290-292
Pegtops, 54;
Dundreary's, 275
Peplum of the Greeks, 85, 88
Pepys, references to dress, 102-104, 142-144, 255
Periwig, first appearance of in history, 255;
proportions of, during the reign of Charles II., 255
Petticoat breeches, 128-130
---- inflation, era of, 138
Picadil, 189-192
Piccadilly, 190;
fringe, 275
Piers Plowman, description of Meed (Bribery), 212
Pilche, 98-100
Pole, Edmund de la, letter to, 46
Pot-hat, examples of in past art, 25
Puffing, 117
Punch, Mr., fragments of a love-song, 74;
satire of crinoline, 172-176;
crinoletta, 176;
short side-whiskers, 276;
warning to ladies riding in crinolines, 170
"Roman de la Rose," satire on dress, 38;
dress of Mirth, 53;
horned head-dresses, 213
Roxburghe ballads, 40, 252, 255, 283
Ruff, invention of, 183;
extravagances of, 187;
various kinds of, 192;
disappearance of, 194
Ruffle, 183-184
St. Bernard, admonition of his sister, 36
Salisbury, Lord, remarks on modern costume, 56
Sandal, Greek, 283;
of Italian peasantry, 286;
modern, 301
Shoe roses, 296
Shoes, early British, 286;
Anglo-Saxon, 288;
pointed toed, 289-291;
broad toed, 294-296
Slashings, 117-118
Sleeves, serrated, 72;
development of, 112-113;
tight, 112;
cut work of, 112;
"pokys," 112
"Spencer" jacket, 137
Starching, 184
Stow, reference to ruffs, 187
Strutt, 73
Stubbes, "Anatomy of Abuses," feminine habit of aping masculine dress, 42;
peascod bellied doublets, 124;
ruffs, 180, 186, 188;
praise of barbers, 250;
moustachios, 272
Sumptuary laws, principal Acts, 28-36, 290
Surcoat, Anglo-Saxon period, 76;
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 74
_Tailor and Cutter_, hints of impending changes in men's attire, 56
Tailors, Latin song upon the, 92
"Tale of Beryn," the, quotation from, 89
Toga, plan of, 86;
dimensions of, 88
Trouser stretcher, 56
Trousers, their antiquity, 25;
the apparent eternity of, 54;
development of, 54;
inconveniences of, 56;
Frankish, 69;
Norman, 114
Trunk hose, bombasting of, 118, 122;
of period of James I., 126
Tudor period, magnificence of dress of, 140
Tunic, the, 61-80;
primitive form of, 61;
Egyptian, 63;
Greek, 64;
child's tunic, Egyptian, 64;
plan of, 66;
super-tunic, 66;
Lacedemonian girls', 67;
Charlemagne's, 69;
military, 77
Turban, 209
Uses of clothing, the, 20-24
Veddas of Ceylon, 20
Weaving, silk, in France and England, 52
Whisk, 188-189
Whiskers, Dundreary and mutton chop, 274;
short side, 276
Wigs, Egyptian, 254;
first appearance in England, 255;
cost of when first worn, 256;
different shapes of, 256;
Lord Ellenborough's, 258
William III., long-skirted coats, 104
Wimple, 183, 211
* * * * *
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, WOKING AND LONDON
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Chats on Costume" ***
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