AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 521 



Italian triumvirate (Boccacio, he believed), in whicK tlie chin appeared 

 closely shaven, and the neck muffled. 



What was the character "of such muffling might be guessed from forms of 

 dress, which had come down either wholly unaltered, or partially changed 

 to the present day. 



Of the first class were the cowls of monks, which are still to be seen in 

 processions in the Austrian dominions : Of the second, the gowns and 

 hoods of collegiate bodies, and particularly at the Universities of Oxford 

 and Cambridge. 



When in full robes, the hood was omitted, but In the dress of judges its 

 Use was supplied by the tippet. 



Authentic portraits, however, were not numerous before the reign of 

 Henry VIII., of England. That monarch, and his cotemporary, Francis 

 I., of France, wore full but short beards. The neck had no distinct cover- 

 ing except the narrow band in which the shirt terminated. In the reign of 

 Queen Elizabeth, the whiskers were cut away and the beard trimmed to a 

 point. This lay upon a triple ruff of cambric, often edged with lace, which 

 hid but did not exclude air from the neck. The same fashion continued 

 during the reign of her Scottish successor. 



Charles I., wore mustachios and imperial only. The collar of the doublet 

 was high, and over it fell a harid of lace, of the form so familiar in portraits 

 by Van Dyke, as to be called by his name. 



This rich neck garniture continued to be distinctive of the pavaliers until 

 the end of the civil war. The Puritans, on the other hand, wore, first, 

 bands of linen, but during the progress of the war adopted the cravat. 

 This was a folded kerchief of all finenesses, iip to cambric. It was tied 

 in front and the ends fell over the vest. 



Charles I., at his restoration, brought back the band in name, but not in 

 figure, for it now had two square ends, which rested on the doublet. This 

 fashion, strange as the statement may seem, is still continued in the bayids 

 which clergymen of many denominations wear in canonical costume. 



Louis XIV., of France, came to the throne an infant, and assumed the 

 reins of government at the age of eighteen years. His beard had not made 

 its appearance, and his hair hung in ringlets on his shoulders. His courtiers, 

 to liken themselves to their sovereign, shaved their beards close and put on 

 full bottomed wigs. 



Now began the fashion of close shaving, which for nearly two hundred 

 years has been considered the distinction of civilized man. 



The neck being bared of its natural cover, the cravat came into fashion, 

 the ends of the kerchief being formed of lace. 



When the French were surprised at Steinkirk, by William III., their 

 rich cravats were thrown hastily around their necks, and the imitation of 

 this "much admired disorder" gave rise to a style of wearing them known 

 by the name of the battle. It is a curious illustration of the force of fr.sh- 

 ion, and of the sway exercised through it by the French court, that the most 

 complete specimens of the full bottomed wig and the Steinkirk cravat, are 



