COSTUMES (ESPECIALLY ENGLISH) FROM THE 11TH TO THE 17TH CENTURIES

Century XI.—During the brief rule of the Danes, the national costume does not appear to have experienced any change in England. The advert of the Normans brought with it to England the establishment of the luxury in dress, with which the Anglo-Saxons previously had become in some degree acquainted, and which was destined to so great an extent to supersede the still prevailing simplicity of their hereditary attire. The Norman conquerors, however, with their short cloaks and shaven faces, were not slow to adopt so much of the Saxon style of dress as led them to wear tunics of ample proportions, and in many ways to assumed whatever in that dress was most graceful and dignified. Still, as in other so in costume, until the 12th century had made a considerable advance the powerful and wealthy Anglo-Normans preserved an external visible distinction between themselves and their Anglo-Saxon fellow-subjects, And yet, the ordinary costume of the people of England appears to have undergone no characteristic change during the second half of the 11th century, seeing that short tunics and capes, cloaks with hoods cross-bandaged. Chausses or hose, shoes or low boots, and caps pointed in the crown continued in general use. But it was not so with the nobles, who speedily indulged in every species of ostentatious display upon their person, covering their rich dresses with ornamentation, introducing gorgeous novelties in fabrics, with costly furs, lengthening their garments till they swept the ground, and widening their sleeves till they hung down open-mouthed from their wrists. To these wide and openmouthed sleeves the Norman ladies speedily added long pendant lappets, in which extravagant form his portion of their dress was commemorated in the heraldic "maunche" of later times (fig. 24) Tunics richly adorned, made to fit closely about the figure, but with long and loosely flowing skirts, and having the "maunche" sleeves, with splendid mantles of ample size which were fastened on one of the shoulders and were furnished with hoods, enjoyed the highest favour with the Norman ladies, who also wore their hair in heavy and long braids, when the century of the Conquest came to its termination.

Century XII.—Like their armour—if to their defensive equipment the term armour may be applicable—and weapons, the costume of the Normans when they established themselves in England while exhibiting significant tokens of affinity to that worn by their own Scandinavian contemporaries, had become assimilated to the dress prevalent among the races with whom they were familiar more to the south. As a matter of course, also through what remained of the 11th century, and until the succeeding century had far advanced, the distinctive characteristics of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo Norman attire were retained, and appeared simultaneously in use ; nor can they be considered to have become blended in what might claim to be accepted as a single national costume before the reign of Henry III. Many circumstances appear to have combined to have caused the same

General character of costume, unless under special local circumstances, to have prevailed throughout Europe during the period of mediaval armour—from the second half of the 12th century, that is, till the end of the 16th –the same general uniformity in essentials being further observable in the armour itself. It may here be remarked, that both the armour and the costume represented in the monumental effigies of the Middle Ages are alike in being distinguished by a pervading simplicity and an absence of excesses, which in a signal degree qualify them to be accepted as typical rather than as exceptional examples and authorities. This is especially the case with the monumental effigies of various kinds, second to none as works of mediaeval art, that abound throughout England. It but too frequently happens, however, that in forming their estimate of costume, reversing the judicious and sound principles adopted by the monumental artists of the Middle Ages, writers permit themelves to select as their types the occasional eccentricities and vagaries of the fashion or of individual extravagance.

The first sculptured representations of English sovereigns that are known to exist in England appear at the sides of the great west doorway-arch of Rochester Cathedral, and they show the costume worn by Henry I. and his queen Matilda of Scotland. The king, in whose reign beards and long hair again came into fashion, has gathered about his person a flowing tunic, worn under a dalmatic and a mantle ; his queen also wears corresponding garments, the sleeves of her dalmatic (or over-tunic) being even wider than those of her consort. Her hair she wears in two very long braids, one of them hanging down on either side on the front of her person. Under and upper tunics, girdles, and mantles, both with and without hoods, pointed, caps and low hits with wide brims, and leggings and shoes, are represented in the various illuminations of this era, which convey very clear and well-defend ideas of the costume then in use by various classes and both sexes. Towards the close of this centúry the costume of Henry II. and of his Queen Eleanor, as represented in their effigies, may be accepted as characteristic illustrations of a period in which considerable luxury in dress was becoming generally prevalent. The king is attired in an under-tunic reaching to his feet, and a blue tunic almost of the same length, both garments having comparatively tight sleeves reaching to the wrist; over the upper-tunic is a dalmatic of crimson enriched with a floral pattern in gold, long but not very full, and without any front-opening being apparent, its full sleeves shorter than those of the tunic ; over all, a purple mantle, fastened with a morse on the right shoulder, covers the left arm, and is drawn up on the right side so as partly to cover the figures also an the right side below the girdle. The gloves are jeweled, and the boots, green in colour, enriched with gold and armel with golden spurs, are broad and slightly pointed. Over a white under-tunic, visible only at throat where it is fastened by a circular brooch, the queen wears a long time tunic or gown, loose throughout, its sleeves tight at the wrists and enlarging upwards to the shoulders, which is secured about the waist by a buckled girdle. The pattern upon this dress, which is represented to have been worn uncovered by a dalmatic, and is white, consists of golden crescents in pairs, set reversed and contained within the meshes of an interlaced lozenge-work also golden. The mantle of blue, studied with golden crescents, is secured across the breast with a cord, and, falling back from the shoulders, it is gathered up on both sides and drawn partly across the figure in front. About her face the queen has a plain wimple ; and beneath her crown her head is covered with a coverchef, which falls in folds on either shoulder. The king also is crowned ; but his scepter has been broken away from his right hand. In her illuminated portraits, Eleanor or Aquitaine is represented with a wimple, which is fastened with a circlet of gems ; her under-tunic, or cote-hardi, fitting closely and having tight sleeves, is gathered into a rich collar about her throat ; over this dress is a loose tunic, long and flowing, guarded with fur, its full and open sleeves also being lined with fur ; and, over all, there is the ever-present mantle, generally of some light material, so adjusted that at the pleasure of the wearer it might be drawn over the head. Henry II. is not known to have been represented wearing the short cloak of Anjou, familiarly associated with his name. A few years later the same royal attire is represented in the effigy of Richard I. Here, over a white under-tunic, the long tunic and the almost equally long crimson dalmatic are shown to be slit up at the sides ; the latter garment has very full sleeves, which hang down from a little above the wrists, and the rich girdle, covered by the mantle in his father’s effigy, is shown. The mantle, of royal blue and gold, has a different adjustment, being fastened in the centre over the chest by a large morse, from which it falls back over the right shoulder, but on the left side it is drawn forward so as partly to cover the passion and to hang down in folds over the arm ; and on the right side also this mantle is drawn forward below the girdle. The king is crowned ; he wears gloves, jeweled at the back of the hand ; and to his enriched boots, which in their form and adornment resemble his father’s, his spurs are attached by buckled-straps. In all these royal effigies it is certain that a faithful representation is given of the remains, attired as had been the custom of these personages in life, when lying in state before interment. In that warlike and turbulent age, when the possession of good arms and armour and the means of effecting improvements in them were objects of supreme importance, the peaceful population appear to have been content to return the system and style of dress in use shortly after the establishment of the Norman dynasty A tunic, worn over some under-garment, generally made to reach about to the knees, but sometimes very short constantly made with a hood, loose chausses or trews and light hose and pointed boots or shoes, with some kind of cap for head-gear, and a hood to the favourite cloak or mantle, formed the prevalent male dress. The nobles and other men of rank, when not in their armour, aspired to rival the princess in the richness of their attire ; and, in addition to such costumes as might be habitual to them when engaged in active occupations, wealthy citizens were not slow to follow the higher and perhaps still richer classes as closely as might be permitted to them by indulging in long and flowing gown-like tunics when in repose or on occasion of ceremony and festivity. The long tunic which came into use by men early in the century at first had long sleeves very wide at the wrists ; and at the same time the sleeves of their tunics were worn of extravagant length and proportions by ladies of rank. This extravagance, particularly in the male attire, however, had almost disappeared before the close of the century. On the whole, the female attire may be said in its common use to have been subjected to but little of decided change, except that in its general aspect it exhibited somewhat less of an Oriental character than it had done at the commencement of the century. The powerful influence exercised by the East through the crusades on the armour and military appointments of the warriors of the West, did, not take effect till the next century in matters connected with Western female fashions and usages.

Century XIII.—As in the century next succeeding in both the first and the second half of the 13th century, royal costume, which may be accepted as the most perfect example of the dress of the higher and wealthier classes, is happily exemplified with the highest contemporary authority. King John, upon whose monument (itself a work of the Tudor era) in Worcester Cathedral rests the earliest of the royal portrait effigies that are in existence in England, is attired in a loose tunic reaching from the throat almost to the ankles, having tight sleeves, and its colour being golden. Over this is a loose full-sleeved crimson dalmatic, shorter than the tunic, bordered about the throat-opening and at the very wide extremities of the sleeves with richly gemmed gold embroidery, and secured about the waist by a buckled girdle having a long pendant end. The mantle, worn over all, which hangs down the back of the figure, is gathered up on the right arm in a manner long as well as very generally adopted by both sexes. The king, who has red hose with black boots and golden spurs, is crowned, a circlet of jewels which binds his hair appearing on his brow from beneath his crown. In his gloved hands, the gloves being gemmed, he holds his sword and what remains of his sceptre. Among notices of King John’s costume, he is recorded to have appeared at a certain Christmas festival in a white damask tunic with a jeweled girdle and gloves, his mantle being of red satin embroidered with sapphires and pearls. Over a white under-tunic fastened with a circular brooch at the throat. Queen Isabel of Angoulême appears in her effigy habited in a long blue covered with single golden crescents ; this robe, which is loose and flowing throughout, has its full sleeves gathered in at the wrists, and it is adjusted about the waist by a rich girdle secured by a buckle. The queen wears a wimple and on her coverchef rests her crown ; her mantle, which hangs from her shoulders and on her right side is drawn partly over her figure, is yellow covered with red roses and green leaves. Berengaria, the widow of Richard I., who died about 1235, is attired in the same fashion ; but her tunic, of ampher proportions, is more gracefully disposed ; her large brooch is elaborately enriched ; from her gemmed girdle on her left side an aumonière, or purse, is suspected ; her mantle, secured by a narrow cord across her breast, is not drawn forward ; she wears no wimple, and her coverchef is so adjusted about her crowned head as to permit her wavy hair to be visible. The effigy of this royal widow displays no tokens of any such style or accessories of costume as might have reference to her condition of widowhood.

The crowned effigy of Henry III. (1272), a noble work, is remarkable for the classic grace and dignity of the adjustment of the ample mantle about the king’s person, over his long tunic and dalmatic ; this mantle is fastened by a large morse on the right shoulder. The king’s boots, which are elaborately embroidered with small gold lions enclosed in lozenge-work, are without spurs. During the long reign of this weak prince but few decided changes appear to have taken place to affect what gradually had settled down into becoming the national costume in England. New varieties, however, of rich and costly fabrics continued to be introduced, and they wee eagerly adopted as materials for their dress by both sexes of the wealthier classes. Eleanor of Provence is represented clad in an embroidered mantle having an ermine collar, fastened with a small brooch over a close-fitting and wide-skirted tunic of gold brocade, having its sleeves so cut as nearly to cover the hands. At this time furs of various kinds were greatly in request. The fashion, too, which had been introduced in the time of Rufus and was long prevalent, of cutting the borders of dresses into fantastic patterns became more general, and often was carried to excess. Sleeveless tunics, which would show the sleeves as well as the lower parts of a recognized position in the female attire of the time ; and, no longer braided in long tails, ladies’ hair was arranged within network of gold or silver filigree or of silk, the wimple and coverchef, now constantly of very rich materials, being retained in use, and often so adjusted as to display the countenance in a triangular from after the manner of the mail coif of the knights. Of this fashion the effigy of Aveline, first countess of Lancaster, in Westminster Abbey, affords a truly characteristic illustration (fig. 25). At this same period the diapered patterns and rich tissues of Ypres attained to a great celebrity, and heraldic devices began to appear as decorative accessories of dress. No effigy of the warlike Edward I. exists, to show him either in his mail, or in such attire as it pleased him to assume when not fully armed ; but, doubtless, the fine effigy of Fair Rosamond’s son, Earl William Longespée, in Salisbury Cathedral, may be accepted as a sufficiently accurate illustration of the military uniform of the first Edward after the Conquest, who also may be assumed to have been attired, when his mail had been laid aside, much after the fashion of his father. It is well known that in his day princes and nobles arrayed themselves in flowing robes, worn over comparatively closely fitting tunics or doublets, these garments being made/of silk damasks and satins of brilliant colours, with adornments of goldsmiths’ work and furs, in the use of which they were freely followed by the knights and the wealthy classes as well as by the ladies of their era. Not content with the triangular adjustment of the wimple, towards the close of this century the ladies adopted the strange and unsightly gorget to cover their throats, thus still more closely adapting the aspect of their own head-gear and its accessories to the mail coifs and the helms of their martial lords. The beautiful effigy of Eleanor of Castile, which rests upon a massive plate of bronze gilt and diapered with the armorial castles and lions of Castile and Leon is remarkable as well for the dignified simplicity of the costume as for the sweet expression of the countenance. Secured by a narrow band which she holds in her left hand, the queen’s long and ample mantle for the most part envelops her person, disclosing only the upper part of her wide-sleeved tunic and the close-fitting sleeves of the dress worn beneath it ; she wears neither wimple nor cover-chef, but allows her luxuriant hair to fall in rich waves from beneath her diadem upon her shoulders.

Century XIV.—The royal attire represented in the two halves of this century in the effigies of Edward II. and Edward III. is a tunic (the under-tunic not being visible) descending to the feet and having tight sleeves ; a dalmatic, open in front to midway between the knees and the waist, of the same length ; and a long flowing mantle, secured across the breast by a band of rich workmanship. The dalmatic of the father, who is crowned and in his ungloved hands holds a sceptre and an orb, has full sleeves reaching only to the elbows, but prolonged in broad lappets of moderate length, while that of the son has its sleeves tight and but little shorter than those of his tunic. In both the mantle, covering the shoulders but not drawn across the chest of covering any part of the front of the person, falls at the back of the wearer. The boots, of Edward III., richly embroidered, are acutely pointed at the toes, but not of extravagant length ; the aged monarch is bareheaded, with long flowing hair and beard ; his two sceptres have been broken away. One of the crowned statuettes upon the monument of her younger son, John of Eltham, duke of Cornwall, apparently represents Isabelle of France, queen of Edward II., in a tunic and mantle, having her throat and head enveloped in a combination of a wimple with a gorget, after a fashion equally strange and unbecoming, but which, nevertheless, in her time was prevalent, This queen, who delighted in splendid extravagance, is recorded to have habitually worn, richly embroidered and adorned with jewels, dresses of cloth of gold or silver, with others of velvet of various colours and of shot taffeta, and with others also of green cloth of Douay and of rose satin. The inventories of wardrobes and jewellery that still exist show, in a significant manner peculiar to themselves, the extent, variety, and unbounded extravagance of the costume of both sexes, with their costly accessories and ornaments. In strong contrast to the tales thus told, the costume of the effigy of Queen Philippa is simply a gown or tunic, quite tight to the figure and laced down the front ; the sleeves tight, traversed from the shoulder onwards by a close-set row of small buttons, and prolonged from the wrists so as partly to cover the hands ; and the skirt being very full and falling in rich folds over the feet. A narrow girdle encircles the royal person, adjusted, not as in earlier times somewhat tightly around the waist, but loosely and about the hips, precisely as the military belt had begun to be worn by the other sex. Over this tunic, the only other garment visible, a mantle falls from the shoulders down the back. The queen’s hair, confined within a reticulated covering of goldsmith’s work beneath her diadem, is bound by a circlet and made to project prominently on each side of the face. At the close of the century, the effigies of Richard II. and Anne of Bohemia show the same costume to be repeated in the case of both royal personages, the whole being covered with the royal heraldic badges ; and the queen’s hair falls unconfined and naturally over her shoulders. Other effigies of ladies of different ranks, notably a fine one of Lady Stapleton at Ingham in Norfolk, give similar examples of the costume worn by the two queens. Established in use early in the century, the display of heraldic insignia blazoned upon articles of dress rose into the highest favour and popularity during the brilliant reign of Edward III., and they also were lavishly adopted in the luxurious times of his grandson. Indeed, with the progress of this century, mediaeval costume both attained to its highest splendour, and also exhibited much of its extreme extravagance. It became the fashion, for example, for both sexes to wear hanging from their sleeves long lappets, sometimes prolongations of the actual sleeves, and at other times mere strips, and their hoods were prolonged in points to correspond with them. Dresses, some very long, others very short having their edges cut and jagged in a most bizarre manner, often were worn partycoloured, the colours in many cases having been chosen expressly with a view to produce the most vivid contrast ; boots and shoes had their pointed toes made twice or even thrice the length of the wearer’s foot ; and head-gear, exhibiting no little diversity of fantastic forms, was universally prevalent. The fashions of England corresponded with those of France, though apparently they were not carried here quite to the same excess that they were on the Continent. The singular aim of each sex, not only to emulate the other in sumptuous style and profuse adornment of their dress, but also to imitate the form and fashion of each other’s attire obtained in both countries. The consistent adjustment of the knightly surcoats and jupons over armour, enhancing its effect while partly covering it, suggested to the ladies to adopt kirtles of cotes-hardi, that from being merely sleeveless became sideless also. This from of garment, so well adapted for the display of what was worn under it, assumed several varieties of treatment. Sometimes it was little more than the front and back of a jacket, as in fig. 26 ; and at other times it became a complete dress, with the exception of sides and sleeves, in which case it was either made to fit closely about the person both before and beneath, and then was continued to form a loose and flowing skirt of ample proportions and great length, or with a similar skirt the upper part of the dress also hung loosely about the figure, as in fig. 27. In the next century this same dress at times was worn cut off at the knees, so as to leave the lower part of the under-tunic visible as well as its sides and sleeves. This dress constantly was richly guarded and sometimes lined with costly furs, and it generally was also adorned down the front with a continuous series of massive studs or other goldsmiths’ work. It appears also to have been a never-failing usage in connection with the fashion of sideless kirtle the girdle of the under tunic, which rested loosely on the hips, as it pressed under the side less garment both before and behind. Found to have been in use, in the form at first of a long and flowing sleeveless robe or gown, early in the 14th century, this sideless kirtle or cote-hardi continued to enjoy unabated favour for not much less than two centuries. It appears, certainly not later than 1320, in effigies at Bedale, Selby, and Staindrop—the Selby lady having the flowing skirt of her sideless dress blazoned with armorial insignia ; in her effigy at Oxford, Lady Montacute is represented in this dress, 1354 ; and it is repeated in the effigies of Lady Beauchamp, at Worcester, 1384 ; of Queen Joanna of Navarre, at Canterbury, 1407 ; of Lady Harcourt, at Stanton Harcourt, 1471 ; and of the Duchess of Suffolk, at Ewelme, 1474 : the two ladies last named, whose husbands were K.G., wear the garter of the order, the former as an armlet and the latter as a bracelet. Still later, 1500, in her beautiful effigy in Westminster Abbey, Elizabeth Arundel, wife of Sir Giles Daubeney, K.G., tressure to Henry VII., is represented in this same sideless over-tunic which reaches only about to the knees, so displaying the lower part of the long and flowing under-tunic as well as its sides and sleeves. M. Viollet-le-Duc has shown the sideless kirtle to have been no less fashionable and no less capable to maintain its position in France, than we possess abundant evidence to prove it to have been in England. The same fashion also prevailed at the same period in other parts of Europe. At Worcester a closely wimpled effigy illustrates in a remarkable manner the usage, at the commencement of the century, to attach small enameled shields of arms in profusion upon the dresses of ladies of rank, a mode of decoration shown again in a brass at Trotton, 1310. Throughout this century the wimple and coverchef continued to be worn, or the hair was confined within bands, of fretwork, or had some light and delicate covering which did not extend to the face and throat. In the second half of the century the hair appears to have been worn partly within the favourite fretwork, and in part falling on the shoulders ; the cover chef also then assumed the forms of a variety of caps, and some of the more extravagant head-dresses of the following century began to make their appearance. For protection from the cold and wet the hoods of mantles always were available, and hats wide in the brim were also worn. The hip-belt was universal. Pocket-holes, into which the hands of the wearers often are represented to have been inserted, are shown to have been made in the outer-tunics and robes. Throughout the era of splendid armour, men of distinction so constantly are represented in their armour that the typical and specially characteristic male costume of the Middle Ages is com monly considered to have been identified with what in reality ought to be distinguished as the military equipment of the period. Rarely, however, as we see the more accessible and popular of their "counterfeit presentments" in peaceful guise, the warriors of those days when circumstances permitted gladly laid aside basinet and hauberk and panoply of plate, in order to assume some less weight and uneasy garb. Under the armour close-fitting doubtlets and hose were worn, made either of leather or of some quilted fabric. When without their armour, the dress of nobles and knights in many respects was assimilated to the garments assumed by them over their armour. The general costume of men of all classes at the same period was closely in accord with the style prevalent with their contemporaries of exalted rank, the essential distinctions of different classes being comparative costliness and splendour of adornment. It will be observed that garments fitting closely to the person were in constant use, as is well exemplified in fi. 28, and also such others as were Oriental in their length and flowing looseness. Early in the 14th century two or three surcoats were worn over the armour ; but latter the short jupon, generally jagged at the edges and sleeveless, but sometimes plain and having sleeves reaching only to the elbows, superseded them, when a similar upon made of some rich material and often having a hood, was adopted to be worn with a hip-belt, without the armour. The hip-belt, as was the case with the other sex who borrowed it from the men, was universal.

The hose, shoes, boots or buskins, always sharply pointed, became very long as the century advanced. Rows of buttons, also, Heraldic devices, assumed as military insignia, became the favourite ornaments of the dress of peace. The military camail, again, the representative of the mail-coif of earlier times, found a parallel in the hood when resting on the shoulders, and in the cape which so frequently was associated with the peaceful attire of this century. See fig. 28, which also gives a characteristic illustration of the prolonged sleeve-lapperts that still held their ground with resolute tenacity. Six of the original beautiful bronze statuettes, representing two of the daughters and four of the sons of Edward III., monument in Westminster Abbey, form a group so happily illustrative of both male and female costume in the second half vagancies of the reign of Richard II., that it has appeared desirable here to introduce the accompanying sketches of the entire group (fig. 29–34). One of these statuettes (fig. 29) is especially interesting, since it is a contemporary portrait of the Black Price when he was not armed, which consequently may be agreeably associated with his noble armed effigy upon his own monument at Canterbury. The doubt and hose, doubtless worn by the Black Prince under his voluminous mantle with its deeply jagged lower border, is effectively shown in the statuettes of two of his brothers Lionel, duke of Clarence (fig. 30), who also wears his mantle ; and a younger brother (fig. 31), not now to be identified in consequence of his shield of arms having long been lost. The effigy of the forth brother (fig. 32), enveloped like the Black Prince in his mantle, has also lost the armorial shield which would have declared his name and title. With the costume of these royal brothers may be compared the habit of a civilian, who lived at the same time with (fig. 35) The corresponding French costume of a few years earlier, which continued in fashion till the close of the century, is well exemplified in figs. 28 and 36. The effigies of the two royal sisters (fig. 33, 34) speak for themselves as expressive and authoritative typical illustrations of the female dress of their era in its simplest and most characteristic forms, as the entire group in which they appear attests, the dignified simplicity which the artists of the Middle Ages, with such excellent taste, have shown that they held to be appropriate for the costume, in itself always accurate and historically true, to be represented in monumental sculpture. Without introducing much of actual novelty, except in the case of some of the head-dresses which from this time continued in use under the fourth, fifth, and sixth Henries, the concluding in use under the fourth, fifth, and sixth Henries, the concluding quarter of the 14th century was distinguished—as we learn from contemporary illuminations—by the pervading love of lavish extravagance ill dress in all classes, and by the excess to which the more fanciful devices and fashions of earlier times were carried. Thus, the jagged borders of tunics and mantles became more than ever fantastic ; the tunics and mantles themselves attained to a larger size, and the hanging sleeves commonly attached to them drooped to the very grounds. Hoods, from being merely pointed, were prolonged in pipe-like extensions ("liripipes"), and the points of boots and shoes were made sharper, and the boots and the shoes were made longer than ever. The singularly, and the boots and shoes were made longer than ever. The singularly quaint and usage of making dresses party coloured, the colours being selected in the majority of instances with a view to decided contrast, derived doubtless from heraldic impalements and quarterings with fields of different tinctures, and carried out in the livery colours assumed by the retainers and dependents of great houses,—a fashion which had established itself during the palmy heraldic days of Edward III.,—became general in the reign of Richard II., and then it was carried out in every variety of the details, accessories, and ornaments of costume.

Century XV.—Remarkable for a sustained succession of important changes in armour, and also from the fact that after about 1405, and until about 1475, the panoply of steel was worn uncovered by any surcoat or jupon, this turbulent century also witnessed a variety of changes in costume—changes that maintained a general uniformity throughout the greater part of Europe—which in their turn led in the succeeding century to the equally general establishment of the Tudor fashion. Heraldic devices continued to constitute favourite accessories and ornaments of dress, and in no slight degree determined both it character and its aspect. To the crest of the knight helms, and to the contoises or scarves and the mantlings diplayed from them by the knights, may be assigned, as being the source whence they were suggested, may be assigned, as being the sources whence they were suggested, the more extravagant and quaint varieties of the female head-gear which prevailed at this period. And, in like manner, the "livery colours" of the nobles and other personages of distinction, introduction during the preceding century, together with their armorial badges, all of them worn by their partisans, adherents, and dependents, imparted a heraldic character to the costume of the middle and even of the humbler classes. The only monumental effigies of this century are those of Henry IV. and of his second wife, Joanna of Navarre, at Canterbury. The king’s dalmatic, of ample proportions and ungirt by any girdle, falls to his feet, completely covering his tunic, except at the wrist of its tight sleeves which have an under row of small buttons set in contact ; over these sleeves are the large and open sleeves of the dalmatic itself, which is remarkable from having at each side a very large opening to give access to the pockets of the tunic. About the shoulders and covering the chest is a cape or tippet ; and, over all, there is a mantle, its hood adjusted about the neck of the wearer, which is secured by a broad and rich band, with morses, cords, and tassels. Upon his head the first Lancatrian king wears a crown of elaborate splendour. The effigy of Queen Joanna, from which, as also is the case with the companion effigy of her royal husband, the hands and the greater part of the arms have been broken away, represents her attire in a close-fitting tunic with a narrow very rich hip-girdle, under a long sleeveless and sideless cote-hardi, cut low and fitting tightly in the body, but having a loose, long and flowing skirt, and adorned with a row of rich circular studs down the front. The mantle, which falls over the back of the figure and is not gathered up at the arms, is secured by a cordon attached to two lozenge-shaped studs, As a necklace the queen wears the Lancastrian collar of SS ; and her hair, which is plaited in bands within golden network, is surmounted by a truly beautiful crown. Thus the costume of this royal lady shows no change from the ruling fashion of the previously century. At this time female dresses were worn made full, and either gathered into a kind of close collar about the throat, or having a broad falling over the shoulders, their sleeves very large and full and sometimes quite open, while at other times they also were gathered in (but not closely) at the wrists ; these dresses, often having a row of small buttons from the throat downwards, were so adjusted by a belt as to have very short waists. At this period also, and till the middle of the century the tunic commonly worn by men, with the exception of being shorter, in form was almost identical with the full-sleeved kirtle also in common use by the other sex. Among characteristic examples of the ordinary costumes of the first half of the 15th century are effigies, some sculptured and some engraved, at Chipping Campden, Willoughby, Northleach, Kingston-on-Themes, Great Tew, Higham, Ferrers, and Bedington. In the third quarter of the century the male dress in general use underwent but little change, the very long tunics of earlier times still remaining in favour ; but the female kirtles are seldom seen with very full sleeves, the sleeves of the under-tunic being continued in the form of mittens so as partly to cover the hands, the outer sleeves ending in cuffs that are turned back. While the costume of the commonality thus was at any rate comparatively simple and sober, throughout the turbulent period that succeeded the death of Henry V. till the establishment of the Tudors, it would appear as if the fierce excitement and the terrible vicissitudes of a prolonged civil war had impelled the nobility and others of the upper classes in England—encouraged in such a course, as it would seem, and still further stimulated it by the contemporaries fashions of France—to have sought a not altogether inconsistent kind of relief in both the revival and the invention of almost every conceivable extravagance and absurdity in dress and personal ornament. Long and loose robes having immense drooping sleeves had as their contemporaries close-looser make which descended midway between the knee and the ankle, and also with jerkins cut short only a few inches below the hips made very full, and gathered in with a belt about the waist. Of these tunics and jerkins the sleeves assumed an endless variety of form and decoration, being sometimes made to fit tightly, but more generally being large and open, and at their extremities either jagged or bordered with fur. These large sleeves enables the wearers to display the sleeves of their garments, and in so doing to emulate the ladies with their sideless cote-hardis and kirtles. Mantles of the richest materials and specially adorned, which were made to reach about to the knees, were worn as parts of the regular dress. The half-boots or shoes distinguished as poulaines continued to be long and very sharply pointed ; and men of rank and fashion actually walked about in clogs, pointed like their poulanes, and exceeding them in length by several inches. The excess in attire characteristic of this period culminated (in every acceptation of that word) in the female head-dresses, that appear literary to have exhausted the inventive faculties both of the both of the ladies themselves and of those persons who ministered to their tastes and wishes. From their more decidedly characteristic features, some of the more popular of these strange varieties of head-gear have been distinguished as the "horned," the "mitre, the "steeple"—in France known as the "hennin,—" and the "butterfly’ (figs. 37–40). Examples of all these head-dresses in their various modifications of contour, size, accessories, adornment, and adjustment, abound in the monuments and illuminated MSS. of both France and England ; also, as in the general character of the costume of each era, the same fashions of head-gear are found to have prevailed about the same period in other European countries. The most remarkable example of the "horned" head-dress that has been observed either in France or England, is represented in the effigy of Beatrice of Portugal, who married one of the earls of Arundel in the time of Henry V., which remains in good preservation in Arundel church in Sussex ; fig. 37, from the brass to Lady Halsham in the same county, shows a simpler and more moderate form of the same head-dress. Fig. 38 is drawn from a port a portrait of Elizabeth of York when young, in stained glass at Little Malvern. The "hennin," fig. 39, is a French example, reproduced from the always effective pages of Viollet-le-Duc. The "butterfly," shown in fig. 40, is another example in which the type of particular headgear in exhibited with no less of moderation than of accuracy. In every case, to these head-dresses veils, generally of ample proportions and often of great length or depth, and always of some light and delicate material, were attached, and from the actual structure worn in connection with the hair upon the head they either were expanded by wires or were permitted to fall drooping freely. Extravagancies in head-gear, however, were not restricted to the fashions of one sex only ; on the contrary, at this same period, among other strange eccentricities and fancies, a kind of a cap, in form somewhat resembling a turban, was introduced and generally worn by men, which on the side had attached to it a cluster of very large bows or puffs (the prototype of the "cockade" of later times), while on the other side a broad band of the same material as the cluster of bows hung down to ground, or even trailed along upon it, unless it should be the pleasure of the wearer to tuck it up in his girdle, or to wind it round either his head or his throat and shoulders. This strange male head-gear, of which a French example is given in fig. 41, showing the upper part of the scarf when hanging down, often was treated as a hood for occasional use only, when it rested on one of the shoulder of the wearer, its cluster of bows drooping over his back, and the long band or lappet pendant in front of his person, his head, meanwhile, if not bare, being covered with a cap, round or square or peaked, or by a brimless hat adorned with an upright feather and a jewel. In the 13th and 14th centuries the knight surcoats and jupons, worn over armour, had their counterparts in the robes and tunics of peaceful attire ; and so, in like manner, the shortened tunics and still shorter jerkins, that were in common use when the 15th century was bringing the great civil struggle to its termination in the accession of the Tudors, may be considered to have been suggested by the short "tabard" with its short and full sleeves and its heraldic blazonry, at that time worn by men-at-arms over their plate-armour. At the same time and till the end of the century, the long tunics still in use, which some years earlier had been slit up in front and had their full sleeves somewhat gathered in at the wrist, were made still longer, and had collars either closefitting or open and falling back ; they also were made open in front throughout their entire length, and their loose sleeves were of a uniform size from the shoulder to the wrist. At this same time also rosaries, and gypcières or purses, were worn attached to their girdles by both sexes. About the year 1480 the long and acutely pointed poulaines were superseded by coverings for the feet of both sexes which exhibited the opposite extreme of being short, very broad , and rounded or sometimes almost square at the toes. In the concluding quarter of this century, the super-tunic or gown of the ladies, made to fit closely and having a long and flowing skirt, the sleeves also close-fitting and with cuffs either turned back or drawn over the hands, was open above the short waist, the collar falling back over the shoulders and showing the under-tunic either carried up to fit closely at the throat, or sometimes cut square and low. Rich and broad necklaces were worn, and belts of goldsmits’ work with long pendants. The "horned" head-dress became either sharper in the points, or considerably less pointed and more graceful. The "butterfly" headdress increased in favour, and was worn with the hair drawn back into an enriched caul or cap. About 1490 an angular or "diamond" head-dress superseded the "butterfly;" it had a ridge, after the manner of a gabled roof of a house, over the head, and forming an angle above the centre of the forehead, from which it descended with a slope an each side of the face ; then, another angle having been formed slightly below each eye, this head-gear, which inclosed the back of the head in a species of cap, was continued as a broad lappet falling over each shoulder in front of the person of the wearer ; occasionally, also, two other similar lappets depended behind (see fig. 42).

Early Painted Glass.—Upon the costume, always without doubt in a signal degree characteristic of the period in which it was executed, of the various figures introduced by mediaeval artists into their numerous pictures executed in glass, Winston has made the following concise remarks:—

Early English Gothic, 11756 to 1300.—"Robes, whether lay or ecclesiastical, are generally short, in male figures hardly reaching to the ankles, and in females scarcely more than touching the ground. The female dress usually consists of close garment with tight sleeves and a loose robe and shoes ; the head is sometimes bare, but more commonly draped. The male dress, usually appropriated to dignified, persons, also consists of a close garment confined at the waist, and furnished sometimes with tight and sometimes with tight and sometimes with loose sleeves, a robe or mantle, and long hose, to which is often added a cap greatly resembling the Phrygian bonnet. The costume of ordinary persons is generally a short tunic, confined at the waist and reaching nearly to the knees, and sometimes a short cloak ; when this is used, the legs of the figure are generally represented encased in hose, or in a loose sort of stocking setting in folds about the leg, and with or without shoes."

Decorated English Gothic, 1300 tos1380.—"The draperies of this period are much more flowing and ample than those of the last ; and in ecclesiastical and female figures the robe is generally long and envelops the feet. The secular emale costume usually consists of a garment fitting tightly to the arms and body, and having a wide long skirt trailing along the ground ; upon it sometimes are is often loosely thrown over it. The wimple is a frequent adjunct to the head-dress, and the hair is usually plaited down on each side of the face and inclosed in a net or cowl. The ordinary costume of dignified laymen consists of a long robe and loose cloak,—the hair and beard arranged in loose and wavy locks. The usual secular dress is a short jerkin or tunic reaching about half-way down the thighs, and tight hose and shoes, upon which model the armour of this period was formed."

Perpendicular English Gothic, 1380 to about 1550.—"Greater repose was given to the figures in this than either of the former styles, and the draperies are generally disposed in very broad and grand folds. The Female dress in general consists of a close bodied dress with long skirts and tight sleeves, or of a losser dress with sleeves wide at the shoulders and tight at the writs. A cloak is often added, upon which armorial bearings, when used, are emblazoned more frequently than on the other garment. The variety of the head-dresses is great, especially towards and during the reign of Edward IV. the secular male costume, until almost the end of Edward IV.’s reign, appears usually to have consisted of a furred gown of tunic-like form, reaching rather below the knees, slit nearly half-way up the middle, and confined round the waist with a girdle ; it had either wide sleeves narrowing toward the wrist, or small at the shoulder and wide at the wrist like those of a surplice. The legs were inclosed in pointed-toed hose. The hair, until the latter part of the reign of Edward IV., appear to have been cropped closely all round, and after this time to have been cut straight across the forehead, but allowed to grow long behind and at the sides of the face, and to have been smoothed down like a club. In the reign of Henry VII. long furred gowns reaching to the feet and obtusely-toed shoe were used ; they continued in fashion during the next reign also."

Century XVI.—"We find" says M. Paul Lacroix writing specially with reference to the costume prevalent in France, "that a distinct separation between ancient and modern dress took place as early as the 16th century. In fact, our present fashions may be said to have taken their origin from about that time. It was during this century that mean adopted clothes closely fitting to the body,—overcoats with tight sleeves, felt hats with more or less wide brims, and closed boots and shoes. The women also wore their dresses closely fitting to the figure, with tight sleeves, low crowned hats, and richly trimmed petticoats. These garments, which differ altogether from those of antiquity, constitute, as it were, the common type from which have arisen the endless varieties of modern male and female dress ; and there is no doubt that fashion thus will continually be moving backwards and forwards from period to period, sometimes returning to its original model, and sometimes departing from it." Before arriving, however, at the useful and generally consistent and becoming dress of the present day, the fashions of both male and female attire had to pass on from the 16th century through a series of changes in every respect no less strange and extravagant, and yet always more or less directly tending in the same direction, than those which the earlier centuries had witnessed and then had carried away with themselves. And even now more than a little remains to be accomplished, before the ordinary costume in general use can be considered to have realized what ought to be its true aim—the most perfect attainable applicability, that is, to the condition and the same time being bestowed upon appropriate effectiveness of appearance.

At the commencement of this century in England, there are the royal effigies of Henry VII. and his queen, Elizabeth of York. The king himself is represented as having person entirely enveloped in a loose fur-lined robe or gown of ample size, reaching from its close fur collar about his neck to his feet, and so adjusted as to disclose but little of the garments worn beneath it. On his head he has the square cap that came into use and was generally worn during his reign. The queen wears a richly adorned angular head-dress (fig. 42), from beneath which her hair falls unconfined over her shoulders ; and the adjustment of her royal mantle is such as to display the upper part of her tunic, which is cut square and does not quite reach to her throat. The countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry VII., in her effigy appears wrapped from head to foot in a loose mantle, her tunic having plain and tight sleeves ; and on her head she has a plain angular headdress with a plaited wimple, over which the lappets fall. This costume may be regarded to have been designed to denote the widowhood of the four times married lady. Thus is appears that in their costume the effigies of these royal personages exhibit one of the distinctive insignia of royalty, and consequently they may be accepted as typical of the costume of their era. Neither VIII. nor of any one of his queens is there any monumental effigy ; but this deficiency is more than compensated by the portraits painted by Holbein, made familiar to all by engravings ; while other artists have left no less characteristic pictures representing personages of different ranks and classes who at the same personages of different ranks and classes who at the same period lived in France and England. Armour, which in the course of this century gradually became less esteemed for purposes of defence, and in a corresponding degree came to be more and more regarded as but little more than a splendid component or accessory of dress, its form and aspect was closely assimilated to certain garments made of textile materials and in fashion among the armmour-wearing classes. Much of curious and suggestive mutual illustration, accordingly, is to be obtained by a comparison between the aspect of a man of rank of this century in his armour, and same person when in his customary attire. In the time of the first of the Tudor princes men wore two distinct varieties of dress. The one was a long and losse gown, having wide open sleeves, girt about the waist with a belt or scarf, above which it was open, its broad collar falling back over the shoulders ; thus an under-tunic or vest was displayed, that in its turn allowed the shirt to be visible both at the throat and the wrists ; the hose were tight, and the shoes very broad at the toes. The other form of dress consisted of a short tunic or west, tight and close-fitting as the hose, worn under an open doublet with long sleeves made throughout very large and loose ; and hats, low in the crown and broad in the brim and having plumes of feathers, were either worn on the head over a small and closely-fitting cap or coif, or they were carried, hanging from over one of the shoulders down the back. The angular cap represented in the royal effigy also was constantly worn, and the cap (fig. 41) with the cluster of bows and the long pendant sash continued in use. Under Henry VIII., in men’s attire, from k midway between the knee and the hip, or from the knee itself, downward to the wide and easy shoes, all was tight, while about the upper part of the lower limbs and the body all was loose, capacious, and broad, the entire costume at the same time being distinguished by decided stiffness and formality. At the line of junction between the tight and the loose portions of the dress, the trunk hose, at the time in question universally worn, were gathered in closely either at the middle of the thigh or at the knee, and then they were widely puffed out as they rose to meet the jerkin or jacket, which was open in front and reached only to the hips. These jerkins sometimes were closed at the throat, when a small falling white collar or band was worn ; or the jerkin was spread open to display a sleeveless vest, and an embroidered shirt having large sleeves and small ruffles at the wrists. The doublets, or coats, worn the other garments were very short and very full, an especial object to give to the figure, and particularly about the shoulders, the appearance of as much breadth and squareness as possible. A cloack, as short as the doublet, was suspended from the shoulders, rather for display than for use ; the head covering was a round cap, low and flat, adorned with a jewel and a single small waving feather ; and, attached to the belt, with a gypcière or purse, a dagger was carried horizontally in front of the wearer. The sword, when worn, was a rapier. It was at this period a peculiar and universally prevalent fashion, varying in degrees of eccentricity and extravangance, to slash the garments, so as either simply to show glimpses of some under-dress, or to have some different material of another colour drawn out in puffs through the slashes. This slashing and puffing was extended even to the broad shoes, the tight hose alone being exempted. Besides being frequently slashed and striped, the trunk hose were habitually made with a succession of alternate gatherings-in and puffings-out. All this display, made regardless of true taste and solely in order to accomplish as much of display as possible, naturally was attended with a prevalent indulgence in the use of rich and costly fabrics and splendid decorations. Of King Henry himself it is recorded, at his famous meeting with Francis I. in 1540, that he was appareled in "a garment of cloth-of-silver damask, ribbed with cloth-of-gold, as thick as might be ; the garment was large and plaited very thick, of such shape and make as was marvelous to behold." The French king was attired in a splendour quite equal to that of his royal English guest ; and the nobles and courtiers of both countries took care to emulate their sovereigns in their attire, and in wearing several gorgeous costume, all of them in the same style of fashion, every day. The costume of Henry II., of France, represented in the woodcut , fig. 43, from the original portrait by Clonet, is a characteristic example of the fashion prevalent in the middle of the 16th century, and it also shows how close was the resemblance between the fashions of male dress at that time in France and England. The costume of the middle and the humbler classes at this era, as naturally would be expected, bore a decided general resemblance to the more elaborate and costly attire of the dignified and wealthy of their contemporaries. They wore the same short close jerkin, the short doublet often with lappet sleeves, the short cloak, the flat round cap plainly made from simple materials, and the tight leggings and broad shoes with the puffed upper hose. Or, instead of the short cloak, they wore a long gown, furred, and with hanging sleeves, sometimes period midway for the arms to pass through ; a coif tied under the chin also was commonly worn under the flat cap. The doublets of the men of the Elizabeth portion so as to fit the body tightly, were carried down in front to a prolonged peack, and so they closely resembled both the stomachers of the ladies and the breastplates of the military. The fashion of these grotesque doublets, apparently originally Ventian, traveled to England by way of France. The hose, if of the English "trunk" type, were puffed out immediately from the middle of the thigh, where they met the tight leggings or stockings that were carried up beneath them, as in fig. 44 ; but the French and Venetian hose, also in fashion in England, swelled out gradually from the knee, and the stockings sometimes were drawn over them. This dresses constantly were puffed and slashed, padded and banded throughout, one long slash being carried down the entire, length of each sleeve of the doublet. The contemporary portrait of the French king, Henry III., about 1575, from which the woodcut (fig. 45) has been drawn, shows very distinctly the tapering French hose and the long peaked doublet, with the treatment of those garments characteristic of that period. Very large circular ruffs, in their form and adjustment differing little, if at all, from those worn by the other sex, formed essential features of the male attire in the reign of Elizabeth, when very short cloaks also continued to be worn. At the same period, long gowns guarded with fur, having open collars falling back, and their sleeves comparatively tight and having puffs at the shoulders, were in common use, as were caps and hats greatly varying in form, colour, material, and adornment. It must be added, that amidst all this extravagance and eccentricity of attire, there also existed a taste for simplifying the fashions of the time so as to render them at least comparative graceful and becoming. In connection also with the costume of the 16th century, it will be kept in remembrance, as one of the most decided innovations ever introduced into male dress, that two distinct coverings were given to the lower limbs when the hose were worn in part tight and plain, and partly puffed out, slashed, and embroidered. The term "hose" then was applied, by way of distinction, to the upper portion, while to the lower the name of "stocking" was assigned. Towards the close of the century the hose of that period also became "breeches ;" and so, in process of time, the old and long-used word "hose" came to be retained only as an equivalent for "stockings." Early in the 16th century noble ladies and gentlewomen introduced into male dress, that distinct covering were given to the lower limbs when the hose were worn in part tight and plain, and partly puffed out, slashed, and embroidered. The term "hose" then was applied, by way of distinction, to the upper portion, while to the lower the name of "stocking" was assigned. Towards the close of the century the hose of that period of also became "breeches ;’ and so, in process of time, the old and long-used "hose" came to be retained only as an equivalent for "stockings." Early in the 16th century noble ladies and gentlemen introduced various modifications of the universal angular head-dress. Their dresses, fitting closely about the figure, with long skirts open in front to display the under-dress, made low and cut square about the neck ;their sleeves, tight at the shoulder, suddenly became very large and open, disclosing the puffed sleeves of the under-dress ; sometimes, however, these dresses were worn high, with short waists, and a small falling collar. Necklaces and numerous other ornaments of jewellery were in general use ; chains also, with objects from the universal girdles, or the girdles themselves had one long pendant end that was elaborately enriched. By country ladies and pendant end that was elaborately enriched. By country ladies and by the wives and daughters of citizens a similar style of dress, somewhat simplified, was generally adopted. Somewhat later, the sleeves of dresses above the girdle a "partlet, or kind of habit-shirt, was worn beneath them and carried up to the throat ; the contour, was until small and made to fit almost closely to the head. At this same time, the general resemblances which all along may be traced between the dresses of the two sexes became universally decided. After the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, the wellknown costume, associated with herself from about the middle till the close of her reign, gradually established. Of the long, peaked, and tight stomachers of the ladies, and of the padded and quilted doublets of the men, it might be said equal truth that each garment was a parody of the other. Ruffs, often of exaggerated amplitude and of a painfully severe stiffness, were worn by both sexes ; sometimes open in and raising like an expanded fan around the throat and head, more generally they completely encircled the throat, and rested, nearly angles to it, on the shoulders. In their puffings and slashing the sleeves of the dresses of both sexes were alike ; nor was almost a corresponding resemblance wanting between the trunk hose and the "petticoat-breeches" of one sex, and the skirts of the kirtles and gowns and the veritable petticoats that were made to expand by enormous wheel-like "farthingales," as in fig. 46, from the hips of the other sex. Ornaments of every kind abounded. The richest and most showy fabrics in endless variety were in great request, and were worn with abundance of lace, feathers, and embroidery. The monumental effigy of Elizabeth herself, the last memorial of its class commemorative of an English sovereign, represents the queen as attired at all points in the characteristic fashion, by herself set to her time, and identified with her name ; and the sister effigy of Queen Mary Stuart, like that of Elizabeth, the work of James, I. and in West minster Abbey, gives another, but a somewhat simpler and a much more graceful, example of the same costume—the queen of Scots wearing the cap that bears her name. As at other periods, the general female costume in the Elizabethan era was a modification of the dress of the court, the circumstances and position of different classes and individuals determining the degree of resemblance.

In taking a retrospective glance at the numerous changes in costume which had taken place from ancient times to the 16th century M. Lacroix remarks that "among European nations during the Middle Ages we find there to have been but one common standard of fashion, which varied from time to time according to the particular customs of each country, and in accordance also with the peculiarities of each race. In Italy, fro example, dress always maintained a certain character of grandeur, ever recalling the fact that the influenced of antiquity had not been altogether lost. In Germany and Switzerland garments still more so. England uniformity studied a kind of instinctive elegance and propriety. It is a curious fact that Spain invariably partook of the heaviness peculiar to Germany, either because the Gothic element still prevailed there, or that that Walloon fashions had an especial attraction to her, owing to associations and general usage. France was then, as she is now, fickle and capricious, fantastical and wavering, not indeed indifference, but because she always was ready to borrow from every quarter anything that pleased her. She, however, never failed to place her own stamp upon whatever she adopted, so making any fashion essentially French, even though she had only just borrowed it from Spain, England, Germany, or Italy. In all these countries we have seen, and still see, entire provinces adhering to some ancient custom, causing them to differ altogether in character from the rest of the nation. This is simply owing to the fact of the fashions having become obsolete in the neigbhouring places ; for every local costume faithfully and rigorously preserved in any community at a distance from the centre of political action or government, must originally have been brought these by the nobles of the country. Thus, the head-dress of Anne of Brittany (1498 –1514)0 is still that of the peasant-women of the Penhoet and Labrevack ; and the tall conical ‘hennin’ (fig. 39) of Isabel of Bavaria (1400) is still the head-dress of Normandy. With the view "briefly to indicate the last connecting link between modern fashions and those of former periods," the same writer proceeds to point how, "under Fracis I. (1515–1547), the costumes adopted from Italy became almost stationary. Under Henry II. (1547 –1559), and especially after the death of that prince, the taste for frivolities made immense progress, and the style of dress in ordinary use second day by day to lose the few traces of dignity which it previously had possessed. The fashion of ruffs had been introduced into France by Catherine de’ Medici (1560) ; and at the beginning of the 17th century that of small collars. Dresses, tight at the waist, began to be made very full round the hips by means of large padded rolls ; and these were still more enlarged by a monstrous arrangement of padded whalebone, and steel, which subsequently became the ridiculous ‘paniers’ that were worn almost down to the present century. Under the last of the Valois (1500) men’s dress was short, the jacket or jerkin was pointed and trimmed round with small peaks ; the velvet cap was trimmed with aigrettes ; the beard was pointed ; a pearl hung from the left ear ;’ and a small cloak or mantle, which reached only to the waist, was carried on the shoulder. The use of gloves made of scented leather became universal. Ladies wore their dresses long, very full, and of costly materials, little or no change in these respects having taken place during the reign of Henry IV. (1589–1610). At this period the men’s high hose were made longer and fuller, especially in Spain and the Low Countries, and the fashion of large soft boots, made of doeskin or of black morocco, became universal. For a long time, even in the towns, the costume of the bourgeois was almost unchanged. Never having adopted either the tight-fitting hose or the balloon breeches, they wore an easy jerkin, a large cloak, and a felt hat, which the English made conical and with a broad brim. Towards the beginning of the 17th century, the hose, which were worn by the northern nations profusely trimmed, were transformed into the ‘culottes,’ which were full and open at the knees. A division thus was suddenly made between the lower and the upper parts of the hose, as if the garment which covered the lower limbs had been cut in two, and then garters were necessarily adopted. Almost throughout Europe, the felt hat become a cap taking the exact form the head, and having a wide and flat brim turned up one on one side. To boots and shoes high heels were added, in place of those soles. Two centuries later a terrible social agitation took place in Europe, after which male attire became plain, ungraceful, mean, and more paltry than ever ; whereas female dress, the fashions of which were perpetually changing, became graceful and elegant, though often approaching the extravagant and absurd."

Century XVII.—During the reign of the first Stuart sovereign of Great Britain the fashions of dress, which under his Tudor predecessor had culminated without undergoing any changes sufficiently marked to give to time a fresh character, attained to even an extravagance. Notwithstanding the absence of any effigy of him, we are familiar with the personal appearance and costume of James I. and V., and in his costume we posses a true type of the dress prevalent during his reign. The long-waisted, peaked, and close-fitting slashed doublets of the days of Elizabeth, still longer in the waist, more acutely peaked, and as far as was possible more closely fitting than ever, habitually were kept in shape by means of stays worn under them. The trunk-hose mercilessly slashed, became larger than before, padded garments being specially congenial to the disposition and temperament of the king ; and, having attained to a balloon shape, they tapered down to the knees of the wearer, where they were secured by sashes tied in bows at the side. Cloaks and ruffs remained unchanged. Hats came into fashion that were tall in the crown, slightly conical in shape, with a narrow brim turned up on one side, and adorned with a jewel and a single feather, or with a rich band and a plume. Large rosettes were worn on the shoes, which retained their broad shape, and often had high red heels. Rapiers, worn without any belt crossing the person, were narrow and very long in the blade. In like manner, the female dresses underwent but little change, except in having their work features and especially heir farthingales, with the lavish profusion of their tasteless adornment, intensified. It was at this time, however, that the custom of painting the face began to prevail ; and while ruffs or bands of immoderate size stretched forth from the ladies’ necks, they wore the front of their dresses cut away immediately beneath them in a manner that exposed the bosom in defiance of all modesty. Less fashioned ladies, between 1615 and 1625, discarded the tight and pointed stomacher and farthingale, and wore over an easy jerkin and ample petticoat, a loose gown open in front, made high to meet the ruff, and with long hanging sleeves through which the tight sleeves of the jerkin were displayed ; or they followed the fashion of their time, modified and without its more salient absurdities. The same may be said of the men who was content in some degree to follow the fashion, while altogether repudiating being leaders of it. With the costume of the reign of Charles I., on the whole more sober, and in more than a few respects really elegant, Vandyck has made the world happily familiar. At first the ruffs were retained, their size only having been diminished ; but all traces both of the angular head-dress and of the Mary Stuart cap, and with them of the farthingale, disappeared ; and after a while the ruffs followed then. The ladies wore the very full sleeves of their dresses tied in at the elbows as well as gathered in at the wrists ; their bodies, tightly fitting, sometimes were long and pointed, and at other times not longer than the natural waist ; the long petticoat of some rich material was displayed beneath a loose and open robe or gown, that was gathered up and had short loose sleeves with deep white cuffs, and a deep falling collar or "band" was fastened closely at their throat ; or they wore large kerchiefs over their bodies, and gowns having flowing skirts and comparatively tight sleeves. Coverchefs or hoods also were worn, from which descended long veils, often of such ample proportions as to resemble mantles. Patches at this time began to make their appearance ; and notwithstanding their intrinsic absurdity and their strange faculty for disfigurement, they continued in fashion throughout the century. Men’s doublets or coats, the true prototypes of the frock-coat of the present day, having full sleeves made tight at the wrists, were rather longer and worn buttoned from the waist (where they showed t he shirt) upwards to the falling white band ; plain white cuffs, sometimes superseded by others, of lace, were also worn. The trunk-hose became loose breeches of uniform width and open at the knees, where they were fringed or had a border of lace, and were fastened with sash-like garters ; the stockings were tight ; the shoes had large roses ; and the felt hat was large roses ; and the felt hat was large and with in the brim. By the men of fashion this costume, in itself really worthy of decided commendation, was easily made to assume a fantastic aspect, by the adoption of rich and variously coloured a fantastic aspect, by the adoption of rich and variously coloured fabrics and the addition of lace, bunches, of ribbon, feathers, embroidery, and gold lace, and numerous "points" or laces to fasten the breeches to the stockings, with boots long in the foot, and having tops of enormous width that were tuned down and lined with lace. These gentlemen, who delighted in having long hair, also wore or more frequently carried on their left arm a short cloak ; and they were provided with basket-hilted rapiers having blades of great length. Besides rejecting all bright colours, and every kind of ornamental accessory, a very different class of their contemporaries reduced this same costume to its simplest possible conditions, thus contrasting one extreme with another most opposed to it. These men, who to their men, who to their closely cropped hair owed their famous designation as "Roundheads," with their somber and plain garments wore their felt hats of excessive height, with a great breadth of brim, and perfect plain. The buff-coats, adopted at this period as parts of the military uniform, conformed in their general character to the doublets worn as ordinary dress. While retaining the characteristic features of the fashions of their times, the dresses of the female members of the "Roundhead" section of the English community were made with the plainest— a simplicity, however, which the taste and ingenuity of the wearers rarely failed to render graceful and becoming. On his restoration, Charles II. brought with him to England the fashions of dress with which he had been familiar in France ; and they suited well both his own character and that irresistible and widespread reaction from the stern and yet manly gloom of the Protectorate that burst out into a frenzy of national recklessness. Shortly after the kings’ return, indeed, and fro some little time after the re-establishment of the monarchy, in the families of graver citizens a quiet style of dress, not unlike what had been prevalent for-several years, continued in use by both sexes. Men wore plain doublets of moderate length, full breeches slightly ornamented at the knees, large bands, shoes tied over the instep in bows of moderate size, and loose cloaks having long open sleeves ; pointed beards and moustaches continued to be worn also, and under their felt hats the men retained the coifs of past times, or they covered head with coifs or caps only. Plain and in the body fitting, the ample skirts of the ladies’ dresses, open in front to display an equally unpretending under-dress, occasionally were partly covered by a no less plain apron ; their bands of collars, fastened in front with formal bows, were very large and generally quite plain ; and their close hoods they wore tied under the chin, beneath flowing veils or mantles. The very different style of costume which Charles himself had learned to wear at the court of Louis XII. Of France, and which he speedily taught his own subjects to assume, consisted of a comparatively long and loose doublet richly laced and embroidered, having large and puffed out sleeves turned back a little elbow, leaving the lower arm to be covered by the full sleeves of the shirt with their lace ruffles at the wrists. Under this doublet was a vest, sleeveless but other at the wrists. Under this doublet was a vest, sleeveless but otherwise resembling it, which was left open at the waist; in their turn, from beneath the vest the breeches displayed their expanded width their ornamental bunches of ribbon above the knees and lace ruffles below them. A falling band of their richest lace enveloped the throat, and was loosely tied with an equally rich scarf of which the ends hung down over the vest ; an enormous periwig superseded the natural hair, its curls falling in abundance over the shoulders, the beard being close shaven and only a slight moustache permitted to remain. The hat, broad-brimmed and having its brim on one side slightly turned up, was adorned with a rich band and a profusion of drooping feathers ; the stockings were tight to the leg, and the shoes, made very high over the instep, were tied with immense bows that extended horizontally on either side of the foot ; and a short cloak, no less splendid in both material and enrichment than the other portions of this gorgeous attire, either was suspended from the left shoulder or carried on the left arm. The sword, a rapier long and narrow in the blade, was suspended from a very broad and elaborately enriched belt crossing the person over the right shoulder. It will be understood that in the production of this costume the richest and most showy fabrics were employed ; also that the men delighted in exhibiting in their dress every variety as well of colour and tint as of material, white, black, scarlet, and different shades of brown being in especial favour, with trimmings of gold and silver lace, buttons and twist, and ribbons of all breadths and every hue. The accompanying woodcut, drawn from an original contemporary authority (fig. 47), gives a correct general idea of the costume of the period of Charles II. In the autumn of 1666, as we learn from the ever-observant Pepys, the king in council declared his purpose to set a more sober and less costly fashion for dress, which he declared that he would not alter. Accordingly, under his doublet Charles appeared in a "vest," "being a long cassock," as Pepys explains, "close to the body, of black cloth and pinked with white silk under it ; and a coat, or doublet, over it ; and the legs ruffled with white ribbon, like a pigeon’s leg : and upon the whole," adds the diarist, "I wish the king may keep it, for it is a very fine and handsome garment." The king kept it so far as afterwards it pleased him, and no further. This vast, or waistcoat, has undergone many changes, indeed, but it never has fallen into disuse since that 15th day of October 1666. In 1680 both vest and doublet became considerably longer, the latter reaching quite to the knees, and the former being but little shorter. The doublet was worn open, a sash about the waist confining the vest. The brims of the hats at the same time became narrower, and bows or ribbon often were worn in place of feathers. The baudrick, or diagonal sword-belt, worn, over the doublet was very broad, and allowed the hilt of the rapier to hang considerably below the left hip. About this time also, when jack-boots resembling those that had formed a part of the military appointments of the troopers in the civil was came into fashion, the sleeves of doublets in the civil war came into fashion, the sleeves of doublets were lengthened, and made with very broad cuffs which doubled back from the wrists. In the short reign of James II. (1685 –1688), when the maustache disappeared, doublets and vests still further increased in length, and the cuffs of the doublet-sleeves became extravagantly large ; more prominence was given to the lace cravats, which were worn loosely about the throat and with their ends hanging down over the upper part of the vest ; the breeches and stockings remained without any change of form or adjustment ; half-boots were worn, and buckles began at times to supersede roses and bows upon shoes ; and at this time the sword was occasionally carried thrust through the lower part of the doublet, and almost in a horizontal position. The costume of the ladies of the Charles II. era, represented with such grace and effectiveness in Lely’s pictures, Planchè, thus describes : "A studied of negligence, an elegant dishabille, is the prevailing character of the costume in which they are nearly all represented ; their glossy ringlets escaping from a bandeau of pearls, unveiled by even the transparent lawn of the band or of the partlet ; and there fair round arm reclines upon the voluptuous satin petticoat, while the gown of same rich materials piles up its voluminous train in the background." During the early part of the reign, however, much of the Puritan formality of then recent times lingered in female dress, as it did also in the attire of the male portion of the commonalty. Tightly laced bodied at no time lost favour with females of all ranks and classes. Hoods were worn, but generally only for protection from the weather, the prevailing usage being for females to wear their own hair in natural flowing over their shoulders, and with small curls over their foreheads ; hair, indeed, was sometimes but only sometimes worn, in an extravagant fashion. The custom of painting and placing patches on the face became more common at the second half of the century advanced ; and the immodest practice of exposing the bosom then attained to the extreme of indelicacy. As might have been expected at that era, the seldom dormant aim of the one sex to imitate the costume of the other was in full activity ; thus, Pepys says,—"Walking in the gallery at Whitehall (June 1, 1664), I find the ladies of honour dressed in their riding garbs, with coats and doublets with deep skirts, just for all the world like mine, and their doublets buttoned up the breast, with periwigs and with hats ; so that only for a long petticoat dragging their men’s coats nobody would take them from women in any point whatever ; which was an old sight, and a sight that did not please me." Somewhat later, a similar "odd sight" excited a corresponding feeling, the disapproval being blended with perplexed surprise, in the mind of Sir Roger de Coverley (Spectator, June 2, 1711). Whether worn by men or women, the ordinary dresses of the commonality in their riding garbs, with coats and doublets with deep skirts, just for all the world like mine, and their doublets buttoned up the breast, with periwigs and with hats; sot that only for a long petticoat dragging under their men’s coats, nobody would take them for women in any point whatever ; which was an sight, and a sight that did not please me." Somewhat later, a similar "odd sight" excited a corresponding feeling, the disapproval being blended with perplexed surprise, in the mind of Sir Roger de Coverley (Spectator, June 2, 1711). Whether worn by men or women in the ordinary dresses of the commonalty in their general character resembled those of the noble and wealthy, but were much simpler in both style and materials.

Accompanied by no other decided or marked innovation than the introduction of tight knee-breeches, which during the following century were worn by all classes, and still form no unimportant part of English costume, the reign of William III. witnessed such modifications in the costume of the two preceding centuries as tended to make it more formal and appropriate, while at the same time leading the way to the tasteless frivolities and excesses of the next succeeding century. The doublets or coats of the gentlemen, their favourite colour some tint of claret when not scarlet of black, were longer, made to fit stiffly to the body, and laced and embroidered a long the edges and seams around the pocket-holes or the large flaps of the pockets in their skirts ; and their comparatively tight sleeves had enormous cuffs that were laced and adorned with buttons ; large shoulder-knots of ribbon were also worn. The vests, retaining their length, were left unbuttoned below the waist. Sashes occasionally were worn, and sometimes over the doublet. The breeches were made to fit tolerably closely to the limbs, and were quite tight at the knees, where the tightly-fitting stockings, if not gartered, were drawn over them in a roll. The shoes, very high in the heel and fastened with buckles, had flaps with covered the instep and rose in front of the legs for 3 or 4 inches. The full shirt-sleeves with their lace ruffles were shown at the wrists ; the loose neckcloth, had long pendant ends terminating in lace, if it was not entirely made of that material. The periwig, if possible more voluminous than ever, was abundantly powdered. The hat, sometimes triangular in form and with a narrow tuned-up brim, was low in the crown, edged with gold-lace, and covered with feathers ; or, being wide-brimmed, its brim was slightly turned up at the sides, when it was adorned only with a laced band and a small tuft or ribbons or feathers. The cloak, when in use, was rather longer than the doublet. In winter, the men kept their hands warm in small muffs that were suspended from ribbons about their necks ; and for summer wear they had gloves edges with lace. When not attached to a broad and elaborately enriched belt crossing the right shoulder over the doublet, the rapier was carried thrust through the left pocket-hole of the doublet itself, the weapon being to form an acute angle at the back of the wearer. A costume such as this, as a matter of course, would be subjected to various modifications, and would constantly be simplified in many particulars without any essential departure from the actual type. The accompanying figure (fig. 48), drawn from a contemporary French engraving which represents an assemblage of most illustrious personages in France in the year 1696, when compared with the numerous effigies and other portraits of the same era in this country, shows the typical dress to have been identical in its essentials, and characteristic on both sides of the Channel at the close of the 17th century. Further comparison, extending its range over the greater number of the countries of Europe, would serve to demonstrate the comprehensive prevalence of this same typical dress, and at this same time to assign its various sub-ordinance local modifications to the varying influences of climate and of character. In the female dress of this period, as it is exemplified in portraits of ladies of rank and fashion, stiffness and a formality of aspect were strangely blended with eccentricity and frivolous display. Bodices, very long in the waist and rather obtusely pointed both behind and before, were very tightly laced over rigid corsets ; rich petticoats or under-dresses, partly covered with equally rich small aprons, were displayed from under full and flowing dresses that were gathered up in masses at the back of the wearer, or were drawn back and made to trail along on the ground behind her. At first very short and wide and edged with lace, from within which the delicate sleeves of the undergarment issued forth, the sleeves of the gowns after a while became tight and were prolonged to the wrists where they terminated in a deep and wide upturned cuffs whence dropped a profusion of the lace lappets or ruffles. Furbelows were introduced and worn in profusion upon dressed of every kind. Including scarves and cloaks ; and the fashion for adopting doublets and vests, with neckcloths, resembling those worn by men was prevalent in riding and walking costume. Heavy head-dresses also succeeded to the flowing ringlets and to the natural gracefulness of the coiffure of the era of Charles II. The hair, combed up and with an inclination backwards from the forehead, was surmounted by strata of ribbon and lace, sometimes intermingled with feathers, and a kerchief or scarf of some very light material thrown over all was permitted to hang down to the waist over an below it. Structures so produced assumed various forms, some of them being made to project while others either rose vertically or expanded in horizontal direction, height, however, being the special aim : but in every case the result was the reverse of graceful or becoming. Hats, low in the crown and with wide brims, were worn over hoods when cold or when protection from wet required their adoption.



MODERN COSTUME.

Century XVIII.—The 17th century having been treated as a period of transition in the matter of costume between the Middle Ages and modern times, the era of modern costume may be defined to commence with the 18th century –that is, fourteen years before the accession of the sovereigns of the house of Hanover to the crown of Great Britain. Until the course of this century it fell into general disuse for regular military service, defensive armour must be considered to have maintained a claim to have been regarded, under certain conditions and to a certain extent, as identified with the dress of an important and influential section of the community ; that claim, how ever, which lingered so long and with such tenacity, altogether caused to exist shortly after the commencement of the era of modern costume. For a considerable time, indeed almost till the middle of the century, costume must be considered to have been modified rather than subjected to decided innovation. Men’s dress remained the same in its general character, but became improved from being simplified and from having its decoration toned down. Planché says:—"Square-cut coats and long-flapped waist-coats with pockets in them, the latter meeting the stockings, still drawn up over the knee so high as entirely to conceal the breeches (then made to fit with comparative tightness to the limbs), but gartered below it ; large hanging cuffs and lacer ruffles ; the skirts of the coat stiffened out with wire or buckram, from between which peeped the hilt of the sword, deprived of the broad and splendid belt in which it swung in preceding reigns ; blue or scarlet silk stockings with gold or silver clocks ; lace neckcloths, ; square-toed short-quartered shoes, with high red heels and small buckles ; very long and formally curled perukes, black riding wigs, bag-wigs and nightcap wigs ; small three-cornered hats laced with gold or silver galloon, and sometimes trimmed with feathers,—composed the habit of the noblemen and gentlemen during the reign of Queen Anne and George I." To this habit, the dress of the commonalty, according to custom, conformed in all characteristic essentials. Meanwhile, when they did not wear such head-dresses as were very long, the ladies continued to elevate their strange and uncouth head-gear. About 1710, as if resolved that their figures should rival their heads in extravagance, they introduced the hoped petticoat, at first worn in such a manner as to give to the person of the wearer below her very tightly laced waist a contour resembling the letter V inverted—A. The hoped dressed, thus introduced, about 1740 attained to an enormous expansion ; and, being worn at their full circumference immediately below the waist, they in many ways emulated the most outrageous of the farthingles of the Elizabeth age. Some of few years also before the middle of this century the "saque" made its appearance ; it was a loose gown, open in front, which was worn hanging from the shoulder quite free of the person of the wearer, and was gathered up over the hoop when not permitted to trail along on the ground ; in this unsightly garment any approach to "fit " was necessarily out of the question. At the same period, the men began to lay aside more of their lace and the other ornamental accessories of their garments ; their coats became longer, and their waistcoats somewhat shorter ; the cuffs of their collarless coats increased in size until they reached their elbows ; their stockings, when still drawn over their breeches above the knee, were so adjusted as to permit their breeches to be seen, but the breeches began to be made to fasten over the stocking, with buttons and buckles below the knee ; their wigs ceased to curl over their shoulder, and pigtails came into fashion. The costume of this era has been immortalized by Hogarth. During the forty years of this century that George III. was king the fashion of dress passed through a remarkable variety of changes, each change contributing its own full share to the aggregate of extravagance and absurdity that was surpassed at no earlier period. About 1760 a passion for adorning the dress of both sexes began to revive ; and it soon exercised its influenced, reckless of all true taste with unsparing energy—the head-dresses of the ladies, which about 1780 attained to the culminating degree of extravagant. Unsightliness, being its specially favoured field for operations. Fig. 49, faithfully reproduced from contemporary engraving, shows under one of its least extravagant and tasteless forms a fashionable head-dress of the period in question. As a matter of course, in the construction of every variety of head-gear such as this, which in every instance necessarily obliterated all traced of the true form of the head and destroyed all proportion in the entire figure, false hair was used in abundance with a profusion of objects of a so-called decorative order. Until about 1785 the type of men’s dress remained established without any essential change : the coat was made to fall back more than had been the usage a few year earlier, the object being to display more effectively the long-flapped waistcoat with the pockets in its laced flaps ; the stockings always were gathered up below the knee under the breeches, with were fastened by buckles ; the heels of shoes were lowered, and the buckles worn in them were comparatively small ; cocked-hats were worn, with laced ruffles and cravats, and bag-wigs, which generally were powdered ; and a broad black ribbon, called a "solitaire," was place about the throat and fastened behind. This costume about 1785 gave way to the dress that in France was developed with the advance of the Revolution. Men’s coats became very long, and sloped off from the waist, where they were buttoned, both upwards and downwards ; their sleeves were moderately tight with small close-fitting cuffs, and their collars either were high and doubled back stiffly, or made to spread upon the shoulders ; the flaps of their pockets were placed at the back and close together ; and all puffing and lace and embroidery were laid aside. The flaps of waistcoats, if retained at all, were short, and the garment itself was made open at the throat, the frill of the shirt appearing from under it. The breeches, fitting very tightly, either were cut short at the knee, or carried a few inches below it and there buttoned and tied with strings, knee-buckles except for court-dresses having gone out of fashion ; the tight breeches also at this same time frequently were prolonged as pantaloons to the middle of the calf of the leg, where they were meet by half top-boots. A rather large cravat was tied loosely in bows about the throat ; the hair, worn long generally, was powdered and tied in a queue ; and the hats, round in form, were either of moderate height in the crown, or tall and conical, and their nearly flat round brim was either narrow or moderately broad. The ladies delighted in tight bodices, furbelowed dressed, gorgeous petticoats, worn over hoops varying in size, and saques, which in reality were the mantles of early times revived, without a revival of their grace and elegance. About 1770, the sleeves of the ladies’ dresses were tight on the upper arm, where they suddenly became very large, and, dropping at the elbows, they terminated in rich fringes of lace ruffles ; a few years later the sleeves expanded from the shoulder, till they became a succession before 1780, they became tight throughout, with small cuffs and no lace at elbows, when they were worn with long gloves. Influenced, doubtless, by the great portrait painters of that time, about 1785 the female head-dresses gradually subsided, and their worst features for the most part disappeared. Hats having an immense expanse of brim grew into favour, and the natural hair was permitted to fall over the shoulder in ringlets. Small hoops on worn in 1788, with a dress open in front and trailing on the ground behind, their sleeves tight and frilled at the elbows. This dress often was worn with a tight and very low bodice, a white kerchief being gathered closely about the throat, and while entirely enveloping the bust, being puffed one from beneath puffed out from beneath the chin so as to resemble the breast of a pigeon. Round straw hats, with drooping edge-frills, bows of ribbon, feather, and high crowns, completed this costume. Then in about five years came the era of short waists, that might be distinguished a the waistless era, when ladies’ dresses, no longer distended by hoops, fell in straight loose folds to their feet. About 1795 open dresses were discarded ; the saques ceased to be ; waists became longer, and when the present century dawned they regained their natural position and form. At this time bonnets were worn that incased the wearer’s head, or were flat and projecting. They also were adorned with a taste that was comparatively simply and becoming; and, at the same time, the hair, free from powder, was dressed in curls about the face and neck. While thus in ordinary life costume at the close of the 18the century became approximately what might be desired, court-dress still exhibited the extravagancies that under other conditions had happily become obsolete, the hoop with all its really offensive mass of so-called decorative allies retaining their ground in defiance of all opposition, until the chief offender and its worst associates were banished by royal command when George IV. had become king.

BARONIAL.

The peer of the United Kingdom, on occasions of state and ceremony, over their habitual dress wear robes or scarlet cloth, made long and of ample dimensions, which are adjusted on the right shoulder and are guarded with bands or rows of ermine, the robes of the different orders and ranks, of the peerage being distinguished as follows:—Barons, who now form the lowest order to British peers, on their scarlet robes have two bands or ermine ; viscounts, whose order intervenes between the barons and the earls, have two and a half bands of ermine ; the robes of earls have three bands ; those of marquises have three and a half rows ;and upon the robes of dukes, whose order is the highest, ermine is in four rows.

For notices of the costume and insignia of members of orders of knighthood, see HERALDRY.



JUDICIAL AND FORENSIC.

So long as the highest offices in the law were held, in accordance with mediaeval usage, by dignified ecclesiastics, those eminent personages were represented in their monumental effigies, not as wearing judicial or other legal dress and robes, but as habited in the official vestments of their rank as churchmen ; and that this practice continued in force down to the time of the Reformation is shown in the brass in Ely Cathedral to Thomas Good-rich bishop of that see, who also was lord high chancellor of England. Monumental effigies of judges, however, and of other personages of note in the law, occasionally occur from the middle of the 14th century downwards, which give ; information as to the form and adjustment of legal robes that doubtlets is authentic, and therefore valuable ; but these authorities do not extend to any indications of colour. The actual dress of these legal personages evidently differed but little, if it differed at all, from the ordinary costume of their day ; but over their dress they wore a tippet, and a robe which with rare exceptions was fastened on the right shoulder, and their heads were covered with a close-fitting coif, in addition to which in it 15th and 16th centuries thee carried the hood with the long pendant scarf, so characteristic of those times, cast over one of their shoulders. It is probable, also, that the long and loose gown with wide sleeves in general use assumed at a comparatively early period the aspect of an official robe by being made of the same material and colour as the unquestionably official mantle. In the second half of the 15th century and in the century following, the gown worn by the judges when on the bench, and on all occasions of state and ceremony, certainly constituted parts of their official attire. Scarlet appears to have been the prevalent colour of judicial robes, with linings and trimmings of miniver—the white skin of the ermine—until the 17th century, when on certain occasions the judges wore robes of black or violet ; but robes and gowns of a yellowish hue, and distinguished as "mustard-coloured ," were also worn ; and there is a record of an issue of "liveries" of both cloth and silk with fur from the great wardrobe in the time of Edward III., to the justices, the colour of each fabric being green. Again, in similar allowance under Richard II. and Henry VI., "green" is a colour specially mentioned with "violet in grain," and fur of "miniver." In his fine sculptured effigy at Harwood in Yorkshire, Chief Justice Sir William Gascoigne (died in 1419) is represented having suspended from his girdle an anlace or short sword, with a gypière ; and the same appendages also appear in several brassed to judges. In four illuminations, which have been reproduced in fac-simile and published in the Archaeologia (xxxix. 358), in which are represented sitting of the king’s four superior courts in the time of Henry VI.—Chancery, King’s Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer—the robes and costume of the lord chancellor, judges, serjeant, barristers, and officers of the courts are shown with minute attention to both colour and details. The chancellor and one judge who sits beside him, and all the judges of the three other courts, are alike in being attired in ample robes of scarlet, lined and trimmed with white fur ; but the chancellor alone wears a scarlet robe which is not fastened on the shoulder and has openings pierced on each side to admit his arms passing through, so showing the sleeves of his under garment to be white ; he is further distinguished by having about his shoulder and over his robe a tippet of scarlet, lined and bordered with white fur ; the white lining of his hood, also, stands up about his neck like a collar, and on his head has a close-fitting brown cap. Under his scarlet robe, the judge sitting on the right of the chancellor, who holds in his hands a sealed document, is habited in gown of the same colour ; bare-headed and tonsured, he also has the white lining of his hood adjusted about his neck after the manner of a collar. To the right and left, two on each side, their seats on the same level with the two central scarlet-robed figures, four other personages, who may have been masters in Chancery, are seated, habited in flowing "mustard-colour" robes not adjusted on the shoulder, and having falling over their shoulder large hoods of the same colour lined with white ; they all are bare-headed, and three of their number certainly are tonsured. Five judges sit in the Court of King’s Bench, robed alike in scarlet gown, with tippets, and mantles worn over their tippets, and fastened on the right shoulder. All these robes are lined and bordered with white, and the mantles have scarlet hoods worn as collars closely encircling the throat. These five judges wear coifs, as do the seven judges, all of them robed exactly like their breathen of the King’s Bench, who preside in the Court of Common Pleas. Over the Court of Exchequer a baron presides, who is robed in the same manner as the judges of the two courts last named ; but he differs from them in wearing (doubtless over his coif, which is not shown) a large scarlet hood-like cap, of he fashion prevalent at this day. He sits with two other judges on each side of him, who wear "mustard-colour" robes while the two others, wearing coifs, hold similar caps in their hands ; all these caps are "mustard-colour."



At the table in each court stand serjeants, counsel, notaries, clerks, and officers of various ranks, all of them in their proper official costume. All of them bare-headed, some of these persons wear full-sleeved gowns reaching to their feet, of blue, green, or mustard-colour ; and their gowns, which have small black collars, are adjusted at the waist with narrow black girdles. Others, wearing similar girdles are, habited in gowns of the same fashion that are party-coloured, the division and junction of the two colours being vertical or per pale, and the colours being blue and green, blue or green and mustard-colour, green and murrey, and two tints of green. These gowns also are "rayed," or stripped, either diagonally or vertically, with yellow, white, or blue. The notaries carry at their girdles their inkhorn and penner. The serjeants alone, who appear in each one of the four pictures, are habited in long and flowing gowns, worn without any belt, all of themparty-coloured blue and green and rayed, with tippets and hoods of the same colours ; these learned gentlemen, also, have on their heads coifs similar to those worn by the judges (fig. 50). The use of party-coloured garments, undoubtedly of heraldic origin, by persons of various classes and ranks, has already been noticed. In the absence of any express record of the source whence certain officers of the law derived their party-coloured gowns, it has been considered probable that these were lively gowns, presented to serjeants and barristers by their clients of high rank, with their retaining fees. How ever this may be, it appears certain that their party-coloured robes were worn by serjeants long before the 15th century ; and, when given his view as to their significance, in the following passage from a charge delivered to certain serjeants then newly created, in the thirty-sixth year of Queen Elizabeth, the lord chief justice suggested these party-coloured robes having been worn by the judges:—

By the party-coloured garments," said that learned person-age "being both of deep colours, and such as the judges themselves in ancient times used (for so we receive it by tradition), is signified soundness and depth of judgment, an ability to discerne of causes, what colour soever be cast over them, and under or with what vail or shadow soever they be disguised." In the 15th century Sir John Fortescue said of a judge,—"Being a serjeant-at-law, he is clothed in a long priest-like robe, with a furred cape about his shoulders, and thereupon a hood with two labels (such as doctors of the law wear in certain universities with their coif) ; but, being made a justice, instead of his hood he must wear a cloak closed upon his right shoulder, all the other ornaments of a serjeant still remaining, saving that his vesture shall not be party-coloured as a serjeant’s may, and his cape furred with, miniver, whereas the serjeant’s cape is ever furred with white lambskin." Whatever at various periods may have been the usage with judges, the wearing of party-coloured robes by serjeants appears to have been discontinued about the commencement of the present century. In our own times, except on some special occasions when their robes are either purple or scarlet, serjeant wear a black silk gown, like that of queen’s counsel. The robes of the junior members of the bar, made of black stuff instead of silk, are further distinguished by certain peculiarities of form. Reminiscences of the coifs of earlier days, and of the caps with the pendants, still linger in the wigs worn by the entire learned brotherhood of the law, and in certain peculiar appendages attached to their robes. The large also, worn at the present day, may be considered to have had their prototypes in the labels already mentioned, which appear, dependent on his breast from his hood, in the brass to Thomas Rolf, barrister, 1440, at Gosfield, Essex. Fine and characteristic example of judicial costume are preserved in various monumental effigies, some sculptured and others engraved, which include in their number the memorials of Judge Thomas Owen, 1598, and Lord Chief Justice Sir Thomas Richardson, 1634, both in Westminster Abbey ; the effigy of Judge Richard Harper, temp. Mary, at Swarthstone, Derbyshire ; and the brasses, ranging in the date from 1400 to 1553, at Deerhusts, Watford, Gunby, Graveney, Latton, Dagenham, Cowthorpe, Norbury, Milton, and Narburgh. It may here be added that, in various representations of notaries of the 15th and 16thc centuries, they appear in the ordinary civilian attire of their period with a pen-case and inkhorn suspended from the girdle of their tunic ; there is a good example in a brass in the church of St Mary’s Tower, Ipswich ; while several of these personages are introduced into the illuminations representing the courts of law described above.



NAVAL AND MILITARY.

Any attempt to notice in detail the naval and military uniforms in use at successive periods even in England would far exceed our present limits. At the same time, it appears desirable here to observe that the very decided distinction between "uniform." And especially military uniform, and contemporary civil costume now obtaining is of comparatively recent date. Throughout the armour era such distinction can scarcely be said to have existed, nor were the distinction can scarcely be said to have existed, nor were the services afloat and on land distinguished by special and recognized peculiarities of dress. In the navy. The distinctive characteristic of uniform have become the cocked hat, epaulets of bullion, the crown –and –anchor button, and a by no means lavish application of gold-lace—the cloth, a dark blue with facings and lining of white, except during the reign of William IV., when the white was superseded by scarlet. Graduations of naval rank are indicated by the presence of a crown, a star or stars, and an anchor on the shoulder-strap of the epaulets, and by the size and comparative richness of the bullion ; also by the number and the breadth of distinct strips of gold-lace that encircle the cuffs of coats and jackets ; all executive officers being further distinguished by a coil of the gold-lace attached to the uppermost of the cuff-circles. From the time that the stout "buff-coat" of the era of the Common-wealth succeeded to what still lingered of the plate panoply and the mail of earlier times, the uniform of the British army, for a while in many essential features conforming to the prevailing characteristics of the general costume of the day, this undergone a succession of changes for the most part more remarkable for variety and often for caprice, than expressive either of true taste in the consistent adornment of a soldier’s person, or of considerate adjustment to the exigencies of military service, the exceptions being the judicious innovations happily introduced early in the present century by the duke of Wellington. Scarlet obtains as the distinctive national British military colour, certain arms of the service being attired in blue or dark green ; white the recent volunteer movement has brought with it a variety of uniforms expressly adapted for use by the reserved forces. For a comprehensive, accurate, and copiously illustrated sketch of British military costume, readers are referred to the History of the Dress of the British Soldier, by Captain John Luard.



HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

Without a rival in the picturesque individuality of its character, the national costume of the Highlands of Scotland is remarkable as well for the manner in which it has been made to distinguish the various clans or septs of the same race, as for a certain general uniformity that significantly intimates the brotherhood of the clans as alike sharing a single common nationality. It probably is due to its own distinctive peculiarities that the Scottish Highland dress should have been inherited and transmitted from generation almost without any change, and that at the present day it should be held in as high a degree of estimation as it ever enjoyed in past times. In early ages, having been influences in a certain degree by the general fashions of dress prevalent at successive periods, a comparatively slight use of defensive armour having also for a while been adopted as a military accessory, shortly after the commencement of the 17th century this costume may be considered to have assumed the character which since that time it has maintained, with scarcely any modification except in the style of the short time. Before the accession of James VI. Of Scotland to the throne of Great Britain, the tunic and the "philibeg," or kilt, formed a single garment, whereas apparently during the reign of the son of Queen Mary Stuart the kilt became a separate garment, to be adjusted about the waist, and reaching not quite to the knees after the manner of a short petticoat, at vest and tunic being separate garments also. Stockings, gartered below the knees, which thus would be left bare, with shoes, completed the equipment of the lower limbs. A cap or bonnet, without any peak, decorated with a spray of heather, was worn as a head covering, the bonnets of the chiefs being distinguished by the addition of eagles ‘feathers. In front of the person, and depending from a belt encircling the waist, was worn the "spleuchan," or pocket-purse, covered with fur ; and a "plaid," or scarf, of ample dimensions, generally adjusted across the person of the wearer, and having the ends hanging down from a brooch fastened on the left shoulder, as in fig. 52, completed the costume ; occasionally, however, the plaid was gathered up so as to admit more free movement in the manner represented in fig. 51.

The weapons were a broadword, or "claymore," having a straight blade and a basket-hilt, attached to a broad baudrick which passed over the right shoulder, and a dirk being also provided with a hunting-knife. Before the general use of firearms by the Highlanders, they carried for defence a circular target on the left arm. The two accompanying figures, which show the different modes of adjusting the plaid, are also examples, the one of the tartan in which green is the prevailing colour, narrow checks of red (fig. 51), a chief of the clan Mac Donell, and the other (fig. 52), a piper of the clan Gregarach, of a tartan which is red with narrow black checks. The colours, and the "set" or patterns of the checks, of the tartans of the different clans, the Royal Stuart being the richest of all, have been determined for a considerable time, the actual era of their original introduction not having been definitively determined. The costume of each clan is fully and faithfully represented in M’Ian’s volumes, referred to below.



BIBLIOGRAPHY.

To compensable in some degree for unavoidable conciseness, as much space as possible is here assigned to references to publications which comprehend within their range the consideration and illustration of minute details, and which also treat of costume under widely varying conditions and regarded from very different points of view. No attempt is made to give a list that is even approximately complete, but attention is directed to a selected series of works of a typical and authoritative character, in which is concentrated direct, specific, and suggestive information. In its historical aspect, the study of costume implies a systematic comparison of the costumes of different races and countries. Reference must also be made to those monumental works of art that have come down to our own times comparatively unmutilated, which are also of equal value as illustrations of armour. (See ARMS AND ARMOUR.)

EGYPTIAN.—The great and magnificent foreign works on the "monuments" of Egypt by Lepsius (Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopen, with 899 plates), Champollion, and Rosellini ; Egypt and Nubia, by David Roberts, R. A. In the two series of Sir G. Wilkinson’s Manner and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (6vols. With 600 illustrationst0 the subject is exhaustively treated ; see also the smaller work (2 vols. Copiously illustrated) by the same author. Equally excellent is the companion work, Lane’s Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, 5th edition, illustrated. See also the British Museum Photographs, part ii., 118 plates.

ASSYRIAN.—Layard’s Monument of Nineveh, two series ; and, by the same author, Nineveh and its Remains, and Nineveh and Babylon ; British Museum Photographs, part iii., 245 plates.

_____ and ROMAN.—The best illustrations are the British Museum Photographs, part iv. and v., 175 and 97 plates ; with other photographs of Greek and Roman draped statues and busts, and also others of certain gems and vases by ancient artists. The fac-simile representations will be advantageously associated with Smith’s and Rich’s Dictionaries of Greek and Roman Antiquities. See also Hope’s Costumes of the Ancients (Egyptian, Greek, and Roman) ; Hamilton’s Etruscan and Greek Vases ; Millingen’s Ancient Unedited Monuments (Greek), and Inghirami’s great work, Monument Etruschi (14 vols., Including the Vasi Fittili).

ORIENTAL.—Simpson’s India Ancient and Modern (2 vols., 50 illustrations) ; Forbes Watson and J.W. Kaye’s People of India (with photographs) ; Chinese Costume, and the Employments of Chinese Trader’s edited by Sir J. Bowring (3 vols.) ; and J. Thompson’s illustrated volumes on China, the Straits of Malacca, &c. Also Audsley and Bowe’s splendid Keramic Art of Japan, and Sir R. Ker Porter’s illustrated Travels in Persia, &c. For the costumes of Central Asia, Schuyler’s Turkistan and Captain Burnaby’s Khiva.

ECCLESIASTICAL.—Vestiarium Christianum, by Rev. W. B. Marriott, written with true historical impartiality, and illustrated with 63 excellent photographs and engravings, commencing from the earliest known examples of authority, and tracing the history of ecclesiastical vestment’s from its origin. The subject is further worked worked out in D’Agincourt’s History of Art by its Monuments from 4th to 16th century (51 plates of sculpture and 204 of painting), and in Lee’s Glossary of Liturgical and Ecclesiastical Terms. In its full development, from the 13th century downwards, effigies of ecclesiastics, which abound in England and in some parts of the Continent, are among the most perfect of the mediaeval exponents and illustrators of costume ; and they themselves have been fully and faithfully illustrated in the following works on early monumental art:—Stothard’s Monumental Effigies of Great Britain ; Waller’s Monumental Brasses ; Cotman’s Brasses of Norfolk and Suffolk ; Boutell’s Monumental Brasses and Slabs, and Monumental Brasses of Great Britain; Hollis’s Monumental Effigies (incomplete); Haines’s Manual of Monumental Brasses.

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS ON COSTUME.—Bruce’s Bayeux tapestry; 4to., 17 fac-simile plates, 1856; Fairholt’s Costume in England, 8vo., illustrated, 1860; Fowler’s (William, of Winterton) Examples of Mediaeval Art, atlas folio, 116 plates, 1796-1829; Froissart’s Chronicles, translated by Johnes, 4 vols. Roy. 8vo., 72 plates and numerous woodcuts, 1844; Hogarth’s Works, engraved by himself, with descriptions by Nichols, atlas folio, 153 plates, 1822; Holbein’s Portraits of the Court of Henry VIII., imp. 4to., 80 plates, 1828; Humphrey’s (R.N.) Illusminated Books of the Middle Ages, folio, London, 1849; Lodge’s Portraits and Memoirs of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain, 12 vols. Imp. 8vo., 240 plates, 1823-35; Luard’s History of the Dress of the British Soldier from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 8vo., 50 plates, 1852 (the later portions are the best); Melan and Logan’s Clans of the Scottish Highlands, 2 vol., imp. Folio, 72 plates, 1857; Malcolm’s Manners and Customs of London, 6 vols. 8vo. 63 plates, 1810-11; Nichol’s Progresses, Pageants, &c., of Queen Elizabeth, 7 vols. 4to., numerous plates, 1823-28; Planche’s History of British Costume, small 8vo. 1836; Planche’s Encyclopaedia of Costume, 2 vols. 4to, 1876-77; Semple’s (Miss), Costumer of the Netherlands, folio, 30 plates, 1817; Shaw’s Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages (from 7th to 17th century), 2 vols. Imp. 8vo., 94 plates, and numerous woodcuts; 1840-43; Strutt’s Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Great Britain, roy. 4to., 72 plates, 1842; Strutt’s Dresses and Habits of the English, 2 vols. roy. 4to., 153 plates, 1842; Westwood’s Miniatures of Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts, imp. Folio, 54 plates, 1868.

Of foreign works on costume, the two that have special claims to the attention, the admiration, and the grateful confidence of students are –Hefner-Alteneck, Costume du moyen-âge Chrétien, 4 vols. imp. 4to., 420 plates, Frankfort, 1840-50; and Violletle-Duc, Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier française, 6 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1858-75 (the first four volumes, rich in admirable engravings, are specially devoted to armour and costume). Besides these, the following are of importance:--Bonnani’s Costumes of the Religious Orders, 2 vols. 4to., 249 plates, Rome, 1741; Bonnard et Mercuri, Costumes historiques des XIIe, XIIIe, XIVe, et XVe siècles, 2 vols. imp. 4to., 200 plates, Paris, 1867; Burgmair, Triomphe de l’Empereur Maximilien I., atlas folio, 135 plates, Vienna, 1796; Chapuy, Le moyen âge pittoresque, 2 vols. folio, 180 plates, 1837; Chevignard et Duplessis, Costumes historiques des XVIe, XVIIe, et XVIIIe siècles, 2 vols. imp. 4to., 150 plates, Paris 1867; Du Sommerard, Les arts au moyen âge, 10 vols. (5 folio, and 5 of text 8vo), 510 plates, Paris, 1838-48; Duflos, Recueil d’ estampes, représentant les grades, les rangs, et les dignités, suivant le costume de toutes les nations existantes, large folio, 240 plates, Paris, 1779-80; Espana artistica y monumental, 3 vols. imp. Folio, 145 plates, Paris, 1842-59; Fabri’s Raccolta di Varii Vestimenti cd Arti del Regno di Napoli, folio, 27 plates, Naples, 1773; Helyot, Histoire des orders monastiques, reliqieux, et militaries, 8 vol. 4to., 812 plates, Paris, 1792, Jaquemin, Iconographie methodique du costume du Ve au XIXe siècle, roy. Folio, 200 plates, Paris; Lacombe, Galerie de Florence et du Palais Pitti, 4 vols. roy. Folio, 192 plates, Paris, 1789-1807’ Lacroix, Paul, manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle of Ages and the Renaissance, 8vo. London, 1874; Lacroix, Paul, Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, 4to. London, 1874; Lacroix, Paul, The 18th century, its Institutions, Customs, Costumes, Costumes, Costumes, 8vo. London, 1875-76; Lanté, Gallerie française de femmes célèbres, atlas 4to., 70 plates, Paris, 1841; malliot et Martin, Recherches sur les costumes, les maeurs, les usages religieux, civiles, et militaries des anciens peoples, 3 vols. 4to., 228 plates, Paris, 1809; Pauly, Déscription ethnographique des peoples, roy. Folio, St. Petersburg, 1862; Pauquet Fréres, Modes et costumes historiques et étrangers, 2 vols. med 4to., 196 plates, Paris, 1873; racinet, M.A., Le costume historique, in two forms, large and small, Paris, 1876; Straub, G.M, Tranchten oder Stammbuch, small obling 4to. (several hundreds of curious woodcuts of costumes),. 1600; Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni de tutti il Mondo, 3 vols., 8vo., Venice, 1859-63.

Examples and illustrations of early costume of great interest and value may be found in the Archaeological Societies, the various County Histories, the Monumenta Vetusta of the London Society of Antiqueries, and other kindred works. (C. B.)






The above article was written by:
Alexander Stuart Murray, LL.D., F.S.A.; Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, from 1886; author of History of Greek Sculpture, Handbook of Greek Archaeology, Designs from Greek Vases, Terra-Cotta Sarcophagi.

and

Rev. Charles Boutell, M.A., one of the founders of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society; author of English Heraldry, A Manual of British Archaeology.


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