A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES I. (1625-1649)
Notice the broad collar and deep cuffs. The dress is simple but rich. The bodice is laced with the same colour as the narrow sash. The hair is arranged in a series of elaborate curls over the forehead.
This was the day, then, of satins, loosened hair, elbow sleeves, and little forehead curls. The stiffness of the older times will pass away, but it had left its clutch still on these ladies; how far it vanished, how entirely it left costume, will be seen in the next royal reign, when Nell Gwynne was favourite and Sir Peter Lely painted her.
These excellent drawings by Hollar need no explanation. They are included in this book because of their great value as accurate contemporary drawings of costume.
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
A woman
Merchant's daughter
Merchant's wife of London
Citizen's wife
Country woman
English gentlewoman
Noble gentlewoman of England
Lady of the Court of England
An English lady of quality
1649-1660.
‘I left my pure mistress for a space,And to a snip-snap barber straight went I;I cut my hair, and did my corps uncaseOf ’parel’s pride that did offend the eye;My high crowned hat, my little beard also,My pecked band, my shoes were sharp at toe.‘Gone was my sword, my belt was laid aside,And I transformed both in looks and speech;My ’parel plain, my cloak was void of pride,My little skirts, my metamorphosed breech,My stockings black, my garters were tied shorter,My gloves no scent; thus marched I to her porter.’
‘I left my pure mistress for a space,And to a snip-snap barber straight went I;I cut my hair, and did my corps uncaseOf ’parel’s pride that did offend the eye;My high crowned hat, my little beard also,My pecked band, my shoes were sharp at toe.
‘Gone was my sword, my belt was laid aside,And I transformed both in looks and speech;My ’parel plain, my cloak was void of pride,My little skirts, my metamorphosed breech,My stockings black, my garters were tied shorter,My gloves no scent; thus marched I to her porter.’
A man of the time of the Cromwells; a type of jacket
It is a question, in this time of restraint, of formalism, where anything could be made plain, cut in a cumbrous fashion, rendered inelegant, it was done. The little jackets were denuded of all forms of frippery, the breeches were cut straight,and the ornaments, if any, were of the most severe order. Hats became broader in the brim, boots wider in the tops, in fact, big boots seemed almost a sign of heavy religious feeling. The nice hair, love-locks, ordered negligence all vanished, and plain crops or straight hair, not over long, marked these extraordinary people. It was a natural revolt against extravagance, and in some more sensible minds it was not carried to excess; points and bows were allowable, though of sombre colours. Sashes still held good, but of larger size, ruffs at the wrists were worn, but of plain linen. The bands or collars varied in size according to the religious enthusiasm of the wearers, but all were plain without lace edgings, and were tied with plain strings. Black, dark brown, and dull gray were the common colours, relieved sometimes, if the man was wearing a sleeveless coat, by the yellow and red-barred sleeves of the under-jacket, or possibly by coloured sleeves sewn intothe coat under the shoulder-wings. Overcoats were cut as simply as possible, though they did not skimp the material but made them wide and loose.
A CROMWELLIAN MAN (1649-1660)
Notice the careful plainness of his dress, and his very wide-topped boots.
Three men of the time of the Cromwells; a type of sleeve; two types of breeches and boot; a type of collar
The women dressed their hair more plainly, the less serious retained the little bunches of side curls, but the others smoothed their hair away under linen caps or black hoods tied under their chins. Another thing the women did was to cut from their bodices all the little strips but the one in the middle of the back, and this they left, like a tail, behind. Some, of course, dressed as beforewith the difference in colour and in ornament that made for severity. It had an effect on the country insomuch as the country people ceased to be extravagant in the materials for garments and in many like ways, and so lay by good fortunes for their families—these families coming later into the gay court of Charles II. had all the more to lavish on the follies of his fashions.
A man of the time of the Cromwells; a type of coat
The Puritan is as well-known a figure as any in history; an intelligent child could draw you a picture or describe you a Puritan as well as he could describe the Noah of Noah’s Ark. He has become part of the stock for an Academy humourist, a thousand anecdote pictures have been painted of him; very often his nose is red, generally he has a book in his hand, laughing maids bring him jacks of ale, jeering Cavaliers swagger past him: his black cloak, board shoes, wide Genevabands are as much part of our national picture as Punch or Harlequin.
A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF THE CROMWELLS (1649-1660)
This is not one of the most Puritanical dresses, but shows how the richness of the reign of Charles I. was toned down. She carries a muff in her hand, wears a good wide collar and cuffs, and neat roses on her shoes.
Two women of the time of the Cromwells; a type of jacket; two types of head-dress for women
The Puritaness is also known. She is generally represented as a sly bird in sombre clothes; her town garments, full skirts, black hood, deep linen collar are shown to hide a merry-eyed lady, her country clothes, apron, striped petticoat, bunched up skirt, linen cap, her little flaunt of curls show her still mischievous. The pair of them, in reality religious fanatics, prepared a harvest that they little dreamt of—a harvest of extravagant clothes and extravagant manners, when the country broke loose from its false bondage of texts, scriptural shirts, and religious petticoats, and launched into a bondage, equally false, of low cut dresses and enormous periwigs.
In the next reign you will see an entirely new era of clothes—the doublet and jerkin, the trunks and ruffs have their last eccentric fling, they become caricatures of themselves, they do all the foolish things garments can do, and then, all of a sudden, they vanish—never to be taken up again. Hair, long-neglected, is to have its full sway, wigs are the note for two centuries, so utterly different did the man become in the short space of thirty-five years, that the buck of the Restoration and the beau of the Jacobean order would stare helplessly at each other, wondering each to himself what manner of fool this was standing before him.
A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF THE CROMWELLS (1649-1660)
This shows the modification of the dress of the time of Charles I. Not an extreme change, but an endeavour towards simplicity.
Reigned twenty-five years: 1660-1685.
Born 1630. Married, 1662, Katherine of Portugal.
Two men of the time of Charles II.
England, apparently with a sigh of relief, lays aside her hair shirt, and proves that she has been wearing a silk vest under it. Ribbon-makers and wig-makers, lace-makers, tailors, and shoemakers, pour out thankful offerings at the altar of Fashion. One kind of folly has replaced another; it is only the same goddess in different clothes. The lampthat winked and flickered before the stern black figure in Geneva bands and prim curls is put to shame by the flare of a thousand candles shining on the painted face, the exposed bosom, the flaunting love-locks of this Carolean deity.
Two men of the time of Charles II.
We have burst out into periwigs, monstrous, bushy; we have donned petticoat breeches ruffled like a pigeon; we have cut our coats till they are mere apologies, serving to show off our fine shirts; and we have done the like with our coat-sleeves, leaving a little cuff glittering with buttons, and above that we have cut a great slit, all to show the marvel of our linen.
Those of us who still wear the long wide breeches adorn them with heavy frills of deep lace, and sew bunches of ribbons along the seams. We tie our cravats in long, stiff bows or knot them tight, and allow the wide lace ends to float gracefully.
A MAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II. (1660-1685)
This shows the dress during the first half of the reign. The feature of groups of ribboning is shown, with the short sleeve, the full shirt, and the petticoat.
Our hats, broad-brimmed and stiff, are loaded with feathers; our little cloaks are barred with silk and lace and gold cord; our shoes are square-toedand high-heeled, and are tied with a long-ended bow of ribbon.
A man of the time of Charles II.; a type of sleeve; the back of a coat
Ribbon reigns triumphant: it ties our periwigs into bunches at the ends; it hangs in loops round our waists; it ties our shirt-sleeves up in several places; it twists itself round our knees. It is on our hats and heads, and necks and arms, and legs and shoes, and it peers out of the tops of our boots. Divines rave, moralists rush into print, to no purpose. The names seem to convey a sense of luxury: dove-coloured silk brocade, Rhingrave breeches, white lutestring seamed all over with scarlet and silver lace, sleeves whipt with a point lace, coat trimmed and figured with silver twist or satin ribbon; canvas, camblet, galloon and shamey, vellam buttons and taffety ribbons. The cannons, those bunches of ribbons round our knees, and the confidents, those bunches of curls by our ladies’ cheeks, do not shake at the thunderingsof Mr. Baxter or other moral gentlemen who regard a Maypole as a stinking idol. Mr. Hall writes on ‘The Loathsomeness of Long Hair,’ Mr. Prynne on ‘The Unloveliness of Lovelocks,’ and we do not care a pinch of rappe.
Little moustaches and tiny lip beards grow under careful treatment, and the ladies wear a solar system in patches on their cheeks.
The ladies soon escaped the bondage of the broad Puritan collars, and all these had hid was exposed. The sleeves left the arms bare to the elbow, and, being slit above and joined loosely by ribbons, showed the arm nearly to the shoulder. The sleeves of these dresses also followed the masculine fashion of little cuffs and tied-up linen under-sleeves. The bodices came to a peak in front and were round behind. The skirts were full, satin being favoured, and when held up showed a satin petticoat with a long train. The ladies, for a time, indulged in a peculiar loop of hair on their foreheads, called a ‘fore-top,’ which gave rise to another fashion, less common, called a ‘taure,’ or bull’s head, being an arrangement of hair on the forehead resembling the close curls of a bull. The loose curls on the forehead werecalled ‘favorites’; the long locks arranged to hang away from the face over the ears were called ‘heart-breakers’; and the curls close to the cheek were called ‘confidents.’ Ladies wore cloaks with baggy hoods for travelling, and for the Mall the same hats as men, loaded with feathers.
A MAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II. (1660-1685)
This is the change which came over men’s dress on or about October, 1666. It is the new-fashioned vest or body-coat introduced to the notice of Charles by John Evelyn.
A man of the time of Charles II.
A man of the time of Charles II.
I am going to leave the change in dress during this reign to the next chapter, in which you will read how it struck Mr. Pepys. This change separates the old world of dress from the new; it is the advent of frocked coats, the ancestor of our frock-coat. It finishes completely the series of evolutions beginning with the old tunic, running through the gown stages to the doublet of Elizabethan times, lives in the half coat, half doublet of Charles I., and ends in the absurd little jackets of Charles II., who, sartorially, steps from the end of the Middle Ages into the New Ages,closes the door on a wardrobe of brilliant eccentricity, and opens a cupboard containing our first frock-coat.
It is not really necessary for me to remind the reader that one of the best companions in the world, Samuel Pepys, was the son of a tailor. Possibly—I say possibly because the argument is really absurd—he may have inherited his great interest in clothes from his father. You see where the argument leads in the end: that all men to take an interest in clothes must be born tailors’ sons. This is no more true of Adam, who certainly did interest himself, than it is of myself.
Pepys was educated at St. Paul’s School, went to Trinity College, Cambridge, got drunk there, and took a scholarship. He married when he was twenty-two a girl of fifteen, the daughter of a Huguenot. He was born in 1633, three years after the birth of Charles II., of outrageous but delightful memory, and he commenced his Diary in 1660, the year in which Charles entered London, ending it in 1669, owing to his increasing weakness of sight. He was made Secretary to theAdmiralty in 1672, in 1673 he became a member of Parliament, was sent to the Tower as a Papist in 1679, and released in 1680. In 1684 he became President of the Royal Society, and he died in 1703, and is buried in St. Olave’s, Crutched Friars.
Pepys mentions, in 1660, his coat with long skirts, fur cap, and buckles on his shoes. The coat was, doubtless, an old-fashioned Cromwellian coat with no waist.
Later he goes to see Mr. Calthrop, and wears his white suit with silver lace, having left off his great skirt-coat. He leaves Mr. Calthrop to lay up his money and change his shoes and stockings.
He mentions his scarlet waistclothes, presumably a sash, and regards Mr. John Pickering as an ass because of his feathers and his new suit made at the Hague. He mentions his linning stockings and wide cannons. This mention of wide cannons leads me to suppose that at this time any ornament at the knee would be called cannons, whether it was a part of the breeches or the stockings, or a separate frill or bunch of ribbons to put on.
On July 1, still in the same year, comes home his fine camlett cloak and gold buttons; also a silk suit. Later he buys a jackanapes coat withsilver buttons. Then he and Mr. Pin, the tailor, agree upon a velvet coat and cap (‘the first I ever had’). He buys short black stockings to wear over silk ones for mourning.
Two women of the time of Charles II.
On October 7 he says that, long cloaks being out of fashion, he must get a short one. He speaks of a suit made in France for My Lord costing £200. He mentions ladies’ masks.
In 1662 his wife has a pair of peruques of hair and a new-fashioned petticoat of sancenett with black, broad lace. Smocks are mentioned, and linen petticoats.
He has a riding-suit with close knees.
His new lace band is so neat that he is resolved they shall be his great expense. He wears a scallop. In 1663 he has a new black cloth suit, with white linings under all—as the fashion is—to appear under the breeches.
A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II. (1650-1685)
You will notice her hair in ringlets tied with a ribbon, and dressed over a frame at the sides.
The Queen wears a white-laced waistcoat and acrimson short petticoat. Ladies are wearing hats covered with feathers.
Three types of wig for men
God willing, he will begin next week to wear his three-pound periwig.
He has spent last month (October) £12 on Miss Pepys, and £55 on his clothes. He has silk tops for his legs and a new shag gown. He has a close-bodied coat, light-coloured cloth with a gold edge. He sees Lady Castlemaine in yellow satin with a pinner on.
In 1664 his wife begins to wear light-coloured locks.
In 1665 there is a new fashion for ladies of yellow bird’s-eye hood. There is a fear of the hair of periwigs during the Plague. Even in the middle of the Plague Pepys ponders on the next fashion.
In 1666 women begin to wear buttoned-up riding-coats, hats and periwigs.
On October 8 the King says he will set a thrifty fashion in clothes. At this momentous date in history we must break for a minute fromour friend Pepys, and hear how this came about. Evelyn had given the King his pamphlet entitled ‘Tyrannus, or the Mode.’ The King reads the pamphlet, and is struck with the idea of the Persian coat. A long pause may be made here, in which the reader may float on a mental cloud back into the dim ages in the East, and there behold a transmogrified edition of his own frock-coat gracing the back of some staid philosopher. Evelyn had also published ‘Mundus Muliebris; or, the Ladies’ Dressing-Room Unlocked.’
A woman of the time of Charles II.
So, only one month after the Great Fire of London, only a short time before the Dutch burnt ships in the Medway, only a year after the Plague, King Charles decides to reform the fashion. By October 13 the new vests are made, and the King and the Duke of York try them on. On thefifteenth the King wears his in public, and says he will never change to another fashion. ‘It is,’ says Pepys, ‘a long cassocke close to the body, of black cloth and pinked with white silk under it, and a coat over it, and the legs ruffled with black ribband like a pigeon’s legs.’
A woman of the time of Charles II.
The ladies, to make an alteration, are to wear short skirts. Nell Gwynne had a neat ankle, so I imagine she had a hand in this fashion.
On October 17 the King, seeing Lord St. Alban in an all black suit, says that the black and white makes them look too much like magpies. He bespeaks one of all black velvet.
Sir Philip Howard increases in the Eastern fashion, and wears a nightgown and a turban like a Turk.
On November 2 Pepys buys a vest like the King’s.
On November 22 the King of France, Louis XIV., who had declared war against England earlier in the year, says that he will dress all his footmen in vests like the King of England. However, fashion isbeyond the power of royal command, and the world soon followed in the matter of the Persian coat and vest, even to the present day.
A woman of the time of Charles II.
Next year, 1667, Pepys notes that Lady Newcastle, in her velvet cap and her hair about her ears, is the talk of the town. She wears a number of black patches because of the pimples about her mouth, she is naked-necked (no great peculiarity), and she wears ajust au corps, which is a close body-coat.
A woman of the time of Charles II.
Pepys notices the shepherd at Epsom with his wool-knit stockings of two colours, mixed. He wears a new camlett cloak. The shoe-strings have given place to buckles, and children wear long coats.
In 1668 his wife wears a flower tabby suit (‘everybody in love with it’). He is forced to lend the Duke of York his cloak because it rains. His barber agrees tokeep his periwig in order for £1 a year. He buys a black bombazin suit.
In 1669 his wife wears the new French gown called a sac; he pays 55s. for his new belt. His wife still wears her old flower tabby gown. So ends the dress note in the Diary.
Reigned four years: 1685-1689.
Born 1633. Married, 1661, Anne Hyde; 1673, Mary of Modena.
Two men of the time of James II.; a type of sleeve
In such a short space of time as this reign occupies it is not possible to show any great difference in the character of the dress, but there is a tendency, shown over the country at large, to discard the earlier beribboned fashions, and to take more seriously to the long coat and waistcoat. There is a tendency, even, to become more buttoned up—to present what I can only call a frock-coat figure. The coat became closer to thebody, and was braided across the front in many rows, the ends fringed out and held by buttons. The waistcoat, with the pockets an arm’s length down, was cut the same length as the coat. Breeches were more frequently cut tighter, and were buttoned up the side of the leg. The cuffs of the sleeves were wide, and were turned back well over the wrist.
A MAN OF THE TIME OF JAMES II. (1685-1689)
The body-coat has now become the universal fashion, as have also the wide knee-breeches. Buckles are used on the shoes instead of strings.
A man of the time of James II.
Of course the change was gradual, and more men wore the transitional coat than the tight one. By the coat in its changing stages I mean such a coat as this: the short coat of the early Charles II. period made long, and, following the old lines of cut, correspondingly loose. The sleeves remained much the same, well over the elbow, showing the white shirt full and tied with ribbons. The shoe-strings had nearly died out, giving place to a buckle placed on a strap well over the instep.
There is a hint of growth in the periwig, and of fewer feathers round the brim of the hat; indeed, little low hats with broad brims, merely ornamentedwith a bunch or so of ribbons, began to become fashionable.
A woman of the time of James II.
Swords were carried in broad baldricks richly ornamented.
The waistclothes of Mr. Pepys would, by now, have grown into broad sashes, with heavily fringed ends, and would be worn round the outside coat; for riding, this appears to have been the fashion, together with small peaked caps, like jockey caps, and high boots.
The ladies of this reign simplified the dress into a gown more tight to the bust, the sleeves more like the men’s, the skirt still very full, but not quite so long in the train.
Black hoods with or without capes were worn, and wide collars coming over the shoulders again came into fashion. The pinner, noticed by Pepys, was often worn.
A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF JAMES II. (1685-1689)
Notice the broad collar again in use, also the nosegay. The sleeves are more in the mannish fashion.
But the most noticeable change occurs in the dress of countryfolk and ordinary citizens. The men began to drop all forms of doublet, andtake to the long coat, a suit of black grogram below the knees, a sash, and a walking-stick; for the cold, a short black cloak. In the country the change would be very noticeable. The country town, the countryside, was, until a few years back, distinctly Puritanical in garb; there were Elizabethan doublets on old men, and wide Cromwellian breeches, patched doubtless, walked the market-place. Hair was worn short. Now the russet brown clothes take a decided character in the direction of the Persian coat and knickerbockers closed at the knee. The good-wife of the farmer knots a loose cloth over her head, and pops a broad-brimmed man’s hat over it. She has the sleeves of her dress made with turned-back cuffs, like her husband’s, ties her shoes with strings, laces her dress in front, so as to show a bright-coloured under-bodice, and, as like as not, wears a green pinner (an apron with bib, which was pinned on to the dress), and altogether brings herself up to date.
A woman of the time of James II.
One might see the farmer’s wife riding to market with her eggs in a basket covered with a corner of her red cloak, and many a red cloak would she meeton the way to clep with on the times and the fashions. The green apron was a mark of a Quaker in America, and the Society of Friends was not by any means sad in colour until late in their history.
Most notable was the neckcloth in this unhappy reign, which went by the name of Judge Jeffreys’ hempen cravat.
Reigned thirteen years: 1689-1702.
The King born in 1650; the Queen born in 1662; married in 1677.
A man of the time of William and Mary
First and foremost, the wig. Periwig, peruke, campaign wig with pole-locks or dildos, all the rage, all the thought of the first gentlemen. Their heads loaded with curl upon curl, long ringlets hanging over their shoulders and down their backs, some brown, some covered with meal until their coats looked like millers’ coats; scented hair, almost hiding the loose-tied cravat, ‘most agreeably discoloured with snuff from top to bottom.’
A man of the time of William and Mary; a type of cuff
My fine gentleman walking the street with the square-cut coat open to show a fine waistcoat, his stick hanging by a ribbon on to his wrist and rattling on the pavement as it dragged along, his hat carefully perched on his wig, the crown made wide and high to hold the two wings of curls, which formed a negligent central parting. His pockets, low down in his coat, show a lace kerchief half dropping from one of them. One hand is in a small muff, the other holds a fine silver-gilt box filled with Vigo snuff. He wears high-heeled shoes, red heeled, perhaps, and the tongue of his shoe sticks up well above the instep. Probably he is on his way to the theatre, where he will comb his periwig in public, and puff away the clouds of powder that come from it. The fair lady in a side box, who hides her face behind a mask, is delighted if Sir Beau will bow to her.
A MAN OF THE TIME OF WILLIAM AND MARY (1689-1702)
Strings again in use on the shoes. Cuffs much broader; wigs more full; skirts wider. Coat left open to show the long waistcoat.
We are now among most precise people. One must walk here with just such an air of artificiality as will account one afellow of high tone. The more enormous is our wig, the more frequently we take a pinch of Violet Strasburg or Best Brazil, Orangery, Bergamotte, or Jassamena, the more shall we be followed by persons anxious to learn the fashion. We may even draw a little silver bowl from our pocket, place it on a seat by us, and, in meditative mood, spit therein.
We have gone completely into skirted coats and big flapped waistcoats; we have adopted the big cuff buttoned back; we have given up altogether the wide knee-breeches, and wear only breeches not tight to the leg, but just full enough for comfort.
The hats have altered considerably now; they are cocked up at all angles, turned off the forehead, turned up one side, turned up all round; some are fringed with gold or silver lace, others are crowned with feathers.
We hear of such a number of claret-coloured suits that we must imagine that colour to be all the rage, and, in contrast to other times not long gone by, we must stiffen ourselves in buckram-lined skirts.
These powdered Absaloms could change themselves into very fine fighting creatures, and look twice as sober again when occasion demanded. They rode about the country in periwigs, certainly, butnot quite so bushy and curled; many of them took to the travelling or campaign wig with the dildos or pole-locks. These wigs were full over the ears and at the sides of the forehead, but they were low in the crown, and the two front ends were twisted into single pipes of hair; or the pipes of hair at the side were entirely removed, and one single pipe hung down the back. The custom of thus twisting the hair at the back, and there holding it with a ribbon, gave rise to the later pigtail. The periwigs so altered were known as short bobs, the bob being the fullness of the hair by the cheeks of the wig.
A man of the time of William and Mary
The cuffs of the coat-sleeve varied to the idea and taste of the owner of the coat; sometimes the sleeve was widened at the elbow to 18 inches, and the cuffs, turned back to meet the sleeves, were wider still. Two, three, or even more buttons held the cuff back.
The pockets on the coats were cut vertically andhorizontally, and these also might be buttoned up. Often the coat was held by only two centre buttons, and the waistcoat flaps were not buttoned at all. The men’s and women’s muffs were small, and often tied and slung with ribbons.
A man of the time of William and Mary
Plain round riding-coats were worn, fastened by a clasp or a couple of large buttons.
The habit of tying the neckcloth in a bow with full hanging ends was dying out, and a more loosely tied cravat was being worn; this was finished with fine lace ends, and was frequently worn quite long.
Three men of the time of William and Mary
Stockings were pulled over the knee, and were gartered below and rolled above it.
The ordinary citizen wore a modified edition of these clothes—plain in cut, full, without half thenumber of buttons, and without the tremendous periwig, wearing merely his own hair long.
For convenience in riding, the skirts of the coats were slit up the back to the waist; this slit could be buttoned up if need be.
A man of the time of William and Mary; a shoe
Now, let us give the dandy of this time his pipe, and let him go in peace. Let us watch him stroll down the street, planting his high heels carefully, to join two companions outside the tobacco shop. Here, by the great carved wood figure of a smoking Indian with his kilt of tobacco leaves, he meets his fellows. From the hoop hung by the door one chooses a pipe, another asks for a quid to chew and a spittoon, the third calls for a paper of snuff newly rasped. Then they pull aside the curtains and go into the room behind the shop, where, seated at a table made of planks upon barrels, they will discuss the merits of smoking, chewing, and snuffing.
‘We three are engaged in one cause,I snuffs, I smokes, and I chaws.’
‘We three are engaged in one cause,I snuffs, I smokes, and I chaws.’
Let me picture for you a lady of this time in the language of those learned in dress, and you will see how much it may benefit.
‘We see her coming afar off; against the yew hedge her weeds shine for a moment. We see her figuretto gown well looped and puffed with the monte-la-haut. Her échelle is beautiful, and her pinner exquisitely worked. We can see her commode, her top-not, and her fontage, for she wears no rayonné. A silver pin holds her meurtriers, and the fashion suits better than did the crève-cœurs. One hand holds her Saxon green muffetee, under one arm is her chapeau-bras. She is beautiful, she needs no plumpers, and she regards us kindly with her watchet eyes.’
A lady of this date would read this and enjoy it, just as a lady of to-day would understand modern dress language, which is equally peculiar to the mere man. For example, this one of the Queen of Spain’s hats from her trousseau (curiously enough a trousseau is a little bundle):
‘The hat is a paille d’Italie trimmed with a profusion of pink roses, accompanied by a pink chiffonruffle fashioned into masses bouillonnée arranged at intervals and circled with wreaths of shaded roses.’