CLOTHING COSTUME. 



waistband, the rich shirt was shewn ; and the 

 loose sleeves and breeches were decked with rib- 

 bons and points, and from the knee-bands hung 

 long lace ruffles. At the wrists, too, ruffles were 

 worn ; but the lace collar was shorn of its points, 

 designated to this day Vandyke. The cloak was 

 retained upon the left shoulder, and the high- 

 crowned and plumed hat remained for a short 

 time ; but the crown of the hat was soon lowered. 



The petticoat breeches were another absurdity ; 

 although ornamented with ribbons at the sides, 

 the lining strangely appeared below the breeches, 

 and was tied at the knees ; to match which, the 

 sleeves of the doublet only reached to the elbows, 

 and from under them bulged the ruffled sleeves of 

 the shirt, both being ornamented with ribbons. 

 Meanwhile the skirt of the doublet had been 

 lengthened from above the waist nearly to the 

 knees, and had buttons and button-holes in its 

 entire length, thus becoming a coat, and so named 

 in an inventory of 1679 ; wherein also are the 

 items of "waistcoat, breeches, pantaloons, drawers, 

 and trousers, being the earliest mention of these 

 articles. Stockings of various kinds were common ; 

 and 'the lower ends of stockings' are understood 

 as socks. Instead of the lace collar was worn the 

 long square-ended cravat of the same material, 

 from Brussels and Flanders. 



The female costume, as if to compensate for the 

 tasteless additions to that of the men, retained 

 much of its elegance in Charles's reign ; indeed 

 from this time ' the stronger sex ' appear to have 

 left the art of dress to the ladies. The portraits 

 of the beauties of the court of Charles II. in 

 Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, 

 are familiar illustrations, in which we see 

 only a pearl necklace upon the bosom, and the 

 hair falling in luxuriant ringlets from beneath a 

 string of pearls. The gowns are of the richest 

 satin, low in the bosom, and have long trains, so 

 that the wearers could not ' stir to the next room 

 without a page or two to hold them up.' The 

 preceding engraving represents a citizen's wife 

 performing this office herself. 



Passing to the reigns of James II. and William 

 III. we find few noticeable novelties in costume. 

 The coats were often of velvet, without collars, 

 with large hanging sleeves, and button-holes of 

 gold embroidery. The petticoat breeches were 

 exchanged for the close-fitting garments tied below 

 the knee, and therefore called knee-breeches; the 

 broad-brimmed hats were turned up on two sides, 

 and edged with feathers or ribbons ; the fashion 

 lay in the rich long lace cravat and embroidered 

 waistcoat ; the band was now narrowed, so as to 

 resemble that worn at the present time by clergy- 

 men. The periwig was worn still longer than 

 hitherto, hanging down in front, or flowing upon 

 the shoulders, though the colour was altered from 

 black to suit the complexion ; and combing these 

 wigs was a piece of foppishness, for which pur- 

 pose a comb was carried, whence the origin of our 

 present pocket-comb : and at court, in the walks 

 of Kensington, the Mall of St James's, or the 

 boxes of the theatre, the beaux turned their wig- 

 curls over their fingers whilst in conversation : the 

 effect of these wigs flowing over the cuirass will 

 be seen in the portrait of the great Duke of 

 Marlborough. 



The female costume was unchanged m the 

 reign of James II.; but it became less luxuriant 



and more formal in the time of William and 

 Mary, in accordance with Dutch taste. The 

 waists were much" lengthened with velvet stom- 

 achers, covered with jewels, so as to conceal 

 the bosom, hitherto unsparingly exposed; the 

 sleeve was made tight, and trimmed with lace 

 lappets or ruffles, and long gloves were worn, so 

 as entirely to cover the arm ; but the skirts were 

 worn long, full, and flounced ; the hair, instead of 

 flowing in ringlets, was gathered up, and strained 

 over a toupee of silk or cotton-wool, carried up so 

 high as to be called a tower, covered with a lace 

 scarf or veil that hung in front below the bosom ; 

 but this head-dress gradually shrunk into a caul 

 with two lappets, known as a ' mob.' False locks 

 and curls, set on wires to make them stand out, 

 were also worn. Before the Revolution, the citi- 

 zens' wives dressed with becoming plainness, and 

 gentlewomen wore serge-gowns, which, after 1688, 

 were rejected by chambermaids. 



Eighteenth Century. 



In the early part of the eighteenth century, the 

 costume of the English gentry was greatly affected 

 by that introduced into general usage in France 

 by Louis XIV. About the reign of Queen Anne, 

 the new French fashions had been embraced by 

 courtiers, physicians, and other professional 

 persons in England, also the higher order of 

 gentry ; and in the following reigns of George I. 

 and 1 1. they became universal. 



This dress of the old English gentleman, as it 

 afterwards came to be called, consisted at first, 

 during Queen Anne's reign, of a periwig in formal 

 curls, partly contained in a silk bag on the 

 shoulder; a small cocked-hat, full-bottomed coat, 

 short breeches, blue or scarlet stockings drawn 

 over the knee, and square-toed shoes, with small 

 buckles and high red heels. And this formal 

 costume, relieved only by lace cuffs, ruffles, and 

 neckcloth, and gold or silver clocks in the stock- 

 ings, remained unmodified through three-quarters 

 of the century. The engraving shews a gentle- 

 man of the year 1750, and reminds us that the 

 snuff-box, first carried in the reign of James II., 

 continued indispensable for the ' fine gentleman. 

 The origin of the cocked-hat is easily explained. 

 The wide flaps or broad brims of the h.us in 

 use being found to be inconvenient, they were 

 looped up with a cord and button. At first this 

 was done according to fancy, but latterly there 

 were distinct fashions in cocking the hats. Cocked- 

 hats, richly trimmed with gold-lace and ostrich 

 feathers, occur in Hogarth's pictures, which indeed 

 will furnish a better idea of the entire costume 

 from 1727 to 1760 than many pages of description ; 

 and the portraits of Sir Joshua Reynolds will 

 supply the dress of the next forty years. 



The fashions of wigs were as various as those of 

 hats. A peruke and a plaited and tied tail were 

 called a Ramillies, from the famous battle of that 

 name. The tie-wig became the fashion, from the 

 celebrated Lord Bolingbroke going to court with 

 his wig tied up, upon which Queen Mary ob- 

 served that he would ' soon come to court in 

 his night-cap' a royal rebuke which estab- 

 lished a fashion. In 1764, wigs went out of 

 wear, and the wig-makers of London petitioned 

 George III. to compel gentlemen to wear wigs by 

 law, for the benefit of their trade ! In the present 

 day, formal wigs are almost confined to the 



