A History of

COSTUME
by Rachel

II.

Kemper

ip^'

COSTUME
by Rachel H. Kemper

Fashion

is

identity.

It

nationality, occupation,

tells

and

us at a glance the
social station of the

wearer and often something about

well.

and

education,

religion,

From wedding band

sexual

or her

his

proclivities

to old school

tie,

as

from

hardhat to sensible shoes, every item of apparel

helps to establish

There

owner's place in society.

its

no readier index to an

is

individual's

wealth, power, taste, and influence than

what he

or she wears.

The
is

notion of costume

is

as old as

man, for

it

the wearing of clothes, rather than the oppos-

able

thumb, that separates man from the

The

primates.
largely

initial

practical:

lesser

function of clothing was

protected

it

primitive

man

from the elements and from predators including

other men. The knight's armor, the hockey player's shin pads, the astronaut's spacesuit all were
designed for
the

since

utility,

invention

not elegance. But at least

of modesty,

costume has

served another, equally important function:

played

a principal role in

mating, and marriage.

it

has

courtship, seduction,

Since the beginning of

recorded time both sexes have sought to enhance

their

natural

looks,

often at considerable cost

and sometimes through considerable

pain.

Feet

have been bound, heads elongated, waists constricted,

fashion.

and noses bobbed,

The concept

has varied greatly

all

in the

from culture to culture and

continent to continentJapanese

themselves

with

name of

of what constitutes beauty

chalk-white

women

dusted

powder,

Aztec

(Continued on back flap)

WORLD OF CULTURE

n^

COSTUME
by Rachel H. Kemper

Newsweek Books, New York

"

NEWSWEEK BOOKS
Alvin Garfin, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Berger, Managing Editor

Edwin D. Bayrd,

Jr.,

Contributing Editor

Mary Ann Joulwan, Art

Director

Laurie Piatt Winfrey, Picture Editor

Title page:

Sung Dynasty

scroll painting, attributed to

depicts court ladies ironing a bolt of

newly woven

Emperor Hui Tsung,

silk.

is made for the use of excerpted material on pages

154-81 from the following works:
1963 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
After the Banquet by Yukio Mishima. Copyright
Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Translated by Donald Keene.
From Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, copyright, 1922, by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Inc.; renewed, 1950, by Sinclair Lewis. Reprinted by permission of the publishers.
Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories by Thomas Mann. Copyright
1930
and renewed 1958 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Alfred
A. Knopf, Inc. Translated by H.T. Lowe-Porter.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Copyright
1925 by Charles Scribner's
Sons. Reprinted with the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.

Grateful acknowledgment

ISBN: Regular edition 0-88225-137-6 ISBN: Deluxe edition 0-88225-138-4

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 77-78799
1977 Europa Verlag. All rights reserved.
Printed and bound by Mondadori, Verona, Italy.

Contents

COSTUME

by Rachel H. Kemper

The

Civilizing

The

Saints, Soldiers,

The Rebirth

Elegance and Excess

Haute Couture Comes of Age

1 1

The

135

Invention of Modesty

Costume

Classical

World
and Savages

of Style

Democratization of Fashion

17

35

51

67

89

IN A LITERARY FASHION

153

GLOSSARY

182

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

185

PICTURE CREDITS

185

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

187

INDEX

188

The Invention of Modesty

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
Genesis 3:7

garments.

And
1

There were several reasons why

men

primitive
their

chose

but

nakedness,

to

clothe

?nodesty

was not one of them. The notion that nudity

concept

behind

is

shainefulthe

the

Michelan-

gelo fresco detail opposite is a

fairly recent develop?>ient in the

long history of clothing, and it

is one that had no influence on
the prehistoric Adams and Eves
who were the true inventors of
costume. Indeed, it seems likely
that men and women alike first
covered their genitals to emphasize rather

than to hide thein.

he

said, I

heard thy voice

was naked; and

in the garden,

and

was

afraid, because

Genesis 3:10

hid myself.

Like Adam, primitive man was afraid. Indeed his entire, all-too-short
existence must have been spent in a miasma of fear. Fear crowded him
on every side; fear of starvation, fear of sterility among his women,
fear of the elemental forces of nature, fear of sudden death under the
rending claws and fangs of more efficiently designed predators. His
options were brutally simple: master the fear or descend again into the
beasthood from which he so recently had arisen.
Man's first embellishments and rudimentary clothing served as
potent weapons in the fight against fear. The use of body paint was the
first step in the development of clothing. Its function was entirely
magical. Through its power, primitive man attempted to control and
modify the forces, natural and supernatural, that dominated his life.
Yellow ochre smeared across his body helped him borrow the lifegiving power of the sun; white clay or ash paste on his face gave him
the grinning countenance of a skull to terrify his enemies; powdered
red ochre sifted on the bodies of his dead gave their pallid flesh the
semblance of life and enabled their spirits to live again in a better world.
Next came the use of ornament. Necklaces of lions' claws or bears'
teeth, assorted amulets of horn, ivory, or bone, capes of leopard or

man capture the strength, stealth, and virility

both of the animals he preyed upon and those that preyed upon him.
Decked out in borrowed finery, man felt an increase of confidence as
he has continued to feel ever since. The lion-skin cloak still retained

ocelot skin helped early

the animistic

power of

its

original owner,

and comforting reminder of

The

old truism "Clothes

at the

dawn

of

human

how

make

the

evolution.

its

and

it

also served as a constant

new owner had come

to obtain

it.

man" was never more true than here

Throughout mankind's long infancy,

costume was one of the more visible characteristics that distinguished

our ancestors from the beasts with whom they shared the plains
throughout the endless African summer.

Costume was

also

used to enhance man's

A painting from the cave of Les Trois

to about 20,000

shows

B.C.,

earliest religious rituals.

Freres in southern France, dating

mysterious figure wearing the antlers and

mask of

deer and the skin of some other animal with a long, bushy

perhaps

horse or a wolf.

seems to be dancing.

He

The

tail,

Sorcerer,"

heavily bearded and displays his genitals.

is

Religious costume retained

human

"The

figure, popularly called

its

magical significance throughout

much

Approaching a god is a serious business and usually

requires special garments. In Western culture, the magical power of
religious vestments has declined into mere symbolism. In other civiliof

history.

zations the supernatural value has been carried to extremes, with the

Aztecs of ancient Mexico pursuing their belief in the magic of clothing

to a logical and grisly conclusion.

One

of their major deities was Xipe

Totec, "Our Lord the Flayed One," "the Drinker by Night," a nature
god whose power was expressed in the fertile spring rain. Victims
dedicated to him were shot with arrows and then skinned. His priests

donned these human skins for special rites at the beginning of the rainy
Many works of art from that beautiful and doomed culture
graphically illustrate this practice. The raw skin was carefully pulled
on over the priest's own body, rather like a suit of long underwear, and
laced neatly up the back. The feet were removed but the hands were
season.

usually retained to dangle horribly at the priest's wrists.

face

was

also flayed

and

then induced the earth

tied

on over

itself

The

victim's

that of the priest. This magical act

to put

on

new

skin:

vegetation that

had died during the dry season was born again.

Preoccupation with sex, with female fecundity and male virility,
no doubt led to the development of the official fig leaf. Genitals were
almost certainly first covered as a form of sexual display rather than
from shame. To early man, genitals were sacred, not shameful; the
source of

rather than the seat of original

life itself

to be covered to protect this

to paraphrase a

shaped

shells,

modern

life

sin.

The

crotch came

source from evil magic. Modesty,

Cowrie
the vulva, were strung together to enhance and

like

sex goddess, had nothing to do with

it.

protect the female reproductive parts. Leaves, ferns, animal hair, and
feathers, selected

on the

of presumed magical potency, were

basis

pressed into service.

No

also called

availability of the ladies in question.

male attention to the sexual

One

of the earliest preserved

records of female costume supports this theory.

little

Paleolithic

Venus of Lespugue, is entirely naked except for a

the rear, worn under rather than over her buttocks.

fertility figure, the

It is

impossible to identify the material, possibly hanks of hair or

leather.

The

strips are fastened to a

mental backside to lose

itself in

Women were probably

cord that passes under the monu-

the heavy thighs and abdomen.

first to cover their sexual organs. It was

was where children came from although
there must have been a great deal of lively conjecture as to what put
them there. Eventually, the concept of fatherhood was grasped and,
inspired by animistic magic, male sexual display achieved astonishing
dimensions. In a hostile environment, survival of the small tribal group

certainly obvious that this

the

survive

in

world

hostile

man needed

to

pro-

and vestigial draperies

such as the one that encircles the
buttocks of the Venus of Lespugue (above) evolved specifically to enhance their wearer's
sex appeal. Fertility rituals were
create,

designed to increase repro-

also

it was often the

males adorned with skins, antand body paint (right,
lers,
above) who were the focus of

duction. In these

attention.

Fertility not

of

htt-

but of the soil-was the

chief concern of agrarian societies such as the Aztec. At right,

??!ans

below,

priest

adorned

in

flayed-out hzmian skin worships

the

doubt these ornaments

curious apron at

To

primitive

god of spring

rains.

depended often on sheer brute force, and male strength and leadership
came to be identified with sexual virility.
The first male genital covers must have mimicked a permanent
erection and possibly originated when some aging chief, fearful of
being deposed, stufi^ed his drooping parts into a penis sheath that would
have staggered Zeus himself. This garment survived among the ancient
Libyans well up into historic times. Tribute bearers are shown in
Egyptian tomb paintings wearing this characteristic attire, an exaggeratedly long tubular case, supported by a draped baldric and tastefully
ornamented with beads and tassels, swinging in the general vicinity of
the wearer's knees. The message was plain: no evil spirit would dare
to assault such an imposing bastion of strength and virility. The magical
power of life rises against the threat of debility and death.
This, then, was where it all began. Paint, ornament, and rudimentary
clothing were first employed to attract good animistic powers and to
ward off evil. Costume originated in the service of magic and although
this motive no longer survives among us on a conscious level, it might
be argued that in our subconscious it still reigns supreme.
Once magic formed a precedent for man to hang strange odds and
ends around his body, other reasons for wearing costume emerged and
remain very much with us. The noted fashion authority James Laver has
described these motives as the utility principle, the seduction principle,

and the hierarchical principle. Then, as now, men and women were preoccupied with protection, comfort, sexual attraction, and social status.
It used to be assumed that clothing originated as protection against
weather, yet millennia must have passed before man migrated to a
climate where that consideration arose. Once man began to think in
terms of comfort, his ingenuity was given full rein in devising garments
to keep out the weather arctic snow, torrential rains, or tropical sun.
By and large, such costumes have been designed strictly for utility
and have had a minimal effect on the development of fashion.
Protective clothing for warfare, for dangerous activity, or for
strenuous sports tells another story altogether. Status comes into this
as well as mere utility. A garment to keep off the rain, no matter
how elegantly designed, lacks glamour. Garments intended to deflect
the point of a lance, flying arrows, or solar radiation possess a strange

Idnd of instant chic and are sure to be modified into fashions for both
examples abound: the ubiquitous

men and women. Contemporary

aviator glasses that line the rails of fashionable singles bars, perforated

racing gloves that grip the wheels of sedate family cars, impressively

complicated scuba divers' watches that will never be immersed in any

of water more challenging than the country-club pool.
This curious fashion trend has been around ever since the Renaissance when the dukes of Berri and Brittany, indolent and pampered,
had cuirasses stitched of white satin in imitation of plate mail. There
are other examples from that period. Armor was designed, in the midsixteen century, with what was called a "peasecod belly," a sharply
pointed projection of the torso which produced a rather grotesque
pigeon-breasted effect. The design was eminently practical; it provided

body

smooth, curved surface with no fussy ornament or concave areas

that would catch the point of a

weapon would slide off harmlessly.
But stripped of his armor by a

lance.

The

of an opponent's

tip

squire and dressed for dinner, the

of fashion retained the same peculiar shape. His doublet was
heavily whaleboned and padded, causing it to stand away from the

man

natural lines of the body. His trunk hose, or slops,

to imitate the steel skirts of the armor.

The same

were

also

boned

basic lines carried

over into the bodices of women's fashions, although the peasecod

was minimized and the torso was flatter, with nature fully

effect

constrained under marvelous contraptions of bone, wood, and

The

implication,

for

steel.

gentlemen, was that they were already

the

dressed as if in armor and immediately prepared to cover themselves

with glory on the field of honor. What the ladies were expected to
cover themselves with is equally obvious but less blatantly expressed;
certainly they would have had to be pried out of those corsets first.

An

interesting aspect

consistency.
a

The

of sports costume

is

its

curious lack of

ancient Greeks exercised and competed stark naked,

custom which perhaps accounts for

their

ban on female spectators

at

was the practice of

tuck them up in the groin

the games. Their sole gesture toward protection

binding the genitals with a soft cord so

out of harm's way. Even

so,

as to

the thought of the all-out, no-holds-

many an aspirant second thoughts.

This inconsistency is still apparent in professional sports. A football
player goes helmeted and padded, looking like a cross between King
Kong and the Thing from Outer Space. Baseball players, in honor of

barred pankration must have given

the ninety-mile-an-hour-plus fastball, are permitted batting helmets

and a protective cup familiarly known, according to Jim Bouton, as a

"ding-dong." Alas for basketball. Since it is officially designated as a
noncontact sport, its players are reduced to a thin uniform, an ordinary
supporter, and an apprehensive smile.
In the future it is not entirely impossible that the linebacker's
helmet or the goaltender's mask might appear, gussied up, as an element of formal attire. It has happened in the past. A classic and often
cited example

the fox

is

the top hat.

It

hunt "the unspeakable

was

originally designed to be

worn on

in pursuit of the inedible." If the horse

stopped suddenly and the rider didn't, the

the collision. Within fifty years of

its

stiff

topper would cushion

introduction to the English sport-

ing scene, the top hat became an indispensable part of evening attire

and

is still

The

seen today at fashionable weddings and gangsters' funerals.

seduction principle has always figured prominently in women's

fashions.

woman's

Throughout the greater part of Western

role,

history

indeed almost her only option, to seduce

it

has been

men

into

marriage. Fashion functioned as an element of direct or indirect seduction, since

women could scarcely exist socially

and were confined under the protection

during long centuries

or economically on their

own

of their nearest male relative.

the greater part of her

life,

The degree

of a woman's well-being for

her affluence and social position, depended

upon those of the man to whom, quite literally, she was given.
stock in trade was what was bluntly known as her "commodity." When the merchandise went on the market, it was only
entirely

Woman's only

10

common

it up as attractively as possible.
was greatly helped along by the invention of
modesty. The concept of modesty probably originated as a sophisticated
reaction against the primitive custom of sexual display. Clothes may
"resemble a perpetual blush upon the surface of humanity," but by
concealing the greater part of the body, they arouse an unholy curiosity
to know what's actually under all that yardage. Sexual emphasis in
women's fashions changes rapidly. Over a period of a relatively few
years in almost any given century since the fourteenth, emphasis will
shift from the hips to the belly to the bust and back again. In this
century we have enjoyed the added attraction of legs, to say nothing
of backbones and belly buttons. Apparently, men get bored with the
same scenery and need the constant refreshment of new landscape.
Modesty in clothing, particularly in women's clothing, is usually
an excellent indicator of the social and religious standards of any given
period. During the early Middle Ages, in a society dominated by the
Church, clothing was quite conservative, covering and disguising the
figure. Formal costume for men and women was similar, very nearly

sense to dress

Seduction

in dress

manuscript illuminations, about

is by checking to see who
wears the beard. Normally, the unisex look is to be found only in
societies where little emphasis is placed on sex other than for the
laudable purpose of procreation. Consider the uniformly trousered
masses of modern China. Today's unisex look is another matter entirely.
identical. In cathedral sculptures or in

the only

Modesty has long dictated

that a

woman
ical

should conceal her physattributes; morality has dic-

how

tated

During

well.

reign of pious Philip

somber
stiff

ding

the

of Spain,

II

bound bosoms,

colors,

and excessive padabove) reflected the

corsets,
(left,

asceticism of the age.

Two

and

a half centuries later, fashionable

wome7i of the French Directoire

(left, below) dressed for a more
permissive age in sheer fabrics

that

revealed

strained

the

rather
figure.

con-

thai2

As French

fashions changed toward the

end

of the nineteenth century, muslin

gave way to velvet, and
white to black. Billowing fabrics,

flowers

vast

expanses

were

a la

portrait of

and jewelry, and

of

mode,

Mme

alabaster
as

the

skin

Ingres

Moitessier seen

above plainly indicates.

Sex per

way

se

sex can easily be determined

is still

important, almost obsessively

so,

but sex-stereotyped

roles are increasingly obsolescent.

Extreme modesty in costume usually indicates a repressed or regimented society. Spanish styles of the mid to late sixteenth century
provide an excellent example. In this era, manners were formal and
morality was rigorous. Society was repressive both politically and
intellectually; there was little social mobility or personal freedom and
there was even a system of ideological thought control, the Inquisition.
Women's costume was severe and angular, the torso totally flattened
under heavy corsetry, the sleeves padded to give a geometric, unnatural
line to the arm. Strong, tough velvets or heavy satins and damasks were
favored; rich, dark colors were preferred.
By contrast, the era of the French Directoire was a period of
extreme freedom. Society was mobile, manners were relaxed, morality
was considered to be a matter of personal inclination rather than public
decree. This state of affairs was reflected directly in women's costume
with its strong neoclassic trend. Garments were simple, uncorseted,
and as easy as their wearer's virtue. Underwear was normally not worn
at all, and dresses were often wrung out in water before putting them
on so that they clung more closely and revealingly to the body. A
great lady's ball gown might weigh all of five ounces and could be
drawn through a ring. The hairstyles were soft and tousled; women
had a "just out of bed" appearance, which may very well have been
the case. The thinnest, most delicate silks and muslins, inevitably white,
were worn. Touches of color were introduced in trimmings and accessories, but decoration was held to a minimum.
11

The quality of seduction in clothing largely depends on what

type of female is considered most sexually desirable at any given time.
In the mid-nineteenth century, polite society was dominated by mature

who had

youth and, if truth be told, were

gowns emphasized a vast expanse
of creamy bosom, elegant bare arms, a tiny waist, and massive haunches.
Majestic, well-fleshed, sophisticated, slightly world-weary, they gaze
out of the canvases of Ingres with a placid and somewhat bovine air.
Youthful innocence also had its charms. Billows of white muslin
provided a pleasant alternative to the flowing yards of heavy velvets.
Afternoon gowns of roughly the same period, tiered and flounced with
ruffles, were set off with only the most delicate embroidery or narrow
black ribbons. The eff^ect was naive, childlike, and wickedly alluring.
On young women, such costumes must have been irresistible. Older
women would have done well to avoid them lest, in the words of the
time, they resemble "mutton done up hke lamb."
Matron or child, both costumes indicate the generally subservient
role of women in a basically male society. Throughout most of
Western civilization, women's clothing has been designed deliberately
to inhibit or prevent free movement, to limit action, and hence to limit
freedom. Hoop skirts, hobble skirts, corsets, and high heels all have
been highly touted in the name of fashion and all have been physically
restrictive. Wearing the pants or the shorts, or the kilt men have
generally been free to carry on an active life. Women, by contrast,
have been kept in skirts and, until the present century, the skirts were
long and voluminous. Nothing could speak louder of the male determination to keep women barefoot and pregnant. Only in the present
century with the increasing independence and liberation of women has
the basic stereotype and the basic costume altered appreciably.
Traditionally, women have dressed for seduction, men have dressed
matrons

passed their

first

quite well along in their second. Their

for status. Consider, briefly,

become

how

impossible social relations

would

you would not be

able to tell the waiter from the customers. A policeman would look the
same as a burglar. A lawyer or judge would be indistinguishable from
the prisoner at the bar; there's often little enough difference as it is.
Throughout history, Western and non-Western, lack of clothing
has normally indicated a lack of status. In ancient Egypt, children went
if

everyone went naked. In

a restaurant

happily naked until they reached puberty. They had no status, loved
and cherished though they were. Slaves were unclothed; they were
nonpersons. In pre-Inca Peru, the Mochica immediately stripped their
prisoners of war, removing their emblems of rank and their humanity.
The modern world does not strip, it merely humiliates. An elegantly
turned-out prostitute, thrown in the slammer, is issued black oxfords
with Cuban heels, ankle socks, plain cotton dresses, and underwear with
bras laundered flat and useless. In 1944, at the trial of the generals
who had conspired against Hitler, the defendants were outfitted in old,
nondescript clothes, deprived of collars, neckties, and suspenders. A
once-proud field marshal, even his false teeth gone, could only mumble in the dock, fumbling at his beltless trousers like a dirty old man.
The military mind has always been particularly obsessed with

12

In every society,

from

the most

aboriginal to the most advanced,

clothes are the first and foremost

of status. They identify

the priesthood, the military, the

index

7nerchant class and in so doing

reinforce the noand rank. There is,
for example, no mistakiiig the
power and pelf of the Mayan
princes see?! at lower right; their
"borrowed finery''''jaguar skins,
quetzal plumes, jade, and shells
bespeaks their privileged place
in Mesoamerican society. The
same was true of the samurai of
feudal Japan. Their heavily emautojnatically

tions of caste

bellished

armor,

?7iounted

by

mask

(right,

generally

lacquered

above),

set

sursteel

them

apart from the rest of Japanese

society as co?npletely as did
their professional

code of

ethics.

status:

"You

salute the

uniform and nor the man." In warfare

obviously necessary to have costume coded in such a

way

it

is

that rank

can be immediately determined and friend can be distinguished from

foe. Even the drab and khaki-clad armies of today retain this system
of identification, although the sartorial splendors of a military levee at
the Court of St. James's are long gone. In the days of the Napoleonic
Wars, the presence chamber was a mass of color; naval officers in blue
and gold, infantry in scarlet, light infantry in a multitude of colors,
greens, blues and white, the glitter of stars and decorasomber richness of fur, the swirling robes of the Knights of
the Garter, of the Bath and of St. Patrick, topped off with bearskins,
plumed helmets, cockaded top hats, bicornes, and tricornes.
Such magnificence is by no means restricted to the Western world.
The armor of the Japanese samurai reveals a similar pride in military
arts and an equal obsession with rank. His armor was built out in a
series of flaps or plates of lacquered metal that gave him an impressive
bulk. A steel mask, modeled into a permanent snarl, protected his face.
Ancient Americans wore less armor, but they dressed in gorgeous
costumes to indicate their status. The Mayan frescoes from Bonampak
in southern Mexico show splendidly appareled warriors and chieftains

foreign

allies in

tions, the

13

wearing fiber headdresses with animal and marine motifs backed by

huge sweeps of iridescent quetzal feathers; jaguar skins held in place
by richly embroidered belts; ankles, wrists, and chests loaded with
jewelry made from shells, gold, and jade. They were, in actual fact,
dressed to

kill.

In civilian

life,

too,

men

have habitually dressed to indicate their

was often regulated

by sumptuary laws, which precisely defined who was permitted to wear
what. More often, the unwritten but equally rigid laws of society
position in the pecking order. In the past, clothing

determined these customs. An eighteenth-century sprig of the nobility,

for example, would have sent his lackeys to beat the presumptuous
middle-class counterjumper who had the temerity to wear a sword.

The

pursuit of status

is

is

gentility

garity and afraid of being overtaken." But

come up with

in the

way

what the human race

has

of clothing to proclaim status pales before

the ingenuity exercised, at one time

human body. The morbid

As Wilrunning away from vul-

the driving force behind fashion.

liam Hazlitt remarked, "Fashion

or another, to customize the

pastime of cutting, painting, constricting, and

The high price of high jashion is

not always measured in terms of
dollars;

otherwise improving on basic anatomy

probably rooted in protective

magic. The still-common practice of circumcision, for all the medical
tootle about health and hygiene, would seem to confirm this. In Egypt,
parts of Africa and the Americas, heads of infants were bound to
produce an elegantly sloping cranium. Mayan infants had a bead tied
to a strand of hair hanging down over their nose to ensure a fashionable
cross-eyed glare when they grew up. Constrictive leg bandages were
used in the Caribbean and arm rings in Melanesia, forcing the muscles
to bulge mightily on either side. Tattooing has been widely practiced
in all parts of the globe; a full tattoo suit can still be seen, though
rarely, in

downtown Tokyo. Body

is

scarification,

though

less

common,

still be found in Africa, particularly among Dahomean ladies of

rank who allow themselves to be carved like a Christmas goose for
purely cosmetic purposes. Men and women have worn ear spools so
enormous that an arm could be inserted through the distorted lobe;
nose ornaments that pierced and distorted the septum were once
popular; front teeth have been filed to elegant points or knocked out

can

accommodate ornate lip jewels.

As might be expected, women suffered the worst. In provincial
African courts at the turn of the century, young girls were forcefattened to hopeless obesity. The wives of the king of Karagwe could
not stand up; the explorer John Speke commented of one, "her features
were lovely but her body was as round as a ball." In old China, the feet
of high-born women were cruelly bound and compressed to form the
prestigious Golden Lilies. Her bride price depended directly upon the
altogether to

of her feet; her tiny shoes were exhibited to the prospective in-laws
during the marriage negotiations. From the age of three or four until
death, there was no respite from constant, tormenting agony.
That sort of thing can't happen here? On the contrary, the twentieth

size

century provides unparalleled opportunities for improving on nature.

It has not been all that long since the great beauty Anna Held had
her lower ribs surgically removed to reduce her waist to thirteen inches.

14

sometimes

curately

human

assessed
suffering.

tattooing,

ritiial

it is

in

more

ac-

terms

of

Foot binding,

scarification, cos-

metic surgery all cause physical

pain, yet all have been endured
fashion's name. Styles differ,
but the ijnpulse to reshape the

in

body

is

constant,

whether

distend the ear lobes with

spools

(above)

wasp waist by

or

it is

to

?}ietal

produce a
remov-

surgically

ing the lower ribs (opposite).

tell of toes amputated to permit a smaller

Skin can be burned with chemicals to remove freckles or

Society doctors today could

shoe

size.

abraded with pumice to discourage wrinkles. Face lifts are common.

Noses are pruned right and left. What God has forgotten is no longer
simulated with cotton, it is injected with silicone. Breasts can be lifted,
rears likewise, and an entire body lift is available for those who can
pay the price.
Men are by no means immune to the siren call of instant youth and

They

virility.

means

this

now

can

wig sewn

obtain so-called scalp transplants, in actuality

embedded

to wires

in the scalp.

They

often

Hair implants are available; in this operation small plugs

of hair are simply gouged out and resettled in more barren regions.
Compared to the cosmetic surgeons of today, the beauty experts
pull loose.

of the ancient world were pikers.

It

would be

of cosmetics.

human

difficult to cite a single

The

culture wholly innocent

magical function of body paint faded with the

of civilization, but the paint

itself

remained

as

ornament.

dawn

Men

and

women

have decorated their faces and bodies in all the colors of the
rainbow. Aztec ladies painted their faces a creamy yellow and dyed

their teeth red or black; Japanese geishas preferred a dazzling porcelain-

white complexion;

Roman and

Etruscan warriors favored a coating

of red lead for victory celebrations; and the ancient Briton stained
himself blue with woad. Conventional face painting has been a standyaa^iesKSM

ard aspect of fashion from ancient

The

hair of the

Egypt to the present.

head or of the male face has been similarly sub-

jected to improvement. Coiffures have been constructed with the aid

of such diverse ingredients as clay, tallow, lime, bear grease, and

manure.

The

sprays, gels, lotions,

better but the function

monthly rather than

still

the same. Fashion has often dictated hair

complex that they were combed out and re-erected on

styles so

is

is

cow

and lacquers of today no doubt smell

a daily basis.

And

told in beauty salons across the United States, of the

woman who
is

young

expired from the bites of spiders that had nested in her

overteased, oversprayed, and

There

the story, possibly apocryphal,

unwashed bouffant.

probably nothing, no matter

how

painful or repulsive, that

no costume,
however uncomfortable or ridiculous, that will not be flaunted with
pride in the name of fashion. Fashion functions and has always functioned as a means of wish fulfillment. Throughout the ages, women
will cause

humankind

to hesitate in the pursuit of beauty;

have wished to appear young, radiantly gorgeous, and infinitely desirable. Men have sought to look virile, distinguished, rich, and superior.
In all countries, climes, and eras, both men and women have pursued
the elusive goals of status and recognition, attributes which are usually
the prerogative of wealth and social position. By following or, better
yet,

by

setting the current fashion,

we

constantly identify ourselves

We

are still very much

with the social group, the ideal, of our choice.
convinced that clothes make the man. Intellectually, perhaps, we know
better; emotionally we remain true believers. By providing us with psychological security, fashion becomes not merely a luxury but a necessity.

Indeed,

if

fashion did not already

exist,

we should

have to invent

it.

15

Civilizing

Costume

For uncounted centuries man stalked the plains of Africa, splendidly

body hung with ornaments of bone,
teeth, claws, feathers, and shells, his private parts shielded against
malignant forces, his shoulders, head, or waist draped with trophy skins
attesting to his skill as a hunter. He moved northward across the land
tricked out in colorful paint, his

bridges that then linked the shores of the Mediterranean, following

in the tracks of the great animal herds.

As he continued

he probably became aware of a steadily increasing

morning he awoke

to find the

man had

his

chill in

long trek,

the

air.

One

ground blanketed with snow. Without

Age.
most of their body hair.
A commonly accepted explanation of the "naked ape" mutation is that
a hairless hide permits rapid cooling of the body during and after bursts
of strenuous activity, like running down game. The loss of body hair
and the increase in the number of swat glands were prime survival
factors in the development of early man. To compensate for the loss
of his fur coat, man developed a thick layer of subcutaneous fat. But
along the fringes of the ice sheets that covered northern Europe, this
natural insulation was not enough. Something new was about to be
intending

By

With

the advent of agriculture

and animal husbandry, 7nan was

able to abaTidon bis nomadic existence and settle in the fertile,
temperate

river

valleys

the

of

Near East.
The subsequent
growth of cities and commerce
brought about the
labor,

the

which

creation

which those
readily

divisio?i

of

in turn necessitated

of

costumes by
could be

specialists

identified.

There

is

no

mistaking the imperial presence

opposite.

massive

Her
wig,

kohl-lified

and

eyes,

bejeweled

dress identify her as a

member

household of the
Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III.
of

the

royal

to,

just entered the Ice

then, our ancestors had probably lost

added.

From

then on, animals were tracked

pelts as well as for their flesh.

down and

killed for their

thick bearskin, once the bear had

no further use for it, went a long way toward keeping out the cold.
But problems arose. For one thing, fresh hides reek to heaven. Although it is not likely that early man felt aesthetic revulsion against
the stinking, slimy hides he was forced to wear, the stench would have
clogged his keen hunter's nose and unnecessarily have advertised his
presence to the game he pursued. Moreover, when hides dry out they
become stiff and unmanageable. By way of remedy, it was found that
patient, steady mastication of a raw hide renders it soft and pliable. To
this day, Eskimo women follow this procedure, literally chewing the
fat far into the Arctic night. Oils and fats rubbed into the leather work
even better, although, like the chewing, the process has to be repeated
if the garment gets wet.
The discovery of tanning must have been accidental. Some ancient
genius found an animal hide that had soaked for a long time in a pool
with rotting oak or willow bark and discovered that the pelt remained
17

supple and impervious to water. Perhaps

out

how

to shape and stitch the hide to

garment was probably

similar to a

was

it

fit

his

wife

the body.

poncho,

who

The

figured

earliest true

hide with a hole cut in

it

to admit the wearer's head, then lapped and tied around the waist.

Although warm and protective, it must also have been cumbersome,

flapping about and getting in the way. But cutting and tailoring made
the garment more efficient. At first holes were punched with stone or
bone awls and the pieces laced together with sinew or hair. Little
perforated bone plates were used as stitching guides. The eyed needle,
crafted of bone or antler, was invented at least 40,000 years ago.
Paleolithic costume probably evolved into an outfit similar to
traditional Eskimo attire a semifitted jacket and pants. A fully flayed
outhide from a large animal, complete with the skin from the fore
and hind legs, would automatically have suggested a shape appropriate
for men. Interestingly enough, prehistoric women seem to have worn
fairly long skirts and shawls, sexual diff^erentiation in clothing thus
appearing very early. But there is probably a simple explanation: tailoring pants and jackets out of heavy furs would have been a long, painstaking, and boring task. Women, largely confined to the caves and the
care of children, did not need the same kind of physical mobility or
protection that men required. A simple wrap-around skirt and loosely
draped shawl or poncho would have provided more than enough
warmth and taken considerably less trouble to make. Even today, the
home sewer who faces the most complicated Vogue Couturier patterns
without blinking an eye would think twice before attempting a fully
tailored suit for her spouse.

In other, more temperate parts of the world, additional discoveries

were being made. At some remote point in time, the people of central
Asia discovered felt. Most likely this material was invented by herdsmen who wanted warm clothing but did not want indiscriminately
to

kill ofi^

combed

their domestic animals to get

it.

To make

felt,

animal hair

thoroughly
wetted and beaten, stamped, or rolled until the fibers mat together.
Apparently it was often given a particularly fine finish by dragging
is

lengths of

out, spread in layers

it

a mat,

across several miles of Siberian steppes at the

galloping horse. Felt

from

on the ground or on

is

extremely useful.

It

can be produced in

tail
all

of a

grades

and used for clothing, blankets, rugs, or tents. It

it ravel. Moreover, it can
be cut and tailored with ease into fitted garments. Central Asia has
given the world the caftan and the shaped jacket, costumes that still
fine to coarse

does not drape gracefully, but neither does

retain the crisp lines of their felt or leather prototypes.

In tropical and subtropical areas, cloth was made from the soft inner
bark of certain trees. Strips of bark were peeled from young branches
or new shoots, then soaked and beaten as in the felting process, until
the fibers adhered together. Since the material does not lend itself to

sewing or tailoring, it is usually made up into simple rectangular panels

and wrapped around the waist like the traditional Oceanian sarong.
Weaving was invented at a remarkably early date. The origins of
the craft are lost in primeval mist, but the plaiting and knotting techniques of the Mesolithic era for fishing nets, basketry, and the like

may

have provided the inspiration. In any event, weaving was rarely

attempted before mankind settled down in permanent agricultural communities. Looms tend to be heavy and nomadic peoples would surely
liave found them a crushing burden. Even today, wandering pastoral
tribes in central Asia do not weave their own cloth, although their

economy is based on flocks of sheep and goats. They buy fabric from
townsmen; in ages past they would have worn felt or leather. The
craft of weaving is unknown to them.
The Neolithic period emerged in recognizable form between 9000
and 8000 b.c. The discoveries of agriculture and stockbreeding enabled
our ancestors, with some grumbling no doubt, to forego their nomadic
existence and to settle in permanent village communities. The flocks
provided wool; flax and cotton were cultivated; the women spun
thread and settled down to the serious business of perfecting the
world's first major invention, the loom. Although societies have been
known where weaving was men's work, normally in the ancient world
it was done by women. Almost certainly women were responsible
for the basic design of this complicated device.

were
Flocks

domesticated

of

and goats were

river valleys of

and

fabrics

man's

and

Near East
animals were

the

fur-bearing

scarce.

sheep

plentiful in the

that
It followed, then,
should replace pelts as

identification

protection

elements.

of

against

The Sumerian

ette at left presents

status

the
statu-

an exajnple

of the ubiquitous male garb of

the era a skirt of bidky, fleecy
fabric that hung to mid-calf in
front and sported a padded tuft

By the time Gudea

(above) ascended the throne of

in the rear.

around 2130 B.C., the

had largely been
superseded by a plain but substantial woolen cloth draped to
cover the left shoidder and arm.
The Mesopotamian monarch
also wears a lambskin cap with
Lagash
tufted

kilt

a turned-up brim.

The

earliest fabrics

tabby weave, the simple over-and-under technique still used

by kindergarten children for potholders and place mats. In time, the
plain

design of the loom was refined

by

the addition of bars or sheds that

lowered the warp in various combinations to produce patterned weaving. Once weaving became a standard feature of village
life, costume as we know it developed rapidly.
raised or

Many men must

freedom of the good old days when
they hunted by day and swapped lies around the campfire at night.
Trotting around after a flock of tame sheep clearly lacks the excitement
and prestige of the hunt. Many early farmers and herdsmen were surely
reluctant to abandon their skins, the success symbols of former times,
and they must have regarded with suspicion the newfangled cloth
their womenfolk were weaving and wearing.
The earliest male costume from the ancient Near East was a compromise, combining the authority of fur with the convenience of cloth.
The garment, called the kaunakes, was the world's first example of
fake fur. It was made by threading tufts of wool or loosely rolled yarn
through a coarsely woven cloth panel. The tufts were inserted in neat
rows and brushed or combed toward the hem of the garment. The
result was a long, shaggy kilt that must have looked a great deal like
a flokati rug. In some of the early examples, a large tuft like a tail was
retained at the rear. Eventually Sumerian males were eased into plain,
heavy woolen cloth with tufts retained only as a decorative fringe.
The basic Sumerian garment was an unsewn rectangular piece of
cloth wrapped around the body and fastened on the left shoulder,
leaving the right arm free. For greater display of wealth or position, a
second garment was added, a shawl that could be draped around the
shoulders and worn in any number of ways. The wool was dyed a
variety of colors; bright red, saffron yellow, blue, and deep olive
green were particularly favored in ancient Mesopotamia. The basic
garments themselves were thickly overlaid with fringes, jeweled bands
Village domesticity was not achieved overnight.

deeply have regretted the

lost

19

and borders, rich cmbroidcrv, and decorative tassels. The effect was
and sumptuous. On the other hand, nakedness or a mere loincloth was the badge of slavery, although priests as slaves of the gods
often went naked on ceremonial occasions. By and large, in the Land
Between the Two Rivers, costume served to define and enhance social
status. Fashions were set by great lords and ladies, who in the pursuit
of dignitv quietly and stoically perspired into the many layers of
their heavy court costumes.
In ancient Egypt clothing developed along other lines entirely.
Garments there were woven from cotton and linen; wool was held in
contempt as something worn only by barbarians. For priests it was
ritually unclean. The Egyptians dressed for comfort, cleanliness, and
eventually elegance. The costume of the Old Kingdom {c. 2680-2258
B.C.) was simple and minimal. Pharaoh or slave, men wore loincloths
wrapped around the body and fastened in front. They could be
wrapped or draped in any number of ways, worn long or short, pleated
or unpleated, or starched to a stiff, pyramid-shaped front panel, but
for centuries the loincloth remained the basic and almost the only
article of male attire. Women wore straight sheath dresses supported
by shoulder straps. Sometimes the straps were broad and covered the
breasts; sometimes the breasts were left bare. The dresses, normally
made of white linen, were often ornamented with embroidery, beads,
and what appears to be featherwork. They were made from rectangular
brilliant

sewn up the side. Artistic conventions show them as

must have been more loosely fitted.
The Egyptians were not clothes conscious; they were body conscious. The attention they did not give to clothing was lavished on their
bodies. They bathed frequently, washed their linen daily, and spent
pieces of linen

skintight; in reality they

Linen light,

cool,

launder was

the

every

tually

jrom

slave'' s

aoh's haik.

Egyptian
loincloth

Woven

the flax that

and easy
basis

grew

of

to
vir-

garment
to

phar-

from
abundance

(right)
in

in the Nile Valley, this naturally

white

cloth

was

draped

and

pleated into hundreds of different shapes, hi the fresco detail at

left,

god

is

flanked by female

who wear

the bodyhugging linen sheath that was

attendants

known

as the kalasiris.

21

Living under an implacable sun,

the ancient Egyptians had little
use for elaborate clothing, and
(right) remained

cloth

Body hair was not tolerated. Both sexes

over with elegant crescent-bladed razors and rubbed their
skins with fine pumice. Their heads, too, were usually shaved, then
covered with a headcloth or, on gala occasions, elaborate wigs of animal
hours on personal grooming.

shaved

all

hair or vegetable fiber.

Eyebrows were kept

in

line

tweezers or removed entirely for ritual mourning,

upon the death of the

as

with delicate
for example,

family's sacred cat.

and perfumes were used

wigs

at

dinner

served

essential.

would provide his guests with cones of perwould slowly melt, drenching
in rare scents of myrrh or cinnamon. Cosmetics were
Ladies of rank were expected to be their own beauticians,

aids. They used foundation

creams to lighten their skins and colored their lips and cheeks with an
orange-tinted rouge. Fingernails and toenails were painted with a henna
stain. Eye make-up was especially important, kohl was used as an eye
liner and powdered green malachite as eye shadow.
To offset their white linen, the Egyptians wore jewelry of unparalleled magnificence. Both men and women favored the broad collar, a
deep semicircular bib composed of beads strung in many rows and

adept at concocting and applying beauty

often ornamented in back with a heavy counterweight. Pendants in

form of amulets were worn, rings were popular, and bracelets

were often crowded on from wrist to elbow. Precious and semiprecious
stones were used, but glass, "the stone that melts," cast in tiny decorative shapes, was also popular. Gold, of course, was preferred above all,
for it symbolized the eternal and incorruptible flesh of the sun and was
thought to promote eternal survival in the afterlife.
All of these charming earthly treasures were laid away with their
owners in the House of Eternity: golden razors and tweezers; brushes,
sticks, and tubes for eye make-up; manicure sets, combs and curling
irons; mirrors of polished silver supported by naked slave girls; opulent
the

trinkets for the wig; necklaces, crowns, breastplates, collars, bracelets,

and earrings; and, of course, the cosmetics chest,

jars, boxes, phials, and pots. No other ancient
communicates so clearly, directly, and intimately with us

anklets, rings, girdles,

civilization

across the gulf of centuries.

22

symbolic

tomb painting

funcdetail

below, a pharaoh

is identified by
beard and tenpin shaped

priest

leopard-skin cape.

for their heads. These

stuffed with tiny bottles,

largely

tions. In the

parties a thoughtful host

fumed ointment
the wearer's wig

for festive occasions.

(left)

Other forms of omamenthtion

and items of personal apparel

crown, a
lavishly;

loin-

essen-

tially unchanged for milleimia.

Another concession to the heat
and to their passion for personal
cleanliness was the removal of all
body hair. Women as well as
men wore their hair close-cropped or shaved their skulls entirely, then donned complicated

his false

Oils, pastes, lotions,

costume the

basic

their

Wi^

by

his

sacred

Egypt's costume changed very

years of

its

history.

The

little

during the three thousand

religion, social structure,

and moral philosophy

of the country were conservative, based on a deep belief in the eternal

The basic costume was occasionally modified,

and a few more garments were introduced from time to time, but
no radical changes occurred. In the New Kingdom (c. 1786-1314 b.c.)

stability of the universe.

the old straight gown, the kalasiris, became more elaborate. It was now
made of almost transparent linen, finely pleated, and wrapped around
the body in various ways. Sometimes it was cut with sleeves, sometimes

merely draped and tied to give a sleeved bat-wing effect. It might be

modestly sewn together or left open in front exposing the body from
the waist down. One shoulder, even one breast could be bared, but at
this time it was not usual to expose both breasts. The fabric could be
treated or draped to cling tightly to the body, delineating each curve.
Gowns acted as a showcase for a beautiful body, calling attention
to it in ways that simple nudity could not. In Egyptian art, goddesses
are often depicted wearing older styles, while mortals wear newer
fashions, but Egyptian costume was basically timeless. The Great Royal
Wife of the pyramid builder Khafre could have appeared 2,500 years
later at the court of Cleopatra in the dress of her own era and have
caused no more stir than a few lifted eyebrows.
Men's costume changed even less. Royalty might go in for longer
loincloths, semitransparent kilts with heavy jeweled girdles, or draped
gowns similar to those worn by women, but this was about the limit.
White was still predominant, but a few pale tints were added light
greens, blues, or yellows, since linen did not take richly colored dyes.

Red was seldom

Set, the evil

used. It

was

associated with the red-haired, ass-eared

brother of the god Osiris, and was considered unlucky.

Royal and priestly costume was consciously symbolic. The pharaoh

might wear the simple headcloth, but he also had a battery of crowns
for different occasions, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, the White
Crown of Upper Egypt, the Double Crown (a combination of the
two), and the Blue Crown, which' was adapted from a military helmet.
In a uniformly clean-shaven society the pharaoh wore a short, stiff
false beard fastened behind his ears. Even the great queen Hatshepsut
wore such an article when she ruled Egypt as the female Horus.
Royality also wore the haik, a large rectangular piece of very thin
cloth, knotted and draped around the body so that the wearer appeared
to have on three garments a short kilt, a tunic with flaring sleeves,
and a long cloak. It appears only in the New Kingdom, after the
Hyksos invasion of the Second Intermediate Period, and may indicate
Asiatic influence. Priests wore an elaborate tunic with double skirts and
a separate scarf tied around the hips. They also wore a ritual leopard
skin draped over the right shoulder. It was the only article from an
animal source permitted to them. Even their sandals were made of
papyrus.

Some

garments were recovered from the tomb of

his shaven skull the young king wore a
tightly fitted cap woven of fine linen and embroidered wih the uraeus,
the sacred cobra, in tiny gold and blue glass beads. Around his waist,
fascinating

Tutankhamen. Directly over

23

The

ancient Egyptians believed

that

all

personal orjiaments had

powers, and ?nost of

wore served a
ritualistic as well as decorative
purpose. The Eighteenth Dynasty necklace at left, for inbeneficiejit

the amulets they

stance,

is

dominated by the

sa-

cred scarab, a representation of

the Sim god, arid flanked by two
blue-skinned baboons

who

greet

jnorning sunrise.

The

cor-

the

selet above, part

of the legend-

ary

treasure

the

aoh

Tutankhamen,

cate

composition

lapis

lazuli,

nelian,

24

jasper

of

boy-pharan intriof gold and

is

turquoise and

and enamel.

cor-

over his funerary wrappings, he wore a ceremonial apron composed

of seven gold plates inlaid with multicolored glass and threaded together
with bead borders. Chests of clothing had been buried with him.

Among

the ruins of Tutankhamen's rotting finery

robes were found in a fair state of preservation.

two unusual

They were

long, loose

and bottom and around the

neck with intricately woven tapestry and fringe. They were made
from a rectangular piece of cloth folded in the middle and sewn along
the sides with the seams left open near the fold for the arms. A circle
was cut for the neckline and a slit was left down the front to ease
the garment over the head. The robes look rather like the short dashikis
that have enjoyed such popularity in the United States the past few
years. Such robes, curiously enough, are not pictured in the art of the
times. Apparently they were worn only for special ceremonies.
A pair of tapestry gloves have been found which seem to match
linen garments, decorated along the sides

the gala robes.

two

They

are quite

modern
by

pieces of fabric joined, boxlike,

fabric running along the edge of the

in construction, consisting of

a narrow band of contrasting

hand and between the fingers.

The

leggings found in the tomb are quite un-Egyptian, more like contemporary apres-ski lounging socks, meant to fasten a little below the
knee with tapes. The feet have separate pockets for the big toe like
the tabi, the traditional sock of Japan. Like the ceremonial robes, such
leggings are not shown in Egyptian art. Unable to cope with anything
so

atypical

them

of the Nile

as archers' gloves.

valley,

Garments

archaeologists
like these

originally

identified

lend a cautionary note to

art, the primary source of

our information about daily life, was formal and conventionalized,
with limited poses and attitudes. Egyptian costume may have been
much more inventive and varied than the tomb paintings and sculpture

the study of Egyptian costume. Egyptian

would

suggest.

The tomb of Tutankhamen also yielded a splendid corselet, a garment often shown on the monuments but never before recovered in
actual form. Small

enterprising

wonder, since

it

is

precisely the sort of thing an

tomb robber would have gone

after

first.

It

consisted

of a broad panel of tiny gold scales inlaid with carnelian, joined with

jeweled straps and an elaborate pectoral amulet to a broad, jeweled

collar.

No

people before or since have been so stubbornly resistant to

the influence of foreign costumes as were the Egyptians. In the

New

Kingdom, in the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties (1320-1085 B.C.),

Egypt conquered a great deal of the Near East and held its kingdoms
to tribute. Egypt's artists were fascinated by foreign clothing and
rendered it in minute detail in tomb paintings showing long lines of
tribute bearers coming to prostrate themselves before a Rameses or a

The nations of the Mediterranean are represented time and time

again Nubians, Libyans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Mitanni, Hatti and
Hurri, Edomites and Elamites, Minoans and Mycenaeans all rigged
out in a wild variety of robes, tunics, gowns, shawls, loincloths, kilts,
and penis sheaths. But only once did a foreign nation directly influence
Egyptian style: in the late Eighteenth Dynasty the young bloods at
Seti.

25

Although the gilded

left

statuette at

depicts Sekhemet, the lion-

headed goddess of war, the deity

garbed in mortal finery. Kalasiris
of sheer sometimes even
transparent linen were worn by
all upper-class women. The imis

bricaded design of overlapping

feathers seen here was popular
for generations. In fact, Egyp-

costume resisted significant

change for almost three thousand years, longer than any natian

tional dress in history.

the court of Akhenaten, the heretic king, and that of his successor, the

short-reigned Tutankhamen, had a passion for a short, snappily cut

wig dressed in the Nubian fashion. Otherwise, it was as if the Egyptians

were saying to their Mediterranean neighbors: "We are here; we have
always been here; and we shall always be here; therefore, we take no
interest in these passing novelties."

Egyptian court etiquette required that mere mortals lower their

eyes and keep them lowered in the presence of Pharaoh. This was

probably a fortunate thing, for many of the Near Eastern emissaries

would have been hard put to know where to look without going into
shock. The happy, hedonistic near nakedness of the Egyptians must
have seemed luridly indecent to the Asiatic ambassadors laboring under
the burden of heavy robes and repressive sexual mores.
Unlike Egypt, which maintained its ethnic and political stability for
three thousand years, Mesopotamia was constantly subject to invasion.
Kingdoms would rise, extend their influence through the Land of the
Two Rivers, become rich, complacent, and soft, then fall to a new wave
of barbarians sweeping down from the hills. The Sumerians were conquered by the Akkadians, who in turn were swept aside by the dynasties
of Lagash, Isin, Larsa, and Babylon. The Kassites ruled for about fivehundred years and fell to the warlike Assyrians. The Hittites founded

great empire to the north in Anatolia; the Aramaeans and Syrians built

strong states in the Levant; and the buffer zones were

by

filled

a host

of minor Idngdoms under the patronage of one of the great powers.

Mesopotamian

civilization

was quite unlike

that of Egypt. Egyptians

believed in a moral and cosmic order, in just and merciful gods

who

bestowed immortality on their devotees. Mesopotamian religions were

gloomy and pessimistic. The universe, as they saw it, was cursed with
chaos. There was no sure and certain hope of a glorious afterlife; the
souls of ordinary

men

few generations as spiteful, chitterOnly kings or great heroes

themselves were admitted to the company

existed for a

ing demon-ghosts, then vanished utterly.

who had made

name

for

of the gods to feast throughout eternity. This belief alone explains

why Mesopotamian

cultures placed such unremitting emphasis

on rank,

fame, and social status.

The

position of

women

also

differed greatly in the

two

areas.

women

had an unusual degree of personal freedom and

independence. In fact, the custom of marriage between brother and

Egyptian

so objectionable to the

sister,

Egypt was

modern world, was

essentially matrilinear:

inheritance,

instituted because

whether of the crown

itself

or merely of property, descended through the female. In the

East,

women

Near

did not inherit property, they ivere property. Apparently

the Sumerian ladies of the third millennium had a certain

amount of

was downhill all the way. The

decent married women of Assyria and Babylon were kept under wraps
and veiled; but harlots who dared to assume the veil were "beaten
fifty stripes with rods, and pitch was poured on their heads," a punishment that could seriously interfere with their professional careers.
Nudity and near nudity were considered shameful. Among the
Sumerians, goddesses and heroes were often depicted unclothed, but
freedom and

status,

but from there on

it

Assyro-Babylonian epoch, nakedness served to identify slaves

or female demons and had strong overtones of shame and degradation.
The long Sumerian robe remained in style in Mesopotamia for many
centuries, but was gradually replaced by a long or medium-length
sewn tunic with short sleeves worn with or without a girdle. This was
the sole garment of the working classes; the wealthy and well-born
added a second tunic and layers of shawls, shoulder capes, and cloaks,
all heavily fringed and embroidered. Costumes for men and women
were virtually identical, women's shawls being a bit fuller and more
loosely draped. The Babylonians were obsessed with social status, and

in the

elaborate costumes

were worn by the king and high

ceremonies the king wore

priests.

For great

deeply fringed shawl, shaped like a long

triangle, that wound around his body many times and was draped so
that only the fringe showed. Ordinarily he wore a smaller shawl that
spiraled around three times, with the end brought over the right shoulder.
When the Assyrian swept down like a wolf on the fold, his cohorts

gleamed not only

armor.

The

certainly the

in purple

and gold, but

first

people of the ancient world to exploit

and
development of arms and armor. Assyrian
a military state,

28

also in glittering, scaly iron

Assyrians did not invent ironworking, but they were

their greatest contribution to
soldiers

it.

Theirs was

costume lay

wore

tunics,

in the

prob-

The

peoples

Mesopotamia,

of

more prudish and more

status

conscious than the Egyptians,

chewed
in

favor

(above)

the
of
that

revealing

tunic

flowing

es-

loincloth

often reached the

wearer's ankles. Short tunics in

simpler

worn by
cormnon
at

fabrics

(below)

soldiers,
citizens.

laborers,

The

were
and

bas-relief

upper right provides

rare

Assyrian domestic
life. It shows King Ashurbanipal
and his wife dining alfresco.

gliinpse

of

%7 /

*"iT"i

V^^ "J^^'J.i i~^i'v^^/*^4^teA

^
'

--.ft-.!---

ably of leather, often plated

lapping like the scales of a

over with small pieces of iron over-

all

fish.

On

helmets of boiled leather or bronze.

their heads they

By

wore pointed

the late Assyrian period, they

had high boots that laced up the front over shin guards. Officers
had the additional protection of a mail hood covering their necks and
plated tunics falling to the ankle that combined protection and rank.
Assyrian formal costume was largely taken from the Babylonians.
The king wore a long, embroidered short-sleeved tunic of fine wool or
linen. A second, heavier tunic was worn over that, and the outfit was
topped off with either the draped Babylonian shawl or with a long, oval
poncho fastened somewhere at the sides to hold it more closely to
the body. The garments dripped with fringe and were encrusted with
embroidery. Mesopotamian embroidery, generally called "Babylonian
work," was famous throughout the ancient world and must have been
magnificent to see. None of it has survived, but sculptures and basalso

reliefs

of the period give a reasonably accurate picture. Courtiers dressed

The military insistence on

symbols of rank carried over into civilian life. Status was
indicated by strict attention to minute details the color, the precise
width of embroidered edgings, the depth of the fringe, and the richness

similarly to the king, but not so elaborately.

visible

of the material.
Little

is

known

of Assyrian female costume;

the harem, not on monuments.

Overleaf:

and

Priests

priestesses

Minoan Crete decorate the

side of a sarcophagus. The former wear long skirts with tails
of

the

kaunakes

The

latter are

Cretan
the

robes,

of

Mesopotamia.

fitted

through

woman's place was

noted exception

is

in

the wife of Ashur-

who is shown dining with her

The king reclines on a couch, his heavily embroidered tunic half-covered by a lap robe, his intricately curled and oiled
hair held in place by a headband. The queen's garments are similar to

banipal (king of Assyria 669-626 B.C.),

lord in the garden.

his.

She wears

clad in typically

bodice and e?nbroidered.

long-sleeved,

embroidered dress with a matching

draped across her

fringed shawl around her lower body, the end

The couple is attended by beardless servants possibly

eunuchs who wear long robes with deep fringe but no embroidery.
To the northwest of Egypt, in Homer's wine-dark sea, lay the
island of Crete with its flourishing Minoan civilization. If the manners,
shoulders.

29

and costumes of the Egyptians shocked the Near

Minoans would have embarrassed them even
more. The society of Crete was probably matriarchal in structure.
Certainly Minoan women enjoyed personal freedom and the advantages
of individual status. In the world of commerce or the world of the
social structure,

Easterners, those of the

royal court, in the shrines, or in the arenas for the quasi-sacred bull

women pursued their own careers, apparently the equals of men.

Almost alone among the civilizations of antiquity, the Minoans
seemed immune to the curse of militarism. The only major military
endeavor in Minoan tradition, an attempted invasion of Sicily, ended
in disaster and no doubt left the island open to the Mycenaean invasion
that ended the autonomy of the kingdom. Perhaps the absence of a
dance,

strong military tradition accounts for the apparent lack of interest in

outward symbols of rank. Status existed in Minoan culture as it does

all societies, but the Minoans were not obsessed with it, nor was their
society rigidly stratified. The throne room, still preserved in the ruins
of Knossos tells the story best. Minos, the king, sat on a throne as one
would expect, a majestic throne with a high back and a seat thoughtin

fully curved to

tedly on

flat

bottom. His councillors also

his exalted

fit

sat,

backless benches along the walls but the point

admit-

is,

they

Such an action would have been inconceivable in any of the royal

assemblies of the Near East or Egypt.
Minoan Crete was a maritime culture. For approximately seven
centuries (2100-1400 b.c), the Minoans dominated eastern Mediterranean trade. Although their country was small, their economy placed
them on a level of near equality with Egypt and Babylon. Minoans,
identified as Keftiu, are shown in tomb paintings bringing tribute to
sat.

Pharaoh, but this probably

one of those diplomatic compliments so

is

by
from the threat of

dear to the ancient world. Secure on a small island, protected

a

huge

fleet,

the Minoans

were comparatively

free

invasion and conquest.

Male costume was simple and

elegant.

Men wore

a brief loincloth

of patterned fabric, shaped to a point in front and held in at the waist

by

a tight belt, often decorated

with rosettes or

For journeys or outdoor work, they wore

fitted to the legs.

strenuous activity.
of leather, with

spirals in silver

or gold.

soft leather boots tightly

second type of loincloth was worn for sports and

It

consisted of a brief, diaperlike covering, possibly

short apron in the rear that barely covered the but-

tocks and with an intriguingly erotiC bulge in front.

Women's costume was

standard design was

a long,

equally elegant, but far

ing this basic pattern, Minoan

and came up with

a surprising

women

let their

number of

that they invented dressmaking in the

Minoan goddess

from

simple.

The

bell-shaped skirt and a tight bodice. Follow-

imaginations run free

variations. It

modern

might be claimed

sense of the word.

wear skirts that

number of other ways

figurines in either ivory or ceramic

are heavily flounced, pleated, tucked, or in a

embellished.

Dresses

may

have been composed of several successively shorter

worn one over

the other, but more likely the effect was achieved

by gathering lengths of material and sewing them onto a foundation so

skirts,

32

hem

fell over the head of the one below it. Over

was sometimes worn, cut very high at the sides
but falling approximately to the knees front and back. The waist was
pulled in by a broad, tight belt, probably of leather, similar to those
worn by the men. A bodice with elbow-length sleeves was worn on the
upper body, very closely fitted but cut away in front from the
shoulders leaving the breasts entirely bare. For the timid, blouses were
available in transparent linen. Bright colors were favored and both
bodice and skirt were richly ornamented with braid and embroidery.
Women wore their hair long, twisted and piled into intricate loops and
curls. Many of the Minoan figurines that have been found wear tall,
fantastic hats. Jewelery and cosmetics were popular and worn by men
as well as women. The overall effect was sophisticated, seductive, and

that the

of each flounce

the skirt a short apron

It is

the

thought that perhaps only

high

priestesses

of

ancient

Crete bared their bosoms com-

plunging decolletage
ivas a standard feature of the
pletely, but

Minoan

female's

attire.

As

the

statuette at left indicates, the fe-

male figure was ftirther emphasized by a shaped bodice, constricted waist, and many-tiered
skirt of complex design and intricate workmanship. The Minoans were pacific by nature, and
doojtied

therefore

to

eventual

conquest

by

more

neighbors.

The

Myce7iea?2s

bellicose

who

overrafi Crete in the second mil-

lennium

B.C.

adopted the native

added a new
element the unusually lavish use
of gold, which was worn at the
(below), pinned to the
ears
cloak, or sewn to gowns.
style of dress but

utterly charming.

The Mycenaeans,

the aggressive invaders of mainland Greece and

Minoan costume, but with

boxer shorts, possibly cut from
leather, rather than the Cretan loincloth or codpiece. Female costume,
obviously patterned after the Minoan, seems somehow stiffer and less
flowing, although this aspect may merely be the result of conventions
followed by Mycenaean artists.
When Homer spoke of Mycenae "rich in gold," he was not merely
the eventual conquerors of Crete, adopted
certain reservations.

Men

favored

stiff

The beehive tombs at that site had been

thoroughly looted during antiquity, but the shaft graves, located in a
sacred circle close inside the Lion Gate, yielded a staggering amount of
treasure cups, rhytons, diadems, rings, and several hundred large
sequins. The last-mentioned item, disks of thin gold, was ornamented
with patterns of flowers or sea creatures in repousse and pierced to be
sewn on festive robes. Mycenaean great ladies must have positively
clanked as they walked through the winding streets of their hilltop
indulging in poetic license.

fortresses.

After the fall of Crete, around 1400 b.c, the Mycenaeans, like the
Minoans before them, became masters of the Mediterranean. Mycenaean supremacy lasted for about two hundred years, then fell as a
result of some overwhelming disaster, usually identified with the semilegendary Trojan War. While the Achaeans (or Mycenaeans) seemingly

won

success.

that war.

Homer

The Achaean

great heroes

were

armies

does not paint a picture of unqualified

w^e

decimated by plague and

many

battl^ Often, the Greeks who did return

and Odysseus returned to face death, destruc-

killed in

home like Agamemnon

own cities. Legend attempted to deal poetiwith brutal reality. Historical fact suggests that what actually took
place was an abortive raid against Egypt during the late Empire
period. The Achaeans and the other sea peoples allied with them were
soundly defeated. The Mycenaean kingdoms never recovered. A
marked decline set in. Less wealth was seen in the cities. Many of the
naval bases and trading posts were abandoned. The commerce of the
eastern Mediterranean fell into other hands. When the end finally
came around 1100 b.c. with the savage invasion by the Dorian Greeks,
it came to an already dying civilization.
tion, or rebellion in their

cally

33

The

Classical

World

Into the declining Mycenaean kingdoms swarmed

horde of un-

invited guests, the Dorians. Like the Mycenaeans, the Dorians

were

Greek-speaking and descended from the same ethnic stock that had
produced the earlier civilization. But the Dorians had existed on the
fringes of the Mycenaean world, uninfluenced by the sophisticated
culture of Crete. Savage, illiterate barbarians, greedy for land and
gold, the Dorians spread through Greece like a flood, leaving behind
them a path of total destruction. Scornful of cities, they pillaged and
burned them; despising the arts of civilization, they destroyed what
they did not understand. Thus began the Dark Ages of Greece, a period
of cultural decline lasting from about 1100 to 800 B.C. an inauspicious
beginning for one of the most brilliant artistic and intellectual cultures
the world has ever known, that of classical Greece.
During the time of troubles, Mycenaean refugees fled to Ionia,
where the Dorians had not yet penetrated, or to the great walls of the
Athenian acropolis, where the invaders had been repulsed. As time
passed, a new civilization emerged based on remnants of the old Mycenaean culture, leavened by the advanced cultures of the Ionian mainland,
and transformed by the restless vitality of the Dorians.
Like Greek civilization, Greek costume evolved out of a combinaLike the Egyptians before them,
the ancient Greeks demonstrated
a

clear

clothes

The

preference

and immutable designs.

salient

of

Attic

was

essen-

features

costume were that

tially

simple

jar

it

shapeless, that

it

made no

accommodation to the wearer's

size or sex, and that it was always draped, never cut or fitted.

The

vase painting detail opposite

shows enthroned "Leus clad

the classic himation with

wearing the chlamys over

kilt.

The goddesses

in

in

Hermes
a brief

his

ret-

inue wear the peplos, a belted

robe that

falls

to

the ankles.

tion of Doric and Ionic elements. Pure Doric costume survived well
into the fifth century in conservative Sparta,

Spartans' rustic virtues.

The garments

where

of woolen fabric that could be draped about the

The

basic

costume for

men was

appealed to the

it

consisted of rectangular lengths

body

in various

ways.

the exomis, a plain strip of cloth

fastened on the left shoulder to leave the right

arm

free.

Usually belted

and faUing to about mid-thigh, it permitted great freedom

of movement and could easily be discarded for heavy or dirty work.
That working men are often shown naked in Greek vase painting is to
be understood as a fact of everyday life, rather than as an artistic convention. Over the exomis men often wore a long woolen robe, the
himation, which was not pinned or fastened, but merely draped around
the body in various ways and tucked in at the waist to stay in place.
Men of the upper class and the intelligentsia often wore it as their
only garment, for the exomis had distinct working-class overtones. For
at the waist

journeys or for military activity,

men wore

a short, rectangular cape,

the chlamys, in place of the himation.

35

Over many

cenuiries the Attic

Sim has bleached the color pom

these draped figures, but the eslines

sential

revhwia three-di-

mensional

catalog

of

Athenian

fashion.

At

changing
right,

kore of the Archaic period wearing an embroidered himation

over an Ionic chiton of dyed,
finely

ivoven linen. Above, the

famed Caryatids supporting the

Erechtheum porch atop the
They also wear
Acropolis.
the Ionic chiton, adopted in 558
and generally cut from linen

B.C.

instead of wool.
at

7nent

than

36

As

the bas-relief

indicates, the latter gar-

left

was
its

considerably

Doric predecessor.

fuller

Women's costume was

equally uncomplicated. Doric

made of

the peplos, a long robe

reaching from the shoulder to the ankle with

the top falling to the waist.

bv two
or,

left

by

generous overfold

at

was caught and held

the waist, sewn up the side,

the shoulders

large pins. It could be belted at

Spartan fashion,

in

At

women wore

the usual blanketlike piece of cloth,

it

open on the right

Athenians pro-

side.

women,

calling them
nymphomaniacs. Not so; as children. Spartan girls exercised naked with
the boys and as grown women enjoyed a degree of self-reliance and
independence unknown to the more sheltered women of Athens. Such
insults from ignorant foreigners could be disdainfully ignored.
Athenian women also wore the peplos in the archaic period, but
with a difference. Their garments were narrower and modestly sewn up

fessed to be shocked

the bare-thighed Spartan

the side seam, as seen in

many

vase paintings of the sixth century.

Spartan ladies probably wore a peplos of plain, unbleached wool, perhaps with a narrow ornamental border; but the Athenian and Ionian

women reveled

in luxuriously patterned

weaving and embroidery. They

preferred geometric patterns, the favorite design being a checkerboard

with

rosettes,

crosses,

Athenian

firewheels,

The meander,

alternate squares.

women were

or

palmettes,

or stylized

animals

in

Greek key, was used along borders.

not allowed to retain their Doric peplos for

were defeated in a military venture

long. In 558 b.c. the Athenians

against Aegina; only one

women, outraged

that he

the field of battle, attacked

man
still

lived to tell the tale.

lived while so

many

him and stabbed him

The Athenian

others lay dead on

to death with the long,

daggerlike pins they used to fasten their gowns. According to Herodo-

men were more

tus,

the Athenian

loss

of their entire army.

To

horrified at this

punish the

women,

murder than at the

was decreed that

it

they should lay aside the Doric style and wear instead the Ionic chiton,
foregoing such potentially dangerous trinkets. As

patriotic gesture

women of Aegina and those of Argos, its ally, retained the

gown and made their dress pins half again as long and lethal.
the

In fact, Ionic costume had long been popular

The main

difference between the

two

Doric

on the mainland.

styles lay in the fabric itself.

While Doric costume was of good, honest wool, the Ionic was of
In other respects, the costumes of both areas were
similar, made of the same flat pieces of cloth with local variations in
seaming and draping. The Ionic chiton was much more voluminous

fine, thin linen.

than the Doric peplos, sometimes as

sewn down the

side. Slits for

much

as nine feet

wide, and always

the arms were left at the top, not the

garment, which was caught together at intervals along the

upper arm by seaming or by tiny brooches or studs. It was then tied
at the waist by a narrow cord and the upper part was pulled out over
the cord to give a blouselike effect.
sides of the

An

alternative

way

of controlling the drape of the material was to

use a longer cord crossed between the breasts and looped at the back

and under the arms before tying. This brought the garment closer
to the body and permitted the arms greater freedom of movement.
Tied and draped properly, it gave the effect of sleeves. The linen used
for this graceful dress was thin and more or less transparent. A heavier
37

cloak was often

worn over it, passing under the left arm and fastened
The cloak had a wide ornamental border and was

along the upper right.

occasionally embroidered in an all-over pattern. This costume can be

seen to perfection in vase paintings of the archaic period, or on the

lovely korai, the votive maidens of the Athenian Acropolis.

Young men

of good family

wore

No

doubt the city elders lamented

philosopher, seeing a group of

snarled,

"Affectation!"

Then

garments on formal ocembroidered.

trend toward sybaritic luxury.

similar

casions, just as suggestively transparent

this

and

as delicately

young men thus splendidly

seeing a

attired,

band of Spartans, laconically

shabby robes, he added: "More affectation!"

The Greeks loved fine clothes and made use of intricate methods
of draping to express their individual personalities; yet, on the whole,
they were body conscious rather than clothes conscious. They exercised
naked in the gymnasium, and they competed naked in the games. Some
sort of costume, probably the exomis, appears to have been worn in the
draped

in deliberately

earlier games, but in the fifteenth Olympiad in 720 b.c. the contestants
appeared without clothing. The only sport requiring a traditional

costume was chariot racing. For this a long, belted chiton was worn,
famous bronze sculpture of the Charioteer of Delphi.
A fine, well-developed body was prized above all worldly goods,
and a great deal of time and effort went into cultivating and maintaining it. Even men who had neither the ambition nor the talent
to star in the games worked out religiously from childhood on. Along
with the study of music and poetry, physical education was one of the
main features of the schooling of the Greek gentleman. Classical
Greece was probably the only culture known where complete nudity
was acceptable at a formal dinner or at a symposium a drinking party
provided, of course, that the man in question had the figure to carry
it off. Such a display might have been felt to indicate an unhealthy
amount of pride, but it would not have been considered indecent.
Other Mediterranean nations would have found it hard to understand this attitude, which, for that matter, had not always prevailed in
Greece itself. As Plato remarked: "It is not so long ago that the
Hellenes, like most barbarians, regarded the naked man as something
shocking and ludicrous." Certainly the Persians never understood the
Greeks. What was worse, they made the mistake of underestimating
them. When Darius sent a huge force to Marathon, it never occurred
to him that he would be defeated by the small band of Athenians and
Plataeans drawn up to oppose him. When Xerxes attempted Ws invasion
some years later, he moved at the head of an army that, according to
Herodotus, drank whole lakes and rivers dry in its passing. Yet he, too,
learned his lesson the hard way, in defeat at Salamis and Plataea. In
as seen in the

many

of the Greek

monuments

of the fifth century, Persians joined

the ranks of traditional enemies of the

GreeksTitans, mythological

Trojans who allegorically represent barbarism and tyranny brought to heel by Greek intellect and independence.
Persian costume was different from any in the Mediterranean
centaurs, and

cultures so far discussed. Sumerians, Egyptians, Assyro-Babylonians,

and Greeks
38

all

made

their attire

from lengths of

fabric draped around

The

ancient Greeks were body

conscious

to

degree unparal-

leled

among

They

exercised, bathed in public,

and
fields

civilized

competed on
stark

societies.

the

athletic

naked. In fact, the

only athletic costume in

all

of

Greece was the chiton worn for

chariot racing (below). Although
Persia lay just across the

Aegean

developed
costume
its distinctive national
(right) from central Asian rather

Sea from Greece,

it

than from Attic antecedents.

fr\'

-rsj-

.V

^f^iyw^a.^

,.S:^

-J%.-^

^^"

^j
I

-"~^j-J

%;V,

1^1

^- /-Kfl

|S*><-*

39

with

their bodies

minimum

of sewing.

The Minoans

alone

made

extensive use of seaming and dressmaking, but their costume style died

out in the chaos of the Dorian invasions and their aftermath.

The

Per-

were heirs to a totally different tradition of dress. Their ancestors

were horsemen out of the plains of central Asia, the home of tailored
and fitted garments of felt and leather.
Original Persian costume consisted of an open, knee-length coat
and fairly wide trousers, usually cut in several pieces, since the patterns
sians

had to be adapted to the

size

of the available hides.

Persian Wars, such basic outfits were

tribes

of barbarian

still

being

At the time of the

worn by outlying

horsemen Parthians, Scythians, or Sarmatians

but the Persians themselves had borrowed elements from the A4edes and

more sophisticated national style.

Achaemenid costume consisted of long, wide

Babylonians, thus evolving a

The
gathered

basic
at

trousers

the waist and tapering to the ankles; a long-sleeved tunic

was worn with the pants and belted over them at the waist. Both tunic
and pants were made of soft wools or medium-weight linen. In sculptures and vase paintings the fabric is shown draping gracefully. Over
the tunic, Persians wore a long coat with fitted, set-in sleeves. It was
often worn hanging off the shoulders and tied at the neck, with the
sleeves falling free. Soft, low boots or shoes were worn and a wide
variety of hats. Kings wore the long, flowing Median robe of honor, a
rectangular sewn garment, unfitted and voluminous, pulled over the
head and belted to give the effect of large, flowing sleeves. Color was
used lavishly and costumes were enriched with embroidery or tapestry-

woven bands of decoration.

The Persians did not force their costume onto their subject peoples.
The great Achaemenid kings were masters of many nations, and the
varieties

of national dress seen at royal assemblies must have been

a pleasant reminder of that fact.

staircase at Persepolis

shows

all

The

beautifully carved ceremonial

manner of men come

pay tribute.
The delegation from Parthia
to

Some bring articles of clothing as gifts.

bring sleeved coats and long, narrow trousers with feet attached, per-

first leotards. In the seventh book of his histories,

Herodotus describes at length the military costume of the Persians
and their allies Medes, Cissians, Assyrians, Lydians, Bactrians, and
many others. As far as the Greeks were concerned, they were all
barbarians, all had been defeated, and most of them wore pants.
The classical Greeks and their successors in the A4editerranean never
deviated from the firm opinion that draped robes identify the civilized
man, while pants are worn by barbarians. But the Greeks had no
objection whatever to some of the more opulent aspects of semiOriental attire rich, deep colors, even royal purples; increasing use of
gold thread and ornament; and the new luxury fabric, silk, which

haps the world's

began to be seen

On

in

Athens during the Age of

Pericles.

became quite complicated after the Persian Wars.

the one hand, there was an influx of foreign luxury goods, and on

Greek

fashions

the other, an upsurge of nationalism revived the popularity of the

Doric peplos. The Ionic chiton came back into favor in the fourth

century, perhaps as a result of anti-Spartan sentiment engendered

40

by

^^^(^Jt^i'^l^

The

the Peloponncsian Wars.

chiton was draped, tied, and fastened in

complicated ways and often combined with Doric elements,

the deep ovcrfold at the top, with the himation artfully draped

v^arioirs

like

over

all.

The conquests

of Alexander in the late fourth century b.c.

made foreign costume more acceptable; women are frequently shown

wearing semifitted gowns with long, tight sleeves embroidered and
ornamented

Greek
self

in the Persian fashion.

style, like

Alexander, conquered the world. Alexander him-

had been fired by

a vision of

one world, an empire of cultural

as

well as political unity. But at his death, the political unity of his vast

empire collapsed into

new

patterns of emerging Hellenistic

by Macedonian dynasties the Ptolemys

kingdoms

Egypt, the Seleucids

in Syria, and the Antigonids in Greece, while a host of minor kingdoms
took up the slack in between. Yet throughout the Hellenistic world
ruled

in

of Greek cultural influence swamped the venerable culEgypt and the Near East. Alexandria, Antioch, Pergamon,
Ephesus, all were basically Greek cities with Greek language,

a rising tide

tures of
Sardis,

religion, customs,

and general culture superimposed onto indigenous

Only an Alexander brash, ambitious, himself only halfcivilized would have presumed to reject the ideals of civilizations far

traditions.

older than Greece and to substitute Hellenism in their place.

And

perhaps only the ancient Near East, accustomed to the tradition of

divine kingship,

would have been overawed by

personality into accepting

Throughout

his

larger-than-life

it.

the eastern Mediterranean, wealthy and fashionable

men and women, no matter what

their backgrounds, spoke, thought,

and dressed Greek. Back in Athens, which was sliding rapidly into a
condition of shabby gentility, philosophers in the plain Doric himation
came and went talking of the past glories of the Age of Pericles.
Meanwhile, in the western Mediterranean, a conflict was brewing

that

At

its

height the Persian Empire

stretched

from the

Mediterranean

Indtis to the

arid frojii the In-

dian Ocean to the Caucasus.

Dozens of captive nations came
under the sway of Persia's great
kings Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes
and each sent tribute-bearing
emissaries
year.

shows

The

to

Persepolis

bas-relief detail

those

every

above

representatives

their varied national finery

traditional

headgear.

in

and

was

to decide the fate of the

Western world. Many

civilizations

had emerged and declined in the Aegean, while to the west the Italian
peninsula lay shrouded in obscurity. By 1000 b.c. Italic-speaking
peoples had begun to drift in successive waves into the central and
southern parts of Italy, where they made permanent settlements. One
such tribe, speaking the Latin dialect, settled along the western coast
on the Tiber River and later came to form the heart of the strongest
and most stable empire known to Western civilization.
Roman civilization was slow to develop. During the formative
years (700 to 350 b.c), the Romans were overshadowed by the Etruscan kingdoms to the north of Rome and by the Greek city-states to
the south. Both the Etruscans and Greeks were culturally superior to
the agrarian Romans, whom they very likely considered little better
than barbarians. Traditionally the Romans dated the foundation of their
city to 753 b.c, but during the early centuries of its growth, Rome was
subject to Etruscan influence and domination. Etruscan kings ruled
Rome until 509 b.c when the last of them, Tarquin the Proud, was
driven out and Roman independence proclaimed.
Etruscan origins are obscure, but recent archaeological evidence
indicates a Near Eastern source. Their costume, like their culture, was
41

eclectic, consisting of a combination of Greek and Asiatic elements

together with details peculiarly Etruscan. In the archaic period, women

wore gowns showing unmistakable Near Eastern

influence: long dresses,

with half-length sleeves, fitted tightly to the upper part of the body
and flaring out in the skirt. Details of seaming are not clear. The sleeves
for example, seem to be cut in one piece with the body of the dress,
which would have resulted in a shocldng waste of fabric. Perhaps the

was achieved bv inset gores. The gown was high

neck and open down the back, where it was fastened with
ribbons and worn unbelted.
fullness of the skirt

in the

42

The

timeless

rapture

the

of

dance absorbs the two figures

left,

who gambol

at

across the wall

of an Etruscan tomb. Both wear

versions of the tebemia, a sejnicircular cloak that

was the fore-

runner of the Roman toga. The

tebemia came in a variety of
lengths

and

colors,

terned borders were

For

and

pat-

common.

variation, an overblouse of heavier material reaching to the

worn over the gown. The material used was linen or

many of the costumes shown in the tomb paintings
Tarquinia are quite transparent. Some dresses were embroidered

hips might be

lightweight wool;
of

with an all-over pattern of tiny dots or floral motifs; all had bands
of decorative braid or embroidery at the hem, neckline, and sleeves.
Women usually wore a cloak over the dress, a plain rectangle of wool
draped over the shoulders and sometimes covering the head.
Etruscan men of this period wore a version of the fitted tunic with
short cap sleeves. Older men wore the tunic long, down to mid-calf.
43

yw

while young men cut it so short it barely covered their behinds. The
longer tunics were often decorated with clavi, vertical borders in strong
contrasting colors. This ornament carried over into

Roman

costume,

wore the
became
the prototype for the Roman toga. Often the tebenna was worn alone
without the tunic, draped carelessly over the arms. Like the women,
where

it

indicated rank and status.

Over the

tunic they

distinctive Etruscan cloak, the tebenna, a semicircular scarf that

men favored sheer fabrics. Both sexes loved strong and lively
colors rich blues, greens, reds, and yellows. Instead of sandals, they
usually wore soft boots with pointed, turned-up toes, probably the
the

most

distinctively

Near Eastern

feature of Etruscan costume, indicat-

ing a central Anatolian origin.

Etruscan jewelry was sensational and doubtless contributed to the

early tales of Etruscan luxury, so detested by the early impoverished

Romans. Etruscan tombs have yielded necklaces, brooches, diadems,

and other ornaments of every description and purpose.
Their artisans worked in gold, using highly advanced techniques of
repousse and granulation. The Etruscans' treasures were buried with
them in the carved and painted tombs of Cerveteri and Tarquinia. The
pleasures of this life were thought to be repeated in the next, an eternity
of feasting, drinking, dancing, and music-making in olive groves and
bracelets, rings,

44

The Roman
as

toga,

could

that

which began
garment

inilitarian

strictly

worn

be

by

any

adult, evolved into a cereynonial

robe of such complexity and

momerit that it was seldom worn
except on state occasions. Toga
draping was an art in itself, and
powerful Romans such as EmTiberius
(above)
emperor
ployed servants exclusively for
purpose.

that

sacrifice
left),

to

noble

When
the

offering a

gods

(above,

Romans drew

a fold

of the toga over their heads as a

gesture of piety. In wartime the

toga was abandoned in favor of

the

sewn

linen tunic,

worn under

the

armor

which was
(right).

vineyards, or reclining

on couches

built for

two while being served by

beautiful naked boys.

tlie third, much of the exuberance
seems to have drained out of Etruscan art and life. The
old vivid costumes were abandoned; the tomb paintings show sad-eyed
couples resigned to their fate, wearing costumes that are almost direct
copies of the Greek. The husband still hands his wife an egg, the
symbol of eternal life, but now the gesture lacks joy and hope. Demons
of the underworld are frequently pictured, and the view of the after-

In the late fourth century and in

and

vitality

becomes increasingly pessimistic. They must have known by then

were a people without a future. Exhausted by wars with the
Gauls and local Italic tribes, they were conquered by the Romans
and their sophisticated culture was wiped out. The Romans then performed the final insult of blackening their reputation to posterity, picturing them as lascivious, heartless tyrants, steeped in blood and gold.
life

that they

The

plain truth

is

that the

Romans owed much

of their culture to

the Etruscans and didn't like to be reminded of that embarrassing fact.

Roman

religion, in particular,

superficial

which

was derived from

Etruria, for

resemblance to the Greek pantheon; and

at first glance

Roman

all

of

its

architecture,

seems to derive from Greek prototypes, can also

be traced to Etruscan sources. Throughout much of their early history,

the Romans had distinct feelings of cultural inferiority. Once the

had been subjugated, the Romans

Hellenized as possible. But while
broad, Roman Hellenization was not deep; it was at best like the
lavish sheets of fine-colored marble veneer that covered the sturdy

Greek

city-states of southern Italy

absorbed Greek culture and became

buildings

made from

honest,

Roman costume was

as

homely Roman

eclectic. It

brick.

took the tebenna from the Etrus-

and transformed it into the toga. Women borrowed the

Greek chiton and himation, modified into the stola and palla. The
Roman army went so far as to steal the trousers from the Gauls and
reissue them as standard military equipment. The Romans were thus the
cans, enlarged

first

Mediterranean people to adopt

this particular

item of barbarian

borrowing from various sources, even

perhaps because of it, the Romans developed a style entirely their own.
The toga, the most distinctive of all Roman garments, was heavy
with symbolic meaning. Only citizens who had voting rights could
wear it; color and decoration were carefully regulated according to
status. Ereeborn sons of citizens started out in life wrapped in the
toga praetexta, white with a band of scarlet or purple along the straight
edge. At the age of sixteen, the boy became a man and inherited the
attire.

Yet for

all this

persistent

plain toga virilis of natural, unbleached wool.

He

could earn

his stripe

again only through a lifetime of service and dedication to the

state.

In the adult world, the purple stripe designated senators and magistrates.

Candidates for office wore the toga Candida, bleached to a dazzling

white that symbolized the purity of their intentions. Effeminates and
fashion faddists with no sense of shame wore the toga vitrea as its
name indicates, you could see through it like glass. The toga piilla, black
or dark colored, was
:s^^i

wore

worn by mourners. Augurs and

certain priests

the toga trabea, decorated with a scarlet stripe and purple hem.

45

Victorious generals, and later on emperors and consuls, were awarded

the toga picta, dyed a rich purple and heavily embroidered with gold.

The

cut and draping of the garment went through several stages

growth and decline of the fortunes of Rome itself.

During the Republic, the toga was a simple, uncomplicated all-purpose
wrap, the main garment of the austere Roman by day and his blanket
by night. Its prototype, however, was the Etruscan tebenna, not the
Greek himation. It was cut as a semicircle rather than as a rectangle
and in this early period was of moderate size. As the republic expanded
into an empire, the toga expanded until it measured twenty feet in
length and seven to ten feet in depth at its widest part.
that parallel the

Roman ivomen wore

based on Greek

attire:

costit/>ies

the draped

and belted Ionic chiton was

named

the

became the
luxury was

stola,

palla.

the

re-

himatiort

Their love of

reflected

in

their

preference for rich and exotic

fabrics such as the rare silks

worn (below, left, and center)

at a time when the costly import was, theoretically at

forbidden by law.

least,

The draping of the toga was complex: first, it was folded lengthdown the middle, then thrown over the left shoulder so that about
third of it hung down in front. The rest was brought across the

wise
a

back, then under the right arm and around again to the front, where
the

remaining end was thrown backward over the

Somewhere along

the way, folds

were

left

shoulder.

and twisted at the waist

to give a belted effect, and a portion of the innermost drape was pulled
up over it to form the characteristic small pouch of drapery to the left
of the waistline. Correct draping of the toga became so intricate that
wealthy men had a slave whose sole chore in life was to get his master
in and out of this cumbrous costume. As TertuUian groaned: "This
is no garment, but a burden."
Officials continued to wear the toga as late as the fifth century a.d.
and found it, no doubt, not the least onerous of their public charges.
But by then the awkward garment had shrunk to a mere six feet or less
in width, doing away with the need for the longitudinal fold. The
average Roman citizen had virtually given up on it altogether, wearing
it on particularly festive occasions, then laying it away to be buried in.
The toga was never worn by itself, as was the himation. By comparison with the Greeks, middle- and upper-class Romans wore a lot
of clothing. For underwear the Romans wore a sewn loincloth and a
short, sleeveless subtunic, usually of linen. Over this they wore the
tunic, a garment made of two pieces of material sewn up the sides and
across the shoulders. It was pulled over the head, tied at the waist, and
fell just above the knees. Men of rank wore it under the toga. By itself,
it was the costume of the common people. Like the toga, it went
through several stylistic modifications. The original tunic had short
cap sleeves, produced by the normal drape of the material. The sleeves
had crept down to the elbow by the time of Augustus, who was
unusually sensitive to cold; according to Suetonius, he wore as many
as four tunics plus extra underwear. Commodus, in the late second
century a.d., introduced full-length sleeves. During the third century,
the tunic grew longer, reaching to just above the ankle. In the Republic
and early Empire, the tunic was ornamented along the side seam
with clavi, vertical borders borrowed from the Etruscans. Like the
toga, the width and color of the clavi were strictly regulated according
rolled

to social standing.

While the toga was being gradually abandoned, other outer garments were being invented to take its place. To indicate their cultural
preferences,

himation.

intellectuals

At dinner

wore the

parties,

pallium,

fashionable

copy of the Greek

men wore

the synthesis, a

weird combination garment that retained the simplicity of the tunic

above the waist and the fullness of the toga below. A hooded cloak,
the paenula, was a serviceable all-weather garment worn by men of all
classes. Soldiers serving along the Gallic frontier favored the sagum, an
inelegant blanket-wrap.

There was

also the dalmatic, a long, straight-

sleeved garment, popular during the third century,

which originated

Richly decorated down the front with clavi, which by

that time had ceased to have any symbolic meaning, it was said to have
been introduced by the depraved and effeminate Heliogabalus. Oddly

in Dalmatia.

47

enough, the dalmatic became the distinctive attire of pious and unworldly Christians during the following century.
Roman military costume was based on civilian attire, with the
addition of protective coverings. Soldiers

tunic and a cloak of

some

kind.

Heavy

wore the

usual knee-length

boots, shinguards, and a bronze

helmet took care of the extremities. The middle was covered by a

heavy corselet of leather and metal plates. Rank was indicated by
insignia and by a greater or lesser degree of ornamentation. Barbarian
trousers were adopted as early as the time of Augustus; they reached
just below the knees and were called feminilia, an obvious mistake for
femorilia.

Some ancient humorist, possibly exasperated by

made the pun and the name stuck.

this sissified

indulgence,

Roman women wore costumes almost indistinguishable from those

The Ionic chiton was renamed the stola, the himation the

of the Greeks.

both were worn over a sleeveless tunic similar to those worn by

Roman matrons dressed soberly. In the early Empire, the empress Livia attempted to maintain the

palla;

the men. During the Republic, no doubt,

austere tradition

own

by dressing

in

good, honest wool spun and

woven by

was in vain. Roman women loved

delicate fabrics and vivid colors; they wore the finest of linens and thin,
fragile cottons and silks imported from India, materials as light as the
her

ladies'

imperial hands.

reputations.

The

gesture

"Our women expose themselves

to

the world,"

growled one harassed and henpecked Roman, "as much as to their lover
in the bedchamber." The dresses were edged with purple and embroidered with pearls and gold spangles; rich braid and tapestry work
were sewn on at the neck and sleeves; all colors were used blues,
greens, yellows, reds and purples in all shades and intensities. Wealthy
ladies had robes that seem woven of changeable silk, purple in the
shadows, gold where the light catches it.
Sumptuary laws to control this rage for foreign luxuries were
constantly passed by the Senate and just as constantly ignored. The
women would have their silk robes, thin as the air itself, and no one
was going to stop them. There was a very real problem involved.
Roman lawmakers were not motivated solely by crusty chauvinism.
The far-off, almost unknown kingdoms of India, which supplied the
muslins and acted as middlemen for the Chinese silks, were totally uninterested in any of the raw materials offered by the Romans as trade
in kind. They wanted cold hard cash. As a result, there was during the
Empire a constant drain of Roman gold into the rich cities of southern
India. Most of the trade was carried out by the merchants of Arabia
Felix or Ethiopia, who controlled the Indian Ocean.
Unlike the Egyptians and the Greeks, and despite their love of sheer
silk and other see-through fabric, the Romans were clothes conscious
rather than body conscious. They spent hours on baths, cosmetics,
and coiffures, but they stressed in their attire gorgeous materials and
ornaments rather than the body underneath. Roman male costume
showed the same orientation. The Greek philosopher in his simple
himation displayed the fine body that he kept in good condition well
into middle age; his deliberately understated garments spoke quietly
of high thinking and plain living. The huge Roman toga, swamping
48

^:2^

Romans
siderable

of both sexes gave con-

time and attention to

During the
Empire me?! took to wearing
make-up
a?id
perfume
and
their ?>!orning toilet.

crimping their locks in the i?nmanner. Women, follow-

perial

ing

the

lead

of

the

empress Messalina,

on

their

grooming

profligate

spejit

hours

(right), imich

devoted to intricate coifof

fures
(above)
augmented by
it

false switches, chignons,

and

fidl

or partial wigs crafted from the

blond hair of barbarian slaves.

the wearer in vast, unwieldy but majestic folds, boasted openly of

power, prestige, and grandeur.

The toga was the outward symbol of Roman gravitas, the qualities
of austerity, honesty, conservatism, and devotion to civic duty that
built a city-state into a republic and the republic into an empire. The
abandonment of the garment was seen by concerned critics as an omen
of the decline of Rome itself. By the third century a.d., Rome had
become an enormous, indolent parasite gorging on the wealth of
conquered nations. Roman coinage was debased and devalued as it
flowed eastward to purchase luxuries. More money was needed to
equip armies raised against the new Persian empire of the Sassanians and
the hordes of barbarians exerting relentless pressure along the

The army

Roman

had to be maintained by the recruitment of

ex-policemen, slaves, gladiators, criminals, and barbarians, as Romans
had lost interest in military careers. In 212 a.d., the emperor Caracalla
extended full Roman citizenship to all free individuals of the empire,
since as citizens they automatically fell into a higher tax bracket. All sorts
of foreigners now wore the toga, and Romans lost interest in that too.
Constantine the Great, in the early fourth century a.d., initiated a
series of reforms intended to preserve the empire. He legalized and
encouraged Christianity in the hope that it would restore the moral
values that had contributed to the greatness of Rome. He moved his
borders.

capital to his

was most
sons,

new

acute.

one ruling

itself

city of Constantinople

At

his death,

where the military

situation

he devided the empire between his

in the east, the other in the west.

two

These decisions

had far-reaching effects on the future of Europe. When the fifth

century dawned, the Eastern Empire had been firmly drawn into the
Oriental world; the Western Empire was staggering under the onslaught
of Germanic barbarians; and a third power, the Christian church, was
making ready to reconquer the Western world in the name of Rome.

49

^tf>-A

N
si'

''^:^

and Savages

Saints, Soldiers,

In

A.D.

when

410 THE Mediterranean world was shaken to its foundations

barbarian tribe, the Visigoths, captured and sacked the city of

Rome. Thanks

to

Hollywood

epics, the scene

is

familiar to

all

of us:

warrior wearing a horned helmet and a shaggy bearskin, with a sword in one hand and a torch in the other, rampages
through the Forum. Unfortunately, this picture is not very accurate.
The Gothic tribes living on the borders of the Roman Empire are
commonly referred to as barbarians, but they were fairly civilized after
their fashion. Their young men had long served in the Roman army,
often rising to positions of great authority. They spoke the Latin language as well as their own, and, for the most part, they were Christians.
They had long been associated with the Roman Empire as foederati,
a fierce, grizzled

trusted

allies.

into panic

by

Mongolian

Around

370, these generally peaceful people

tribe, the

Huns,

who swept

eastern steppes. Terrorized, the

the

Roman

were thrown

the appearance on their borders of a nomadic and savage

like a whirlwind out of the
Goths petitioned to be admitted within

walls for safety.

Goths had no intention of destroying Rome; they

merely wished to share in the stability, prosperity, and security of the
empire. The Romans themselves were largely to blame for their
ultimate destruction. The barbarian refugees were treated with contempt by vacillating emperors and consistently ill-used by greedy border
officials. Finally they rebelled. They plundered their way through
Macedonia, Greece, Gaul, and Spain and, under Alaric, they ravaged
Rome itself, a disaster that demoralized the Romans as nothing else
could have done.
Staggering under their loot, the Goths fanned out through the
Western Empire to found their own kingdoms, settling down comfortably among the remains of the Gallo-Roman civilization. But in the
long run, it was the old case of the captive dominating his captor. The
Originally, the

The A.D. 912 marriage of the

Holy Roman emperor Otto II
to a Byzantine princess named
Theophano introduced Eastern
elegance to Western Europe,
which was just beginning to
emerge from the Dark Ages.
The influence of Theophano's
artisans is evidenced in the manuscript

illumination

which shows Otto wearing imperial robes

embroidered

Byzantine manner.

Roman

officials,

lawyers, administrators, teachers, technicians, philos-

opposite,

in

the

ophers and clergy, ushered out unceremoniously at the front door,

were quietly readmitted

Roman

at the

back.

fifth and sixth centuries recorded the

appearance and costume of these invaders. They were tall, red-haired,

historians of the

physically powerful people,

who

dressed in closely fitted,

sewn

gar-

ments, short tunics with set-in sleeves, or sleeveless smocks that slipped

51

over the head.

They wore

either short or long trousers,

furnished with modern-looking belt loops.

Wrapped

some of them
leg

coverings

were worn with short trousers; the long pants were

sometimes fitted with feet. Women wore short blouses, short-sleeved or
sleeveless, and full skirts gathered and tied at the waist. These garments
were usually made of wool or linen; furs were worn but only for outer
cloaks in cold weather. Strong, brilliant colors were popular among
the wealthy, but common people made do with natural, unbleached
homespun. When dyed, the wool was woven in stripes, checks, and

similar to puttees

The pattern of the plaids may have identified family or

Actual Teutonic garments of this period have been preserved in
the peat bogs of northwest Germany, Denmark, and Holland, shrouding the shrunken remains of executed criminals or victims sacrificed
to the fierce northern gods.
The picture that emerges is a far cry from cinema sensationalism.
But one item is correct: the horned helmet. Such helmets appear to
have been worn throughout Europe from the first millennium B.C.
colorful plaids.
clan.

down through

the period of the invasions.

They

did not, however,

resemble the usual cow-horn monstrosities of provincial Wagnerian

Ring Cycles. Actual examples, such as the Waterloo helmet from the
Thames, or the matched pair from the Danish peat bog at Vikso were
crafted of handsome, heavy bronze, decorated with rosettes and spirals.
The projecting metal horns were highly stylized and originally embellished with gold leaf. Great chieftains carried brilliantly gilded and
ornamented shields. Both men and women wore masses of jewelry in
gold, silver, and bronze bracelets, broad collars, intricate hair ornaments, elegantly twisted torques, and huge brooches inlaid with enamel
and semiprecious stones. The more Romanized of the barbarian nobility
wore Mediterranean costume for great occasions. Alaric himself claimed
several thousand silk robes as part of his share of

The

Roman

barbarians had barely started to feel at

home

loot.

in their

new

kingdoms when the Huns, led by Attila, the Scourge of- God, finally
appeared on the stage of European history. Both the Germans and the
Gallo-Romans quailed before this new menace, temporarily abandoned
their own private conflicts, and united to save Western civilization from
the heathen. The Huns, with their grotesquely scarred faces (ritually
marked in childhood) and their well-deserved reputation for cruelty,
seemed hardly human. They wore the usual central Asian pants and
long, belted coats of felt and leather, topped off^ with cloaks made of
the skins of field mice. (Either the Huns were unusually small or their
mice were unusually large.) Some civilized costume was worn. Attila's
women embroidered fine linens but, as the historian Priscus relates,
these were worn merely to ornament barbarian clothes.
In 451, Attila was opposed by an allied army made up of Romans,
Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and other assorted, half-civilized barbarians under the command of the Romanized Goth, Aetius. The battle
was not a decisive victory for the West, but Attila was at least discouraged and withdrew. The following year he emerged from retirement long enough to invade Italy, but he died soon after. On his death,
his army collapsed, fading back into the obscurity of the eastern plains.

52

The

fall

of

Rome

in 416 ivas a

triumph of crudity over

refiiie-

nient in every respect, including

costume.

The

barbarian invaders

wore wool tunics and

and they marched into

trousers,
battle in

horned helmets decorated

with bronze plates that were the
the

?nost distinctive feature of their

apparel.
liven

the

Fabulous
bas-relief

animals
at

en-

right.

J'-^

jAi'

dBbhT"
-r

The

Western world began to rebuild. But

made one fact perfectly clear: the future of
away from the Romans and had fallen into the

shattered, half-decimated

Hun

the

invasion had

Europe had slipped

capable hands of the barbarians.

Meanwhile

in the east the

new Rome,

against the barbarians and continued to

Constantinople,

do so

still

held out

until 1453, preserving its

manifold traditions inherited from Greece, Rome, and the Near East.
centuries, Constantinople was the leading commercial city of the

For

Mediterranean basin;

its

strong

economy

insured

its

survival despite

the pervasive aura of inefficiency, extravagance, mismanagement, and

general incompetence that emanated from the Byzantine court. The
golden age of Byzantium was achieved under the emperor Justinian
(527-565), an extremely able ruler consumed by the ambition to restore
the Roman Empire to its former greatness. He sought personal fame
through three diverse paths: military conquests, building programs, and
legal reforms.

The reconquered

lands soon

fell

again to the barbarians;

the building programs, though magnificent, were economically

de-

but the legal reforms established the basis of civil law

throughout Europe.
Byzantine costume reflected the diverse traditions of the culture.

bilitating;

Common

people wore

blouse or tunic with short trousers and soft

boots. Procopius attributed this garb to the

derived from any

upper

number of Near Eastern

Huns, but

sources.

it

could have

The costume

of the

and nobility was, naturally, as splendid and extravagant

as the traffic would bear. The glittering mosaics of San Vitale, Ravenna,
provide an excellent picture of gala court dress. The grave of a fifthcentury empress Maria, daughter of the barbarian general Stilicho
and wife to the emperor Honorius was opened and looted in the sixteenth century. Her golden shroud was melted down and was said to
have yielded thirty-six pounds of pure gold.
Byzantine textiles were magnificent. Luxury fabrics, stiff with elabclasses

k.

53

were imported from Syria, Alexand Persia. Silk was imported from China but, on a limited basis,
was also produced at Constantinople itself. The origin of silk had long
been a mystery, although some early natural historians suggested that
it was the web spun by gigantic Oriental spiders. Allegedly, sericulture
was developed by a Chinese empress of the mid-third millennium b.c,
the art was well developed by about 1000 b.c, and both raw yarn and
finished fabrics were exported to the Western world by at least the time
of Alexander. The price was nearly prohibitive.
The caravan route from China to Byzantium took approximately
250 days and passed through Persian territories where the shipments
were heavily taxed. During Justinian's reign, according to the historian
Procopius, silkworm eggs were smuggled out of China in the hollow
orate tapestrywork and embroidery,

andria,

54

.-6(wH6llCII;|l(;uC'J'VM^ri'l'MDIi'

wce^va/nniji,i\r(ikKi'Mi8ic.
nfiVrflAWYlriHinciCA/cw/rMK.

AllwNUVUHMIMd^stJl'rT-yiiXX'f.

Of

classical

uiievHiiwi;r.VMi..!cii!t'.|^t>9ci/c-

costume, Byzantium

retained only the basic drapery.

The

vibrant colors and sumptu-

in which E?npress
Theodora and her court are at-

ous

tired

fabrics

(left)

reveal the influence

Near East as does the

robe worn by Emperor Niceof the

phorus Botaniates (top).

of missionary monks. The monks must also have

complex rituals of silk farming, for the rearing
of silkworms is by no means a simple matter. The Byzantines continued
to import a great deal of silk, but now that China's great secret was
revealed, the price went down and the rich, lustrous fabric became
more widely available.
After breaking the Chinese monopoly on silk, the Byzantine emperors established their own controls and for centuries gorgeous silk
garments, glittering with jewels and gold embroidery, appeared
sporadically at European courts, grudging tokens of Byzantine esteem.
At Constantinople and throughout the empire, color and decoration
were strictly regulated according to rank and status. Common people
for example, were forbidden the tablion, the purple inset in the robes

bamboo walking

staffs

closely observed the

55

men

Only the emperor and the empress were

robe entirely of purple, and only the emperor could wear
hose or boots of that color. Purple fabric, colored with a rare and expensive dye obtained from shellfish, had been restricted to royalty and
high-ranking personages since the time of the Babylonians. The Byzanof

of senatorial rank.

entitled to a

tines, moving within the strictures of the most hierarchic society the
Western world has ever known, stamped on the color its final, definitive

imperial meaning.

As Byzantium
moral dry rot had

flourished,

Rome

of Constantine were unable to do

The Sack

Economic decay and

century and even the reforms

declined.

set in early in the third

more than temporarily

arrest these

Rome

under Alaric had been catastrophic;

Rome never recovered from this disaster and, during the Dark Ages,
the city drifted ever deeper into squalid obscurity. In The City of
God, St. Augustine interpreted this calamity as divine retribution

conditions.

of

Rome for the sins of her people,

who were steeped in sin. Original and

leveled against

Christians

merely received their

The

early

including the

meek

otherwise, and had

just deserts.

Church

merely

fathers preached not

denial,

but abhor-

rence, of the flesh female flesh in particular and attained amazing

heights of hysterical invective. Tertullian referred to

devil's

gateway: "The sentence of

this age; the guilt

God on

must of necessity

this sex

live too."

women

as the

of yours lives in

According to Clement

woman should feel "shame even to reflect of what

He recommends that a woman should be clothed from

of Alexandria, a
nature she

is."

head to foot and even veiled in public for

with a veil, she covereth her own eyes, she

nor

shall she

ous path of

The
ity,

draw

others

"if thus

with modesty and

shall

not be misled herself,

by the exposure of her

face, into the danger-

sin."

early Christians deliberately dressed modestly and with humil-

avoiding the opulent costumes that smacked of profane paganism.

After the Sack of Rome, the ruined economy gave them no other
choice. The wide-sleeved dalmatic was worn by men over a tightsleeved tunic. For outerwear, they favored the pallium. Women wore
the tunic and a large, oval-shaped cloak, similar to the ecclesiastical
chasuble.

Both men and

women

often decorated their tunics or dal-

matics with the clavi. These broad stripes, which had once indicated

high rank, were

commonly used

and fourth centuries as a

and slaves. Christians,
servants of God, gladly assumed the stripes as an outward symbol of
their unworldliness. Christian bodies were covered from ears to ankles
in order to obscure and disguise the sinful flesh. Costumes for both
sexes were cut very full from natural wool or heavy linen, unbleached
and undyed. Bright, cheerful colors were avoided. As Commodian
snarled, "If God had intended men to wear purple woolens, He would
have created purple sheep."
Preoccupied with their souls, early Christians castigated their
bodies. In those days, and throughout the Middle Ages, cleanliness was
far from godliness; Christians felt with St. Jerome that "the purity of
the body and its garments implies the impurity of the soul." The pagan
in the third

sort of livery, to identify the tunics of servants

56

Romans had had

entirely too

Christians avoided

them

much

fun in those

sinful, luxurious baths;

The average Christian must

home, but many of the early saints prided

like the plague.

have bathed everv so often

at

themselves on their avoidance of water except, of course, as a beverage.

Anchorites wore
wove themselves

Not

until

Clovis,

king

of

the

Franks, permitted hi?nself to be

baptized

in

496

(shown

in

fotirteenth-century manuscript

il-

below) did the Meroabandon their pagan

ways and embrace Roman ideas
and styles. Even then they
lu777ination

vingians

largely

retained

costume of a

their

loose,

^rational

full

tunic

over breeches secured by leather

leg bandages.

garments until they rotted to shreds, then

or so it was claimed out
of their own shaggy, uncut hair, one of the low points in the history
of Western costume.
Rome, shorn of its former greatness, turned inward, seeking
spiritual values. The Church increasingly dominated the social and
political structure of Roman society. After the destruction of the
city by the Goths, Pope Innocent I, rather than the emperor, supervised
the reconstruction. When Attila threatened, it was Pope Leo I, not the
emperor, who carried out negotiations in behalf of the city. St. Gregory
the Great encouraged missionary activity in the barbarian north, but
was equally well known for his administrative abilities at home. In
effect, the

their coarse

tunics out of palm fibers

authority of the pope was substituted for that of the emperor

power of the papacy grew. Devastated,

still regarded with superstitious awe
Their young kingdoms looked to Rome for mis-

and, as the empire declined, the

looted, half-deserted,

by

the barbarians.

sionary

monks and

Rome was

priests to minister to their spiritual

and temporal

They were not disappointed.

The most stable of the barbarian kingdoms was that of the Franks,
who had filtered across the lower Rhine in the mid-fourth century and

needs.

Stubbornly pagan, they remained

late fifth century when
their king, Clovis, accepted baptism. This advantageous move gained
him the support both of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy of southern
France and of papal Rome. Increasingly, Roman culture made its
presence felt in the rude, northern kingdom although the old Germanic
traditions remained strong, particularly in costume.

were allowed to remain

as foederati.

relatively uninfluenced

by Rome

until the

In contrast to the Gallo-Romans

who

practiced cremation,

the

Franks and other Germanic tribes buried their dead fully clothed and
equipped for the Christian afterlife. Archaeological investigation of
these graves, such as the one carried out in 1959 in the vaults of St.

Denis in

Paris,

provide direct evidence of Merovingian costume.

Arnegonde (who died

c.

570), wife of Chlotar

I,

to rest in a limestone coffin lined with a bright red

to

her body

white

linen.

she wore a long-sleeved, short

Her overgown, or tunic, was a

Romano-Byzantine

had been

woolen

chemise, or

Queen

laid there

cloak.

shift,

Next

of fine

one-piece garment in the

Cut from fine, ribbed indigo-blue silk, it

It also was long-sleeved and was belted low.
in the waist. Her legs were covered by rather baggy, white woolen
stockings, held in place with leather garters. Arnegonde's most magnificent garment was a long outer robe of dark red silk lined with linen,
style.

reached only to her knees.

with long

full sleeves,

gold embroidered at the cuffs.

The

short tunic

was the real surprise of this find. The scarlet robe was entirely open
below the waist and, standing or sitting, the royal cross-gartered legs
would have been exposed. Until this discovery, it was assumed that
women of this period wore concealing ankle-length gowns.
57

For

his

coro7iation

as

Holy

Roman emperor, Charlemagne

who generally avoided ostentation in dress may have worn
this

magnificent

silk

dalmatic

emblazoned with a view of

Christ and the Twelve Apostles.

58

Under
extended

the Carolingian dynasty the Frankish

its territories.

lemagne dominated

Moslem

Isles,

On

rivers.

As

the eighth century

of Europe with the exception of the British

all

Spain, and the wilderness

Christmas

Day

beyond the Elbe and Danube

Rome, he was crowned

of the year 800 in

Holy Roman emperor by Pope Leo

Roman emperor had

since a

kingdom considerably
drew to a close, Char-

It

III.

had been three centuries

ruled in the West, but the desire for the

political and cultural unity that the old empire had symbolized had
not been extinguished. For the ceremony Charlemagne donned, for

the sceond and

last

time in

his life, the

Roman

tunic, chlamys,

and

He may have worn the magnificent Byzantine dalmatic still

preserved at Rome in the Sacristy of St. Peter's. It is a splendid garment,

shoes.

made of silk, encrusted with finely embroidered scenes of Christ and

Twelve Apostles, glittering with gold scrollwork and crosses.
Strangely enough, this great king who worked so closely with the

the

papacy and

who

did so

much

to revive

Roman

scholarship in the

barbarian north, "despised foreign costumes, however handsome, and

never allowed himself to be robed in them except twice." His biographer Einhard went on to say:

He wore

the national, that

is

to say, the Frankish dress next to his skin a

linen shirt and linen breeches, and above these a tunic fringed in silk; hose

fastened with bands covered his lower limbs, and shoes his feet; he protected
his shoulders
skins.

Over

him.

On

and chest in winter by

all

or marten

wore embroidere^^othes and shoes studded

by a golden buckle, and he
diadem of gold and gems; but on other days his

great feast days he

with precious stones;

his

appeared crowned with

dress varied

a close-fitting coat of otter

he flung a blue cloak, and he always had a sword girt about

little

cloak was fastened

from the common

dress of the people.

Charlemagne disapproved of the fashionable outfits worn by the

the court. Alcuin of York tells the tale of the stylish
courtiers, strutting about in robes of pheasant skins and peacock plumes,
silks with purple ribbons and ermine robes, who were dragged off
on an all-day hunt by the wily monarch. They returned home wet,
bedraggled, torn by brambles and fouled by the blood of animals, only
to be ordered to sleep in their clothes to dry them out and to appear
the next day in the same garments "which no longer made a splendid
show, being creased, shrunken and rent." Whereupon Charlemagne,
"full of guile," put on his garment from the day before, an inexpensive
sheepskin coat, which was still "clean, white and whole."
In Germany, when the Carolingian line failed and was replaced by
the Ottonian, the Byzantine influence on courtly manners and costume
was strong. The short reign of Otto II (973-83) was chiefly remarkable for his marriage to a Byzantine princess, Theophano. A practical
lady, she brought scholars and artisans to Germany; fabric workers
and skilled embroiderers must also have formed part of her retinue.
In manuscript illustrations, Otto is shown in full Byzantine regalia
wearing an ankle-length silk tunic, deeply bordered at the hem, side
slit, wrist, and collar with gemmed bands of gold.

young bloods of

Two magnificent

court robes of the period of

Henry

II

(1002-24)

59

"

--q

are preserved in the cathedral treasury at

T^r^'^pir^-q.iTi^TTT^

Bamberg. These ceremonial

mantles consciously imitated Mass vestments

worn by

the

higher

clergy in order to emphasize the Christian foundation of the empire.

Queen Kunigunde's mantle is a huge, semicircular cape, cut from

imported blue brocade. Henry's Star Mantle has an astrological motif,
worked

and

in gold

scarlet

embroidery.

Several consistent trends appear in European costume from the

ninth through the thirteenth centuries;

first,

the retention of the con-

fcTSdSSMl
Ml LrtM*i

venient barbarian trousers or hose for active, daily wear; second, the

among

increasing appearance

from the robes of Byzantium;

than female dress; and,

and

the wealthy of elaborate styles adapted

decided emphasis on male rather

third, a

finally,

the spirit of mortification of the flesh

revulsion against worldly preoccupations, inherited

from the

early Christian ascetics.

As costume became

richer and

more

saintly critics swelled in volume. St.

the

"pomp and

ostentatious, the outcries of

Bernard of Clairvaux denounced

is your body." He con-

pride to adorn such carrion as

tinued: "People

who

admire themselves because of their clothes are

who boast of being branded, for without the
guilt of Adam, clothing would not be necessary." Occasionally the
criticism had overtones of social reproach: "Think you not of the
poor people that are dying of hunger and of cold? And that for a
sixth part of your gay attire forty persons might be clothed, refreshed
and kept from the cold?"
Court costumes of the twelfth century point up the accuracy of
these complaints. While only royalty could aspire to silks and imported
brocades, and then only for special occasions, the more usual woolen
and linen garments of the nobility used up an inordinate amount of
fabric. Men wore as an undergarment a loose shirt with either wrapped
trousers or hose to cover their legs. A floor-length undertunic was next
and, over that, the robe or supertunic with long, floppy sleeves that
extended far over the hand. The robe was usually hitched up under
as illogical as criminals

the belt to display the undertunic and both garments were enriched

with embroidery.

heavy, semicircular ground-length mantle com-

chemise, an undertunic, and a robe with tight

pleted the outfit.

Women

wore

width of four feet or more. For

fire from the critics than
women's styles. St. Bernard lashed out again and again: "You adorn
yourself with pomp for death. Are your plumes the harness of a
knight or the finery of a lady? You dress your hair like women; you
catch your feet in long, wide skirts." The main objection seems to
have been against the excesses of the costume, the ridiculously pointed
shoes or the exaggerated trains of the robes and mantles dragging
sleeves that flared out at the wrist to a

once, men's costume seemed to

behind

The
written

men

draw more

of fashion.

historical chronicles of the era,

by men and

perhaps because they were

generally reflect the heroic exploits of the age of

chivalry, are full of lengthy descriptions of male attire.

We

know, for

example, exactly what England's king, Richard the Lion-Hearted, wore

at his

60

wedding.

He

arrayed himself in a tunic of rose-colored

satin.

wW>^^L^u.L^U->_i^Ui^

a long

mantle of striped

silver tissue

woven with an

all-over pattern of

bonnet embroidered with gold.

As historian Thomas B. Costain comments: "What the bride wore was
not considered important enough to set down."
The age of the Crusades saw great advances in the design of armor.
William the Conqueror had amply demonstrated in 1066 the importance
of mailed cavalry. His knights wore one-piece mail suits, which looked
somewhat like long Johns, that apparently laced up the back. To construct these, metal wire was wrapped around a form and cut into
golden crescent moons, and

The

bliaut,

with very
to

the

a scarlet

an ankle-length tunic
full

sleeves

waist to

be

and

split

worn over

chain mail (left), was widely

adopted during the era of the
Crusades. The shoes with long
pointed toes are a7i example of
condemned by
excesses
the
clerics.

The

influence

of

the

apparent in the garb

of the statues that flank the portal of Chartres Cathedral (right).

Levant

is

These robes were often niade of

silk and edged with gold braid.

61

open-ended

circles

that

were then woven together, with the open

ends of each link eventually flattened,

drilled,

and riveted together.

The

mail was built

up gradually and shaped rather like a knitted garment.

The mail suit was worn over padded leather undergarments; it provided good protection and was flexible enough to allow free movement.
It was also expensive. In the days of Charlemagne, the simple lack of
a horse and armor was often the deciding factor that doomed unborn
generations to a social condition of servility. In the formative years
of feudalism, an armed and mounted warrior kept his freedom; the
poor farmer who could not afford such luxuries sank into serfdom.
During the twelfth century, the basic chain-mail union suit developed a hood fitting closely around the head and long sleeves with
mitts. Trousers or hose were made of the flexible metal, laced together

62

in the
belt.

back and held

Plate mail

in place

with straps arranged

was introduced on

much

like a garter

limited basis in the thirteenth

century, usually to guard such vulnerable areas as the throat, knees,

and elbows. Full

With

the defeat of

King Harold

of England (below, center) at

the Battle of Hastings and the

conquest of

his

island

by William, Duke
Continental
mandy,

kingdom
Nor-

of

infltience

leapt the Chan?iel. Skilled

weav-

followed the duke to England, where they soon developed

producing
reputation
a
for
ers

woolen goods of highest

quality.

basis until

insignia

On

suits

of plate were not to appear on a widespread

the late fifteenth century. Fabric surcoats with heraldic

were worn over the mail

hot June day in 1215

to keep off the direct rays of the sun.

and disgruntled barons

and
partial plate, fully armed and mounted, enduring the blazing sun as a
point of pride. By the second day, most had dismounted, loolcing for
a spot of cooling shade. On the third day of negotiations, the mail was
discarded and replaced by cuirasses of tough, boiled leather, cooler and
lighter than metal. And according to Costain, "on the fourth day it was
a

appeared

at

Charter Island

RAWeN7VM:FFax-

aMOWCI:-

<?^

at

stern knights

Runnymede

in full suits of mail

}CfA-Rc

63

suspected that nothing in the

if

the rich brocaded surcoats

what might have emerged

ence lasted

On

way
.

of armor

would have been found

off." One wonders

had been stripped

in this military strip tease

the whole, the twelfth century presents

silly season. Aiale

had the confer-

day.

a fifth

picture of a sartorial

costume, which had incurred the wrath of the

clerics,

was wildly extravagant and strongly individualistic. Fabric was used

almost by the mile rather than by the yard. The most significant innovation of the period appeared in mid-century
overtunic

worn by men, was

when

the bliaut, the

redesigned. Formerly cut in

two simple

and back, it was no^\' cut as two separate garments,

blouse and skirt, seamed together at the waist. This allowed the top to
be laced close to the body while the skirts flared out with extra fullness.
Braid and broad panels of embroidery were used lavishly, almost at
random, on hems, borders, sleeves, and side seams. Men wore their hair
unusually long in fantastic curls and twists; beards were oiled or waxed
and arranged in points, and long, wispy moustaches were cultivated.
Those who could afford it wore the rich exotic fabrics that the Crusaders had come to know and love in the far-off kingdoms of Outremer
cloth of gold, silver tissue, silk, gauze, and fine damask. After generations of plain, no-nonsense homespun, European chivalry wallowed in a
pieces, front

surfeit of fine textiles.

Oriental costume had

major impact on the

styles

worn by

the

masters of the Crusader kingdoms in the Levant. Flowing robes and

turbans, cut in the Saracen fashion,

were

all

the rage in the Christian

realms of Antioch, Acre, or Jerusalem, and were eagerly adopted

by the stay-at-homes in France or England. When, in 1187, the Latin

kingdom of Jerusalem fell to the armies of Saladin the Great, the
crusading fervor revived again in Europe and the thirteenth century
was ushered in on a more sober note.
The craze for exotic and extravagant attire passed and Western
costume expressed

new

sense of simplicity and uniformity.

Men

carded the undertunic and wore the overtunic short, belted

at

dis-

the

and cut in one piece. The sleeves were cut dolman fashion to
form a deep armhole beginning almost at waist level, tapering and
narrowing to fit closely at forearm and wrist. The skirts were open,
front and back, from crotch to hem to permit greater freedom of
movement, and were worn over hose held up at the waist by a drawstring. Decoration was modest, generally limited to embroidered bands
at neck and wrist. A mantle, about the same length as the tunic, was
held across the chest by a strap anchored with large, circular brooches.
In the early decades of the century, women's costume was almost
identical to that of the men, with the exception that their tunics and
waist,

mantles were long and swept the ground. As the century wore on,
lavish decoration in the

Byzantine manner began to creep back into

fashion, although the basic cut of the garments remained simple.

love

of

rich

fabrics

had

never

died

out;

textiles

A\ere

still

The
im-

ported and old costumes were handed down from one generation to
another to be picked apart and carefully restyled. Fur was increasingly
used, particularly for linings. Despite the preference for expensive

64

No

more

figure

the

accurately

true

spirit

of
twelfth-century Europe than the
reflects

hiight (below), whose coat of

and ubiquitous broadsword

?jiail

rendered him
in battle.

As

all

the

but invincible

drawing

at left

indicates, the feudal warrior fre-

quently wore a short

over

tjinic

armor for conifort and idenKnights were often

tification.
bis

sewti

into

their

mail

whimsical illumination

and,
at

the

right

jjotwithstanding, they needed assistance removi77g such garments.

textiles

and

furs, the fashions

The

of the period

was

drew fewer reproaches from

strong, though largely inand throughout Europe men and women expressed in their
clothing a becoming humility and dedication to religious ideals.
By the end of the century, the crusading fervor was dead. Kings,
nobles, and knights continued to raise the topic for another century or
so, but nothing was actually attempted. After all was said and done, the
Crusades had achieved none of their primary goals. Jerusalem and the
holy places remained in Moslem hands and seemingly all that Europe
had to show for decades of strife was an immense loss in money and
men. There were, however, many beneficent results, although these

the clergy.

crusading

spirit

still

effective,

lay in areas unforeseen

by

the knights of Christ: the Crusades played

towns became independent

was born again; the Byzantine
Empire, humbled by the disgraceful Fourth Crusade, gave less competition to the rising ItaHan merchant cities; Europe experienced an
economic revolution; trade and industry revived; coined money circulated again and an elaborate system of banking sprang up almost
a

major role

in the decline of feudalism;

of feudal authority and urban

life

overnight.

There were cultural gains as the Crusaders returned home with more
advanced knowledge, techniques and concepts borrowed from the
Byzantine and Arab worlds. As many historians have pointed out, the
rediscovery of the Near East was as revolutionary in 1300 as the disdiscovery of America was to be in 1492. Medieval man, scarcely aware
of more than his own parish and county, was thrown into contact with
older and richer civilizations. The medieval mind became aware that
something worthwhile existed outside its own narrow scope of vision.
Western Europe lost some of its provincialism and became more cosmopolitan. It was as if Europe, darkened and poorly ventilated, had
suddenly thrown wide a great window opening on the rest of the world.
65

W<
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The Rebirth of

The

Style

social, political,

Europe

in the

wake of

of the Renaissance. Far

Renaissance was a
tory,

man viewed

new
his

and economic upheavals

the Crusades paved the

more than

that

way

swept through
emergence

for the

a social or political revolution, the

mind. For perhaps the first time in hisrecent past with contempt, dismissing the Middle
state of

Ages, somewhat unfairly, as a hopelessly backward period.

Renaissance man looked back to
and attempted to create a way of life based on the
glories of ancient Greece and the grandeur of ancient Rome. Italy, the
birthplace of the Renaissance, had an advantage unshared by the rest of
Europe, for the classical civilization of ancient Italy had never been
entirely extinguished but lay close to the surface, waiting to be reawakened. Yet Renaissance classicism went far beyond simple reconstruction
of the classic past; in many ways the new and exuberant culture of the

For

his basic cultural orientation.

classical antiquity

Renaissance bore

as little

resemblance to

classical antiquity as

it

did to

the discredited Middle Ages.

Renaissance society was essentially urban,

life.

The

its

roots deep in

town

competitive commercial activities of the Italian city-states and

the fluid social mobility of the middle class had contributed increas-

European 7iionarch so perfectly embodied the spirit of the

High Renaissance as Francis 1,

whose court was graced by the
presence of Leonardo da Vinci,
the very epitonie of the Universal Man, and whose reign was
marked by the fidl flowering of

the Renaissance in France. In

Jean Cloiiefs portrait opposite,
Francis wears a doublet of heavy
brocade under a loose Venetian

gown

characterized

by

life,

providing security

wide,

turned-back sleeves fastened at

the shoulders. The French king
favored soft, full caps, often
trimmed with feathers or fur.
also

is, open concern with this

world and the unabashed pursuit of its pleasures and delights including, of course, the wearing of magnificent clothing. This represented a
sharp break with the medieval tendency to emphasize the eternal bliss
of the hereafter while condemning as a waste of time or sinful any
preoccupation with the illusory goods of this transitory existence.
Out of secularism developed individualism, emphasing the uniqueness of every man, free to realize his highest potentialities rather than
remaining another anonymous cog in the cosmic wheel. The Middle
Ages had tended to restrict the individual to his inherited station in

ingly to the development of secularism, that

No

trast,

at the cost

of attaining excellence in

who

of individual achievement.

By

con-

the Renaissance glorified the talented, versatile individual capable

many

fields.

This was the Universal Man,

could with equal competence lead an army, improvise

a sonnet,-

and compose for the lute, converse in

several languages, excel in athletic contests, and, if need be, govern a
principality. Those who could do such things had a quality called virtii,
a combination of extraordinary ability, talent, and dynamism.
translate Latin epigrams, play

67

The

leading city of Italy was Florence,

supremacy to the

caccio, Petrarch and

zens.

which owed

its

cultural

brilliance of its creative geniuses Dante, Giotto,

its

affluence to the commercial acuity of

Boc-

its citi-

Great banking houses flourished, and by the fourteenth century

all Europe were conducted there.

the major financial transactions of

The

textile

industry formed a vital part of the Florentine economy.

Although wool

was not produced

in Tuscany, the Florentine

and highly advanced techniques whereby
unbleached or raw wool imported from Flanders or England could be
scoured, dyed, and given a special finish. The fabrics were then
exported back to northern Europe, where they were much preferred to
the local products. The most important of the Florentine guilds, the
Calimala, handled only the dyeing and finishing of fine woven cloth. A
slightly lesser guild, the Arte della Lana, covered all aspects of manufacture from raw wool to finished cloth. A third guild, the Arte della
Seta, wove and processed silk into the beautiful brocades, damasks,
satins, taffetas, velvets, and tissues of gold and silver so highly prized by
the wealthy and the aristocratic.
Other cities of northern Italy, Lucca for example, also supported
flourishing textile industries. Spain, Flanders, and France produced
wools and fine linens; in northern Europe the Hanseatic League controlled an active trade in furs. Rare silks and tapestry weaves were still

craftsmen

68

knew

itself

secret

The

Renaissance, which affected

every aspect of life in Western

Europe, brought with it the first

major change

costume in two
both sexes abandoned the flowing robes of the
Middle Ages. A heightened incenturies,

in

as

terest in fashion

gave employ to

countless

artisans,

local

whose

turned out
clothes and accessories for an in-

tiny

shops

(right)

creasingly affluent

market.

scious

wool
fleecy

guild,

and style-con-

The

Florentine

whose symbol was

lamb (above), gained

ternational

pointed

renowJi,

shoes

(left)

as

did

in-

the

produced

by Spanish cobblers.

imported from the Near East, India, and China, but it was the prodigious activity of European textile centers and the availability of locally
made and less expensive luxury goods that inspired the rapid innovations in costume that characterize the Renaissance.
The care and cleaning of the fabulous textiles was a major concern
of the Renaissance housewife, who boiled linens and scrubbed wools in
tepid or cold water with homemade lye soap. Some silk could be
washed, but luxury fabrics generally required special attention. Fuller's
earth moistened with lye was rubbed on grease spots, or the garment
might be put to soak overnight in warm white wine or vinegar. Garments were sometimes turned when they became hopelessly stained;
that is, they were taken apart and resewn inside out. Fine textiles were
recut and restyled for as long as the material held together. Children's
garments were commonly fashioned from cast-off adult clothing.

When

gold or

silver

tissues

or brocades reached the point of no

were burned to recover the precious metal.

Even princely households were careful not to waste

return, they

expensive robe listed in the

dowry

fine fabrics.

An

of a bride often reappears years later

in the lady's will. Furs usually required professional attention, but. for

home

care they were brushed with fine oils. Vermin were a constant
problem; most households were crawling with fleas, lice, and bedbugs.

Garments were stored

in chests or presses of cypress

wood with

layers

69

The

fitted

with

the

gained

more

acceptance

the flea coat, a shaggy lounging robe, often of wolfskin,

whose purpose

wearer and dive into the fur. By the

had shrunk to a mere flea fur, the hide of a small
animal elegantly mounted in gold and gems and carried in the hand or
draped around the arm like a stole.
During the first half of the fourteenth century costume changed
little from the styles of the previous era. The secular costume shown in
Giotto's frescoes still features the plain tunic with deep dolman sleeves,
often worn under a cyclas, or sleeveless overtunic. Workingmen wore
the tunic just below the knee, older men wore it to the ankle, and
women's tunics dragged the ground. The colors were clear but muted,
and decorative bands of gold embroidery were applied sparingly and
with taste. Then, in mid-century, men abruptly abandoned the long
gown in favor of a short, fitted jacket and long, tight hose. The origin
of this new style cannot be fixed with any accuracy. But although the
homeland of the new style cannot be identified, its beginnings can be
traced to contemporary developments in arms and armor.
Chain mail, which gave little protection against the new and powerful crossbows and the even newer crude firearms, was gradually' being
replaced by plate. Chain mail was still used in areas requiring flexibility,
but solid plate afforded more security. Plate mail was cut and hinged to
fit closely to the body. The thigh coverings, or cuisses, did awav with
the need for the long skirts of the old chain tunic. The short, virile
lines of the military look were then taken over into civilian costume.

was

to induce the fleas to leave the

sixteenth century

70

it

men

deep-sleeved tunics

an

of

(left)

most

with

slow to abandon the

volui7iinoiis,

standard wardrobe item was

associated

Renaissance

readily than with wo?7ien,

who were
of bay leaves or aromatic pine needles.

clothes

High

earlier

characteristic

the period

known

was

age.

The

garment of
belted

gown

houppelande
(right), which was always generous in its use of fabric and
as

the

often extravagant in

its

detailing.

The short jacket of the early Renaissance had many names and
many local styles. The cotehardie had long, closefitting sleeves buttoned from elbow to wrist. Cut very tightly to the body,

down

it

reached to

heavy ornamented belt was worn slung just over the hip bones. The pourpoint
was similar in cut except for the sleeves, which were cleverly tailored
to allow free movement of the arms. It was usually heavier than the
the upper thigh and usually buttoned

cotehardie, often

new

made

the front.

of several layers of fabric quilted together.

short look exposed well-turned masculine legs,

now

The

covered with

on the bias to get the snuggest possible fit. Each leg

was cut separately and fastened to the inside of the jacket with points,
that is, corded laces somewhat like shoestrings. An impressively heraldic effect was often achieved through the use of two contrasting fabrics, the left leg and left arm matching the right side of the jacket, the
right leg and arm matching the left side.
skintight hose, cut

This

new

look delighted the young and, not unpredictably, scandal-

ized the old. All over

Europe the conservative

critics

tuned up again,

inveighing against the "horrible disordinate scantiness of clothing that

through

When

its

shortness does not cover the shameful

members of man.
what is inside.
.

the wearer stoops over he reveals his breeks and

These garments are so tight that help is essential both for dressing
and undressing and when they are taken off it looks like skinning."
The problem was that the hose were two separate articles, and
although they were supposed to overlap decently at the top, there must
have been numerous sins of omission. Blue laws failed to help. An English edict attempted to restrict this usage to the upper classes by decreeing that "nobody below the rank of gentleman may wear a coat so
short that when he stands erect it fails to cover his buttocks." Culprits
were fined twenty shillings, a hefty sum for those days. Finally, around
1370, a man of genius came up with the notion of sewing the two
pieces together at the rear, leaving an opening in front, which was then
covered by a separate triangle of cloth called the braye. This modest
addition eventually burst into full and glorious flower as the codpiece.
Conservatives and clerics were not the only men to lament the passing of the old long gowns; tailors and cloth merchants were in utter
despair. The new styles were ruining them. But just when the sky of
fashion seemed darkest, a new outer garment appeared that required
enough material to have made two of the old surcoats. This was the
houppelande, a very wide gown, belted high at the waist with
extremely full, flaring sleeves. It was often lined with fur, decorated
with cutwork and elaborately dagged; that is, the hem and sleeve edges
.

Overleaf:

padded

Pages in quilted and

doublets,

noble?ne?i

i?i

floor-sweeping bouppelandes, and

ladies

of

flattering
terfly

the

court

headdresses in

sight to

in

flgure-

gowns and wired

warm

but-

short,

the cockles of a

Renaissance tailofs heart.

were cut in intricately scalloped or leaf-shaped patterns. The long

houppelande went out of style around 1425, but a shorter version
remained in vogue for another twenty-five years or so. The headdress
worn with this robe also required an inordinate amount of fabric; it
was essentially a hood with an extremely elongated peak, nine feet or
more in length, which was wound around the head like a turban, then
draped across the chest and hung down the back.
Women's costumes were no less elegant and extravagant. All
through the fourteenth century and well into the fifteenth, women
71

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wore two basic garments, the cotehardie and the sideless gown. A long
mantle was added for outerwear or for state occasions. The women's
cotehardie was a long gown fitted snugly to the body as far as the hips,
where it flared out into a circle. It buttoned or laced down the front;
its tight sleeves were buttoned from the wrist to well above the elbow.
If worn alone the sleeves were usually elbow length with long, hanging
streamers; the richly decorated sleeves of the underrobe covered the

The

sideless gown, or surcoat, barely hung on the shoulders;

were cut away in deep curves reaching well below the hip
bone to display the undergo wn and the jeweled girdle. The surcoat was
usually lined throughout with fur and ornamented down the front with
jeweled buttons or studs. This enchanting and essentially modest costume nonetheless came in for its share of criticism; the cutouts of the
surcoat were referred to as "hell's windows." But it was a popular
style, and variations of it remained in fashion for about two centuries.
The most significant fashion trends of the fifteenth century originated in Italy and were picked up, with local variations, by the courts
and cities of northern Europe. While Italian costume was by no means
standardized and often varied radically from one city-state to another,
a fairly consistent pattern can be noted. The short houppelande was

forearms.

the armholes

introduced early in the century and

worn

well into the 1440's.

it

had

..:

/.

all

garment and took the form of a tight, closefitting jacket with sleeves
puffed and padded to the elbow and buttoned snugly over the forearm.
For variation, a tight, sleeveless jacket or a short, open-sided surcoat

74

By

but disappeared and was replaced by a short

jacket, known variously as the pourpoint, courtepy, or doublet.
Previously the pourpoint had been worn primarily as an undergarment to provide anchorage for the hose. Now it was worn as an outer

mid-century

^:>

The

scejie represented

iveddmg

above
but

processio?i,

painting

is

panora?7iic

is

the

tribute

to the skills of fifteenth-century

textile

whose

manufacturers,

looms supplied Europe's nobility

with a breathtaking array of
sumptuous fabrics silks and velvets, linens and brocades. These
came in a wide range of brilliant
hues and a bewildering variety
of floral and geofnetric patterns.
So compelling was the call of
fashion in this period that even
such major artists as Fisanello
turned their

tale?its

to

costume designs. The

sketch at

left

reveals

creating
Fisajiello

the

Ren-

aissance pencha?it for layering.

might be worn over

it. The shoulder line was broad and virile, accenby puffed sleeves. As the skirts of the jacket continued to shrink,
interest was focused on the upper part of the body. By the end of the
century, the jacket had become a proper doublet; it fell to the waist
and had a low neck, which exposed the shirt, a standard undergarment
of the past now emerging into the light of day. Long gowns were still
worn by older men or for formal occasions.
Women's costumes incorporated many features originated by men.
The women's houppelandes were almost identical to those worn by

tuated

their husbands and brothers, but with even longer sleeves and trains.
Rich fabrics were preferred, heavily embroidered with flowers, leaves,
fruits, scrolls, and heraldic motifs. The very wealthy had professionals
enrich their decorations with gold thread, pearls, and other gems.
Women of modest means bought plain cloth and embroidered it.
By mid-century the houppelande had shed much of its excess yardage and had taken the form of a simple, high-waisted dress, still having
a train but with closefitting sleeves. Toward the end of the century the
train disappeared, the waist remained high, and the sleeves were cut
separately and tied to the armholes with points. An outer gown, unfitted and entirely open down the sides, was occasionally worn over the
basic dress. Italian women generally favored a round turban, or their
own hair elaborately dressed and covered with a sheer veil. They never
went in for the eccentric headgear worn in northern Europe.
By and large, Italian costume of the fifteenth century was simple
and dignified. Perhaps because Italian society was dominated by sober
upper-middle-class bankers and merchants rather than by feudal lords,
fashion never developed any of the absurd excesses that were all the
rage in Burgundy, France, Flanders, and England. The period is well

75

'M^

iav,v,.7

'^Fa

:^".

M.

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hH

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T-l

^/T"

The

fifteenth-century

dukes of

Burgundy were kvoivn throiighout Europe for their enormous

wealth and their fanatical dedication to fashion.
Philip the

cream
set

(left)

styles

The

court of

Good, dressed
in

all

in

for a falcon hunt,

dress

for

all

of

Western Europe. The period is

remembered for the sheer imdtiplicity of styles it generated
and for a particular detail, the
organ-pipe pleats seen at right,
that are the signature of the age.

documented

in Italian Renaissance art,

and with few exceptions the secby exquisite proportions and

ular costumes illustrated are characterized

almost classical simplicity.

restrained.

The

The flamboyant

decoration, although rich,

styles

is

tastefully

observed by Pisanello were almost

and costume balls. In the

and architecture,
the Italians strove for a formal beauty based on elegance and harmony.
The fashion scene was far different in northern Europe, particularly
at the court of the duke of Burgundy, whose love of splendid exhibitionism was equaled only by his fabulous wealth. Philip the Bold apparcertainly special confections

ifor

carnivals

art of fashion, as in the arts of painting, sculpture,

ently initiated this trend in the late fourteenth century. For a great
feast at

Amiens he appeared in a voluminous black-velvet houppelande,

which was decorated with roses worked in gold, saprubies, and pearls. During the course of the banquet he laid this

the left sleeve of

phires,

aside to display a coat of red velvet with

jeweled gold

collars. Philip's

embroidered polar bears

in

successors John the Fearless, Philip the

Good, and Charles the Bold inherited his mania for sartorial splendor
and throughout the fifteenth century Burgundian costume went from
one extreme to another. The duchy was so wealthy that Burgundian
styles influenced almost all of northern Europe; sleeves were wider,
gowns longer, doublets shorter, and headgear more ostentatious.
Women wore long-trained gowns fully lined with fur, high-waisted
with extreme decolletage, and topped off with elaborate headdresses.
The horned or heart-shaped head covering was popular throughout the
first half of the fifteenth century, although as one writer commented
it often made the wearer look like a tipsy cow. Hair, both real and
false, covered with a gold net was piled up at either side of the head to
support these elegant monstrosities. Foreheads were shaved to give a
fashionably high hairline. When the steeple-shaped hennin was introduced at mid-century, not a trace of hair was allowed to show. The
steeple hats were usually topped with a long gauze veil, or with elabo77

and folded sheer Hnen, artfully arranged over wire.

fantastic, ridiculous, and often curiously attractive.
of the middle class made do with plain linen, starched,

rately starched

The

effect

Women

was

folded, and creased into eccentric shapes. Variations of these court

taken up

headdresses,

by

tury.

The middle

class,

the peasantry,

many

and merchants, seldom allowed

in

by

have remained a part of

Europe until the present ceneven the wealthy upper middle class of bankers

national folk costume in

parts of

itself

the extremes of fashion indulged

Even when its choice was not restricted by

which was often the case, the upper bourgeoisie was

the aristocracy.

sumptuary laws,

reluctant to adopt the excesses of the nobility.

Sumptuary

laws,

which regulated extravagance

in dress

bly moral or religious grounds, had been around since

on

ostensi-

Roman
silk. Adam

at least

times, when the Senate had vainly tried to curb the rage for
Smith was later to describe such laws as "the highest impertinence and
presumption in kings and ministers." Philip the Fair of France published in the thirteenth century a series of edicts restricting furs and
luxury fabrics to the nobility, even going so far as to specify which
qualities of cloth could be worn by the different social classes. The
Renaissance saw dozens of these restrictive laws solemnly passed in
every major European city. Sometimes the laws were aimed at banning
certain elements of fashion altogether; low necklines, trains, and
pointed shoes, for example, were outlawed in Milan and Venice. In
other areas the laws limited the number of silk and velvet garments that
could be owned at one time by a single individual. Furs were portioned
out according to rank: ermine for royalty, humble squirrel or rabbit
for the bourgeoisie. Of course, the real function of these laws was to

confine extremes of fashion to the nobility to preserve class distinctions.

The
steadily

increasing wealth and social mobility of the middle class had

gnawed away

at the

foundations of the aristocracy.

Europe was

By

the late

hands of the
bankers and merchants, who were as a result also beginning to control
the power structure. The nobility still had their titles, the outward
fifteenth century the real wealth of

in the

show of power, and their pedigrees, but in actual fact feudalism was
dead. Only through sumptuary laws could the aristocrats maintain the
illusion of their supremacy by legislating visible differences between
themselves and the bourgeoisie they so despised and feared.

Toward

it was apparent that a new

was spreading through Europe. Feudalism was done for.
The pomp and glory still remained many of its economic and social
traditions were to survive into the eighteenth century but the actual
authority was gone, taken over by a new political structure, the centralized monarchy. Spain was unified through the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon to Isabella of Castile and Leon; the Moors were

the end of the fifteenth century

political ideal

now reduced to
new lands beyond

defeated and driven out; and the feudal aristocracy,

mere court ornamentation, was forced to look

the sea as an outlet for

its

to the

ambitions.

Germany, the imperial title had become almost the birthright of

the House of Habsburg, which under Maximilian I (Holy Roman
emperor 1493-1519) became the most powerful family in all Europe.
In

78

To

achieve the high theater that

was international Gothic fashion, wo?nen wore dresses with

abundant trains, deep decolletage, and considerable padding.
They also plucked their eyebrows and shaved their foreheads for dramatic effect, as the
Franco-Fle7nish portrait at near
right

indicates.

coiffeurs

were

cased

in

en-

frequently

sheer

cloth supported

work

These elaborate

by

(far right),

fabric
a

head-

wire frame-

the

effect

which was frequently both

resting and very feminine.

of
ar-

Maximilian, so to speak, believed in making love, not war.

He

himself

married the sole heiress of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, and their

numerous children were betrothed to half the princely courts of

Europe, including Spain, where Philip the Fair was wed to the unbalanced daughter of Isabella. Their son Charles was to become the most
powerful ruler of his time, king of Spain and Holy Roman emperor.
England was beginning to emerge as a major power. Shortly after
the Hundred Years' War ended in 1453, the country was torn by the

Wars

of the Roses, an essentially feudal

power

struggle

between the

houses of York and Lancaster. However, the death of the

king

left the

throne vacant for the upstart

ized authority

by

creating a

new

last

Yorkist

Henry Tudor, who

central-

nobility directly dependent

patronage. France, too, had been badly shaken

by

the

Hundred

on

his

Years'

War, but under Louis XI the country was transformed from a feudal
kingdom into a modern state. The duchy of Burgundy was annexed
and the duchy of Brittany safely gathered into the French fold.
It was inevitable that European attention should be drawn to the
rich and divided land of Italy, which so conspicuously lacked a strong
centralized government. France invaded in

When

1494 and again in 1498.

Spain interfered, Italy was turned into a battleground where

European powers vied for supremacy. The invasion of Francis I in 1515

again disturbed the balance of power, and in 1527 the imperial troops
of Charles \^ viciously sacked Rome, subjugated most of Italy, and terminated the High Renaissance.
Sixteenth-century costume reflected the
ism. Specific styles

were associated with

new concept

of national-

specific countries.

speak of a French hood, a Spanish farthingale, an Italian

Writers

gown, or

79

One

of the most singular developmeiits in High Renaissance

fashion ivas slashijig, a technique
that permitted the ivearer to dis-

play

several

layers

of

splendid

fabric sivmltaneoiisly. Like

most

styles of the period, slashing ivas

initially

straint

carried

treated

with

(beloiv)aiid
to

ridiculous

particidarly in

some

re-

eventually

extremes,

Germany,

as evi-

denced by the portrait of Henry, Duke of Saxony, at left. Both

costumes feature codpieces.

80

German

cap.

The French

invaders took the culture and costumes of the

ItaHan Renaissance back across the Alps with them. Italian styles devel-

oped in the last decades of the fifteenth century provided the basic garments that were later adapted and modified throughout Europe. For

women,

the typical

bodice with

full,

gown was made up

of a tight, square-necked

flowing sleeves, which were usually folded back to

expose the lining. The waistline was high early in the century, but later
under French and Spanish influence it dropped to a sharp point low on
the abdomen. Skirts supported by farthingales ballooned out until they
seemed to hang from the rim of a cartwheel somehow supported
around the waist. Basic men's wear consisted of a doublet, usually low
cut to reveal the shirt; the hose, which were still attached to the doublet; and a cloak or cape, which varied considerably from one region to
another. The long robe for men \\'as seldom worn except for state
occasions. From this modest beginning, the pacesetters of the sixteenth
century were to evolve unusually distinctive national styles.
One of the strangest aspects of High Renaissance style was the practice of slashing. According to historians, it originated in 1477, when
Charles the Bold was slain in battle. The victorious Swiss and their
German mercenaries looted the tents of the Burgundians and patched
their own ragged garments with odd bits and pieces of fine textiles.
Somehow this flashy new look caught on, and by the early 1500's slashing was used throughout Europe. It consisted of cutting slashes in the
outer costume and pulling the inner garments or the lining out through
the slits. The practice was most extreme in Germany where garments
were slashed in a bewildering fashion, each leg or arm cut in a different
pattern. Slashing was also sometimes used in women's clothing.
Another innovation of the period was the division of hose into two
separate garments. The upper portion was known as upper stocks,
slops, trunk hose, or breeches; the lower portion was called nether
stocks or lower hose. Often the parts were sewn together for greater
ease in dressing. Early in the sixteenth century the trunk hose reached
just below the knee, but by mid-century they had crawled up the leg
to about the middle of the thigh, where they were heavily padded and
slashed. The modest braye of the previous century developed into the
full-blown codpiece, one of the most curious elements ever seen in
Western male costume.
Although usually cut from the same material as the trunk hose or
breeches, the codpiece was a separate item, laced to the hose and the
doublet with points. Codpieces were heavily boned and padded to jut
out aggressively between the breeches and the skirts of the vest, giving
the impression of an advanced state of satyriasis. Predictably, conservatives were shocked. But in defiance of criticism the codpiece continued
to protrude triumphantly until around 1580, when it suddenly deflated
and disappeared altogether.
By mid-century the Italian influence in costume was replaced by the
severe and formal fashions of Spain. Under Charles V and his successor
Philip II, Spain was the most powerful state in Europe, due largely to
the rich commercial cities of the Spanish Netherlands and the seemingly inexhaustible wealth of the New World. Spanish etiquette was
81

and unbending, and Spanish costume was no less so, designed to

above the frailties of the flesh and the weaknesses of human nature.

rigid
rise

The

old deep, square neckline of the doublet gradually filled in to

become

a high, tightly fastened collar. The body of the doublet was

whaleboned and bombasted, bulging out at the waist or abdomen to
form the peasecod belly.
Women wore the farthingale, a petticoat supported by a framework
of graduated cane or metal hoops to allow the skirts to fall in a stiff
cone. Women's bodices were also boned, and heavy corsets known as
"Spanish bodies" compressed the torso into a smaller but equally geometric cone. Only undergarments were of soft, delicate materials.
Skirts, bodices, doublets, breeches, capes, and mantles were cut from
heavy fabrics brocades, velvets, satins, and taffetas. Somber colors
were the rule. Black in particular became the hallmark of Spanish style.
Decoration was rich and resplendent, gold braid being used lavishly.

The

court of England, the only country successfully to oppose

Spain, furnishes excellent examples of the varieties of fashion of this

The century opened modestly enough under the parsimonious

Henry VII, notorious for his lack of interest in fine clothing. The
era.

Franco-Burgundian styles of the previous century were still being

worn. Doublets reached below the knees, and fur-lined robes swept the
ground. Women wore a simple gown, tightly fitted to the upper body,
with bell-shaped sleeves. The gable or "dog kennel" headdress was the
most distinctive article of feminine attire. It consisted of a stiffened coif
with a band of jeweled metal framing the face, and an embroidered
hood that fell down in back to hide the hair.
When Henry VIII inherited the throne, he set about spending the
money his father had so carefully hoarded. New fashions appeared
almost overnight. Elements of French, Spanish, and German style
appeared and disappeared, rapidly reflecting the king's foreign or
matrimonial pohcies. Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, is generally credited

worn by

this

with the introduction of the Spanish farthingale. As

unfortunate lady, the farthingale w^as

hooped

of fairly modest dimensions, combined with a tight busk that

below the

breasts.

Her gowns were

and square-necked, with

now

split

82

were

down

just

same as the previous

normal waistline, but

essentially the

fashion, bell-sleeved

the skirts

petticoat

came

the center front to display the ornate

brocades of the petticoat. Undersleeves matching the petticoat were cut

separately and attached to the underhodicc.

The

gown

sleeves of the

were turned back almost to the shoulders to reveal the fur lining.
Catherine also brought to England the Spanish cloak, a long,
fur-lined cape

Durmg

his loJig

(whose

VIII of England
barrel-chested armor is

seen at 7tear
six

and timmltuoiis

Henry

reign,

left)

ive^it

through

many fashion
Ill-fated Anne
Boleyn
who had lived
left),

wives and as

cycles.

(above,

abroad, introduced her husband's

court to French designs. Henry's
next queen, the hapless Jane Sey(above), was English and

mour

at the side front for

slit

armholcs.

Her

portraits

stiff

show her

wearing the early Tudor gable headdress. Before her marriage to

Henry, Catherine was once reduced to only two dresses, both much the
worse for wear, for both her father and her father-in-law were unusually stingy men. By contrast, Henry VIII dressed his bride resplendentlv, and for about twenty years she received all the honor and affection that her essentially selfish spouse had to offer. But she could not
give him a son; therefore, spurred by his "tender conscience" and the
bewitching dark eyes of Anne Boleyn, Henry set Catherine aside and
took Anne as a bride.
Anne had spent a great deal of time in France, where Henry's sister
Mary Tudor had briefly served as queen to the aged Louis XII. Naturally, she favored French styles, which at that time were among the
most elegant in Europe. Anne's major contribution to court dress was
the French hood, a neatly rounded little cap set far back on the head.
French gowns, which also appeared in England at this time, differed
from the English styles in that gown and petticoat were usually cut
from the same fabric and the sleeves slashed to expose the delicate silk
undergarment. But Anne also failed to give Henry a male heir. Even
the king could not bear the thought of another messy divorce with
half of Europe sniggering behind his back. Anne was therefore charged
with multiple adulteries and incest and was beheaded.
Wife number three, Jane Seymour, was around barely long enough
to have her portrait painted and to bear Henry a son. By this time, both
French and Spanish styles were anathema at the English court. Jane's
"English" gowns have big turned-back sleeves with slashing confined to
the undersleeves. Perhaps to emphasize her own purely English ancestry, Jane went back to the gable hood, now smaller and neater in shape.
She died giving Henry his son, and the lusty monarch was once again

on the marriage market.

In his youth Henry had been

were her conservatively cut

At the same time that
Henry took a Gerrnan wife,

constitution of an ox, but at age forty-six he

Anne

years Grossly overweight, he suffered from gout, ulcerated veins, and a

so

clothes.

of Cleves (lower left), he

took to wearing the overpadded doublets then popular in
her country, perhaps to conceal
also

his

considerable corpulence.

slight dose of syphilis.

is

ty-four pounds. In
for her royal prog-

Overleaf:
resses

Queen Elizabeth I dressed

Here she wears a

splendidly.

gown,

with puffings and enover the wheelshaped French farthingale. The

costume also features hanging
stiff

crusted

false

gems,

and a heavily
and wired open ruff.

sleeves

starched

handsome man with the

was beginning to feel his

His armor, preserved in the

was a powerful male animal. One

composed of 235 separate pieces of

indicates that he

ing on foot

a splendid,

it

Tower

of London,
sword fightweighing nine-

suit for

plate

the king stood six feet three inches

tall

and meas-

ured forty-five inches around the chest, thirty-eight around the waist.
Another suit, made at about the time of his fourth venture into matrimony, had a chest of fifty-eight inches and a waist of fifty-four.
Henry had begun to adopt the grossly overpadded styles popularized in

Germany, apparently because the huge puffed

sleeves

added

bulk through the shoulders and minimized the royal paunch. His costumes were usually color co-ordinated, harmonizing shades of red,
green, cream, or yellow played off against the dark, soft fur Hning of
the robe. Perhaps as an anti-Spanish gesture, he seldom

wore

black.

The
83

\ltt

Jp*

f*.

SRWV!r?3EK2!KIW

^m^-

fc/'^-

^^i

,/},'

Germanic cut of Henry's costumes echoes the styles favored by his

Anne of Cleves. She was a poHtical bride; through her,
Henry hoped to gain the support of the German princes in his struggle
against Charles V. But the alliance fell through; Charles and Henry
were politically reconciled, and poor Anne was superfluous. Worried,
fourth wife,

not unduly, about the possibility of losing her head, Anne fainted in
joyous shock when it turned out that all her husband wanted was a
divorce. She received the title of the "king's sister," and an excellent
life, turning up in a new
every possible occasion, and remained on amiable terms with
her "brother" and the two young princesses, Mary and EUzabeth.
Henry married twice more: first, Catherine Howard who, like her

settlement. She continued to enjoy court

gown on

cousin

Anne Boleyn, was beheaded;

changes in basic fashion;

finally Catherine Parr,

who

sur-

two queens apparently made few

Catherine Howard went back to the French

vived the royal Bluebeard. These

last

hood during her short term and Catherine Parr introduced a flat Germanic cap similar to those worn by men.
During the short reign of Edward VI (1547-53) much of the
extreme fullness disappeared from male costume, and the vest or jerkin
became shorter to expose more of the trunk hose or breeches. At first
glance, there would appear to be little or no change in women's fashbut three almost insignificant changes indicate the shape of things
was totally filled in with

ions,

to come. First, the deep, square neckline

fabric, usually matching the sleeve lining, which folded back at the
neck to show the ruffled and gathered chemise rising suddenly right up

was much stiffer; the Spanish body or

was now almost universally worn. Finally, the waistline was
lower, moving toward a deep point in front. These trends continued
through the reign of Mary and became even more severe and formal.
Mary's political policy was pro-Spanish, as her mother, of course, was
Catherine of Aragon, and she herself was wedded to Philip of Spain,
son and heir of Charles V. At about this time there appeared in England the Spanish surcoat, a long, heavy robe with leg-of-mutton or
short, puffed sleeves, usually worn open down the front, but occasionto the ears. Secondly, the bodice

corset

ally

buttoned or fastened

as far as

the waist. Spanish influence remained

strong during Mary's lifetime.

The real fun began with the accession of Elizabeth I (1558-1603),

who inherited her father's love of luxury as well as his political acumen
and iron will. The cone-shaped farthingale became even stiffer and
wider at the bottom, and the French wheel-shaped farthingale was
imported to keep it company. In the French style the bodice was
extremely narrow and came to a point very low in front. The circular
framework shot straight out from the hips and the skirt fell over the
outer rim to drop in a vertical line to the ground. This outlandish contraption was, of course, for court costume only. Common women wore

bum

which was tied

around the waist under the skirts. The effect of these stiff hoops was to
totally geometrize the body and to provide an unbending framework to

a large sausagelike pad, bluntlv called the

roll,

display the almost vulgarly ornate and overdecorated fabrics that characterize the Elizabethan era.

86

The

which Catherine de Medicis introduced to France on her

II in 1533 reached England during the early years
of Elizabeth's reign. Developed from the modest lace and flutings that
raff

marriage to
earlier

Henry

had decorated the neckline of the

out of the high collar of the doublet.

shirt or chemise, the ruff rose

By

the 1570's,

it

was

a separate

item of apparel, basically formed of a long band of fine linen or lace,

heavily starched and gathered on the inner edge to a neckband.
ruff

was worn by both men and women, and

its

size

was

The

in direct pro-

it covered the
bosom, which Elizabeth, as a virgin queen, was entitled to expose. The
so-called "Elizabethan compromise" resolved the dilemma: the ruff was
opened in front and supported in back by huge, gauzy wings held up
by wire. Elizabeth was proud of her tiny feet as well as her alabaster
bosom; from about the 1580's on skirts were shortened to just above

portion to the status of the wearer. Unfortunately,

the ankles to

show

off her delicate feet in fantastically

gemmed

high-

heeled shoes.

Male costume from the 1580's on was particularly attractive. The

still supreme on the Continent, gave way in England
to a more graceful and light-hearted style. As the queen got older, her
courtly swains got younger and dressed in bright colors and novelty
fabrics. The doublet, still with the heavily bombasted peasecod belly,
fit very snugly to the torso, and the trunk hose usually called pansid
Spanish influence,

slops barely covered the buttocks to

great length of leg.

were now
light

The

call

attention to a marvelous

nether hose fitted like a second skin.

knitted, sometimes of silk, rather than being bias cut

They
from

wool, and they were often embellished with embroidered clocks

or sprigs of flowers.
England's

Virgin

Queen had

fondness for handsome men, and her entourage alparticular

ways included

quisitely dressed

number of exyoung courtiers

such as the one seen above.

thought that the subject of
Milliard portrait

It is

this

may be Robert
youth

Devereux, an

impetuoiis

who was

aging queen''s fa-

the

vorite until his plotting against

her forced Elizabeth to have the

headstrong earl executed.

Costume was

a serious art at the court of Elizabeth. State robes are

not, of course, to be taken as typical female dress of the period. Ladies

of the nobility and upper middle class

wore

dresses cut to the

same

general pattern, but were careful not to outshine their royal mistress.

At

Elizabeth's death her

wardrobe was immense, numbering hundreds

of pairs of tiny, narrow shoes and thousands of dresses that were n6

doubt picked over gleefully by her successor, James I of England and

VI of Scotland, and his queen, Anne of Denmark. James, however, did
not maintain the sartorial splendor of the court: "He would never
change his clothes, till very ragged and he never washed his hands,"
commented a historian, who added: "He had a very brave queen."
English court costume never succeeded on the Continent, where
high fashion was based on French and Spanish modes. Indeed, Europeans generally considered English costume rather grotesque and ridiculous, although the prevailing Spanish trend was no less so. In the seventeenth century Spanish styles were to become quite outrageous and
rather old-fashioned as the grandees and their ladies piously preserved
many of the eccentricities of the great age of Philip II. But Spain had
had its day and was soon to decline into a state of formal and shabby
gentility. Under a strong king, Henry IV, and his successors, France,
which had verged on political disaster during the regency of Catherine
de Medicis and the reigns of her ineffectual sons, was now ready to
assume the role of arbiter of elegance for all Europe.
87

vl
I

V"

^1

/Ni-^

/^:

^,

Lf

'9>:

Elegance and Excess

The

sixteenth century, which had opened so auspiciously for France,

ended in a long period of bitterness and disillusionment during which
the country was torn by religious and civil wars. Early in the century,
Francis I had won international prestige for himself and his country by
the conquest of Milan. A virile, brilliant figure and a true Renaissance
prince, Francis I attracted artists, architects, poets, and humanists from
Italy to the French court. His ambassadors and diplomats invested
heavily in masterpieces of Italian and antique art; French artists were
subsidized to study in Italy; and elegant chateaux sprang up almost
overnight throughout the Loire valley. Unfortunately, in political and
military matters Francis' talents were mediocre. Totally outclassed by
the forces of Charles V, his army was all but annihilated in 1525 at the
Battle of Pavia; Francis was taken prisoner, and Charles
became

master of

Italy.

Francis was maneuvered into a political marriage with Charles's

The

seventeenth

was

century

marked by unremitting

political

and social turbulence in Europe.

Costume reflected this turmoil
with

recognizable

readily

tional elements

na-

superimposed on

a basically international style. In

the self-portrait opposite, Flemish

and

painter
his

Paul

Peter
wife,

shown dressed

Rubens

Isabella,

are

the rich

but

in

casual elegance favored by the

wealthy upper middle class. Isabella's
rounded stomacher is
Netherlandish in style but she
wears a distinctively Spanish
ruff.

Her

tremely

felt

hat

up-to-date

and

rather

The

paint-

tall

rare for this period.

er's

soft,

falling

quite fashionable

ahead of

its

time.

collar

is

is

ex-

also

and somewhat

sister;

he was later quoted to the effect that he would have married the
He returned to

emperor's mule to escape Spanish protective custody.

France sadder but not much wiser. To gain the support of the papacy
he accepted Pope Clement VII's young ward, Catherine de Medicis, as
a bride for his son Henry. The French nobility saw the marriage as a
mesalliance and never forgave Catherine her middle-class background.
Neglected by her husband and outshone by his mistress, the
bewitching Diane de Poitiers, Catherine was none the less influential in
bringing Italian culture, cuisine, and fashion into the French court. She
fulfilled her primary duty by producing seven children, but it was
rather a mixed blessing, since both she and her young husband suffered
from congenital syphilis, a grim legacy they passed on to their
offspring. In 1559 Henry II was killed in a freak tournament accident,
and Catherine assumed the regency in the name of her eldest son. For
the next thirty years she controlled the declining fortunes of France.

Her sons Francis

in authority,

Although

II,

Charles IX, and

Henry

III were weak, lacking

and generally uninterested in government.

in

other respects

Henry

Ill's

reign

was one of the low

points in French political history, his passion for costume resulted in

which he supported
and encouraged. Both Tours and Lyon became famous for silk manufacture, and the silkworm itself was cultivated with moderate success.
positive benefits for the country's textile industry,

89

By

the end of the century

new

silk factories

had opened

at

Nimes,

Orleans, and Montpellier, and silk stockings were knitted in the mills of

Dourdan. Since sumptuary laws restricted and severely taxed imported

textiles, the court and upper bourgeoisie followed the royal example and
draped themselves lavishly in French silks and brocades.
At the court of Henry III fashions were refined and effeminate. His
epicene courtiers and favorites assimilated elements from Italian, Spanish, German, Polish, and Hungarian fashions. The king himself was particularly fascinated by female costume. On one occasion he attended a
ball dressed in full farthingale and low-cut bodice, A\-ith yards of pearls
draped around his neck. Even more astonishing was a costume
described by the Duke of Sully: "I shall never forget the fantastic and
extravagant equipage and attitude in which I found this prince in his
cabinet. He had a sword at his side, a Spanish hood hung down upon
his shoulders, a little cap such as collegians wear, upon his head, and a
basket of little dogs hung to a broad ribbon about his neck."
Henry was said to have been late to both his coronation and wedding
because of last-minute fussing with his ruff, but he was on time for his
assassination: he was struck down by a fanatical monk determined to
free his country from this "Prince of Sodom with his court of silks and
blood." The crown passed to Henry of Navarre, of a collateral branch
of the royal house, and France began to emerge from its long ordeal.
Under Henry IV, a man of simple tastes and good sense, France
recovered some of its lost prestige. Reared as a Calvinist, Henry realized that the French would never accept a Protestant king. He accordingly converted to Catholicism, cheerfully remarking that "Paris is
worth a Mass." At the same time he resolved the country's religious
problems by extending religious toleration and civil liberties to Protestants. Like Henry II, he married into Italian wealth. His queen was
Marie de Medicis, niece and heiress of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Court wits referred to Marie as the "fat banker;" upon the king's
assassination in 1610, she acted as regent for the

The

young Louis

XIII.

fashions of the early decades of the seventeenth century fol-

lowed the styles of the previous era, but with a new sense of sobriety
and decorum. The lavish use of jeweled fabrics began to decline except
for the most formal court costume. Gem incrustation gave way to ribbons, buttons, lace, and bows. The peasecod belly on men's doublets
grew smaller. The enormous balloon sleeves also shrank, giving the arm
a more normal outline. Slashing, though still practiced, was more
restrained. Men still wore hose and breeches with long nether hose, but
thick padding and bombasting was less common than it had been.
Usually the heavy fabric and interlining provided enough weight and
stiffness for the garments to hold their shape. While the ruff was still
popular, it was gradually being replaced by the whisk, a flat lace collar
supported on a wire frame.
Henry IV himself paid little attention to fashion and even made a
point of dressing modestly. Addressing the Parlement of Paris, he said:
"I

have come to speak to you not

cape

like

my

doublet." Venetian ambassadors

90

in royal

robes or with sword and

predecessors, but dressed like the father of a family in a

were shocked to

see the king leaving

y/^

Catherine de Medicis, blessed

with a superabimdance of personal
dynmnism, was cursed
with four weak sons, three of

whom

became kings of France.

of these was Henry III,
so?netime transvestite whose

The
a

last

devotio72 to -flamboyant

was shared by

courtiers (above).

costume

host of effete

his apartments with his doublet half unbuttoned, his breeches drooping,
and his points undone, allowing his hose to fall untidily around his
shoetops. Like most men of his time, he was not undulv clean; "Don't
wash," he once wrote to a mistress; "I'm coming over after lunch."
Women's costumes also showed gradual modifications. Dresses were
still cut with separate skirt and bodice, a style commonly followed

since the 1570's. Bodices

were

tightly fitted over corsets designed to

obliterate the natural lines of the

strong

silk,

body. Corsets were usually made of

with strips of

linen, or lightweight leather, solidly lined

whalebone a broad busk of horn or wood was inserted down the

front to ensure total rigidity. The breasts were flattened into submission, and the ^^aist was constricted to absurdly dainty dimensions. Iron
corsets, triumphs of the blacksmith's art, survive from this period,
although several fashion historians believe that these torturous contraptions ^\'cre special orthopedic supports

and not representative of what

was normally worn.

Hooped

petticoats

were

still

popular. France and England, as might

be expected, preserved the French wheel-shaped farthingale, although

the simple

bum

roll

was becoming increasingly acceptable, even among

91

women

of quality. Spain, Italy, the Spanish Netherlands, and Habsburg

Austria kept to the rigid cone shape of the Spanish farthingale.

The

remained long and pointed. Long, hanging

false sleeves, cut in many intricate ways, were still seen on court costumes, especially in areas under Spanish influence. Necklines varied.
Spanish costume still insisted on total coverage, with a high-standing
collar extending right up under the closed ruff. Elsewhere particularly France and England extreme decolletage was usual, the neckUne
often being cut as low as the nipples. In such cases, however, a light
scarf or semisheer undergarment usually preserved a semblance of modwaistline, in either style,

English woodcuts of the period

esty.

show

the breasts entirely exposed,

but the intent appears to have been satirical rather than factual.
When Louis XIII attained his majority he ruled ineptly for a few
years, then

with obvious

relief

turned the government over to

his able

minister. Cardinal Richelieu, while he himself alternately pursued game,

fashion. Richelieu's successes were spectacular. He reestabFrench prestige, confirmed the absolute power of the monarchy, and through improved administration created a truly centralized
government. French fashions, equally spectacular, spread throughout
Europe, reflecting and reinforcing France's new international image.

women, and
lished

Under Louis XIII

suit of status

the nobility

went

to reckless extremes in the pur-

through fashion, vainly attempting to outdo the

The

sartorial

were
marked by costumes of extraordinary opulence and overindulgence.
splendor of the rich bourgeoisie.

earlier years of Louis's reign

Rich imported fabrics flooded the court in defiance of the taxes and
sumptuary laws of the previous monarchs. Then in 1625 Richelieu promulgated the first of a series of edicts that were to have a profound
effect on the development of French costume. Once again imported
textiles were banned, and the fashion-conscious courtiers and upper
bourgeoisie were forced to rely on the products of local industry.
The last elements of Spanish fashion began to disappear and soon
they were gone altogether, replaced by new modes. The nobility,
having little else to do after Richelieu deprived them of their political
power, took the lead in the development of new fads, but they were
closely followed by the wealthy townsmen. Sumptuary laws intended
to restrict extremes of fashion to the nobility were generally ignored,
and during the reign of Louis XIII it was virtually impossible to distinguish between the aristocracy and the upper middle class on the basis
of their clothing.

Men's clothing changed

radically.

The

peasecod belly and the over-

inflated sleeves joined the codpiece in the

doublet

fit

more

closely to the body.

The

Hmbo

of lost fashions.

waistline

was

fairly

The

high and

less

pointed; the skirts of the garment, usually cut in several sections,

fell

well below the hips. Shirts of fine linen or

through

slashes in the doublet sleeve.

Men wore

The

ruff

silk were exposed

was no longer worn.

instead a wide-falling collar of fine linen deeply bordered

Breeches were slimmer in cut and reached well below the

knees, where the hose were laced on with points. Square-toed, low-cut
shoes were worn indoors, but they were almost equaled in popularity

with

lace.

by boots with huge, floppy turned-down

92

cuffs.

Boot hose of

plain

By

the middle of the seventeenth

century the long dominance of
Spain and Spanish fashion was

on the wane throughout Europe.

The high collar and full ruff had
given
collar,

way

to

the

wide-falling

and the peasecod belly

to softer,

more

natural lines, as

evidenced in the portrait of the

duke of Orleans seen at right.

cloth,

trimmed

worn over

top with lace matching that of the collar, were

at the

the silk hose to protect

them from the

oils

of the leather.

Decoration was still lavish, but made up of less expensive materials.

Dozens of bows, miles of braid, and regiments of buttons replaced the
gem-encrusted gold bullion of the previous era. Capes were generally
worn as outer wraps. In the French style, they were draped nonchalantly over the left shoulder in a

of gravity.

They were

manner

that appeared to defy the laws

in fact firmly secured

by

cord stitched under

the collar, brought around the shoulders under the falling collar of the

doublet and then tied in back.

ostrich feathers

pleted

by

were

Wide-brimmed

felt hats

trimmed with
was com-

fashionable, and the dashing costume

hung from a wide baldric across the right

waved and curled lovelocks of the young cheva-

the court sword,

shoulder, and

by

the

93

lier.

The costume was

splendid,

highly attractive,

and perhaps

of

was reasonably comfortable, cut on easy and

generous lines to permit freedom of movement.
Women's costume reflected this new concern for elegance and comfort. Many layers of clothing were still worn: a well-dressed woman
greater significance it

wore, next to her skin, a chemise and long Italianate drawers or

breeches to which her hose could be attached by points; the drawers
were also fitted with pockets, which were reached through discreet slits
in the seams of the outer garments; next came several petticoats and at

The outermost petticoat was made of fine fabric,

when the skirts of the gown were lifted for ease in
walking. The other items of underwear were made of delicate linen,
although wool or flannel petticoats might be worn in winter. The
two-piece gown was next, usually cut from soft, light-colored satins or
brocades. The full skirts fell normally to the floor, for by this time
even the bum roll was in decline. The bodice was high-waisted with a
short peplum falling over the top of the skirt. The full puffed sleeves
times a light corset.

intended to be seen

were now sewn

on with points.
boned above the waistline, doing away
separate corset. The stomacher the central front

to the bodice rather than being laced

The bodice was

often

stiffly

with the need for a

of the bodice was often cut separately.

It curved generously over the

abdomen, emphasizing fecund roundness. Finally, an open robe, usually
cut from fine black velvet, went over all. The sleeves of the robe were
entirely open from shoulder to wrist to expose the bodice sleeves. Ribbons, often ornamented with huge rosettes, held the gown at the waist
and caught the sleeves at the elbow. The necklines of both bodice and
robe were deeply cut, then usually filled in with several layers of gauze
or lawn. Wide, lace-trimmed collars and turned-up cuffs completed the
costume. At home, the robe was often laid aside and the fine gown pro-

by

tected

The
fied, at

a long apron.

styles for

both

men and women were

rich, elegant,

times having an almost classical simplicity.

The

and digni-

high waist gave

the impression of long, graceful legs; and soft, natural contours contrasted strongly with the constricted rigidity of the previous generation.

Wide

lace and linen collars focused attention

on the face without

giving the effect of grotesque isolation that resulted when the head was
balanced in the middle of a huge cartwheel ruff. Hairstyles were gener-

and superfluous ornamentation had all but disappeared.

spread to England, encouraged by Henrietta Maria,
queen to Charles I and sister of Louis XIII. By and large, English styles
were more conservative. Sleeves were shorter and softer in outline, and
the velvet outer robe was hardly ever worn. In Holland the styles were
avidly followed by young people, while the older generation remained
ally restrained,

The new mode

faithful to the severe fashions of the turn of the century.

The

mercurial

of Dutch trade and the expansion of the overseas commercial

empire brought new wealth into the small country, still newly rejoicing

rise

in

its

hard-won independence from Spain. By around 1635 almost

all

the Spanish elements of costume had been abandoned in favor of the

new, easy French styles, which remained in vogue until the early years

of the eighteenth centur}'.

94

As
their

a rule,

Dutch

fashions were never as colorful or as ostentatious as

French prototypes;

plain, solid colors often

enriched with fur

were preferred over figured brocades and damasks. Now and again,
religious strictures against "vanity in dress" were invoked, causing considerable harm to the local textile industries. Only one aspect of Dutch
costume indicated the earlier dominance of Spain: the overwhelming
preference for black. Although black had been the favorite color of the
hated Spanish papists, the Dutch Calvinists associated its understated
sobriety with their

own

austere religion.

Spain adhered stubbornly to

,aI

i'-fl

n^

late

sixteenth-century styles until

around 1630, when a noticeable thaw set in. Elements of French style
were introduced but were more pronounced in male than in female
attire. With the exception of gala court dress, fabrics tended to be plain
and heavily encrusted with braid or passementeries. Philip III, consistently orthodox in his religion, had wrecked the Spanish textile industry
by his expulsion of the Moorish craftsmen in 1609, after which patterned textiles became increasingly rare. Gold and silver from the New
World still flowed into Spain but this became stagnant, rather than
circulating, wealth. Spanish society was sharply divided, ruled by the
court and by grandees and officials connected, however distantly, with
the Crown. The burden of the Spanish economy was borne by everyone

by royal
Most of the numerous and rigidly enforced sumptuary laws of
Spain were directed against the commoners. The freedom of Paris,
where nobility and bourgeoisie vied in the field of fashion, would have
else merchants, artisans, and peasants those not protected
favor.

1
Lew
less

At

all Europe, with the excepFrench culture and copied French fashions.
During the long reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), France emerged as
the strongest and wealthiest state in Europe. The political ascendency
achieved during this period lasted throughout the greater part of the
eighteenth century. The cultural dominance established during this
reign lasted still longer. In fact, until the third decade of the nineteenth
century France virtually dictated European styles in architecture,
painting, literature, drama, language, manners, and dress. The taste of
all Europe was decreed by the Sun King and his brilliant court.
Louis looked upon kingship not merely as an inherited right but as
an exacting profession, the metier du roi. Every waking moment was

the time of the death of Louis XIII,

tion of Spain, imitated

frequejitly displayed but

splendidly

made was

no

the un-

derwear ivorn beneath a s'eventeenth-century nobleman's court

dress. This set, niade fro7n fine
linen embroidered with colored
silk afid outlined in gold and silver thread, was originally part
of a

been unthinkable in Madrid.

young

courtier's trousseau.

absorbed in acting out to the

figure emerges

from the

fullest the role

of king.

splendid royal

histories of the seventeenth century; the

man

himself remains, to a large extent, an enigma. Historians agree as to the

image of the Sun King; they disagree sharply about his true
character and the value of his accomplishments. To some, Louis figures
as the most outstanding ruler of the modern era; to others, he appears
mediocre and ineffectual, a concentration of vanities in human form.
The truth, as usual, seems to lie somewhere in between.
Louis was not quite five years old when his father died and his Spansuperficial

ish

Habsburg mother, Anne of

Anne was

was appointed regent of France.

upon Cardinal Mazarin, the pupil and
of the great Richelieu. Although Louis attained his majorAustria,

entirely dependent

spiritual heir

95

ity at the age of fourteen, he

continued to depend on the advice and

when

guidance of Mazarin. But

the cardinal died in 1661, Louis took

own

hands. The court, remembering

weak and dissolute sons of Henry
II, fully expected that after a week or two of playing king, the young
man would choose a new prime minister and return to a more relaxed
way of life. The court had sadly underestimated its king. Louis's one
ambition was to assume full power and he permitted nothing to interthe government directly into his

Louis's pleasure-loving father and the

fere with this intent, not even the incredible load of hard and unremit-

ting

work

that he carried for the rest of his

life.

Until around 1650, costume remained in a state of transition; the

handsome and noble styles of the previous reign were followed with
some modification of ornament in accordance with new sumptuary
laws, which banned all trimming except silk ribbons. Then, suddenly,
petticoat breeches or rhinegraves burst upon the scene; wide, openlegged trousers so

full that

they looked

like skirts,

reaching

down

to

the knee or even to mid-calf. These curious garments apparently origi-

nated in

by

Germany and may have been introduced

the eccentric

waiting to

The

Anne

Count

Palatine

to the French court

Edward, who was married to a lady in

of Austria.

were worn with a matching doublet, cut

would show between doublet and breeches. The

petticoat breeches

short so that the shirt

doublet was

commonly

left

unbuttoned or only partially buttoned to

allow even more of the shirt to emerge.

The

doublet sleeves are quite

composed of narrow strips of brocade lined with white taffeta,

they were attached only at the armholes and the short cuff, exposing
still more of the shirt. Yard upon yard of ribbon decorate the doublet
cuffs, the waistline, and the sides of the breeches. Often more than 250
yards of ribbon were required to decorate these monstrosities.
The shirts worn with these outfits were of fine linen or silk, with
huge, full sleeves, heavily bedecked with ruches, ruffles, lace, and more
ribbon. Odd-looking ruffles of linen and lace, called cannons, were
worn just below the ribbons of the breeches, falling over embroidered
silk stockings. Along with all this one wore a short, full cape and a hat
curious;

loaded with ostrich plumes. Shoes with high red heels and stiff butterfly bows were commonly worn, although low, bucket-topped boots

In

were acceptable for

accoutered in a manner befitting

street wear. Louis is often erroneously credited

with having invented high heels; in fact they had been around since the
middle of the sixteenth century. His approval of the fashion caused a
resurgence of its popularity. (He himself was around five feet four
inches tall and needed all the extra altitude he could get.) Wigs, often of
prodigious dimensions, were worn over shaved scalps, although Louis
himself refused to sacrifice his own abundant hair until the 1670's.

This absurd costume, based on trousers originated by the somewhat

addled Count Palatine, was enthusiastically supported by Louis and his
sycophants, and it remained in fashion until about 1680. But Louis had
good reasons for encouraging a mode that caused gentlemen to look
like

refugees from an explosion in a ribbon factory:

required yards of fabric, miles of ribbon, and acres of lace,

duced
96

in France.

From

the

1640's

on,

the
all

fashion

now

pro-

Mazarin had published and

Hyacinthe Rigaud's famous

XIV of France is

portrait, Louis

the pree?m7ient

monarch of

sev-

Europe. His
cascading robes, lined in ermine
and CDiblazoned ivith golden
enteenth-century

fleurs-de-lis,

their

every

bespeak regality in
detail.

This

royal

court costume was patterned on

formal attire of the late

century and only a
few details, such as the cravat,

juen's

sixteenth

reflect

contemporary

eighteenth-century fashions.

early

^ \

mlpll^^i;^

'*'

1*-

Li

PS^'

I^lf

/k'

1
i:^^^

pJHi

'

W.

'/"fe^'

enforced a

series of

sumptuary laws banning imported embroideries,

One

Mazarin's death was

first independent acts after

ban on imports. He himself scrupulously observed these
restrictions, setting his court a much needed example. At the same time,
acting on the advice of his minister Colbert, he recruited skilled Venetian craftsmen and settled them throughout France. Alen^on, Arras,
Rheims, Chateau-Thierry, Loudon, and other cities became the centers
of a new and flourishing industry. Gold and silver braids and trimmings
were also produced but were restricted to the nobility, who were
encouraged to use them with abandon.
This new fashion was well under way by 1660 when Louis married
Marie Therese of Spain, daughter of Phihp IV. Spain, predictably, had
not accepted these styles; tapestries and paintings recording the mar-

of Louis's

reconfirm

riage

to

this

show

the grandees in conservative and rather old-fashioned attire

of a cut popular in the 1630's. Spanish female court costume, on the

other hand, more than compensated for this lack of flair. The old
cone-shaped farthingale had continued in fashion until around 1640
when a new skirt support, the garde-infante, was introduced. Mme de
Motteville described one: "Their garde-infante was a circular machine

and

skirt,

monstrous one, for

it

was

like several barrel

hoops sewn into the

except that hoops are round and their garde-infante was flattened

at the front

Spanish

and behind, and spread out

women were more

at the sides."

severely corseted than ever,

if

possible;

were squashed inside tight stays at an early age to prevent the

natural development of their breasts. The grotesque hoops shot straight
out on either side of the waist to a width greater than the reach of the
arms. Spanish ladies were taught to walk with delicate mincing steps so
that they seemed to roll along on casters. As its name indicates, the
garde-infante was reserved for women of the royal family and the
little girls

98

XlVs

During Louis
his

cloth of gold and silver, and Flemish and Venetian laces.

jnagnificent

sailles
cial

was the

long reign

palace
political

at

Ver-

and so-

nexus of Western Europe.

Through its numerous reception

roomsseen above in a series of
contemporary engravings by Antoine

Trouvain7noved the ?nost

dressed courtiers on

splendidly
the

Continent.

indicate,

many

As

these

complicated

coiffeurs

co777plexions

accented

beauty patches.

views

of them favored

Among

and pale
by dark
the bet-

ter-known residents of Versailles

was Mme Louise de la Valliere
(opposite),

who

the

king's

mistress,

bore Louis three children.

If

't

back on the bum roll. As an outward sign of

Therese changed to French garments when
she arrived on French soil. At first she felt awkward and embarrassed,
but etiquette required that she wear the costume of her new homeland,
and she eventually became accustomed to it.
French female costume of the 1660's was not so extreme as the fantastic outfits worn by men. The basic dress was the bodice and skirt,
still usually designed as two garments. The waistline was dropped to a
relatively normal position in back and drawn down to a low, sharp
point in front. The bodice was heavily boned and tight fitting. Sleeves
were quite short and full, but the arms were covered to well below the
court; lesser mortals

her

new

elbow by the
split

fell

allegiance, A4arie

down

full

flounced sleeves of the chemise.

The

skirt

was usually

the front to expose the underskirt, and the looped-up folds

of the train were often bunched and fastened in back.

The

length of

was determined by
the rank of the wearer. Gowns usually had a wide bateau neckline,
filled in with lace or a gauze fichu. Women no longer wore underdrawers and their absence inspired many a merry jest when ladies took a
tumble during the hunt. Some opportunists among the fair sex were
rumored to have deliberately engineered such happy accidents.
Women's fashions were set, not by Louis's queen, but by his mistresses. Mme de Montespan introduced a soft, relatively unboned negligee or robe de chavibre, allegedly to disguise her numerous pregnan-

the train, like almost everything else at Louis's court,

cies. Louise de la Valliere contributed the necklace that still bears her
name, and Mile de Fontanges developed a new hairstyle. Cosmetics
were used by both men and women, as were beauty patches. The
patches might be simple dots, artfully placed to call attention to fine
eyes or a succulent mouth, or they might be cut in stars, crescents, or
other exotic shapes. They emphasized the porcelain whiteness of the
skin and were also useful for masking syphilitic eruptions and acne.

99

Versailles in

its

heyday was

a ta-

bleau vivant without parallel in

of Europe. The course of
Continejital fashion was charted

all

in the gra7id salo?is of the palace

even

(right),

as the political des-

West was being

tiny of the

termined in

its

de-

state apartments.

The French court

Europe. Versailles \\as

became the fashion center of all

where Louis and his courtiers
acted out the never-ending pageant of the Sun King in all his glory. It
at Versailles

a splendid theater

also served as a great gilded cage to contain the nobility of France. In

the old and bitter rivalry between king and aristocracy over feudal pretensions to power, Louis succeeded
failed.

The

great nobles

were

where many of

his predecessors

had

politely invited to partake of the royal

hospitality of Versailles where, of course, the king could supervise their

activities.

The

personal favor of the

cess in this glittering

and

artificial

necessary to be in attendance at

The
100

life

of a courtier at

all

monarch was the only key

world, and to attain

this

to suc-

favor

it

was

times.

\'^ersailles

was one of

frenetic and grueling

social duty, of rising at six and,

constant attendance

upon

if

fortunate, retiring at midnight; of

the king, long days spent standing and walk-

life was an
and exhausting round of balls, parties, and banquets, of masques
and pageants, of chapel-going and rides in the park. All these activities
required frequent changes of costume and occasionally Louis would
require the courtiers to fit themselves out in a new wardrobe for a special occasion, such as a royal birth or wedding. Rigid and complicated

ing through seemingly endless rooms and corridors. Court

eternal

etiquette preserved order

among

the throngs of courtiers. Serious topics

of discussion meant instant disfavor; conversations were limited to scandals

and fashions. Louis had never forgotten

his

childhood

when

the

rebeUion of the Fronde had almost cost him his throne. His nobles,
101

under his watchful eye and encouraged to strip their estates to

cover their backs, were not Hkely to pose any such threat again.

safely

In the early 1680's, the mindless frivolity of the court was

new and perhaps welcome atmosphere of

rum. The king had tired of the overwhelming
by

temper of

dampened

sobriety and deco-

arrogance and bad

iMme de Montespan; perhaps more

his chief mistress,

to the

point, she l)egan to lose her figure after the l)irth of their last child.

Her

involvement in the scandalous poison affair had further aroused his

alarm and although the king managed to shield her reputation, she

was no longer welcome

at court.

The

royal affections were transferred

Mme

de Maintenon, governess to the royal bastards; and sometime after the death of the queen in 1683, she became

to the ultra-respectable

the king's wife. A'Ime de Maintenon, perhaps as a legacy of her obscure

middle-class origins,

was

strait-laced

and obsessively pious. But Louis

himself was beginning to feel his years, and her quiet wit and refine-

ment must have been a welcome change from the hysterics, tantrums,
and general stupidity of his previous inamoratas.
French fashions were quick to reflect this new state of affairs. Petticoat breeches and other extravagances of attire vanished almost overnight and were replaced by costumes equally sumptuous but far more
restrained and understated. The justaucorps or waistcoat, which had
been worn for about twenty years, was redesigned and emerged as the
most distinctive article of male attire. It was a knee-length tailored coat
with a fitted waistline and flared skirts that were stiffened to stand
away from the figure. It had long sleeves with wide cuffs and was ornamented with braid and a great many buttons and buttonholes, both
functional and nonfunctional. It had no collar, which, in any case,
would have been hidden by the full wig. It was worn with a sleeveless
vest, also knee length, and closefitting knee-length breeches. Lace and
linen cravats were worn to conceal the front opening of the shirt.

As

early perhaps as 1662, Louis himself designed a special justau-

corps, blue with red lining and ornaments and

worn with

red vest,

both garments heavily embroidered in gold. These coats were given to

especially favored courtiers, but according to the Due de SaintSimon, neither the king nor the Grand Dauphin wore this get-up. By
the time Saint-Simon arrived at court in 1691, the king's personal prefer-

ence in costume had become downright stodgy: "The King always

wore

plain

brown, sometimes

set off

by

a gold

button or a

or red.

He wore an open vest of embroidered cloth or

He shunned rings and wore jewels only on his

garters

and

velvet.

his hat,

which was trimmed

orated with a white plume."

The

in

courtiers

bit of black

satin, either

blue

shoe buckles, his

Spanish needlepoint and dec-

were by no means limited

to

such a somber palette, although their garments were cut along the same
conservative lines. Behavior also was conservative; libertinism, formerly
winked at, was now officially disapproved of although it continued unabated behind the king's back.

Women's

fashions also

became more

stiff

and formal.

Gowns were

cut along the same basic patterns of the previous period, but the silhouette

changed

radically.

The

front edges of the trained ovcrskirt \\ere

pulled farther to the back of the figure and looped

102

up

at intervals to

representative example of the

refined

craftsmanship

eenth-ceiimry
this
is

mauve

silk

eighttailors,

gentle?nen^s suit

embellished with

design of white

by green

of

French

foliage.

an overall

flowers linked

fall in classic

The mass

festoons.

of material at the rear was further

bum

accentuated by a bustle, a modified

The exposed

trated at central back.

roll

with the fullness concen-

underskirt was richly ornamented,

The

usually with horizontal bands of braid or tiers of ruffles or lace.

stiff-boned bodice
still

fell

extreme, despite

was

to a decided point in front and decolletagc

Mme

de Maintenon's insistence upon a more

modest neckline. The costume was not particularly comfortable and

was almost impossible to sit in except on low stools or cushions on the
floor. Since, however, only a very few women at court were entitled to
a chair, such considerations were unimportant. The rufiles and ruches
of the fontanges headdress scaled ever greater heights;

its

popularity

had considerably outlasted that of its fair inventor.

Louis XIV gave France its most splendid era of national glory,
although he almost destroyed the country in the process. When, in
1715, he lay on his deathbed, the country was bankrupt from the drain
of his devastating wars and his exhausting building programs. The
people were destitute; the population itself was reduced; commerce and
trade were fettered by unreasonable taxation; the Calvinist Huguenots,
the most productive members of the middle class, had been driven into
exile; the bourgeoisie was restless; and the aristocracy had lost the
administrative usefulness it had once possessed.
The news of his death was heard with great relief by the people,
who had been plunged into misery by their ruler's extravagance and
ambition. His body was rushed into the grave with a minimum of ceremony and, according to Voltaire, there was dancing in the streets of
Paris. Later generations have been kinder to him, for misery passes,
eventually, and splendor remains.
The throne devolved upon the late king's great grandson, Louis

XV,

a child five

years of age.

The

regent, Philippe of Orleans, closed

Marly a
economy and moved to

the great chateaux of Versailles and

gesture that saved mil-

lions for the sagging

the Palais Royal in the

center of Paris.

The

social life of the Paris salons gay, witty, informal

formed a welcome
young king returned
tionship

The

contrast to the frigid etiquette of Versailles.

The

to Versailles after the regent's death, but the rela-

between the court and the upper bourgeoisie remained

close.

general reaction against extreme formality was mirrored in the

fashions of the

new

regime.

With an

almost audible sigh of

relief,

much

of the stiffness drained out of women's clothing and was replaced

by

the graceful, fluid lines so well illustrated in the paintings of Watteau.

The

style apparently

was derived from the robe de chavibre of the pre-

vious reign, a relaxed and informal dress that could be

worn only

in the

many

variations,

was

privacy of the home.

loose dress

worn over

The Watteau gown

The

basic line, capable of

a tight

bodice and

a full

underskirt or petticoat.

or sack dress featured double box pleats set in on a

fall unbelted to the ground in a train. In front,

straight-back neckline to

low on the waistline with the opening

sewn or caught together with bows. It could also be worn open
in front to show the petticoat, which was often cut from the same
material. Boned bodices and stomachers were worn, cut low to expose a
great deal of delicate bosom. Sleeves were elbow length with vertical
the pleats converged to a point
either

103

*r

echoing the motif of the l)ack pleats, and terminated in soft,

wide cuffs over the lacv frills of the chemise sleeve. Skirts were bellshaped, supported h\ a hooped petticoat. The hoops did not extend all
the way to the floor like the old farthingale; thev ended a bit below the
knee, allowing the skirt to fall in softer folds. Hairstyles were simple
and neat, fairly close to the head; small frilled caps were worn.
One of the more obvious changes in fashion was the choice of
material. Ihe older generation had preferred heavy fabrics; sturdy
silks, satins, and velvets that could be tailored and draped in formal
pleats,

lines, in

consistently dark, rich colors.

The new

styles called for lighter

and damasks; chintz and Indian cottons printed,

painted, embroidered, or plain were worn even by the wealthy.
Colors were lighter, and a decided preference for soft pastels appeared. The overall look was warmly appealing, simple, graceful, and
fabrics, delicate silks

almost childlike.

The

Marquise de Montcspmi,
often pregnant during her long
liaison with Louis XIV. took to
wearing a loose-fitting negligee,
or robe de chambre, to hide her
distended abdoinen.
fluid style,

the

sack

Watteau

it

was

dress

graceful,

to evolve into

featured

paifiting

at

the

in

left.

An-

other royal mistress, Louis XVs

Marquise de Pompadour, ruled
unchallenged over Versailles and
French fashion for twenty years,
a suzeraifity that ended only with

her death in 1164. In the portrait

below she wears the robe

frangaise

that

she

during her lifetime.

la

popularized

Many

examples of actual

Eighteenth-century

silks

textiles of this

were

as

period have been preserved.

expensive as they were gorgeous, and

deHcacy was unusually tough and

it was laid away to await a
future glorious resurrection when it would be taken apart and restyled.
A typical sack dress and petticoat, for example, used about twenty
yards of material, most of which ran in long, uncut panels from neck to
hem. It could be progressively remodeled from decade to decade, or
laid out flat and completely recut in a brand new mode. Lyons silks
from the 1740's can often be traced through any number of reincarnations; from the original sack to a robe a Vanglaise or a polonaise of the
the material for
durable.

1770's,

When

thence to

all

its

gown

superficial

fell

out of fashion

high-waisted empire

gown

of the early 1800's, a day

dress of the 1830's, or an evening dress of the 1890's. This recycling of

eighteenth-century fabric was most active in the

840's

when

delicately

figured floral silks were fashionable again. After that decade, most
alterations

were for the creation of fancy-dress

ball

gowns

rather than

for serious wear.

Men's costume remained

fairly

homogeneous throughout most of

the eighteenth century and consisted of the basic items of coat, vest,

and breeches that had come into favor late in the reign of Louis XIV.
While women's garments became more ornate and complex, the general
Hnes of men's wear were increasingly simplified, resulting in a neat,
well-tailored silhouette. Coats were cut and curved away in front and
gradually lost their fullness at the sides.

The

vest, also closely fitted,

grew progressively shorter as the century wore on and was cut away in
front to form a deep inverted triangle. Breeches were tighter and more
elegant in cut, closely buttoned at the side of the knee.

The

coat and,

if

were padded and shaped to produce rounded,

smooth forms. Stocking pads of lamb's wool were available to plump
out shrunken calves, and real dandies wore corsets or stays to give them
a more military bearing.
By mid-century, female fashions were dictated by Mme de Pompadour, Louis XV's maitresse en titre, whose semiofficial reign lasted from
1745 until her death in 1764. Witty, elegant, and amusing, she was the
real power behind the throne, for Louis unlike his great-grandfather,
necessary, the breeches

105

who

never allowed any of

easily led.

his

women

Pompadour, ambitious and

to influence

him

politically naive,

politicallywas

was

susceptible

to the suggestions of every plausible opportunist or office seeker

swarm-

ing around the remunerative hive of Versailles. Despite the slanders of

her detractors, she was neither vicious nor stupid. Expensively edu-

was an ardent disciple of the new learning of the Enlightenment and her unassailable position at court allowed her to support and
cated, she

protect Voltaire, Diderot, and other philosophes and encyclopedists.

The

sophisticated naivete that characterizes the

a great extent a direct reflection

In the field of costume.

of her

own

Pompadour brought

to such a state of perfection that

it

French rococo was to

exquisitely refined taste.

the robe a

practically

la

jrangaise

became the French

national costume. This dress was derived from the earlier sack gown
with the pleated back train and the overskirt split over a petticoat. It
was worn over elliptical hoops or paniers, which concentrated the fullness at the sides only, leaving both the front and the rear of the gown
quite flat. At home, the paniers were often omitted. The fullness was
then controlled by pulling the front corners of the robe up through the
pocket holes to form great swags of drapery on either side. Pockets
were separate items, pouch-shaped bags stitched to a band tied around
the waist under the petticoat; they were reached through slits in the
outer clothing. The stomacher of the tight bodice was filled in with a
mass of graduated bows, and more bows decorated the sleeves over the
voluminous frills of the delicate lace cuffs.
Fabrics, both plain and patterned, were soft and fragile; colors were
clear and bright and were given highly imaginative names: flea's head,
nymph's thighs, nun's belly, poisoned monkey, lovesick frog, distressed
toad, frightened mouse. Jewelry was restrained; a few matchless pearls
at neck, ears, or wrist

choker or

were considered

a pert pussycat

quite sufficient.

bow matching

the

gown were

frilly lace

often

worn

was dressed neatly and usually powdered. Flowers, both real and artificial, might be worn in the hair or on
the gown for further decoration. The robe a la jrangaise was worn by
all women, varying only in the choice of material and the volume of
instead of a necklace.

The

hair

The style remained popular until well into the 1770's.

extreme version of the gown, with extraordinarily wide and
stiffly boned paniers, a narrow pointed bodice, and a long train was
retained even longer as formal court costume. Court dress was unuthe hoops.

An

heavy and cumbersome and forced the wearer to move in a slow,

glide. According to Casanova, when the court ladies were
required to hurry, they lifted their hoops to their chins, bent their
knees and hopped along like kangaroos.
During the seventeenth century, French styles were spread
throughout Europe by the means of fashion dolls. These little female
figures, designed in adult proportions, were carefully coiffured and
dressed in miniature replicas of the latest modes. They were usually
made up by leading Parisian modistes, and even as late as the 1770's
iMarie Antoinette's dressmaker, Rose Bertin, toured the Continent each
year in the off season in a carriage stuffed with the little poppets. The
sually

stately

dolls not

106

only advertised the current

styles,

but fabrics

as well, for their

To

introduce the

more provin-

of Europe to the latFrench fashion, couriers

cial capitals

est
left

in

Paris

regular

at

with trimks

with fashion
impeccably cut

filled

dolls dressed in

and

finished

gowns

being

Antoinette

intervals

versions

of

the

worn by Marie
her

a??d

attendants.

Although these dolls provided

amusement for children of the
also
they
(above),
nobility
served a more serious purpose.

By

creating

French

fabrics

demand
and

for

fashions

abroad, they sustained the country'' s flourishing textile industry.

tiny dresses

were cut from the

finest textiles

produced

in France. Fe^\

of these exquisite miniatures have survived; after they had served their
original purpose they

were handed down

to

little girls as

toys and sub-

sequently loved to death.

During the reign of Louis

XIV

the

Mercure Galant was the sole

Its timely advice was sup-

publication dealing with matters of fashion.

plemented by Le Tailleitr Sincere, a technical treatise devoted to pattern drafting and to an occasional series of engravings depicting prominent figures of society. True fashion journals did not appear until the
1760's, when they seemed to burst forth spontaneously in Paris and
London, closely followed by German, Dutch, and Italian periodicals.
The French publications/oz/r72a/ du Goilt, Cabinet des Modes, Maga-

Modes
were by far
sin des

fiouvelles,

Courrier de

la

the most influential and

Mode, La Gallerie des Modes

were widely circulated. The

were beautifully engraved and often hand-colored. Specialized

and exotic
needlework appeared at about the same time. With these periodicals, a

plates

journals, dedicated to hairdressing, corsetry, embroidery,

107

-5^

108

'

V^^^^1

dl
1
^^^K

clever modiste in a provincial

town or

costumes equal to those paraded

a foreign

country could turn out

at Versailles.

These journals
seventeenth

also brought about rapid changes in fashion. In the

century or in the first half of the eighteenth, styles

changed gradually; a particularly successful mode would retain its popularity for a decade or more. Now, styles changed from one season to
the next in a constant parade of

new

fads;

gowns

a Vanglaise, a Vbjsiir-

'

gente, a

la

polonaise, a la circassiemie, a

la

Creole, a la levantme, a la

with bewildering
toward more comfortable costume for women, each new mode being softer and easier
in fit than its predecessor. But through their excessive mutability, the
fashions also point up the restlessness of French society, the boredom
and ennui that characterize the final decades of Tancien regime.
A wave of Anglomania brought English fashions to France. The
robe a Vanglaise, introduced around 1775, was boned closely to the waist
and worn without paniers or hoops. The false bottom or cul de Paris,
revised bum roll held out the fullness at the back. The skirt was
gathered at the hips and had a short train. It was extremely popular and
was universally Morn as an at-home dress while the robe a la fran false
was reserved for balls, the opera, and other formal occasions. Another
foreign costume, the polonaise, was brought in at about the same time.
A short gown, reaching well above the ankle, it was worn over modest
hoops or paniers. The overskirt, heavily flounced, was hiked up by
drawstrings to form three rounded, puflFed swags, one at each side and
one in the rear. It is fairly typical of what Marie Antoinette wore when
playing milkmaid at the Hameau.
sultane, a la turque, a la levite succeeded each other

^Ki 'S^itt^^Hffi^^^H

^1^

1^1

I^^K '^^owjIUh^SI^^^^^^E

With

the

accession

of

Louis

XVI

and his beautiful Austrian

bride, Marie Antoinette (above),
fashion once more became a
matter of serious concern in the
French capital. The sheer beauty

much of late eighteenth-century French costume is evident

of

the

in

plate

contemporary

opposite;

the

fashion

tincounted

hours of hand stitching necesto create those garments

sary
is

the subject of the painting at

lower

right.

rapidity. In general, these styles indicate a trend

a.

109

Once the robe a Panglaise achieved the initial breakthrough, even

more comfortable costumes were adopted for private wear, although
they would not have done for formal appearances. The robe a la Creole
supposedly copied the gowns worn by French ladies in the Americas. It
was an extremely simple dress, scarcely more than a chemise, caught in
at the waist with a wide sash. It was also called a gaulle or a baby dress
and was generally made up in delicate white muslin or gauze and worn
without hoops over light petticoats. It could be worn with or without
stays, although some sort of support was usually retained. Marie Antoinette had her portrait

done wearing

a gaulle; to her surprise, the paint-

ing occasioned vicious lampoons in the underground press and the

canvas had to be removed from exhibition. To the revolutionaries, the
lighthearted informality of the dress

was

insulting,

even more objec-

tionable than expensive court costume.

Costumes of the
fling

1770's, as if in

They were

final

largely

by the frivolous and theatrical taste of the young queen, aided

and abetted by the first of the great name designers. Rose Bertin, who
had never heard of the axiom that less is more. The basic cut of costume did not change appreciably, but all aspects of design and decoration were carried to extremes of questionable taste. Hoops not only
spread, they arched abruptly upward at the waistline. The breasts were
pushed up and the neckline dropped right down to the level of the nipples, which were barely veiled by lace frills. A type of decoration
called plastics was invented; this consisted of a series of swags and garlands, heavily padded with lamb's wool to stand away from the fabric
of the gown. Ruffles, lace, tassels, fringe, plumes, ropes of beads, and
festoons of artificial flowers, miles of fringe and ribbon all were used
inspired

with abandon.
The costume was

completed by fantastic hairstyles, grotesque

beyond belief. The hair, vastly augmented with switches, braids, and
rats, was brushed up over huge towers of wire and crinoline, slathered
with pomade and dredged with flour until it had the consistency of
veils, and all
odds and ends. Miniature tableaux, landscapes, and seascapes
were set forth among the curls and poufs; it was said that the best ships
in the French navy were on the queen's head. The very wealthy and
idle changed hairstyles frequently, but a well-constructed headdress
could be cossetted along for three or four weeks. Lice and other
vermin had a field day. If the itching became too severe, a lady would
have her head opened; that is, slits would be made in the concretion
and ivory wands inserted for a comforting scratch. An incredible collapsible bonnet, the calash, was engineered to protect these edifices, and
many other varieties of hats and bonnets were also popular. Sedan

papier-mache, then loaded with flowers, plumes, ribbons,

sorts of

were apparently designed with hinged tops to accommodate

main entrance to St. Paul's
Cathedral was raised four feet to allow the court ladies to enter without
damaging their towering coiffures.
Hairstyles, even more than costume, characterize the hectic fashions
of pre-Revolutionary France. Although the nation's economy was in an
chairs

these monstrosities, and in England, the

110

must have seemed

cesses

age

to

contem-

critics that the ivorst ex-

of the pre-Revolutionary

were

siamnarized

i?:

the

court costumes of the day. At

a time when few Frenchmen
could afford bread, let alone the

cake their frivolous queen urged

the?}t

to

eat in

its

stead,

royal

new heights of exexcess. As these fash-

dress reached

travagant

ion plates froin

subconscious anticipation of a

before the deluge, were quite incredible.

It

porary

the

late

llOO's

upswept coiffeurs of
unprecedented complexity all but

indicate,

eclipsed fashion itself in the last

years of the French monarchy.

Ill

The grotesque

hairstyles affected

by Marie Antoinette and her entourage became the target of sat-

and social critics in the tumultuous years that preceded

the French Revolution. The cartoon at left lampoons not only
irists

the piled-up hair-do of a royal

lady-in-ivaiti?ig

but also her

at-

tempts to achieve a tiny waist

through restrictive corsetry and
rib-cojistricting lacing.

many of the
money seemed

unspeakable condition and

great nobles

aristocratic ears in debt,

plentiful;

were up to their
no caprice was too
extravagant, no luxury too dear, no frivolity too absurd. While the
poor were wondering where their next loaf of bread was coming from
and the upper bourgeoisie were writhing under a disproportionate tax
burden, the aristocracy continued

its

unbridled pursuit of fashion, scan-

dalizing the socially conscious and enriching a small

army

of modistes,

who, with considerable agility, later

managed to escape the forthcoming holocaust that was to swallow up

tailors,

so

many

was

and

jewelers,

hairstylists

of their titled patrons. A4aric Antoinette's favorite hairdresser

a certain

Leonard,

who was

so

much

in her confidence that

he was

entrusted with important details of the abortive flight of the royal

family in 1791.

He was

was apprehended

at

not a very adept conspirator; the royal coach

Varenncs, but he himself escaped to further his

St. Petersburg. Alarie's modiste. Rose

Reign of Terror and continued to practice
her trade in London, padding out her considerable profits with scandalous and generally unreliable memoirs of Vancien reghne.

career at the Russian court at

Bertin, also fled before the

112

113

^Mva^

-r
j:^
r-

6^-*

il^!

.^.

^"""^M

Haute Couture Comes of Age

XV witnessed a steady and irrevocable deand power of the French monarchy both at home
and abroad. The military, political, and commercial leadership of
Europe was gradually assumed by England and, to a lesser degree, by
Prussia. Only in cuisine, costume, and the fine arts did France still reign
supreme. When Louis XVI ascended the throne in 1744, the French
hoped that a young, progressive monarch would bring better days.
Louis XVI was kindly, honest, sincere, and deeply concerned for the
welfare of his subjects. Unfortunately, he was quite ineffectual.
Indignation against the regime arose from the inequality of political
representation, the unjust distribution of taxes, and the resentment felt
by the upper bourgeoisie, stifled and frustrated by the aristocracy.
Contrary to popular belief, the French Revolution was not instigated by
the poor, oppressed masses, but by an upper middle class that was
furious at entrenched privilege based on no better claim than pedigree,
and that was no longer willing to tolerate an inefficient government
that hampered its ambitions.
The long

reign of Louis

cline of the prestige

In

May

1789, the Estates-General

In June, the Third Estate declared

met for the

itself a

first

time in 175 years.

National Assembly and pre-

pared to enact legislation with or without the participation of the

two

estates, the

into anarchy.

clergy and the nobility.

The

The country began

National Assembly met in defiance of

first

to drift

a royal edict,

the government at Versailles

Costume underwent
of

its

lowing the
a

in

011)71

fall

vogue for

a revolution

the decades fol-

of Louis

si?nple,

XVI,

as

was in a state of frozen torpor, financial

depression increased, unemployment rose, and sporadic rioting intensified. In the midst of this chaos, on July 14, the Paris mob took arms and
stormed the

Bastille, a

prison that symbolized centuries of royal tyr-

neoclassical

styles supplanted the ostentation

anny. During the following weeks, ardent revolutionaries demolished

of an earlier age. High-waisted

of Indian muslin, dia-

the structure completely. But the rubble did not go to waste:

phanous and clinging (opposite),

of Bastille stones, elegantly

dresses

characterized this

new mode

la

greque fl77rf incidentally revealed

the feinale figure more completely than it had been since
ancient Egyptian times.

ladies of the revolutionary bourgeoisie, a necklace,

mounted

in gold,

among

the

brooch, or bracelet

became

fashionable

accessory of costume.
In 1792 the radicals, inflamed

by Marat and

recruited

from the

Paris

slums by Danton, overthrew the National Assembly and proclaimed a

was tried, found guilty of treaand executed. The queen, various members of the royal family,
priests, and moderates followed their monarch to the scaffold. During
this Reign of Terror, the list of traitors, each day diminished by
republic. In January of 1793, the king

son,

115

was each night augmented by the addition of new names.

the Revolution would not be safe until "the last
king was strangled with the guts of the last priest," a charming maxim
paraphrased from Rousseau.
The revolutionaries created their own styles. Women wore the
the guillotine,

Extremists

felt that

gown a Panglaise, the gaulle, or the neglige a la patriotea

white dress worn under a blue redingote with a red collar. Stays were
out but the cul de Paris was still in, boldly bearing out the gown's full-

simple

The

ness at the rear.

classes took their

sans-culottes male revolutionaries of the lower

name from

the wide, floppy trousers that had long

been the standard costume of the workingman. With the trousers they
wore the carmagnole, a short jacket with wide collar and lapels. A red
beret or a Phrygian cap of liberty topped off the outfit; tricolor cockades sprouted everywhere. Boots were worn, or even the wooden

Most of the

sabots of the peasantry.

leaders of the Revolution dressed as

usual in the knee breeches, vest, and coat of the upper bourgeoisie.

and velvets were seldom seen;

Silks

luxury fabrics.
broadcloth.

no doubt
with tiny

Women

it

The demagogue Robespierre

as a

symbol of

guillotines;

really

was not

dressed generally in muslin and

safe to

men

wear

in honest

white waistcoat-

his incorruptibility with

buttons engraved

favored

unaccountably, alone

among

the revolutionaries,

he dressed and powdered his hair in the royalist style. It is not recorded
whether or not he wore the famous waistcoast when he himself was sent
to the "national razor."

As might have been

expected, the Revolution ruined the French

mo-

fashion and textile industries. Fashionable tailors, hairstylists, and

distes,

having seen which

money and
or

St.

way

was flying, managed to take their

renewed career in London, Berlin,

the flag

run, finding shelter

and

Petersburg, where they frequently discovered their former

tocratic clients

working

as milliners, maids,

aris-

or seamstresses. Ordinary

craftsmen in the fashion trades were reduced to the meager leavings of

The Lyon silk weavers were totally ruined; thousands

public charity.

of looms were idle and were to remain so until around 1812. Further,
the

Assembly

had abolished the

journeyman, and
were predictable: fabrics produced during the

in a fine burst of egalitarian fervor

time-tested guild system with

master.

The

results

its

steps of apprentice,

Republic and the Directoire periods were markedly inferior.

During the Republic (1792-95) revolutionary ideals continued to be
expressed through costume. Attempts were made to create a suitable
style, and the artist Jacques Louis David politically pure since, as a

member
king

of the National Convention, he had voted for the death of the

who

rather

had subsidized him for the previous ten years designed some
with vaguely classical overtones. Some of his fancy-

silly outfits

dress confections

were actually worn by members of the government

during the Directoire, but vanished after Napoleon's coup d'etat.

The parvenue society of the Directoire (1795-99) supported several
distinct styles of costume. The Merveilleuses and Incroyables did not
represent the mainstream of fashion, only the lunatic fringe.
Incroyables, striving for a careless, untidy effect,
that

116

were

either

much

too large for them

wore

The

coats and vests

or, alternatively, entirely

too

By

the

teenth

Paris still
for

all

e^>

beginning of the ninecentury the wo?nen of

the

fashion

arbiters

Europe had taken

of

^^.

Lx^m

to

wearing a bewildering variety of

headwear. Mob caps and turbans
were popular, but nothing could
compete with the poke, or poking-hat, whose wide brim all but
hid the wearer's face. The con-

temporary illustration at right

shows millitiers in inob caps creating hats in a Parisian

atelier.

tight.

Their costume was

period but with

essentially that of the average

man

of the

and ornament carried to vulgar

extremes. Their hair was cut in ragged points called dog's-ears and
crowned with oversized bicornes or beaver hats. The Incroyables were
little

all

better than

details of color, cut,

young

thugs,

playmg

at

revolution after

all

the real

excitement had died down; an indispensable accessory of their costume

was

walking

stick,

heavily weighted with lead. Their female

ions, the Merveilleuses,

classic style.

wore exaggerated

compan-

versions of the popular neo-

Even more than the men, they achieved

a sloppy, careless

appearance; indeed, their clothes looked as though they had been

thrown on with a pitchfork.

The most significant influence on women's costume of this period
was the rediscovery of classical antiquity. Knowledge of the material
appearance of the classical past had expanded during the Enlightenment, largely because of extensive archaeological excavations at Pom-

and Herculaneum. The revolutionary bourgeoisie took the ancient

to their hearts; possibly they saw in the ruins of those
essentially middle-class towns the reflection of their own comfortable
existence. Republican Rome was idealized; its political system became
the official model for the new French Republic, and its architectural
and sculptural styles were adopted as the only fitting forms of artistic
expression. The Republic evolved into the Consulate, the Consulate into
the Directoire, and the Directoire into the Empire; but the glory of
peii

Roman world

Rome continued to inspire the rhetoric, the pageantry, the aesand the costume of the Napoleonic era.
The neoclassic modes of the Directoire and Empire were based on
the English chemise, which had been introduced in Paris around 1790.
This was a long-sleeved, tubular dress, usually made up in a soft, clinging muslin, its shape defined by drawstrings at the neck and at the high
ancient

Overleaf: In 1804, the same year

that

he

painter

was

appoitited

court

Napoleofi,

Jacques
Louis David recorded on canvas
the

to

dazzling

spectacle

of

French emperor's corofiation.

the

thetics,

waist.

As time wore

on, the sleeves

became

shorter, the neckline lower,

and the waistline higher; the fullness of the skirt was gradually carried
to the back and lengthened into a train. Decoration was held to a mini117

mum

or omitted altogether.

When

ornament was used

consisted of

it

delicate bands of classical motifs: stylized ivy, honeysuckle, or the

Greek

meander. Daring and especially self-confident women wore the gown

with nothing under it but their well-tended and lightly oiled skins, but
ordinarily a chemise and stockings were worn.
By around 1803, the gathered drawstring top was replaced by a
tiny, closely fitted bodice cut with a deep, square neckline; light boning
appeared either in the bodice itself or in a short corset worn under the
gown. Long, rectangular shawls in silk, crepe, or cashmere were draped
over the gown, accentuating its antique quality. A short, fitted high-

necked jacket, the spencer, was introduced and remained in vogue until
about 1830. Some aspects of the Incroyable-Merveilleuse silliness persisted until well into the

victimeremained
often

worn

Empire:

and

in vogue,

a tight,
a

narrow belt the ceinture

to indicate a relative lost to the guillotine.

lutionary hairstyles, cut a

la

a la

red ribbon around the neck was

Titus or a

although by

la

The

short revo-

were still around

Grecian knot with a

Caracalla,

1 805 they began to yield in favor of a

profusion of tiny ringlets framing the face.
Despite David's half-hearted attempts to put men into tunics, togas,

and similar inanities, male costume remained based on the combination

of coat, waistcoat, and breeches that had been introduced over a
hundred years earlier. These garments were constantly recut and restyled,

moving

steadily

tism. Leadership in

down

the road

from foppishness

to conserva-

men's fashions had passed from France to England,

where styles were dictated by George Brummell and the other dandies
who swaggered at the court of the prince regent.
The famous Beau denounced wigs and elaborate brocades and popularized a style based on the conservative concepts of perfect fit, faultless construction, and exquisite attention to detail. He bathed frequentlyitself an act of the utmost novelty and changed his linen as often
as three times a day. His cravats were starched to perfection and tied
with the greatest precision. The mirrored shine of his boots was said to
have been achieved by lavish applications of a polish of his own invention, well mixed with champagne.
Beau Brummell introduced the English double-breasted riding coat,
cut very high in front and tailored closely to the body, to polite
society.

Long

also appeared,

trousers, formerly the garb of the declasse

they

now

fitted like a

workingman,

second skin and were buttoned

the ankle, often anchored into unwrinkled perfection

by

at

a strap passing

under the instep of the boot. Knee breeches were retained for court
dress, and many older men especially scholars and those in the professionsstill held to the styles of their youth. Light colors were used for
the trousers white, cream, beige, or tanwhile dark blue, bottle
green, or basic black was preferred for the coat. Returning emigres
introduced this elegant and restrained style to France where it was
enthusiastically received. It remained in fashion even during the Anglophobic period of the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1804 Napoleon assumed the crown of empire in a ceremony of
unparalleled magnificence. The Bonaparte women participated wearing
sumptuous gowns designed by the painter Isabey and executed by the
118

famous

tailor

Leroy.

The gowns followed

the general neoclassic style

new elements were

where they covered

of high waists and deep, square necklines, but several

added.

The

sleeves

were

tight-fitting to the wrist,

the back of the hand, and had a full balloon puff at the shoulder.

wired, standing Medici ruff of delicate lace rose along the sides and

back of the neckline and a long court train fell from the high waistline.
fabrics were thick satins and heavy velvets, richly encrusted with
gold embroidery and fringes. These were, to be sure, court dresses, but
silks and velvets now appeared frequently in both formal and day costumes, the direct result of Napoleon's attempts to revive the moribund

The

textile industry.

The pomp and

splendor of the emperor's court rivaled that of the

Sun King. Magnificent costumes which used up a great deal of fabric

were required, and women were not permitted to appear at court
twice in the same gown. Leroy was ordered to redesign French fashions placing special emphasis on luxury fabrics: silks and velvets from
Lyon; fine linen from St. Quentin; and tulle, batiste, and lace from
Valenciennes. Napoleon was not particularly interested in fashion as
such he himself dressed modestly but he was certainly aware of
fashion's role in the economy. He overlooked no detail. It is said that he
had the

fireplaces in the Tuileries sealed off to force the court ladies

out of their flimsy muslins and into

warm and

costly velvets.

Napoleon's empire, vastly overextended, collapsed in 1814 and in

the following year, after Waterloo, the emperor was put away for

120

Even

after Waterloo, leadership

melius

remained in
England, where an atmosphere
of unrestrained dandyism prein

fashion

The new

look,

which

combiiied high-standing

collars,

vailed.

ruffled

shirt

long trous-

fronts,

ers in light colors,

and coats

subdued hues (seen

in

in

various

combijiations in the three fashion plates at left), obliged the

well-dressed gentleman to spefid

hours

at

his

tailor's

(above).

good on the island of St. Helena while the vacillating Congress of

Vienna carved up the spoils. The world of fashion was no less vacillating; the period from 1815 to 1825 was one of transition, as modistes and
floundered uncertainly among the last elements of neoclassicism.
The changes in women's garments were subtle, but they indicated a
new trend that was to culminate in the suffocatingly feminine styles of

tailors

the Romantic era. Skirts were

somewhat

fuller

with gored panels, and

the hemline had risen several inches above the ankle. Decoration

more

was

hem, where deep bands of frills, lace,

ruching, puffs, and swags were laid on with a heavy hand. The waistline was somewhat lower, as if preparing to migrate back to its normal
position. The neckline gradually filled in and the sleeve line began
dropping off the shoulders. Corsets were back and women began to
lace tightly as if to mortify the flesh that had been gloriously unlavish, especially at the

twenty years.
Men, too, wore corsets heavy contraptions of canvas and whalebone that constricted the waist and forced the chest into aggressively
masculine proportions. In keeping with the changes in women's styles,
men's coats were cut lower in the waist; the trousers, no longer quite so

restrained for the past

tight,

terminated well above the ankle to expose dashingly striped

The shoes for both sexes were similar, narrow heelless slippers
with low-cut vamps they look as though they must have been held on
with suction cups; the leather scarcely covers the toes and just barely
socks.

grips the heel.

The aftermath of the Napoleonic era found Europe in a state of

profound depression, both economically and spiritually. At the Congress of Vienna, national feelings had been totally disregarded by
statesmen who partitioned, dismembered, and subdivided the Continent
with little or no concern for the people involved. Napoleonic rule had
been neither kind nor merciful; indeed, the reverse was most often the
case; yet in many areas it had in fact destroyed feudalism and the
abuses generated by that system of privileged government. As the
emigre nobles and monarchs returned to Spain, Italy, and Portugal, to
central and eastern Europe, they were rarely greeted with demonstrations of joyful fidelity.

The middle

classes in particular felt

keenly the

loss

of opportunity

121

and freedom which had been theirs under imperial rule. Major Eurocities had become heavily industrialized and dangerously overpopulated. A new social class was emerging, the urban proletariat of the
factory towns. With few exceptions, the workers lived in unimaginably
squalid slums wasting their lives and those of their children in the

pean

"dark, satanic mills."

Armed

by

rebellions, fired

the spirit of national-

ism and with armies recruited from the teeming urban slums, first
broke out in 1820 and were periodically to convulse Europe throughout the century.

The
found

aesthetic

movement known

as

Romanticism

reflected the pro-

spiritual dislocation of the Industrial Revolution. Essentially, the

movement was

conscious reaction against the chilly neoclassicism of

the turn of the century and the intellectual purity of the Enlighten-

ment.

It

exalted emotion rather than reason and tended to appeal to the

of the vast middle class that the

and political revolutions had promoted to a position of economic and governmental leadership.
Above all. Romanticism was a movement of escape. The contemporary world seemed stale, dreary, stultifying, and unspeakably drab and
banal. The Romantics vastly preferred "any time but now, any place
but here." The far corners of space and time were ransacked to provide
images of passion, excitement, glamour and adventure. Poetry, novels,
paintings, and music transported the mind to India, Persia, or Egypt, to
the Renaissance or the Middle Ages. Gothic novels featuring ruined
castles, moaning ghosts, ambulatory skeletons, clanking chains, and
less sophisticated, less intellectual taste

industrial

swooning

ladies

were the

rage.

Certain accessories derived from the past, such as

Henry IV

hats,

the costume of the Romantic era.

was more usually characterized by

cific details.

Mary

Stuart belts,

or the Betsie (Elizabethan) ruff, appeared directly in

Men

Even

so,

Romanticism

a general attitude rather

in

costume

than

by

spe-

dressed and acted the part of the passionate Byronic

who

nobly smothered tempests within his fiery breast. According

had to appear "ill and sad, with
something neglected about his person, neither clean-shaven nor fully
bearded, but as if his beard had sprung forth during a fit of despair;
locks of windblown hair, a piercing gaze; sublime, wandering fated
eyes; lips curled in disdain for the human species; and a bored, Byronic
heart, drowned in disgust and the mystery of being."
lover,

to Chateaubriand, the fashionable male

Male costume was especially dashing throughout the 1830's, as men

swooped about in capes in a final, imaginative fling before the stodgy
sobriety of the Victorian era. Heavy corseting pinched men's waists
and caused their hearts to beat with more than merely romantic agony.
The tailcoat and often the waistcoat as well were padded through the
chest and at the shoulders. The waistcoat was cut very low in front to
reveal a large expanse of shirt and cravat. Trousers were skintight from
the knees up; below the knees they were somewhat looser and anchored in place by straps buckled under the instep. The trousers were

now

generally cut with a central-buttoned front

the side-buttoned rectangular panel, which

years later in sailors' uniforms.

Ill

The

central fly

fly,

rather than with

a hundred
was obviously more con-

still

survived over

The

lingering

influence

of

the

Napoleonic Empire is evident in

this panormnic view of a social
evening at an English country
house.

The gemlanen

in attend-

ance

wear dark velvet

and

milk-iDhite

ladies

wear

jackets

bigh-ivaisted,

fitting dresses.

the

cravats;

close-

The costumes

fluttering

on

verge of the Romantic

era.

transitional,

are

the

venient;

some

it was entirely too convenient.

reached the American Far West, Brigham Young-

religious leaders felt that

When the style

finally

denounced the garments

as "fornication

pants" and forbade their wear

among the faithful.

The Mormon leader's indignation can be measured by his use of the
word "pants" in mixed company. Gentlemen in the nineteenth century
did not wear pants. The wore indescribables, unspeakables, unutterables,

or unthinkables; they donned nether integuments, femoral habili-

ments, or limb shrouders, but they most definitely did not wear pants.
Neither, as a matter of fact, did they wear

word was

felt to indicate

far less; the

The

shirts.

The mere

moral degeneracy. Well-bred

use of the

ladies fainted at

only acceptable euphemism for the garment was "linen."

female companion of the Byronic lover was the refined and

genteel lady, a strange blend of ministering angel, sprightly fairy, and

blushing child; the essence of helpless, fluttering femininity; inane.

.^^><123

incompetent, uneducated, and cloyingly sweet.

They were

so unlike

outspoken liberated women of the Revolution and the Empire, that they seemed to belong to another species
altogether. As a rule, any given cultural period embodies a reaction
against the manners and mores of the previous era, but seldom has the
reaction been as extreme as in the 1830's when it almost assumed the
their mothers, the forceful,

proportions of a vast masculine conspiracy.

Men

placed

women on

lofty pedestals

where they perched uncomWomen were

fortably throughout the rest of the nineteenth century.

credited with qualities of truly angelic goodness and spirituality and, in

the process, were stripped of ordinary

human

dignity. Literature of the

mid- Victorian period abounds with these delicate creatures; David Copperfield's beloved and idiotic Dora, or the absurdly self-sacrificing
Little Dorrit. Strong, independent women were relegated to comic
relief like Betsy Trotwood, came to a bad end like Mrs. Dombey or the
unrepentant Becky Sharp or, like Jane Eyre, wound up with sloppy but
well-seasoned seconds. For all their blatant femininity, the ideal females
of the mid-nineteenth century were curiously unsexed; one is led to
suspect a belief in parthenogenesis.

The

Romantic era
narrow waists ap-

distinguishing features of female costume of the

full sleeves and skirts, dropped shoulders, and

peared around 1825 and endured, with modifications, until the 1850's.

women were

swaddled in layer upon layer of clothing as

though the freedom of the Empire had never existed. Little girls wore
frilly drawers or pantalettes that peeped from under their short skirts;

Once

by

again

the 1830's similar articles were generally

worn by grown women

of

the middle classes although both the aristocracy and the working class

tended to avoid them.

The

usual basic undergarment

was the chemise,

a straight, unshaped
nightgown. The petticoat usually
came next; if it was made with a bodice the shift might be omitted.
Extra petticoats were added, either for warmth or for volume to support
the skirt. They were heavily starched and corded at the bottom to give
greater body. Crinoline petticoats, woven of Hnen and horsehair,
carried the skirt to even greater dimensions. Bag pockets, reached

linen shift that could double as a

through

slits

in the side seams,

might be worn, and

a large bustle

of

crimoline ruffles or padded linen was tied on at the rear. Bustles often

much to the amusement of bystanders. Sleeve puffs

were worn on the upper arm; these were pillowlike contrivances,
stuffed with down, that supported the enormous sleeves of the dress.
Corsets had achieved great technical advances; they were now cut
in many intricately shaped pieces, heavily boned along each seam, and
frequently padded in the bosom. They usually had steel plates in front
that hooked together and metal eyelets along the back opening for
lacing. If the eyelets could be made to meet, it was a sure indication
that the device was too large. These fashionable prisons guaranteed that
the hapless females laced therein would behave like proper ladies.
Active movement was virtually impossible; injudicious efforts were
often rewarded with resounding explosions as the laces gave way.
slipped out of place,

Ladies drank vinegar and picked at their food to keep fashionably thin

124

.-^'^

ordinary

^''Unlike

folk,

who

change their wardrobe with the

seasons of the year, these elegant
people appear in new creations

hour by

hour,"

wrote an ob-

server of the fashion scene in

nineteenth-century Lonearly

don.

The beribboned

dresses of

the period, with their full sleeves

and

fuller

skirts

(right),

were

highly theatrical in their overall

effect,

for

reflecting

personal

an entlntsiasm

display

that

led

such a prominent figure of the

age as Lord Byron (left) to outfit

himself in exotic native garb.

and pale and,

at

any

rate,

the constant tight lacing tended to produce

nausea at the mere sight or smell of food. Painfully constricted,

from

women

and swooning.
The gowns worn over these multitudinous undergarments were
usually cut from delicate and buoyant materials; organdy, tarlatan,
cambric, muslin, and such for summer; challis, cashmere, peau de sole,
and satin for winter. Colors were muted and ladylike; delicate figured
prints and stripes were popular. The necklines were high for the day;
for evening wear they were fairly low, cut in a straight line across the
shoulders. The shoulder line was quite low and was exaggerated by
wide collars, pelerines, falling ruffles, and lace berthas. Sleeves were
huge, and the leg-of-mutton shape was frequently seen. The bodice was
often trimmed with diagonal folds of fabric or other ornamentation to
emphasize both the sloped shoulder line and the tiny belted waist. Tiers
of flounces or braid on the skirt and ridiculously wide hats augmented
suffered constantly

palpitations, the vapors,

the generally horizontal effect.

During the 1840's, the more extreme aspects of women's fashions

began to disappear. The incredible hats were the first to go, replaced
125

It

has been said that no century

was

as

preoccupied with style

or as devoid of real style as the

nineteenth.

Certai?ily

this

was

true at viidcentury, wheii wojn-

became hopelessly
and imitative. Ruffles and
bows abounded (left), lacing
a?id corsetry were reintrodticed
(right), and extravagance was
everywhere (below).
e?2's

fashions

fussy

by modest bonnets

under the chin. The ballooning sleeves

began crawling upward toward its natural position. Skirts were fuller than ever and now swept the ground;
the applied ornament was largely discarded. Heavier fabrics became
popular again, and there was a distinct trend toward darker, richer, and
deflated,

more

tied firmly

and the shoulder

intense colors.

The

line

overall effect

became increasingly

sober, self-

and oppressively respectable. The spirit of Romanticism was dying and Realism was emerging in its stead.
The later nineteenth century tended to equate "truth" neither with
classical rationalism nor with romantic idealism but rather with the
unpleasant, pragmatic realities of the contemporary world. It was no
longer possible to hide from the social disorders that had sporadically
swept Europe since the 1820's. France, in particular, underwent several
major changes of government: the overthrow of Charles X in 1830, the
limited "bourgeois" monarchy of Louis Philippe and his forced abdication in 1848; the brief period of the Second Republic and, in 1852, the
proclamation of the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Stability ^\'as
maintained until 1870 when the disasters of the Franco-Prussian War
caused the collapse of the government, the deposition of the emperor,
the brief and shocking violence of the Paris Commune and, finally, the
initiation of the Third Republic.
Across the channel, England's representative government, a constitutional monarchy presided over by the diminutive but iron-willed
Victoria, shielded the country against armed insurrection. But the cries
from the mills and the mines and the slums grew ever louder and were
answered, slowly and grudgingly, by social reform and extended franchise. While the Continent was periodically bathed in blood and unemployment became chronic among European royalty, England emerged
as the richest and most stable industrial state of the nineteenth century,
a political and economic empire on which the sun never set.
The great International Exhibition of 1851, housed in the Crystal
effacing, modest,

126

Palace and sprawled over twenty acres, was an impressive display of

England's supremacy and

a tribute to the Industrial Revolution. Visitors

could view the countless products of British industry and the wonderful machines that produced them with the help of workingmen,

women, and

children

who

put in twelve- to fourteen-hour days.

The

to become mechanized. The

flying shuttle was introduced as early as 1750, followed by Arkwright's
water frame, Hargreave's spinning jenny, Crompton's mule (so called
because it was a cross between the jenny and Arkwright's spinner), and
finally the power loom. The Jacquard loom, the first machine to be
given computerized instructions by punched cards, was in use as early
as 1804 and was continually remodeled and improved. The earliest
textile mills were water powered; by the 1850 many had been contextile

industry had been one of the

verted to steam.

In England

alone,

first

the

textile

industry

furnished

employment for over one million workers.

Advances were also made in the design of the sewing machine. The
first patent was taken out in 1790; a second and equally unsuccessful

:'igsej^^

The Industrial Revolution

brought with
in

the

it

radical advances

Ttianufacture

of

textiles

and the construction of clothes.

Seiving machines new did the
work once consigned to legions
of seamstresses, and while the
final products were less ornate,
they were also less costly. The
bell-shaped and ground-sweeping dresses in vogue at the ti?ne
of the Civil War (right) were
not yet available ready-made,
but the great deparnnent stores
that were another out(left)

growth of the Age of Technology furnished all other necessities

device was patented in 1829. The first really practical machine was
Ehas Howe's lockstitch of 1846; new improvements were added by
Wilson, Singer, and others. First used for shoemaking, by 1850 the
sewing machine was widely employed in the manufacture of readymade men's wear. By the later 1850's even the great French couturiers
used it and by the 1860's, almost all clothing was machine made. Mass
production of good, cheap cloth and ready-made clothing required
mass distribution. The first department store in Paris, the Ville de
France, opened in 1844; it was followed by the Grandes Halles in 1853
and by the Bon Marche in 1876. Similar outlets appeared in England
and, eventually, in the United States. As the century progressed, costumeparticularly female costume became ever more involved with
the requirements of national economy.

By

the early 1850's, men's costume had arrived -at the forms

retain for the rest of the century.

The

field

was

still

it

was

to

dominated by

its emphasis on conservatism and careful attention to

minute details. As the pace of change in men's wear slowed, this preoccupation with minutiae the precise height of the collar, the width
of the lapel, or the set of a seam became even more pronounced. Men

English taste with

128

of a lady's wardrobe.

had abandoned the gorgeous plumage of the bad old days but they
became increasingly finicky about the cut, fit, and general quality of
their sober garments. During the later nineteenth century, men were
much more particular about this sort of thing than women and, in some
measure, they have remained so ever since.

The matched
during the

tury

it

suit consisting

1850's.

At

was accepted

first

as the

of coat, vest, and trousers appeared

considered a novelty, by the end of the censtandard masculine uniform.

The boxy

sack

coat (the ancestor of the suit jacket of today) was brought in around
1860.

There were other

varieties of coats, each intended for specific

coats, riding coats, shooting coats, and

heavy overcoat appeared at about the same time
and was joined later in the century by the caped Inverness coat.
Men's clothing, with the exception of the shirt and the underwear,
was almost entirely restricted to woolen fabrics. Silk was used for linings and occasionally for vests, the last item of men's fashions to retain
real dash and elegance. Sober colors were favored; dark blues, browns,
greys, and, of course, black. Wild checks and plaids were acceptable for
informal wear. Men's costume was apparently designed with two
thoughts in mind: first to act as a counterfoil for the brilliant colors
and opulent materials of women's fashions and, second, to project an
image of unassailable dignity, prosperity and respectability.
Mass production brought respectability within the grasp of all.
Men, crowded together at the race track, for example, or in church, or
in the business district, would at first glance have seemed indistinguishable and interchangeable. But closer examination would have
revealed the inferior fabric and inept cut of factory-produced readyto-wear garments of the working class and the quality materials and

occasions:

cutaways.

frock coats,

The

tail

long,

129

fit of the custom-tailored upper classes. The old social disbetween the brocaded aristocrat and the ragged sans-culotte
had by no means vanished; it had merely gone underground. The more
things change, the more they remain the same.
France continued to dominate women's fashions. In 1845, a feisty,
ambitious Englishman, Charles Frederick Worth, settled in Paris as a
shop assistant selling textiles, shawls, and readv-made gowns. With an
eye for the main chance, he married an equally ambitious shopgirl who
became the fashion world's first professional model. He later wormed
his way into a partnership with his employer. In 1857, he opened his
own couture house at 7 rue de la Paix, and was well on his way to
becoming the dictator of the fashion capital of the world. His first
important client was Princess de Metternich, who introduced his originals to court where they caught the eye of Eugenie de Monti jo,
empress to Napoleon III. Worth's fortune was made. The happy combination of a brilliant designer and a beautiful empress gave rise to the
stunning fashions that characterized the "Fete Imperiale," the heyday
of the Second Empire.
By this time women were thoroughly bored with the mousy, middle-class styles of the Louis Philippe era and longed for luxurious,
splendid costumes that would serve as a showcase for their own
well-fleshed charms. Money was plentiful and society was feverishly
active; an almost incessant round of balls, banquets, parties, and receptions required an enormous wardrobe of sensational gowns morning
gowns, walking gowns, riding habits, at-home dresses, town dresses,
country dresses, ball gowns, and court costumes. The mills at Lyon
were once again turning out exquisite fabrics; sheer organdies, heavy

impeccable
tinction

silks,

delicate velvets, cashmere, merino, brocade, moire, taffeta, gauze,

mousseline, barege, and

130

tulle.

The newly

perfected sewing machine

^^ijjt\XI*^^'.^'^^

By midcenmry

the

crinoline so

of

Queen

possibilities

been

Victoria had

hausted.

To

fulhiess in

achieve

women^s

makers turned
assistance.

The

to

by

beloved
still

ex-

greater

skirts, dress-

industry

for

result ivas cages

whalebone stays, and

hoops and the preposter-

of miisli?!,
steel

ous silhouette lajnpooJied at

left,

below. Even tiny children were

forced into corsets small versions of those
ers
fit

(left,

worn by

above) the

into costumes that

more than

made

practical, for the first time, unusually lavish use of both fabric
and trimmings. Previously, hand finishing had taken up about ninety
percent of the time spent on custom-made gowns; now such elaborate
decorations could be applied in a matter of hours rather than days.
The most obvious fashion innovation of the 1850's was the hooped
petticoat. Bulky layers of stiff crinoline had already carried skirts to
extreme fullness, but the steel hooped cage now bore them out even
further and, moreover, allowed the reduction of the number of petticoats which, in turn, decreased the thickness at the waistline. Hoops, so

reminiscent of the sixteenth-century farthingale, came in a great variety

often unboned in front to allow
some were oval to carry the fullness of the
and some were partially collapsible for convenience

of styles and shapes.

better

greater ease in walking;

were

to

little

gown

to the rear;

J7iiniature versions of

adidt clothes (above).

They were

their eld-

in sitting.

at the base,

fashionable lady measured approximately ten yards around

and

were certainly

if

two women in a drawing room were company, three

crowd. Cartoonists had a field day satirizing these

grotesque creations. In fact, the style was not funny at

women were blown

all:

several

out to sea and drowned; others caught on

fire and
burned to death, unable to escape from their cages of flaming finery.
The vogue for tight lacing diminished briefly in the 1850's, only to
return with greater emphasis in the 1860's. Young ladies were often
sewn into their stays by their doting mammas and released only one
hour a week for bathing. A thirteen-inch waist was considered ideal
although the reality must often have fallen far short. It is a curious

131

m^
fact that of the

many

splendid dresses that survive from this period,

only a very few measure less than twenty inches at the waist.
The costume of the period was openly erotic and, perhaps, autoerotic as well.

Naive comments

cious sensations" produced

sistible

by

in letters

and

tight lacing.

above the swaying, bell-shaped

diaries refer to the "deli-

The

tiny waists were irre-

skirts that often

permitted

a tan-

Evening dresses
were cut with extreme decolletage; shoulders and bosoms emerged
from a froth of the cobweb-fine lace made popular by Eugenie.
The overripe opulence of the period was reflected in its fabrics,
colors, and ornament. Velvet was extremely fashionable; light velvet
for the evening, heavy, plushlike velvet for day. Colors were rich
and even violent, the result of the newly developed analine dyes, and
were combined in strong and clashing contrasts. Gowns were encrusted
with ornamentation: embroidery, ribbons, lace, galloon, braids, fringes,
passementeries, feathers, and artificial flowers. Elaborate heavy jewelry,
often copied from ancient Etruscan or Roman models, was a necessity,
particularly for evening wear. Great ladies spent fortunes on their
wardrobes; women of modest means invested in a sewing machine and
pattern books. But all women seemed to dress to the absolute limit of,
and even a little beyond, their means. In America, Ralph Waldo Emerson was struck by the remark of a lady who felt that "the sense of
being well-dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquillity which religion
is powerless to bestow." An anonymous proverb from Eugenie's Spanish homeland puts the obverse case more succinctly: "Only God helps
talizing glimpse of a delicate foot or well-turned ankle.

the badly dressed."

The Second Empire did not survive the Franco-Prussian War and
Commune. Neither did the hoop skirt. "The 1870 Revolution
not much in comparison with my revolution," crowed Worth; "I

the Paris
is

dethroned the crinoline!" Worth's genius apparently lay in that he

could predict in advance the kind of fashions that would become popular; he introduced new styles before women realized that they were
bored with the current modes. He and his sons continued to dominate

French couture throughout the

rest of the century.

pearance of the crinoline, the bustle made

its

With

the disap-

appearance once again.

were bunched up high in the back in a style reminiscent of the

later seventeenth century, and both overskirts and underskirts were layered with bouffant ribbons and flounces.
As the decade grew older, the skirt was pulled tighter over the hips,
outlining the figure. A new silhouette developed, the skirt smooth and
tightly fitted to the hips, then bursting forth in back into a waterfall of
pleats, ruffles, flounces, and a long dragging train. Although a great deal
of material was used fourteen yards on the average the dresses were
often so constricted at the hem as to make walking almost impossible.
The bustle briefly disappeared and then returned in the middle 1880's
in fantastically exaggerated dimensions. New cages were devised that
held out the gown at the rear but retained the fashionably flat and
narrow front. Tight corseting was still practiced; the bust was thrown
upward and out in one vast monolithic surge to balance the padded
projection of the derriere. An unsuccessful dress reformer mourned:
Skirts

132

The

ISSO's

viarked

emer-

the

gence of the first true house of

haute couture located, as one

might

expect,

Paris,

in

but

headed, a bit unexpectedly, by

an Englishimn, Charles Frederick Worth. ThroJighout the remainder of the century Worth
dressed the most beautiful and

famous ivomen in the world,

many of them titled and all of
them rich. The peacock-blue silk
faille evening gown above came

from the famed

Worth. At right,
the

Worth

bustles,

House

of

imitations

of

look, complete with

bows,

trains,

and

ruffles.

you behold a
with their compressed hips, torpid lungs, hobbling feet and bilious stomachs apparently consider it their first duty to mortify the flesh."
Toward the end of the century, women were just plain worn out.
For decades they had supported a fantastic accumulation of heavy fabricspleated, ruffled, flounced, and ruched; they had piled on miles of
braid, soutache, passementeries, and ball fringe until they looked like
ambulatory versions of their own overcrowded drawing rooms, mufiled
in velvet draperies and crammed with bibelots, beadwork, wax flowers,
peacock feathers, wool work, pampas grass, and classical wreaths lovingly created from the hair of the dear departed. They queened it in
society but were denied any other outlet for their talents, any scope for
their ambitions. A very few women, through grim determination or
economic necessity, had carved careers for themselves in the male dom"Cross the boundaries of any civilized Christian land and

race of gasping, nervous and despairing

inated world, but the average

women who

woman who

attempted to look beyond

her manifest destiny as wife and mother was, at best, considered eccenworst, dangerously insane, and she was treated accordingly.
But slowly the world was beginning to change. The revolutions of
1870, though not always successful, had spelled the end of immoderate
monarchal sentiment and ultra-conservative authoritarianism. Both the
fanatic radical and reactionary elements had consumed themselves in
political upheavals, and after 1871 Europe as a whole became increasingly democratic. Extended political franchise, greater literacy,
improved standards of living, and a sense of the social and economic
responsibilities of the state were laying the foundations for the mass
democracies of the twentieth century. In this milieu of social and political ferment, women too dared to dream of emancipation. That day
was yet far in the future but after the middle 1880's, women rejected
the past, deplored the present, and looked to the future.
tric, at

133

<
^!^

.V'-

>'

The Democratization of Fashion

Across the Atlantic, far removed from Victoria's England, Eugenie's

France, and Worth's world of fashion, a new world power scarcely
recovered from the trauma of a civil war was assuming definitive
form. The 1870's and 80's in the United States were decades of frantic
activity and progress. Vast fortunes were made in oil and steel; commercial empires were founded, and millionaires emerged overnight in
banking and industry. The Philadelphia Centennial of 1876 demonstrated the scope of American achievement. Machinery Hall, with a
floor plan four times larger than St. Peter's Basilica, was the most
impressive of the displays, boldly defining America's industrial progress. Memorial Hall, with its cultural and artistic exhibits, left a great
deal to be desired. William Dean Howells was forced to admit: "It is in
these things of iron and steel that the national genius most freely
speaks. America is voluble in the strong metals and their infinite uses."
With mammon well under control, America courted the muses.
Prosperity was avidly pursued but so was gentility. Foremost in the
pursuit of the finer things of life was the American woman, relentlessly
engaged in the often thankless task of civilizing the aggressive American male. Women dominated social life, traihng their tycoon husbands
unobtrusively in their wake. Women ruled the home, firmly and abso-

was well

lutely. It

they had precious

Just as

the

that they enjoyed the sovereignty of the hearth;

little

man

opportunity elsewhere.

of the family was expected to strive economically

onward and upward, so was the lady of the house dedicated to the scalmore glorious social and cultural heights. It was an age of

ing of ever

ambition and extreme social mobility, of conscious progress, of conDuring the brief bitt opulent
Edwardian Age, fashion attained

new heights of sheer femininity.

Opposite, one of the great beauties of the age, Julia Marlowe,
wearing one of the most beau-

spicuous affluence and equally conspicuous consumption.

best of

all

possible worlds,

and anyone

who

It

was the

thought otherwise was

plainly a fool or an anarchist.

While the men of the decade concealed

torial facade of

their rapacity

extreme conservatism, their

women

under

a sar-

proclaimed their

tiful
of turn-of-the-cejitury
dresses a pale niinbus of satin

vaulting social ambitions in costumes of lavish magnificence. In

and lace framing alabaster skin

and high-piled auburn hair.

York, A. T. Stewart's department store, located on "Ladies' Mile,"

offered behind its cast-iron and plate-glass arcades every luxury for the

New

lady of fashion.

Some

articles

were ready-made,

boots and, of course, lingerie.

The

gloves, for example, or hats, shoes,

corsets of the 1880's

were master135

mf^^

would appear from Howell's

Wire forms were clamped over the bosom and a steel
protruded in the rear. The hardware was lashed together with

pieces of the engineer's art, crafted it

strong metals.
bustle

canvas and whalebone, padded with horsehair and stiffened gauze delicately covered with

lawn and embellished with

under

construction a lady wore cotton or

this elaborate

lace.

Over, around and

silk stockings, a

stocking supporter, a corset cover, a chemise, and three or four petticoats. She might also wear underpants or drawers although these garments were, as yet, far from common and were considered rather racy.
Over all this went the dress. Possibly it was the sudden affluence of
the period, or the leisure, or the frenzied scramble for social elevation,
but whatever the reason, women's costume was brilliant, gorgeous, and
fantastically opulent. Dresses were usually made at home and in many
households a seamstress appeared regularly once a week. The sewing
machine, now comparatively common, greatly speeded the task, but a

great deal of

handwork remained. Colors were

cock green,

lapis

purple. Fabric

lazuli,

was cut

136

might require eighteen

were available; ladies of

lavishly; a carriage dress

or twenty yards or more.

bold: apple green, pea-

lightning blue, deep red, garnet, cardinal's

variety of fabrics

modest income relied on wools and cottons, but rich fabrics brocades,
velvets, and silks were preferred by all who could afford them.
For evening wear, more delicate colors might be chosen. Silks,
tulles, brocaded satins in cream, white, pale blues, greens, and yellows
were favored. Two colors were always used for important gowns,
usually one plain and one patterned, but often two contrasting figures
or patterns were chosen. The trim was as opulent as the gown. Bows,
laces, ruffles, ruching, and beadwork were applied with a heavy hand.
Once such an ensemble was completed and worn in an appropriately
stately manner, no one would dare to doubt that he was in the presence
of a lady.

This was
The

?nail-order catalog,

vation of the
nineteefith

last

a?!

inno-

decade of the
introduced

cejiitiry,

centers, but

all very well and good for the women of the major urban
what of the ambitious ladies of the smaller midwestern or

southern towns? Unless they had an unusually resourceful general mer-

high fashion to the hinterlands.

chant they were

By

world

and Roebuck, the

the field, were offer-

1891, Sears

pio72eers in

ing a wide variety of dresses at

prices as low as $4.50 (near
left), a great bargaiji considering
that

these

sometimes

full-skirted

required

styles

eighteen

yards of fabric. Also available:

"High bust, well-boned, 5 hook
spoon, 2 steel corsets of finest
Brussels ?ietti?jg"
the inodest

sum

(far

left)

as

The

doomed

to wistful dreams of the

yet out of their reach.

first

Unknown to

world of fashion,

them, help was on the way.

mail-order catalogs appeared in the 1890's and brought the

material benefits of the

Age

of Progress to the small towns of America.

Necessities and luxuries of every conceivable variety

were delivered

directly to the door or, at least, to the door of the nearest freight
office:

soft

goods and hard goods, parlor lamps and kitchen ranges,

stereoscopes and farm machinery, gasoline engines for father, Haviland

china for mother, toys for the children, harnesses for the livestock, and
patent medicines for one and

for

The

of W(f.

all

"good for man or

beast."

age of rural isolation was over. Thanks to Sears and Roebuck,

the farm wife could follow the fashion trends of the big

cities.

Styles

changed rapidly between 1885 and 1900. The bustle disappeared almost
overnight, giving way to the simply styled gored skirt. By contrast, the
bodice received more attention.

The

tight, slim sleeves of the late 1880's

and then ballooned into the distinctive

leg-of-mutton shape; they grew to astonishing dimensions in mid-dec-

puffed out, tentatively at

first,

ade, then gradually deflated.

The tailored suit was perhaps the most characteristic garment of the
Made up usually in linen or wool, depending upon the season, it
was cut to a simple but elegant pattern. The fabulous wishbooks from
era.

the mail-order houses provided

suit,

and

made

of purple

sleeves, lined all

faille,

them ready-made; an "elegant

ladies'

double-breasted jacket, lapels, newest cuffs

through with

chet buttons" might be had for

silk taffeta,

trimmed with black cro-

as little as thirteen dollars.

The

jacket

was worn over a shirtwaist "in a choice assortment of new and novel
patterns, embracing the season's latest and most choice effects." Collars
and often cuffs as well were detachable, and an ordinary blouse could
be glorified for a gala evening by the addition of a magnificent silk
collar "ornamented with alternating rows of shirred silk and point
Venice insertion, very wide lace border all around."
Ready-to-wear garments were convenient, but home sewing was
still

the rule rather than the exception. In mail-order catalogs of the

almost twice as many pages were devoted to fabric than to

ready-made garments. Wash goods ran from 4V2 to 16^ a yard,
from 250 to 900, free samples upon request. The colors and

1890's,
ladies'
silks

137

printed figures of both the yard goods and the finished articles were

more businesslike, one might say, more approand adventuresome New Woman.
For quietly, demurely and without excessive fanfare, a new woman
was emerging. Comparatively few years had made a great deal of difference. Education for women was now readily available, more acceptable, and of increasingly higher quality. More women worked, for the
generally conservative,
priate for the active

new inventions and the expanding economy provided wider employment. And, perhaps most significant of all, decent women now engaged
in sports.

Roller skating, golf, lawn tennis, and bicycling these were the great

female emancipators of the

liberating.

Gay

Nineties. Bicycling

Young women became more mobile

as

was particularly

thev tore around the

countryside in generally unchaperoned groups, relying upon their

numbers for

their safety. Furthermore, they tore

The bicychng costume

around

in pants suits.

of the 1890's was highly decorous: a tailored

long-skirted coat, knickers, leather or cloth gaiters, and a boyish cap.

Women

had an acceptable excuse to don the reform garments

Amelia Bloomer had unsuccessfully promoted back in the
1850's. Conservative males were horrified and cited dire passages from
Leviticus. The costume was denounced by pulpit, press, and politicians
for its immodesty. As usual, to no avail.
The twentieth century was ushered in at last, hailed variously as the
Age of Optimism, the Age of Confidence and, curiously, as the Age of
Innocence. The optimism and the confidence, at least, could not be
challenged. As an Age of Innocence, it was perhaps best represented by
the ladies, particularly as personified in the character of the Gibson
Girl. In the flesh this ideal was approached by Maude Adams, Ethel
Barrymore, or Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the President's spirited
daughter. To many, "Princess Alice" embodied the ideal concept of
American womanhood even if she did smoke in public, which is more
than Mr. Gibson's girls were allowed to do.
Fashions were elegant and intensely feminine. Women adopted a
swanlike silhouette and dresses fell into a graceful S-curve, somewhat
reminiscent of the last gasp of Art Nouveau. Fluid lines, eccentric
curves, drooping forms, and chalky, pastel colors characterized the costume and decor of the period. Not the least eccentric of the curves
were those induced by the corsets; they practically dislocated the spine,
throwing the hips back and the bust forward. Rustproof models were
finally

that Mrs.

available for the

newly acceptable fad of

sea bathing.

Tailored suits and crisp shirtwaist outfits were

many young women began

still

popular, but

to favor the lingerie dress, a softly fitted

costume derived from the tea gown of the previous decade. These deliwere sewn in light wash fabrics voile, organdy, batiste,

cate frocks

lawn, cambric, or dimity in white, off^-white, or pale pastels.

Wide

tucks

and pin tucks shaped the material softly. Lace sleeves, inserts, and bands
of embroidery added to the artistic effect.
Mail-order houses carried the new modes to the hinterlands. A
really elegant lingerie dress with Valenciennes lace insertion could be
had from Sears in 1908 for around 110.00. Slightly less ornate examples
138

All ample figure, iit^swept bnir,

and
dennire dej/u'iv/or these
were the attributes of the GibiT

son

Girl

(beloiv).

Illustrator

Charles

Dana Gibson's

7>iodels

were

home

one

sisters,

eventually

principal

three

the

Langivhont

of

became Lady Astor,

but his actual subject was the

American

Meal
female
his

virtues

drawings

tached,

in

the

Woman. The
associated

were
public

often

with
at-

imagina-

well-known women of
among them the actresses Minnie Maddern Fiske
and Ethel Barrymore (right).

tion,

the

to

day,

CHARLES

FROHMAN

PRESENTS

RYMORE

ETHEL

averaged around |6.00. All the other delicate necessities were also available: the Armorside abdominal corset at $1.25, fabulous petticoats dripping with embroidery and lace for less than a dollar, and corset covers
hemstitched, laced, ribboned, ruffled and beaded for about 500.
To top the costume off there were hats! Pages and pages of fantastic hats were presented, swimming in silk roses, violets, beaded medallions,

cherries,

grapes,

ostrich

with crushed velvet, shirred

yards of chiffon veiling.

plumes,

silk,

aigrettes whipped

together

Chantilly lace, taffeta ribbon, and

The outward appearance was one

of exquisite elegance and of

refined femininity carried almost to the point of utter helplessness.

Appearances were never more deceptive. As the decade grew to a

close, women were becoming more involved than ever before in major
public interests. The American woman campaigned for temperance,
equal rights, and female suffrage. She was active, vocal, and determined.
And when events of the following decade provided her with the
opportunity, she was quick to seize it, leaving the bell jar of Victorian
propriety to take her place as an equal in the world of men.
In America, the aggressive confidence and optimism of the early
1900's began to wilt during the following decade. Extreme labor unrest
forced the conclusion that this, after all, was not necessarily the best of
all possible worlds. The formerly comfortable policy of isolation
139

cracked and splintered

European

as

America was drawn increasingly deeper

In 1917, America formally entered into

lion

voung men

enlisted

into

conflicts.

World War

Over ten milwere gradually

home were filled by
I.

registered for the draft, and as they

and shipped off to camp, their places

at

women. Previously, it had been an obvious abomination for women to

work at men's jobs; now it was an equally obvious patriotic duty.

Women were

emancipated. Formal political recognition of his fact was

yet to come. American

to

all

practical intents

women

did not receive suffrage until 1920 but,

and purposes, from the middle of the decade

they were free agents.

Nowhere was this emancipation reflected more clearly than in the

world of fashion. Many of the jobs newly opened to women required
men's clothing and women could and did wear overalls or even aviator's breeches without shame and censure. Led by Alice Longworth,
America's women gratefully donated their steel corsets to the war
effort,

thereby releasing according to the

28,000 tons of

steel,

enough

to build

two

War

Industries

Board

battleships.

Gibson

Part

ter,

Girl

part

suffragette;

imperious

part

and

doting

part

datigb-

reformer-

Alice Roosevelt Longzvorth ivas

in

many

the

ivays the very

model of

American

ivoman,

restless

chafing against the constraints of

pre-World

War

society.

At

photograph of "Princess
Alice" on her wedding day in
1906. She stands in the East
Room of the White House, her
left,

long train stretched before her,

her famous father on her left

and her husband on her

right.

Under the
more sensibly.

sanctifying excuse of wartime austerity,

women

dressed

began inching up to the background counterpoint

of thunderous denunciations from the pulpit. The female form reassumed its natural outlines and, for the first time in over a century, it
became possible once again for women to move and breathe freely.
While the dress reform of this decade would never have been
achieved without the liberating influence of the war years, the general
trends had been introduced into fashion in a fairly conventional manner
around 1910. The designer ultimately responsible for the new modes
was the Frenchman Paul Poiret. Intrigued by the costumes of the Near
and Far East, he drew most of his inspiration from these sources. He
initiated corsetrv reform, relaxed the waist, and moved the bust back to
its natural habitat. Skirts were narrowed and eventually shrank into the
tight hobble skirt. A long tunic was worn over the underskirt; gradually it became fuller and shorter and gently draped at the hips.
By 1914 the dominant characteristic of female costume was the
lampshade silhouette; a full flaring tunic over a narrow skirt. When
World War I broke out, patriotic austerity caused no immediate
change in fashion until women began to be recruited for the home
front as substitutes for the absent men. The tight underskirt was an
Skirts

obvious hindrance to their

new way

of

life.

The

logical solution

was

to

drop the tunic to below the calf and omit the underskirt entirely.
Women had achieved short skirts.
During the war years, clothes were decorous and understated. Shepherd checks in black and white were popular, chiefly on account of
their quiet, unobtrusive attractiveness. There was, after^l, no point in
drawing undue attention to the emancipation of women. Women's
dresses and suits relied mainly on box pleats for both shaping and decoration, with applied trim restricted to the collars and cuffs. High fashion went in for more flamboyant attire: lustrous satins, silks, and velvets, draped tulle overskirts, and lavish fur trim. But as the war ended
and the twenties approached, a new factor emerged in American costume. The entire concept of high fashion was redefined and democratized, brought within the reach of all. This trend had been intermittently apparent since the 1890's, but by 1920 Americans had become
the best-dressed people in the world. European journalists commented
upon the attractive and modestly priced costumes, the benefits of mass

which outwardly at least erased social distinctions.

The Roaring Twenties: historical research has yet to discover just
how or when that nickname was first applied. It might well have been
production,

derived from the nationwide bellow that ascended to the heavens on

28, 1920, when the National Prohibition Act became the law

October

of the land.

Of

course, the decade had

its

serious aspects, but things

were swallowed up in the pervasive carnival atmosphere. Open materialism and unabashed hedonism ushered in "the
greatest, gaudiest spree in history." Encouraged and often initiated by
the first nationwide exploitation of mass media, fads sprang up overnight and expired just as rapidly. The flapper, her antics immortalized
in the cartoons of John Held Jr., was the heroine of the age. Shorthaired, short-skirted, with turned-down hose and rouged knees,
great and serious

141

by

boy with slicked-down hair, raccoon coat, and

must have seemed to her mother, the gentle Gibson
Girl, like a creature from outer space.
The movies provided the major entertainment of the day; movie
stars were idolized and their lives both on and off the silver screenfurnished impossibly glamourous models for popular emulation. The
other chief amusement of the era appears to have been the studied evasion of the restrictions of the Volstead Act, with humorous side effects
upon the world of fashion. The hip flask was an indispensable accessory
for a fashionable gentleman or lady. Canes and walking sticks were
carried by both sexes; often hollow, they concealed a handy jolt. Russian boots were suddenly popular, presumably because the wide tops
escorted

Oxford

a college

bags, she

could conceal

pint bottle or two.

All in

all,

the era

provided

unbounded opportunities for the exercise of American ingenuity.

The modes of the period were practically dictated by Coco Chanel.
She introduced the simple, understated look of the tweed suit, cardigan
jacket, jersey blouse, and the single string of pearls. Bobbed h^ was
due largely to her influence, as was the abandonment of the corset in
favor of a bust bodice or brassiere, which flattened the figure into submission.

The

flared skirts

waist as well as the bust disappeared, and the slim, gepriy

began migrating upward.

The new

styles flattered

an entirely

fashions had favored mature, regal ladies

new age group. Edwardian

who had the wherewithal to

the majestically proportioned corsets. In the twenties, the tubular,

fill

Older women steamed,

and exercised all, it would appear, to no avail. In the photographs of the era, the young, gawky girls have the appeal of a pasture
full of colts; mature women look like badly tied sacks of potatoes.
The trend peaked around 1926. The hem reached the knee, the
waistline dropped down as if to meet it and, in evening wear, the
decolletage both in front and in back slithered toward the ^^'aist.
While Chanel had popularized simple and natural materials such as
jersey, which had formerly served only for the Englishman's balbriggan underwear, exotic fabrics were favored for late afternoon and evening: light gauzes, transparent silks and chiffons, georgettes, Shantungs,
crepes, and voiles appeared, lavished with sequins, beads, and feathers.
sexless dresses suited the tubular, sexless figure.

dieted,

Religious leaders fulminated against these styles and, after the

flush

had worn

off,

initial

the textile and fashion industries joined in the gen-

The new modes used very little material and their

extreme simplicity of design encouraged home sewing. The industries
took a direct stand in an attempt to revive long skirts, but with little
immediate success. Eventually the skirt started moving back down by
eral imprecations.

itself; in the later twenties hems were again below the calf in much the
same location that they had occupied in 1915. The belt crept up to its
natural position. For evening wear, the frontal decolletage became
more modest although the southern exposure remained extreme.
Then came the crash. At the end of the decade the bottom dropped
out of the stock market and the frenetic gaiety of the twenties \\-as
blotted out in the grim reality of the Great Depression. The 1930's
have often been called the inevitable hangover following the binge of

142

VANITY FAIR
The principal legacy of the JazzAge was not the bare knee and
even

barer back, balh>iarks of

the flappers ivho grace the cover
of

this

T921

issue

Fair, but ajr emphasis

ful looks that

still

Vanity
on youth-

of

dominates the

world of high fashion. The heyday of the mature woman was

over,

possibly

forever;

haute

couture belonged to skinny

girls

with bright eyes, bobbed

and boundless energy.

hair,

the previous decade.

Unemployment

rose to an all-time high; wages

fell

and soup kitchens were set up

in all major cities, and Hoovervilles mushroomed in vacant lots and on
the outskirts of towns, meager shelter for thousands of homeless. In
1933, with the inauguration of Roosevelt and his New Deal, the economy began to revive. But even with prosperity just around the corner,
the nation's celebration was brief, muted, and low-keyed, for the
decade that had opened with the Depression closed under the fearful
shadow of world war.
Basically the 1930's marked a period of austerity. Personal freedom
among the young was taken for granted but infrequently flaunted and
seldom abused. Drinking became legal again and, as night must follow
day, was considerably less attractive. College life was more serious;
undoubtedly there were still flappers manque, but their places were
rapidly being filled by earnest young students of sociology and economics. The blatant sexuality of the twenties was considerably subdued; the feminine ideal was now the wholesome girl next door or the
fallen angel, just slightly tarnished and worn around the edges.
Fashion had its ups and downs in the decade, particularly in regard
to a level of bare subsistence. Bread lines

143

to skirt length. As if in warning, in 1929, just before the crash, skirts

suddenly went down, down, and down. In the early thirties fashion
came to a standstill. Hand-me-downs had always been the rule of the
day among thrifty families; now they became almost fashionable. Children scarcely knew what it was to have new store-bought clothing, as
harried mothers labored to cut down and remake adult garments that
had become hopelessly outmoded or outworn. Depression babies had
layettes sewn from sugar sacks; school children often wore underwear
embellished with the trademarks of Pillsbury's or Robin Hood flour.
During the Depression, classic suits and dresses came into their own.
Garments had to last and classics emphasized good quality and conservative styles. Even among the well-to-do it was chic to boast of wearing
the same gown for several seasons. Sensible tailored suits were highly
favored. Worn with a neat, white blouse they became the distinctive
attire of the office worker, the college girl, and the young society
matron alike.
The shirtwaist dress was another enduring classic to emerge from
this era. An all-purpose garment, a good shirtwaist could be and
usually was worn for all occasions except for the most formal. Long
or short sleeved, they usually had modest necklines and skirts well
below the knee. Alas for the rouged patellae of the twenties; that por-

anatomy was now considered almost obscene. The bust was

rounded but not emphasized, and the waistline, indicated by a belt or a
sash, was in its normal position. Pockets, both real and simulated, were
used for decoration and buttons marched down the front, up the back
or around the sides in veritable regiments. A few bows never hurt anytion of the

thing either. Dresses often appeared with a coordinated coat, usually of

contrasting fabric and color, but lined with the dress fabric.

boxy coat was seen everywhere, cut with wide

The

short,

wide shoulders,
and a profusion of the inevitable pockets. The overall effect was one of
sensibility, modesty, and a generally no-nonsense attitude toward life.

The

sensational bias-cut evening

ond

skin,

gowns of

lapels,

the era, clinging like

a sec-

might well have told another story, but during the daylight
hours, the image was that of Miss Apple Pie, the girl next door.
In 1940, many Americans attempted to ignore the cloud of war that
hung thickly over Europe. After Pearl Harbor, such an attitude was no
longer possible. America armed and mobilized in haste. Wartime austerity was immediately reflected in the world of fashion. The Wartime
Production Board, under Directive L85, restricted the manufacture of
clothing. Hems could be only two inches deep, only one pocket was
permitted per blouse, no skirt could be more than seventy-two inches
around at the hem, and ruffles were forbidden altogether. Dresses were
short; hemlines rose and leveled off just below the knee. The look was
feminine, but it was a determined sort of feminism. The shoulder line
had masculine overtones; daytime clothing was unusually mannish with
shoulder pads that would have done justice to

linebacker.

During the war, fashion was not taken very seriously. Skirts,
blouses, and sweaters were worn by all females from eight to eighty.
Women again filled the home-front work force. That perennial favorite, the tailored suit, dominated the white-collar world, while slacks and
144

One

of the giants of twentieth

century fashion was Paul Poirot,
who created a new, nncorseted
style that

emphasized the natural

of the body. His designs,

inspired by the work of Bakst
lines

and

Ballets
the
Benois
for
Russes, featured vivid colors and

Oriental ele^nents such as harem

pants and wide kimono sleeves.

Above,
right,

Poirot

ensemble;

at

Mandarin coat created

by one of Poirofs better-known

colleagues, Doeuillet.

Cut off from the fashion source at Paris which

an equal state of paralysis America was forced to improvise
and turned to the military for inspiration. Eisenhower jackets, Montjeans ruled in industry.

was

in

gomery

berets,

and other patriotic motifs were common. Chinese and

Russian themes came and went in direct relation to the political climate.

Evening wear, predictably, was unusually alluring. Whether white,

bouffant, and innocent, or black, sequined, and slinky, it served the
same fascinating purpose and contributed, in no small measure, to the
baby boom of the mid-1940's.
After the war, fashion dithered around until 1947 when Dior's New
Look was unveiled as a stylish and elegant release from wartime restrictions. Skirts dropped to just above the ankle, expanded into incredible
yardages, and were worn over petticoats stiff with crinoline and heavy
with flounces of lace. Alternatively, the skirt might be tight at the hem,
almost as restrictive as the hobble skirt of pre- World War I, but
draped and pouffed at the hips or worn with a full tunic. Either way,
fabric was used lavishly. The waistline was forced to forego the casual
sloppiness of wartime and was carefully defined under tight jackets or
bodices. Corsetry revived in the merry widow or other waist nippers,
which trimmed inches off the middle and redistributed the surplus in
supposedly less conspicuous areas. The wired strapless bra, often
padded, took care of the bust. The fashionable woman of the late forties was almost as heavily armor-plated as her grandmother at the turn
of the century.

Shoulder pads were out. Perhaps no single article of fashion ever

in such a short time. Shoulders were rounded, as was
the bust; the waist was improbably narrow; the hips were occasionally
looked so archaic

145

padded, and the legs hidden under yards of fabric. And such fabricsilks, taffetas, failles, and moires in dark, subdued colors for afternoon
and evening or delicate shades of aquamarine, powder blue, ice blue,

and soft pinks and yellows for the day. Shoes, high-heeled and dainty
with ankle straps and open toes, were worn over sheer dark or colorcoordinated nylons. Small, frivolous hats were
used heavily.

The

overall effect

The neo-Edwardian

was

style of the

forms, for approximately a decade.

worn and make-up was

distinctly feminine.

New Look
It

prevailed, in modified

was graceful and appealing and,

shock had worn off, women fell in love with it, waist
Well, perhaps not all women. "I adore you," Chanel
commented to Dior, "but you dress women like armchairs."
Another phenomenon that emerged from the mid-forties was the
after the initial

nippers and

all.

Somewhere along the way, perhaps during the

war years when most men were in the service and many women on the
assembly line, teen-agers emerged into the spotlight, both socially and
cult of the teen-ager.

economically. They have been there ever since. Suddenly, teens were
supposed to be more responsible; after all, they could no longer be dismissed as mere children when another year, perhaps two, might take
their generation to Normandy or the South Pacific. Certainly they had
money to spend. Youth magazines, pioneered by Seventeen, flooded the
market. Teen fashions, such as Minx Modes or Jonathan Logan,
appealed to the junior miss and her elder sister as well. The fashion
industries had suddenly discovered a new and highly lucrative market.

From

the mid-forties on, the

American teen-agers

built their

own

subculture, an intricate pattern of fads, slang, and customs that evolved

and mutated

at the

sought the teen-age

The

speed of

And, rapidly

light.

as the

merchandisers

dollar, the teens usually stayed several

blue-jean fad began in the forties, no one

jumps ahead.

knows how or why. But

thousands of high school and college girls blossomed forth in baggy

blue jeans, rolled to the knee, worn with a man's shirt several sizes too
large,

with the

shirttails

The Edwardian
young

savages and got

most of the

fifties,

usually a plaid,

flapping in the breeze.

delicacy of the

Look

partially civilized the

into skirts.

Throughout
wool skirt,

the school uniform consisted of a pleated

worn

well below the knee, topped off with a matching

or color-coordinated sweater

were

New

them back, temporarily,

set.

The

bras

worn under

the sweaters

and unnaturally uplifted.

A silk scarf or pearls at the neckline and saddle shoes and bobby sox
below completed the costume. But even the teen-agers, like their older
sisters and their mothers, remained faithful throughout the fifties to
modifications of the New Look for more elegant and formal attire.
The sack dress and its variations were introduced in 1958. The basic
element of the design was the eased sheath which, from its simple outlines, soon sprouted loose back panels and a low-slung beltline. It could
be belted in the general area of the mid-thigh for a bag shape or
bunched into a pouf with a constricted hem. The wilder variations died
a quick and merciful death; skirts began creeping up once again, the
belt was dropped entirely and the basic straight shift emerged.
Throughout the Western world parquet flooring, antique rugs and, no
146

rigidly conical in shape, padded, wired,

"
,-r'

Tivo

of

jnajor

the

influences

upon midcenuiry fashion ivere

the ageless Coco Chanel (right),

who

popularized

the

brassiere

and costume jewelry, and Christian Dior (seen directly below

and at bottom in his atelier, supervising teams of seamstresses).

At left,
marked

Dior's

New

Look, which

a radical departure

from

the 7nannish styles and dull fabrics

of the

war

years.

doubt, countless male feet

still

bear the scars of another fashion trend

of the period the stiletto heel.

fashion did not seem to know where it was going,
anything or anyone else. The super-technologies
born of the war had not solved all the problems of the troubled world,
quite the contrary. Atomic jitters were hard to live with and the arms
race and the space race were no less uncomfortable. The Beat Generation produced its own life styles and its own poets, disillusioned dropouts from the American dream of peace, prosperity, and conformity

By

but

for

the late

neither

fifties

did

all.

Only one world

suits the

psychedelic.

1960's:

action, violence, protest, experiment,

was
ful

period of youth.

The Kennedy

was

It

decade of

and counterculture. Above

all,

it

administration encouraged youth-

involvement in movements such

as Vista, Aspira,

Corps. But the optimism soured and was replaced

by

and the Peace

the shattered

illu-

and the abrasive hostility of young revolutionaries.

The tendency to drop out of society continued. Hippies followed
the beatniks of the fifties, and were themselves superseded by the

sions

flower children who, in turn were displaced

flaunt

rejection of society,

their

by

the street people.

they created their

own

To

fashions,

worn in direct and deliberate

They understood quite well that cos-

scruffy, scroungy, ultra-casual styles

defiance of their horrified elders.

tume expresses the deepest values of society and that to reject the one
was to attack the other. By the end of the decade, these rebels and
misfits were to exert considerable influence on the world of fashion.
The sixties opened with the basic and simple A-line dress, evolved
by Courreges from the Dior shift of the late fifties. Skirts began
moving up again, and up, and up. The mini skirt bared most of the
thigh, and the micro-mini bared practically everything else. Both were

worn over
Boots, in

panti-hose in wild colors and exotic knits and patterns.

all

lengths,

completed the look.

Brilliant

Pucci prints both

147

the real thing and

many

imitations were seen everywhere, as were

and fake furs. Legs w^ere the focal point of the
fashions, but while hips and bosoms were relatively unimportant, they
were not corseted out of existence. Indeed, corsetry had gone by the
board altogether, and many young women had also discarded their bras.
Besides the normal progressive trends, fashion also showed a preoccupation with fantasy. Thrift shops were ransacked for costumes of the
twenties, thirties, and forties. Boutiques promoted exotic foreign outvinyls, stretch jerseys,

fits:

kaftans,

djellabas,

kurtas,

sheepskin

coats

from Afghanistan,

embroidered robes from Greece, and boldly patterned dashikis from

Africa.

Young women

and, to a lesser extent,

out their fantasies appearing variously

as

young men

as well,

acted

Indian maids, gypsy prin-

cesses, Edwardian dandies, pioneer couples in granny gowns and jeans,

Bonnie and Clyde, or Dr. Zhivago and Lara.
Mini, micro, midi, or maxi the skirt controversy was all very interesting but the most significant development of the late sixties was the
emergence of the pants suit. Women had attempted pants since the dear
dead days of the sainted Mrs. Bloomer. Chanel, in the 1930's, made
them acceptable as sportswear and during the war years overalls and
jeans were a practical necessity. But trousers for women always had
decided overtones of the resort or the assembly line. They had never
been totally respectable.
Culottes were introduced in the late sixties to the heartfelt relief of
mothers who were growing grey from watching their teeny-bopper
daughters bend over. Then, suddenly, the tailored pants suit was everywhere, chic, elegant, and convenient. And comfortable. Only the
woman who has frozen through a winter or two with the southern half
of her anatomy hanging out of a mini skirt can truly appreciate the
comfort of pants. Just when it seemed that the pants suit might fade
away with other crazy fads of the decade, Paris introduced the longuette or midi skirt. Not entirely delighted by the look and faced with
the dilemma of not knowing which way the hem was going to jump,
women climbed back into their pants and from this secure retreat looked

on while the midi

but expired after one brief season.

its rigidity and became extremely flexible.
Indeed, it is more accurate to speak of life styles rather than of fashion
as such. Almost everyone, but the young people especially, dressed to
identify with the life styles of their preference. This revolution in dress
originated with the young and relatively poor the hippies, flower chilall

Fashion in the 1970's lost

dren, and street people and percolated

upward

into higher society.

Social adaptability provided a great deal of sartorial leeway.

shorn junior executive in

brokerage house could don

a long,

neatly

shaggy

the scene Saturday night in Greenwich Village. Conbudding rock musician might invest in a short wig to avoid
hassles at school, home, or office. Bare feet and filthy, faded blue jeans
might well be seen emerging from an expensive sports car, or the ubiquitous grey flannel suit might be observed on a motor bike.
Women's fashions were limited only by the personality of the
wearer and, to an extent, by her age bracket. Older women who had
already lived through the forties or the fifties were unlikely to feel any

wig

to

make

versely, a

148

it was the women of this age

group who appeared most receptive to the new Paris styles. The streets,
department stores, and singles bars of any major American city today
reveal an astonishing variety of costumes. A few gypsy princesses are
still around rubbing shoulders with Persian nomads. Micro skirts that
barely cover the behind converse amiably with granny gowns. Worn,
frayed, and friendly jeans (possibly purchased in that condition at considerable expense) exchange views with hot pants.

nostalgic desire to revisit them. In general,

Men
still

also exhibit

more

variation in their costume. Ultraconservatives

adhere to the grey flannel

poration

men and

inventive.

fashions

The

of contemporary
exemplified by two of

diversity

fashion

is

most successful present-day

Yves Saint Laurent
(above), whose recent collections
have emphasized opulent fabrics
its

practitioners:

and for

the

'^Beyond Fantasy''

wedding costumes shown here

a
ies;

surfeit of glittering accessor-

and Halston

name

has

(right), whose
become synonymous

with extreme elegance and simplicity

of design.

made famous

in the fifties

and cor-

is becoming richer, more colorful, and

As with women's costumes, many aspects of men's
have also worked their way up from the subcultures. High heels

increasingly men's clothing

more

suits

bankers seldom venture out of their pinstripes, but

is

the

ofteit

in

keynote

the

Flexibility

fashion

seventies.

than not, style has

from the streets a

liberated
cratic

of

More
come

reflection of

and idiosynexemplified by the

lifestyles

tastes

ubiquitous denijns seen opposite.

Some

clothes
designer
have
aped these trends, but the best
of them (opposite page) have
focused instead on classical materials, good tailoring, and flattering lines.

A
and platform

soles,

jump

suits, flared slacks,

denim

suits,

body

shirts,

Borsalino hats, and other elements of high fashion originated in black

society and

were popularized by resplendently garbed black

years before they were accepted

by

the

less

athletes

inventive Caucasian male.

amusing but not very profitable to attempt to predict where

The very word no longer carries the
authority it possessed a century ago. The most obvious innovations of
twentieth-century fashion are the introduction of short skirts and pants
for women and a gradual return to more splendid clothing for men; but
even more important is the greater freedom, individuality, and inventiveness of costume. Fashion, once a tyrant, has become almost a friend.
Future fashions could perhaps be defined if future society could be
defined. The twentieth century has evolved problems that can no
It is

fashion will lead us in the future.

150

longer be solved by existing formulas. Former patterns of history shrink

before the grim giants of the present population and mechanization.

A third

change itself, is equally grim. In the past,

and technological changes evolved slowly; man had
time to adjust from generation unto generation. Today and tomorrow,
the frenetic pace, even more than the changes themselves, may induce
severe psychological trauma. Future shock, as it has so aptly been
giant, the pace of

significant social

labeled,

is

now

feared

more than the future

itself.

Fashions will almost

certainly continue to change rapidly, and almost certainly they will

continue to encourage individualism.

part of the
nition of

human psyche

its

is

The

toughest and most durable

the ego, desperately struggling for recog-

uniqueness. In the future as in the past, fashion will con-

tinue to project identity, giving the ego

outward form and meaning.

151

SI

\i

I.

\i

!:

i>

\\S:

The Black and

White Idea

The Linen Life

Transparent

Fashiom

IN

A LITERARY

FASHION

"Beivare of any enterprise that requires neiv clothes"

Henry David

Thoreau teamed readers of Walden in 1854, and since then viany have
doubtless needed his eininently sensible advice. But clothes are an ij2te-

human

gral part of virtually every

enterprise, ivhether

new

or old, and

consequently they have assumed an important symbolic function in

voorld literature. There, as never in real

clothes and clothes alone

life,

can tndy make the man. They can suggest

his character, forecast his

behavior, and even govern his destiny.

The seventeenth-century English

poet Robert Herrick understood

this ixihen

verse

"Upon

all

he dubbed this brief

Julia's Clothes":

When as in silks my

Jidia goes,

Then, then (me thinks)

how

sweetly flowes

That liquefaction of her clothes.

when I cast mine eyes and

Next,

That- brave Vibration each

way

see
free;

O how that glittering taketh me!

The following survey
with John Milton''s

of costume in literature begins, not illogically,

lilies

describing ??7ankind''s

fig leaves. In this excerpt

from Paradise

Lost,

first

garment, a girdle of

Adam

and Eve are

encountered clad in nothing save their "native honor."

Two of far nobler shape erect and tall,

God-like erect, with native honor clad
In naked majesty seemed lords of

And worthy seemed,

The image

all.

for in their looks divine

of their glorious

Maker

shone.

Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure.

Severe but in truth

filial

freedom placed;

Whence true authority in men; though both

Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed;
For contemplation he and valor formed.
For softness she and sweet attractive grace;

He

for

His

fair large front

God

only, she for

God in him.

and eye sublime declared

Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks

Round from

his

parted forelock manly

hung

Clust'ring, but not beneath his shoulders broad:

She

as a veil

down to

the slender waist

Her unadorned golden tresses wore

Disheveled, but in wanton ringlets waved
As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied
Subjection, but required with gentle sway.

And by

her yielded,

by him

best received.

Yielded with coy submission, modest pride.

And
154

sweet reluctant amorous delay.

first

I'i^^OGVBi^
"'I/O

Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed;

Then was not guilty shame; dishonest shame
Of Nature's works, honor dishonorable,
Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind
With shows instead, mere shows of seeming pure.
And banished from man's life his happiest life,
Simplicity and spotless innocence.

So passed they naked

shunned the sight

on, nor

Of God

or angel, for they thought no

So hand

in

That ever

Adam
His

hand they passed, the

ill;

loveliest pair

since in love's embraces met,

the goodliest

man

of

men

since

born

sons, the fairest of her daughters Eve.

Silent,

and in face

Confounded, long they

sat, as

strucken mute.

Adam, though not less than Eve abashed,

At length gave utterance to these words constrained:
Till

1900

'O Eve,

To
To

in evil

that false

hour thou didst give ear

worm,

of

whomsoever taught

counterfeit man's voice, true in our

fall.

False in our promised rising; since our eyes

Opened we find indeed, and find we know

Both good and evil, good lost and evil got,
Bad fruit of knowledge, if this be to know,

Which leaves us naked thus, of honor void,

Of innocence, of faith, of purity,
Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained,
And in our faces evident the signs
Of foul concupiscence; whence evil store.
Even shame, the last of evils; of the first
Be sure then. How shall I behold the face
Henceforth of God or angel, erst with joy
And rapture so oft beheld? Those heav'nly shapes
Will dazzle now this earthly, with their blaze
Insufferably bright.

O might

In solitude live savage, in

here

some glade

Obscured, where highest woods impenetrable

The

illustration

above

graced

the cover of a 1900 edition of

Vogue. The magazine cover

above and those found on pages
151-19 present

the

pageant

of

American fashion at five-year intervals from 1905 through 1915.

To star or sunlight, spread their umbrage broad

And brown as evening! Cover me, ye pines.
Ye

cedars, with innumerable boughs

Hide me, where I may never see them more.
But let us now, as in bad plight, devise

What best may for the present serve to hide

The parts of each from other that seem most
To shame obnoxious, and unseemHest seen.
Some

tree

whose broad smooth

leaves together sewed,

155

And

girded on our loins, may cover round

Those middle parts, that this newcomer. Shame,
There sit not, and reproach us as unclean."
So counseled he, and both together went
Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose
The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renowned,
But such as at this day to Indians known
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillared shade
High overarched, and echoing walks between;
There oft the Indian herdsman shunning heat
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds
At loop-holes cut through thickest shade. Those leaves
They gathered, broad as Amazonian targe.
And with what skill they had, together sewed,

To gird their waist,

Their

To

guilt

that

vain covering

and dreaded shame,

first

if

to hide

O how unlike

naked glory!

John Milton
Paradise Lost, 1667

The
its

Iliad,

the

first

half of

Homer's epic accoimt of the Trojan War

tragic aftermath, recounts the adventures of

Mycevae, husband of Clytemnestra, and leader of the Greek forces

lay siege to

Troy. In

this

a?id

Agamemnon, king

of

that

passage the warrior-monarch dons his battle

dress breastplate and sivord, shield and helmetwhile his troops prepare to set

sail

for Ilium.

And King Agamemnon

Shouted commands for the Argives to dress for

And

battle,

he himself put on the gleaming bronze.

First he

With

covered

his shins

with greaves,

fair

greaves

angle-clasps of silver. Next, about his chest.

He put the breastplate given to him by Cinyras,

King of Cyprus. For he had heard the wide-spread
News that x\chaeans were soon to set sail for Troy,
And so had graciously sent the breastplate for King
Agamemnon to wear and enjoy. Inlaid upon it
Were ten dark bands of blue lapis, twelve of gold,
And twenty of shining tin, and three blue-lapis
Serpents arched up toward the neck on either side.

Like the rainbows that Cronos' son hangs in the clouds as signs

For mortal men.

And

about

his

shoulders he slung

His sword, flashing with studs and straps of gold

156

And

sheathed in

a silver

scabbard.

Then

he took up

His warlike, richly wrought

To

see. F'or inlaid

upon

Of bronze and twenty

Surrounding

it

shield, man-covering and splendid

were ten bright circles

bosses of shining tin

central boss of blue lapis.

And

set

awesome head of the Gorgon glared grimly

by the figures of Panic and Rout.
great shield hung a baldric of glittering silver

In the lapis, the

Forth, flanked

From this
Whereon a blue-lapis, three-headed serpent writhed.
And on his head he put a helmet, four-horned
And double-crested, with plume of horsehair defiantly
Waving above him. He also took up two sturdy
up into
The sky the bright bronze flashed. And now, to honor
The King of golden Mycenae, Athena and Hera
Spears, keenly pointed with bronze, and far

1910

Thundered.

Homer
The

500

Iliad, c.

b.c.

and author Frangois Rabelais has lent his own

surname to the brand of ribald humor and biting social satire that characterizes his best-known works, Gargantua and Pantagruel, which were

The

Frejich physician

published

i?i

five installments

between 1532

aitd 1564.

The

etiduring

popularity of the former work, based upo?i a collection of familiar

anecdotes concerning a legendary local giant, has provided the language

with another iieologism "gargantuan," meaning of prodigious size. In a

chapter entitled "How They Apparelled Gargantua," Rabelais outlines
the dilemma faced by the tailors charged with the
fitting the

Being of

awesome

task of out-

young giant.

this age, his father

ordained to have clothes

made

to

him

in his

which was white and blue. To work then went the tailors,
and with great expedition were clothes made, cut and sewed, according
to the fashion that was then in request. I find by the ancient records
or pancarts, to be seen in the chamber of accounts, or Court of the
Exchequer, at Montsoreau, that he was accoutred in manner as followeth. To make him every shirt of his were taken up nine hundred

own

livery,

two hundred for the gussets, in

which they put under his arm-pits. His shirt was
not gathered nor plaited, for the plaiting of shirts was not found out
till the seamstresses (when the point of their needle was broken) began
to work and occupy with the tail. There were taken up for his doublet, eight hundred and thirteen ells of white satin, and his points fifteen
hundred and nine dogs' skins and a half.
For his breeches were taken up eleven hundred and five ells and a
ells

[meters] of Chateleraud linen, and

manner of

cushions,

third of white broad-cloth.

They were

cut in the form of

pillars,

cham157

fered, channelled,
reins;

and pinked behind, that they might not overheat

and were, within the panes, puffed out with the Hning of

was needful; and remark,

blue damask as

his

much

as

had very good leg-

that he

harness, proportionable to the rest of his stature.

For

his

and

cloth,

codpiece were used sixteen

it

was fashioned on the top

gallantly fastened with

two enamelled

a great emerald, as big as

bus,

and

an orange;

Plinius, libro ultimo,

it

and

ells

a quarter of the

same

unto a [flying buttress] most

like

each of which was set

clasps, in

Orpheus,

for, as says

de lapidi-

lib.

hath an erective virtue and comfort and

comfortative of the natural member.

The

exiture, out-jecting or out-

standing of his codpiece, was of the length of a yard, jagged and pinked,

and withal bagging, and strutting out with the blue damask

manner of

the

his breeches.

But had you seen the

fair

embroidery of the

small needlework pearl, and the curiously interlaced knots,

smith's art set out

it

to

see in antiques,

by

the gold-

and trimmed with rich diamonds, precious rubies,

you would have

a fair Cornucopia, or horn of abundance, such as you
or as Rhea gave to the two nymphs, Amalthea and Ida,

fine torquoises, costly emeralds,

compared

lining, after

and Persian

pearls,

the nurses of Jupiter.

And, Uke to that horn of abundance,

droppy, sappy, pithy,
of juice,

full

lively,

it

was

still

gallant, succulent,

always flourishing, always fructifying,

of flower, full of fruit, and

all

manner of

delight.

full

avow
tell you
I

God, it would have done one good to have seen him, but I will
more of him in the book which I have made of the Dignity of Codpieces. One thing I will tell you, that, as it was both long and large, so
was it well furnished and victualled within, nothing like unto the hypocritical

codpieces of some fond wooers, and wench-courters, which are

stuffed only with wind, to the great prejudice of the female sex.

For
velvet,

his shoes

cylinders.

hides of

For

embroidered in
silver pearl,

its

ells

of blue velvet, dyed

intermixed with plates of gold, and stores of

his

time he would prove an especial

fellow, and singular whip-can.

His girdle was made of three hundred

nor

and half blue,

his

if I

mistake

of

it

dagger of Saragossa, for

hidalgos borrachos maranisados

made

uniform

borders with fair gilliflowers, in the middle

hereby showing, that in

half white
entia,

of blue crimson

like the tail of a keeling.

coat were taken up eighteen hundred

decked with
pearls,

six ells

parallel lines, joined in

For the soling of them were made use of eleven hundred

brown cows, shapen

his

in grain,

good

were taken up four hundred and

and were very neatly cut by

como

man

and

a half of silken serge,

His sword was not of Val-

his father

diablos:

wood, and the dagger of boiled

gilded as any

ells

not.

could not endure these

but he had a

fair

sword

leather, as well painted

and

could wish.

His purse was made of the cod of an elephant, which was given him

by Her

Pracontal, proconsul of Lybia.

Francois Rabelais
Gargantua, 1532-64

158

^OG UE
Charles Dickens, ivho gave popular English literature the quintessential
ivaif, Little Nell,

and the pluckiest of preadolescent heroes, David CopMiss Havisham.

perfield, also created the ?nost fajnous of all jilted brides,

young Ftp

hi the opening chapter of Great Expectations,

visit Estella,

is

sent to

Miss Havisham' s cheeky ward. After a discomfiting

eji-

counter with Estella outside the gates of the gloomy old house, Pip
led inside for his

We

1915

went

is

audience ivith the mansion's aged mistress.

first

by a side door the great front entrance had

two chains across it outside and the first thing I noticed was, that the
passages were all dark, and that she had left a candle burning there. She
took it up, and we went through more passages and up a staircase, and
still it was all dark, and only the candle lighted us.
At last we came to the door of a room, and she said, "Go in."
I answered, more in shyness than politeness, "After you, miss."
into the house

To this, she returned: "Don't be ridiculous, boy; I am not going in."

And scornfully walked away, and what was worse took the candle
with her.
This was very uncomfortable, and
only thing to be done being to knock
told

from within
was

to be seen in

the furniture, though

known

looking-glass,

it.

It

much

was

of

But prominent

to me.

was

and that

it

wax

However, the

half afraid.

at the door,

to enter. I entered, therefore,

pretty large room, well lighted with

light

knocked, and was

and found myself

candles.

No

a dressing-room, as

in a

glimpse of dayI

supposed from

was of forms and uses then quite unwas a draped table with a gilded

in it

made out

at first sight to

be

a fine lady's dress-

ing-table.

Whether I should have made out this object so

no

fine lady sitting at

resting

lady

on the

table

Her

from her

if

there had been

sat the strangest

shall ever see.

in rich materials satins,

shoes were white.

hair,

soon,

cannot say. In an arm-chair, with an elbow

and her head leaning on that hand,

have ever seen, or

She was dressed

white.

it, I

And

and

lace,

and silks all of

she had a long white veil dependent

and she had bridal flowers

in her hair, but her hair

was

Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and
some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses less splendid than
the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She
white.

had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on the other
was on the table near her hand her veil was but half arranged, her
watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with
those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and flowers, and
a

Prayer-book,

all

confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.

It was not in the first few moments that I saw all these things, though
saw more of them in the first moments than might be supposed. But, I
saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been
I

white long ago, and had

lost its lustre,

and was faded and yellow.

saw

that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and

159

and had no brightness left but the brightness of her

saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure

like the flowers,

sunken eyes.
of a

young woman, and

that the figure

had shrunk to skin and bone. Once,

waxwork

know

at the Fair, representing I

sonage lying in

state.

Once,

upon which

it

now hung

loose,

had been taken to see some ghastly

not what impossible per-

had been taken to one of our old marsh

churches to see a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress, that had been dug
out of a vault under the church pavement.

Now, waxwork and

seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked

cried out,

me.

at

skeleton

should have

could.

if I

"Who is it?" said the lady at the table.

"Pip, ma'am."

"Pip?"

Cometo play."
let me look at you. Come close."

"Mr. Pumblechook's boy, ma'am.

"Come

nearer;

was when

It

stood before her, avoiding her eyes, that

of the surrounding objects in

stopped

at

stopped

at

"Look

who
I

twenty minutes

to nine,

twenty minutes to
at

and that

a clock in the

room had

woman

me," said Miss Havisham. "You are not afraid of a

regret to state that

in the

you were born?"

was not

afraid of telling the

enormous

lie

com-

answer "No."

"Do you know what

upon

took note

nine.

has never seen the sun since

prehended

and saw that her watch had

details,

touch here?" she

said,

laying her hands, one

the other, on her left side.

"Yes, ma'am." (It

"What do
"Your

made me think of the young man.)

touch?"

heart."

"Broken!"

She uttered the word with an eager look, and with strong emphasis,
and with

weird smile that had

kept her hands there for

kind of boast in

a little while,

Afterwards, she

it.

and slowly took them away

as if

they were heavy.

am tired," said Miss Havisham.

men and women. Play."

"I

with
I

think

it

will be

conceded by

"I

want

diversion,

and

have done

my most disputatious reader,

that she

could hardly have directed an unfortunate boy to do anything in the

wide world more

"I

difficult to

be done under the circumstances.

sometimes have sick fancies," she went on, "and

have a sick fancy

I want to see some play. There, there!" with an impatient movement of the fingers of her right hand; "play, play, play!"
For a moment, with the fear of my sister's working me before my
eyes, I had a desperate idea of starting round the room in the assumed

that

character of Mr. Pumblechook's chaise-cart. But,

equal to the performance that

Havisham
as she said,

160

in

what

gave

it

I felt

myself so un-

up, and stood looking at Miss

supposed she took for a dogged manner, inasmuch

when we had

taken a good look at each other:

VOCUK
"Are you

sullen

and obstinate?"

"No, ma'am, I am very sorrv for vou, and very sorry I can't play
just now. If you complain of me I shall get into trouble with my sister,
so I would do it if I could; but it's so new here, and so strange, and so
fine and melancholy" I stopped, fearing I might say too much, or had
already said

it,

and

we took

another look

at

each other.

Before she spoke again, she turned her eyes from me, and looked at
the dress she wore, and at the dressing-table, and finally at herself in the
looking-glass.

"So new to him," she muttered; "so old to me; so strange to him, so
familiar to

As

/ dA

she

me; so melancholy to both of us! Call Estella."

was still looking at the reflection of herself, I though she was

talking to herself, and kept quiet

still

"Call Estella," she repeated, flashing a look at me.

Call Estella.

To

1920

At

stand in the dark in a mysterious passage of an

bawling Estella to

and feeling
bad

as

"You can do

it

that.

the door."

a scornful

young lady

unknown

house,

neither visible nor responsive,

dreadful liberty so to roar out her name, was almost as

playing to order. But, she answered at

along the dark passage like

last,

and her

light

came

a star.

Miss Havisham beckoned her to come close, and took up a jewel

from the table, and tried its eff^ect upon her fair young bosom and
against her pretty brown hair. "Your own, one day, my dear, and you
will use it well. Let me see you play cards with this boy."
"With this boy! Why, he is a common labouring-boy!"
I

thought

likely "Well?

overheard Miss Havisham answer only

You can break

it

seemed so un-

his heart."

Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, 1861

Antony and Cleopatra is a

way ward

tragedy, for the

tale of national

calamity as well as perso7ial

passions that engulf the adulterous

Roman

triumvir and the amorous Egyptian queeii i?ievitably brijtg disaster to

William Shakespeare'' s description of the lovers'' initial

meeting limns Cleopatra with the bold strokes befitting a great monarch
their empires.

and renow7ied beauty, portraying her

and ravishing

a perfect union of royal

as

MAECENAS

She's a

most triumphant lady,

ENOBARBus

When

she

upon

pomp

femini^iity.

first

if

report be square to her.

met Mark Antony, she pursed up

his heart

the river of Cydnus.

AGRIPPA There she appeared indeed, or

my

reporter devised well for

her.

ENOBARBUS
I

will tell you.

The barge she

sat in, like a

burnished throne.
161

Burned on the water. The poop was beaten gold;

Purple the sails, and so perfumed that

The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were

Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It

beggared

all

description. She did

silver,

lie

In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue,

O'erpicturing that Venus where

The fancy outwork

nature.

Stood pretty dimpled boys,

With

we

see

On each side her

like smiling

Cupids,

wind did seem

cheeks which they did cool,

divers-coloured fans, whose

To glow the delicate

And what they undid

did.

AGRIPPA O, rare for Antony!

ENOBARBUS

Her gentlewomen,

like the Nereides,

So many mermaids, tended her

And made

their

i'

th' eyes,

bends adornings. At the helm

A seeming mermaid steers. The silken tackle

Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands

That yarely frame the office. From the barge

A strange invisible perfume hits the sense

Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast

Her people out upon her; and Antony,
Enthroned

i'

th'

Whistling to

market-place, did

th' air;

sit

alone.

which, but for vacancy.

Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,

And made a gap in nature.
AGRIPPA Rare Egyptian!

William Shakespeare
The Tragedy of Antony and

The

Cleopatra, 1607*

American history is unhandiwork must run a

close second. Confined to the Sale?;?, Massachusetts, stockade on a
charge of adidtery, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, embroiders a red A upon the bodice of her
dress in accordance with what the author calls "the whole dismal sever?Jiost

jamous piece of needlework

doubtedly Betsy Rosses flag, but Hester Frynne''s

ity

of the Puritanic code of law."

The door
the

first

of the

jail

being flung open from within, there appeared, in

place, like a black

shadow emerging

grisly presence of the town-beadle,

staff

into sunshine, the

sword by

grim and

his side,

and

his

of office in his hand. This personage prefigured and represented in

his aspect

162

with

the whole dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law,

OGUE
which

it

was

administer in

his business to

and

its final

closest application

to the offender. Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand, he

upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he thus drew

on the threshold of the prison-door, she repelled him, by
an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and
stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will. She bore in her
arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned
laid his right

forward;

aside

until,

its little

face

from the too vivid

heretofore, had brought

it

light of day; because

existence,

its

acquainted only with the gray twilight of a

dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison.

When

young woman the mother of

the

revealed before the crowd,

this
first

child stood fully

impulse to clasp the

which was
moment, however, wisely
judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide
another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and
yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked
around at her townspeople and neighbors. On the breast of her gown,
affection, as that she

1925

seemed to be her

bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly

infant closely to her

<2it-.i>i;*

it

might thereby conceal

wrought or fastened

in fine red cloth,

tastic flourishes

cally done,

fancy, that

surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fan-

of gold thread, appeared the letter A.

and with so much

it

a certain token,

into her dress. In a

had

all

fertility

the effect of a

last

It

was

so artisti-

and gorgeous luxuriance of

and

fitting

decoration to the

apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance

with the

taste of the age,

but greatly beyond what was allowed by the

sumptuary regulations of the colony.

The young woman was

tall,

with

a figure of perfect

elegance on a

large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that

it

threw

off

the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful

from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impresmarked brow and deep black eyes. She was ladylike, too, after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days; characterized by a certain state and dignity, rather than by the delicate,
evanescent, and indescribable grace, which is now recognized as its
indication. And never had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like, in
the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the
prison. Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold
siveness belonging to a

her

dimmed and obscured by

how

a disastrous cloud,

were astonished, and

made a halo of
which she was enveloped. It may be
true, that, to a sensitive observer, there was something exquisitely painful in it. Her attire, which, indeed, she had wrought for the occasion, in
prison, and had modelled much after her own fancy, seemed to express
even

startled, to perceive

her beauty shone out, and

the misfortune and ignominy in

the attitude of her

spirit,

the desperate recklessness of her mood,

wild and picturesque peculiarity. But the point which

and, as

it

were, transfigured the wearer so that both

who had been

drew

all

by

its

eyes,

men and women,

were now

familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne,

i63

impressed as

if

they beheld her for the

time was

first

Scarlet

that

Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom.

It

had the effect of a

taking her out of the ordinary relations

spell,

with humanity, and enclosing her

"She hath good

way

herself.

her needle, that's certain," remarked one of

skill at

her female spectators; "but did ever a

contrive such a

by

in a sphere

of showing

woman, before

Why,

it!

this

brazen hussy,

what is it but to
and make a pride out of

gossips,

laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates,

what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?"

"It were well," muttered the most iron-visaged of the old dames,

we

"if

and

the red

as for

stow

Madam

stripped

a rag of

mine

gown

Hester's rich

which she hath

letter,

own

rheumatic

off her dainty shoulders;

stitched so curiously,

flannel, to

make

I'll

be-

a fitter one!"

"O, peace neighbors, peace!" whispered their youngest companion;

"do not

let

she has felt

Not

her hear you!

it

a stitch in that

embroidered

letter,

but

in her heart."

The grim beadle now made a gesture with his staff.

"Make way, good people, make way, in the King's name!"

cried he.

where
man, woman and child, may have a fair sight of her brave apparel, from
this time till an hour past meridian. A blessing on the righteous Colony
of the Massachusetts, where iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine!
Come along. Madam Hester, and show your scarlet letter in the market-

"Open

a passage; and,

promise ye. Mistress Prynne

shall

be

set

place!"

Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter, 1850

James Fenimore Cooper

up writing on a dare.
he could write a better book than the

said to have takeji

is

Having boasted to his wife that

one he was reading at the time, he found himself challenged to do so.
Over the next two decades Cooper wrote a dozen novels, among thevt
the interrelated series

American wilderness

hzown
that

home and

acclaim, both at

The Deerslayer,
mould''' who is in every
tales

is

in

as the Leatherstocking tales, stories of the

won him

widespread popular and

The most perfectly plotted

which Cooper introduces "a man of
abroad.

critical

of these
gigantic

respect the archtypal frontier hero, right

down

to his buckskins.

"Here
soon

as

is

room

to breathe in!"

is

as

he found himself under a clear sky, shaking his huge frame like

a mastiff that has just escaped

here

exclaimed the liberated forester,

daylight, at

last,

from

and yonder

snowbank. "Hurrah! Deerslayer;

is

the lake."

These words were scarcely uttered when the second forester dashed
aside the bushes of the swamp, and appeared in the area. After making
a hurried-

adjustment of

companion,
164

who

his

arms and disordered

had already begun

dress,

he joined his

his disposition for a halt.

"Do vou know this spot?" demanded the one

do you shout at the sight of the sun?"
"Both,
a fri'nd as

both;

lad,

know

minds once more, and

them topsy-turvy

am

the spot, and

Now we

the sun.

called Deerslayer, "or

not sorry to see so useful

have got the p'ints of the compass in our

own

be our

'twill

faults if

happened.

ag'in, as has just

we

My

anything turn

let

name

is

not

Hurry

Harry,

if this be not the very spot where the land hunters 'camped the
summer, and passed a week. See! yonder are the dead bushes of
their bower, and here is the spring. A4uch as I like the sun, boy, I've
no occasion for it to tell me it is noon; this stomach of mine is as good

last

;^|H

[I^hA

p3st twelve.

Ili^Vp
|jjbH|

hours' run."

HHH
I^H
J

02(1

timepiece as

At

found

to be

is

So open the

both

this suggestion,

and

in the colony,

and

wallet,

set

us

let

it

already p'ints to half-

wind up

for another six

themselves about making the prepara-

tions necessary for their usual frugal but hearty meal.

by

this

We

will profit

pause in the discourse to give the reader some idea of the

appearance of the men, each of

whom

destined to enact no insig-

is

would not have been easy to find a more

manhood than was offered in the person
Hurry Harry. His real name was Henry

nificant part in our legend. It

noble specimen of vigorous

who

of him

called himself

March; but the frontiersmen having caught the practice of giving

Hurry was

sobriquets from the Indians, the appellation of

applied to

him than

was termed Hurry Skurry,

ing, reckless,

nickname he had obtained from

on the move,

The

by

his gigantic

of the man, for

free,

and though

border
it

it

life,

frame.

six feet four,

manner

his

and

his strength fully realized the idea

face did not discredit to the rest

was both good-humored and handsome. His

air

was

necessarily partook of the rudeness of a

the grandeur that pervaded so noble a physique prevented

from becoming altogether

Deerslayer, as

Hurry

person in appearance,

as

vulgar.

called his

companion, was

very different

well as in character. In stature he stood about

moccasins, but his frame was comparatively light and

six feet in his

slender,

The

along the

between the province and

Hurry Harry exceeded

stature of

being unusually well proportioned,

created

known

cause him to be

as to

line of scattered habitations that lay

the Canadas.

a dash-

offhand manner, and a physical restlessness that kept him

so constantly

whole

far oftener

proper designation, and not unfrequently he

his

showing muscles, however, that promised unusual

unusual strength. His face would have had

except youth, were

it

upon those who had

of confidence

it

truth, sustained

to

agility, if

not

recommend

it

not for an expression that seldom failed to win

leisure to

examine

and to yield to the feeling

was simply that of guileless

it,

created. This expression

by an

little

earnestness of purpose, and a sincerity of feeling,

At times this air of integrity seemed to be

awaken the suspicion of a want of the usual means to
discriminate between artifice and truth; but few came in serious con-

that rendered

it

remarkable.

so simple as to

tact

with the man, without losing

this distrust.

165

Both these frontiersmen were

still

young, Hurry having reached

the age of six or eight and twenty, while Deerslayer was several years

Their

his junior.

attire

be well to add that

skins,

it

needs no particular description, though

was composed

in

it

may

no small degree of dressed deer-

who

and had the usual signs of belonging to those

pass their

time between the skirts of civilized society and the boundless forests.

There was, notwithstanding, some attention to smartness and the picturesque in the arrangements of Deerslayer's dress, more particularly
in the part connected with his arm.s and accoutrements. His rifle was
in perfect condition, the handle of his hunting knife was neatly carved,
his powder horn was ornamented with suitable devices lightly cut into
the material, and his shot pouch was decorated with wampum. On the
other hand. Hurry Harry, either from constitutional recklessness, or
from a secret consciousness how little his appearance required artificial
aids, wore everything in a careless, slovenly manner, as if he felt a
noble scorn for the trifling accessories of dress and ornaments. Perhaps
the peculiar effect of his fine form and great stature was increased
rather than lessened,

by

this

unstudied and disdainful

air

of indifference.

James Fenimore Cooper

The

Venice
its

Deerslayer, 1841

century was the most international of

at the turn of the

Europea72 capitals as Oslo, London, and Moscow.

Mannas famed

is

solitary,

frail

of his hotel.

What

boy named Tadzio.

unused to speaking of what he

more

experiences which are at once

those of a gregarious man.

never without

room

the intensity of Aschenbach's Platonic attraction to the

youngest member of that family, a

hardly surprising,

novella.

elegantly attired Polish aristocrats in the dining

exceptional

It is

Gustav von Aschenhach, the protagonist of Thomas

Death in Venice, should encounter a family of

therefore, that

is

cities,

Lido hotels frequented by well-heeled travelers fro?n such distant

brush aside with

They

melancholy

than their due; they sink silently

and

are sluggish, yet

tinge. Sights

a glance, a light

sees

has mental

more wayward, and

and impressions which others

occupy him more

they take on meaning, they become

comment,

in,

feels,

intense and less articulate than

a smile,

experience, emotion, adventure. Solitude gives birth to the original in

us, to

beauty unfamiliar and perilous to poetry. But

to the opposite: to the perverse, the

ler's

mind

still

dwelt with disquiet on the episodes of

on the horrible old fop with

boatman and

his lost tip.

his drivel

They

also, it gives birth

the absurd.

illicit,

about

Thus the

his

a mistress,

travel-

journey hither:

on the outlaw

did not offend his reason, they hardly

afforded food for thought; yet they seemed

by

their

very nature funda-

mentally strange, and thereby vaguely disquieting. Yet here was the
sea;

even in the midst of such thoughts he saluted

ing that Venice

166

was near and

accessible.

it

with

his eyes, exult-

At length he turned round,

disposed his personal belongings and

made

certain arrangements with

chambermaid for his comfort, washed up, and was conveyed to the
floor by the green-uniformed Swiss who ran the lift.
He took tea on the terrace facing the sea and afterwards went down

the

ground

and walked some distance along the shore promenade

When

of Hotel Excelsior.

He

for dinner.

did

was accustomed
early

little

to

when

so,

he came back

seemed to be time to change

it

slowly and methodically

work while he

he entered the

in the direction

as his

way

dressed; but even so

where

hall,

a large

was, for he

found himself

number of

guests

had collected strangers to each other and affecting mutual indiffer-

He

ence, yet united in expectancy of the meal.

down

rWCMOMQ

193S

in a leather armchair,

picked up a paper,

sat

and took stock of the company, which

compared most favourably with that he had just left.

This was a broad and tolerant atmosphere, of wide horizons. Subdued voices were speaking most of the principal European tongues.
That uniform of civilization, the conventional evening dress, gave outward conformity to the varied types. There were long, dry Americans,
large-familied Russians, English ladies, German children with French
bonfies.

The

Slavic element predominated,

it

seemed. In Aschenbach's

neighbourhood Polish was being spoken.

Round
in

group of young folk

young girls, perhaps
long-haired boy of about fourteen.

wicker table next him was gathered

charge of

and a
Aschenbach noticed with astonishment the
fifteen to seventeen years old,

moment

face recalled the noblest

of

lad's perfect

nose descending in one

serenity.

line,

beauty. His

Greek sculpture pale, with

sweet reserve, with clustering honey-coloured

and godlike

governess or companion three

ringlets, the

brow and

the winning mouth, the expression of pure

Yet with

all

this chaste perfection

of form

it

was

of such unique personal charm that the observer thought he had never

happy and consummate. What struck him further was the strange contrast the group
afforded, a difference in educational method, so to speak, shown in the
way the brother and sisters were clothed and treated. The girls, the
eldest of whom was practically grown up, were dressed with an almost
seen, either in nature or art, anything so utterly

disfiguring austerity. All three

wore

half-length slate-coloured frocks

of cloister-like plainness, arbitrarily unbecoming in cut, with white

turn-over collars as their only adornment. Every grace of outline was

wilfully suppressed; their hair lay smoothly plastered to their heads,

giving them a vacant expression,, like a nun's. All this could only be

by

was no trace of the same pedagogic

of the boy. Tenderness and softness, it was plain,

the mother's orders; but there

serverity in the case

conditioned his existence.

No

scissors

had been put to the lovely hair

that (like the Spinnario's) curled about his brows, above his ears, longer

He wore

still

in the neck.

that

narrowed round the

still

childish hands.

And

an English

sailor suit,

with quilted sleeves

delicate wrists of his long

this suit,

with

its

and slender though

breast-knot, lacings, and

embroideries, lent the slight figure something "rich and strange," a

167

spoilt, exquisite air.

in its

The

observer saw him in half profile, with one foot

black patent leather advanced, one elbow resting on the

his basket-chair, the

cheek nestled into the closed hand

easy grace, quite unlike the

habitual to his sisters.

Was

stiff

he delicate? His facial tint was ivory-white

darling, the object of a self-willed

bach inclined to think the

inborn

in a pose of

subservient mien which was evidently

against the golden darkness of his clustering locks.

pampered

arm of

For

latter.

and

Or was

partial love?

almost every

in

wanton and treacherous proneness

he simply a

artist

Aschennature

is

to side with the beauty that

breaks hearts, to single out aristocratic pretensions and pay them

homage.

waiter announced, in English, that dinner was served. Gradually

company

the

dispersed through the glass doors into the dining-room.

Late-comers entered from the vestibule or the

being served; but the young Poles
table.

Aschenbach

felt

still

sat

comfortable in

lifts.

Inside, dinner

and waited about

his

their

was

wicker

deep arm-chair, he enjoyed

the beauty before his eyes, he waited with them.

The governess, a short, stout, red-faced person, at length gave the

With lifted brows she pushed back her chair and made a bow to
the tall woman, dressed in palest grey, who now entered the hall. This
signal.

manner was cool and measured;

powdered
hair had the simplicity prescribed in certain circles whose piety and
aristocracy are equally marked. She might have been, in Germany, the
wife of some high official. But there was something faintly fabulous,
after all, in her appearance, though lent it solely by the pearls she wore:
they were well-nigh priceless, and consisted of earrings and a threestranded necklace, very long, with gems the size of cherries.
lady's

abundant jewels were

the fashion of her

The

brother and

mother's hand to

pearls, her

gown and

kiss

sisters
it,

the arrangement of her lightly

They bowed over

away from them, with a slight

had risen briskly.

she turning

their

smile

which was carefully preserved but rather sharp-nosed and

worn. She addressed a few words in French to the governess, then
on her

face,

moved towards

The

the glass door.

of age, then the governess, and

he crossed the threshold, and

strange, twilit grey eyes

with the paper on

children followed, the girls in order

the boy.

as there

He

chanced to turn before

was no one

met Aschenbach's,

his knee,

There was nothing

had not gone

last

as

room,

else in the

our traveller

his

sat there

absorbed in looking after the group.

singular, of course, in

in to dinner before their

what he had

seen.

They

mother, they had waited, given

her a respectful salute, and but observed the right and proper forms on
entering the room. Yet they had done

all

this so expressly,

self-respecting dignity, discipline, and sense of duty that

was impressed.

He

the dining-room,
as

with such

Aschenbach

lingered still a few minutes, then he, too, went into

where he was shown a table far off the Polish family,

he noted at once, with a stirring of regret.

Thomas Mann
Death
168

in Venice, 1912

Madame

Bovary, the story of a seiitimental spendthrift suffocated by

her bourgeois existence, created a sca?2dal in France upon its publication in 1856. Its author,

Gustave Flaubert, ivas even prosecuted for im-

were

morality, but he a7id his adulterous heroine

This description of the romantic

sensible Charles

Emma

idtijuately acquitted.

Rouaulfs ivedding to

stolid,

Bovary a steady accretion of precisely observed de-

tailstypifies Flaubert's flaivless style.

The

guests arrived betimes, in

carts,

farm

The young

Old

from the

thirty miles

Normanville and Cany.

invited.

folk

falling, jolting

came from

of the people

1940

conveyances one-horse

tilt-

by drove up

villages close

standing up in rows, holding on to the side

carts,

vent themselves from

ville,

sorts of

waggonettes, old cabriolets minus their hoods, carriers' vans with

leather curtains.
in

all

AH

rails

along at a short, sharp

to pre-

Some

trot.

away, from such places

as

Goder-

the relations on both sides had been

quarrels had been patched up, and letters sent to friends

they had not heard of for ages.

From

time to time the crack of a whip was heard the other side of

the hedge.
It

would

Then

would swing open, and a cart would enter.

up to the doorstep, pull up with a jerk
occupants, who would clamber down on either side,

the gate

drive at a canter right

and discharge
rubbing the

its

out of their knees and stretching their arms.

stiffness

ladies, in their best

chains, tippets

bonnets,

with ends crossing over

at the waist, or little

kerchiefs fastened behind with a pin and showing a

The little boys,

their new clothes

The

wore town-made costumes, gold watchlittle

coloured

bit of

neck

at the back.

dressed like their papas, seemed rather

at ease in

(a

first

pair of boots they

had ever had

them, not daring to utter

munion

ill

good few of them were sporting the

in their lives),

and alongside of

word, and wearing her white

dress lengthened for the occasion,

you might

first

see a

com-

gawky

of anything from fourteen to sixteen a sister or a cousin, no

doubt all red and flustered, her hair plastered down with strongsmelling pomade and terribly afraid of soiling her gloves. As there
were not enough stable-boys to unharness all the horses, the gentlemen rolled up their sleeves and turned-to themselves. According to
their different social grades they wore dress-coats, frock-coats, jackets,
girl

and cardigans fine black

tability

which only

suits,

issued

venerable symbols of family respec-

from the

press

on occasions of

special

solemnity; frock-coats with voluminous skirts floating in the wind,

collars like cylinders

and pockets

spun, of the sort usually

as big as sacks; coats

of coarse home-

worn with a cap with a band of copper round

two buttons in the small of the back,

the peak; very short jackets with

close

together like a pair of eyes, the abbreviated

looked

as if

tails

of

which

they had been cut out of a single block with a carpenter's

Yet others (but they, for sure, would have to sit below the
were wearing their party smocks, that is to say, smocks with the
collar turned down over the shoulder, the back gathered in with litchisel.

salt)

169

tie

puckers, and encircled, very

And

the shirts bulged out

low down, by an embroidered

on the

belt.

chests like breastplates. All the

gentlemen had had their hair cut, their ears were sticking out from
their heads,

The

and they had

shaved especially

all

ceremony

foot,

and

as

soon

as the

back

again.

The

procession, at

close.

Mairie being but a mile or so from the farm they went on

coloured scarf

as

it

at the

first

church was over they trudged

keeping well together, resembled

undulated through the countryside, winding

slowly along the narrow footpath through the green cornfields. But
before long

began to

it

on the way

and broke up into separate groups

straggle,

The

went on ahead, the top

of his fiddle all bedecked with streamers; after him walked the bridegroom and his bride, the relations and friends following in what order
they pleased. Last of all came the children, who amused themselves
by plucking little sprays of oats, or had a little game all to themselves,
when no one was looking. Emma's dress, which was too long for her,
dragged a little behind. Every now and again she would stop to gather
it up and, delicately, with her gloved hand, pick off the blades of
rough grass and bits of briar, while Charles stood sheepishly by, waiting
till she had finished. Farmer Rouault, resplendent in a new silk hat, the
that loitered

to gossip.

fiddler

cuffs of his best coat covering his hands as far as his finger-tips,

given his arm to the dowager

senior,

who

deed, had

row

come

jocularities

thought

in his heart

to

He was

country wench,

know what

blushed, and didn't

business or indulged in a
selves

these people very small beer in-

delivering himself of

fair-haired

all

little

to say.

The

skylarking

who

curtseyed,

and

dale.

When

and

rest of the party talked

by way

the scrape-scrape of the fiddler

fiddling over hill

a single

some rather dubious

of

warming them-

up for the gaiety to come; and whenever you cared

you could hear

had

Bovary. Monsieur Bovary

an austere frock-coat of military cut with

in

of buttons.

Madame

who

to listen,

pranced on ahead,

he noticed that the party had fallen

good way behind, he stopped to take breath and applied the rosin with
vigour to his bow, so that the strings should squeak the louder. Then
he marched on again, swaying the top of his instrument alternately
up and down, the better to mark the time. The sound of the fiddle
startled the birds far

The

table

and wide.

had been

laid

under the roof of the cartshed.

Upon

it

there stood four sirloins, six dishes of hashed chicken, stewed veal,
three legs of mutton and, in the centre, a comely roast sucking-pig

flanked with four hogs-puddings garnished with sorrel.

At each corner

Sweet cider in bottles was fizzling

out round the corks, and every glass had already been charged with
wine to the brim. Yellow custard in great dishes, which would undulate at the slightest jog of the table, displayed on its smooth surface

was

the

a decanter filled

initials

of the

wedded

had had recourse to

iced cakes.

170

with

As he was

spirits.

pair in arabesques of candied peel.

They

confectioner at Yvetot for the tarts and the

just starting business in the

district,

he had

when

given a special eye to things; and

the dessert

was brought on,

he himself, personally, carried in a set piece which drew cries of ad-

At

miration from the assembled company.

was

porticoes, colonnades,

and stucco

castle-keep or

diminutive

statuettes

fortifications

stars.

angelica,

in

meadow where

than a verdant

jam and boats made out of

there

nut-shells,

in little niches

the second storey, stood

cake,

almonds,

orange; and finally, on the topmost level of

less

around

all

Above it, on
donjon wrought in Savoy

embellished with gilt-paper

a

the base of this erection

rectangular piece of blue cardboard, representing a temple with

surrounded with

and bits of
which was nothing

raisins,

all,

were rocks with pools of

was seen

a little

Cupid balanc-

ing himself on a chocolate swing, the posts of which were tipped

with two

Two

real rosebuds.

Charles could not be

away from

Rouault sent them home

1945

days after the wedding, the newly married couple departed.

as far as Vassonville.

There he

the carriage and started for

gone about

profound

hundred paces he

sigh.

gone by, of

its

he took her from her

home

and gazing

halted,

When

again.

at

he had

the carriage

wheels turning in the dust, he heaved

Then he thought

his wife's first

and went with them himself

kissed his daughter "good-bye," stepped

down from

vanishing into the distance,

Farmer

practice any longer.

his

in his carriage,

of his

own

wedding, of the days

pregnancy. He, too, was very happy

father's,

back to

his

own

when

house;

when

she rode

behind him on the crupper, trotting through the snow; for the season

was near Christmas and the country all white. One of her arms was
holding on to him, and on the other she carried her basket. The wind
fluttered the long lace strings of her Caux head-dress and sometimes
blew them across her mouth, and when he turned his head he saw
close by him, just above his shoulder, her little rosy mouth smiling
beneath the gold rim of her bonnet. To warm her fingers she would
thrust them, every

seemed now,

now

and again, into

his

bosom.

How

far

away

it

all that!

GusTAVE Flaubert
Madame B ovary, 1856

F. Scott Fitzgerald's

requiem for the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby,

is

a sharp but not unsympathetic portrait of the ersatz glavwur, cultural

sterility,

and pervasive ennui

seemed

that

society in the years immediately following

to

World War

the spectacidar rise and equally spectacular

amasses a huge

illicit

envelop American high

fall

I.

of Jay

It

chronicles

Gatz,

who

fortune in the mistaken assumptioii that vast

wealth will will him what breeding never could the hajid of Daisy
Buchanan, a woman he has long adored from afar. The first encounter
betweeji Daisy and Gatsby, as he
feudal mansion overlooking

cottage of

Nick Carraway,

now

Long

their

calls himself,

Island

occurs not at his

Sound but

in the adjacent

go-betweeii and Fitzgerald's

narrator.

171

The day ageed upon was pouring

At

rain.

eleven o'clock a

lawn-mower, tapped

raincoat, dragging a

at

Mr. Gatsby had sent him over to cut

that

man

in a

my front door and said

my grass. This reminded

I had forgotten to tell my Finn to come back, so I drove into

West Egg Village to search for her among soggy whitewashed alleys
ahd to buy some cups and lemons and flowers.
The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o'clock a greenhouse

me

that

from Gatsby's, with innumerable receptacles to contain it. An

door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white
suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in. He was

arrived

hour

later the front

flannel

and there were dark signs of

pale,

"Is

everything

"The

all

grass looks fine,

"What

sleeplessness beneath his eyes.

right?" he asked immediately.

if

what you mean."

that's

grass?" he inquired blankly. "Oh, the grass in the yard."

looked out the

window

at

but, judging

it,

from

his expression,

He

don't

saw a thing.
"Looks very good," he remarked vaguely. "One of the papers

believe he

they thought the rain would stop about four.

Journal.

Have you got everything you need

took him into the pantry, where he looked

at the Finn.

Together

we

think

in the shape
a little

scrutinized the twelve

said

was The
of of tea?"

it

reproachfully

lemon cakes from

the delicatessen shop.

"Will they do?"

"Of
".

asked.

course, of course!

They're fine!" and he added hollowly,

old sport."

The

rain cooled about half-past three to a

damp

mist,

through

which occasional thin drops swam like dew. Gatsby looked with vacant
eyes through a copy of Clay's Economics, starting at the Finnish tread
that shook the kitchen floor, and peering toward the bleared windows
from time to time as if a series of invisible but alarming happenings
were taking place outside. Finally he got up and informed me, in an
uncertain voice, that he was going home.

"Why's

that?"

"Nobody's coming to
as if there

wait

too late!"
his

He

looked

at his

watch

time elsewhere. "I can't

day."

all

"Don't be

He

tea. It's

was some pressing demand on

sat

silly; it's just

down

two minutes

miserably, as

to four."

had pushed him, and simultaneously

if I

was the sound of a motor turning into my lane. We both jumped

up, and, a little harrowed myself, I went out into the yard.
Under the dripping bare lilac-trees a large open car was coming up
there

the drive.

It

stopped. Daisy's face, tipped sideways beneath a three-

cornered lavender

hat,

"Is this absolutely

The

looked out

where you

with

my

a bright ecstatic smile.

dearest one?"

was a wild tonic in the rain. I

moment, up and down, with my

exhilarating ripple of her voice

had to follow the sound of

ear alone, before

172

me

at

live,

it

for a

any words came through.

damp

streak of hair lay

dash of blue paint across her cheek, and

like a

with glistening drops

"Are you

in love

as

took

with me," she said low

hand was wet

licr

from the

to help her

it

in

car.

niv car, "or

why

did

have to come alone?"

"That's the secret of Castle Rackrent. Tell your chauffeur to go far

away and spend an hour."

"Come back
name

is

an hour, Ferdie."

in

Then

in a

grave murmur: "His

Ferdie."

"Does the gasoline

We

affect his nose?"

think so," she said innocently.

"I don't

went

To my

in.

"Why?"

overwhelming surprise the living-room was

deserted.

"Well, that's funny,"

exclaimed.

"What's funny?"'
as there was a light dignified knocking at the
went out and opened it. Gatsby, pale as death, with his
hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a

She turned her head

front door.

1950

puddle of water glaring tragically into

With

hands

his

turned sharply

hall,

living-room.

own

heart

For half
I

heard

minute there wasn't

Aware

into the

of the loud beating of

artificial

my

sound.

Then from

the living-room

a laugh,

followed by

note:

"I certainly

am

endured horribly.

it

choking murmur and part of

a sort of

pause;

by me

pulled the door to against the increasing rain.

a

Daisy's voice on a clear

went

eyes.

he were on a wire, and disappeared into the

as if

wasn't a bit funny.

It

my

in his coat pockets he stalked

still

awfully glad to see you again."

I

had nothing to do

in the hall, so

into the room.

Gatsby,

hands

his

still

pockets,

in his

was

reclining against the

mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom.

His head leaned back so far that

mantelpiece clock, and from

down
of a

who was

at Daisy,

it

rested against the face of a defunct

this position his distraught

sitting,

eyes stared

frightened but graceful, on the edge

stiff chair.

"We've met
tarily at

before," muttered Gatsby. His eyes glanced

me, and

his lips

Luckily the clock took

sure of his head,
fingers

and

set

it

parted with an abortive attempt at a laugh.

this

moment

to

tilt

dangerously

whereupon he turned and caught

back in place. Then he sat down,

on the arm of the sofa and

his

chin in his hand.

it

of taking the short cut along the

to the road

at the pres-

with trembling

rigidly, his
.

elbow

Tea is served, the rain abates, and the threesome adjourns

enormous house, which stands nearby.
Instead

momen-

to Gatsby''

Sound we went down

and entered by the big postern. With enchanting murmurs

Daisy admired

this aspect or that

of the feudal silhouette against the

173

sky, admired the gardens, the sparkling odor of jonquils and the

frothy odor of hawthorn and plum blossoms and the pale gold odor
of kiss-me-at-the-gate.

no

find

stir

but bird voices in the

And

was strange

It

and

to reach the marble steps

of bright dresses in and out of the door, and hear no sound

inside,

trees.

we wandered through

as

Marie Antoinette music-

rooms and Restoration salons, I felt that there were guests concealed
behind every couch and table, under orders to be breathlessly silent
until we had passed through. As Gatsby closed the door of "the
Merton College Library" I could have sworn I heard the owl-eyed

man break into

We

went

lavender

ghostly laughter.

through period bedrooms swathed

upstairs,

and

in rose

and vivid with new flowers, through dressing-rooms and

silk

pool-rooms, and bathrooms, with sunken baths intruding into one

chamber where
on the

cises

man in pajamas was doing

was Mr. Klipspringer, the "boarder."

dishevelled

floor. It

liver exerI

had seen

him wandering hungrily about the beach that morning. Finally we

came to Gatsby's own apartment, a bedroom and a bath, and an
Adam study, where we sat down and drank a glass of some Chartreuse
he took from a cupboard in the wall.

He

hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and

everything in

house according to the measure of response

his

from her well-loved

it

way,

as

though

was any longer

in her actual

real.

drew

it

he stared around at his

eyes. Sometimes, too,

possessions in a dazed

presence none of

think he revalued

Once he

and astounding

down

nearly toppled

a flight of stairs.

His bedroom was the simplest room of all except where

was garnished with

dresser

the brush with delight, and smoothed her hair,

down and

He
third.

his

whereupon Gatsby

sat

eyes and began to laugh.

the funniest thing, old sport," he said hilariously. "I can't

"It's

when I

shaded

the,

pure dull gold. Daisy took

a toilet set of

try to"

through two

had passed

visibly

After

embarrassment

his

and

states
his

and was entering upon

unreasoning

joy

he

was

consumed with wonder at her presence. He had been full of the idea
so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth

Now,

so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity.

set,

in the

was running down like an overwound clock.

Recovering himself in a minute he opened for us two hulking
patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing-gowns and
reaction, he

ties,

and

his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a

"I've got a

man

in

England

who

buys

me

dozen high.

clothes.

He

selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring

He

took out

before

us, shirts

a pile of shirts

disarray.

174

they

fell

and

fall."

and began throwing them, one by one,

of sheer linen and thick

lost their folds as

sends over a

silk

and

fine flannel,

and covered the table

in

While we admired he brought more and the

which

many-colored
soft rich

heap

mounted higher shirts with

and plaids in coral

with monograms of

and

|Mi\vf >i-

lii^^liioii
i

scrolls

faint orange,

stripes

and apple-green and lavender and

Mil 4l|

r>.4

Jl

CtMII

iIh-

Ih^i

Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head

and began to cry stormily.

into the shirts

"They're such beautiful

in the thick folds.

such beautiful

"It

she

shirts,"

sobbed,

makes me sad because

her

muffled

voice

never seen such-

I've

shirts before."

F.

Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby,

1925

After the Banquet has been called Yukio Mishima's most elegant novel,

and

it

does indeed reveal the noted Japanese novelist's abiding concern

with the subtlest

much

1960

nuances of social behavior. Characters are not so

described as they are defined by their manners, their modes of

speech, and their taste

iji

clothiiig. In

no case

is

more

this

true than

with Mishima's heroine, Kazu, the independently wealthy wife of politician Yitken Noguchi. For example, she campaigns in "a kimono dyed
with a pattern of white horsetails and dandelions on black slubbed
crepe" a design that suggests the character no, or Tneadow, the first
syllable in her husband's surname.

and Noguchi dress to go to the

The campaign concluded, Kazu

polls.

Kazu had thrown all her money and energies into the campaign. She
had done all that human strength was capable of, and she had patiently
endured every humiliation and hardship. Everyone knew that Kazu
had fought well. Never before in her life had her passionate spirit
been poured out so continuously and so effectively.

Day

after

day her

unique support had been her absurd conviction that once she put her

mind

to

do something she would certainly bring

it

to fruition. This

conviction of hers normally hovered vaguely in mid-air, but during

the past

few months

could no longer

Kazu
be

live

had been planted firmly on earth, and she

it.

attentively examined the water

lilies.

The water seemed

to

symbol of the countless people who would go today to the polling

places in each district.

self.

it

without

The water under

and bubbles rose

The

The blossoming water

lilies

were Noguchi him-

the flowers soaked the reflections in

as it stirred

its

depths,

round each tiny spike of the flower-holder.

water's only function, she thought, was to crave the favor of

the lily blossoms and reflect them.

Just then a bird's
a withered leaf

the

window.

It

The water was

was

shadow darted
flicked from a

across the open

bay window, and

small branch reaching almost to

glided sledlike through the air to drop into the basin.

hardly ruffled, but the shrunken yellow-brown leaf

floated conspicuously

on

its

surface. It looked ugly, like a curled-up

insect.
If

Kazu had not been

practicing her incautious divination, she

175

would have removed the withered

but

thought,

now

leaf

without giving

it

second

ominous appearance so upset her that she

its

bitterly regretted her folly in having started this fortunetelling.

She dropped into an armchair and

fan.

toying with

sat there a while,

television set stood directly before her.

The

bluish viewing

would soon no doubt be displaying the election returns

came in, but now it was still a blank. The morning sunlight
screen

across

as

they

slanted

surface.

its

Kazu took her morning bath

face,

after

Noguchi, carefully made up her

then changed to a formal kimono ordered some time previously

which she had

for this occasion. After days of campaigning during

taken no trouble with her appearance sometimes deliberately dressing

badly her hoUday finery today braced her body. The kimono was
silvery

gray gauzy

silk

dyed to represent

cormorant fishing scene.

The cormorants were lacquer-black, and the torch flames blazed

scarlet. The obi, of brocaded silk, had an embroidered design of a
waning moon amid thin clouds, worked in silver thread on a pale
blue background.

Kazu

diamond

sash clip graced her outfit.

costume was

realized that such an ornate

likely to

annoy

own satisfaction
now that the sweat

Noguchi, but she was determined to be dressed to her

when

she went to the polling place. In any case,

and dust of the campaign were behind

her,

Kazu needed

to assuage

by indulging herself today, while things were still unsome luxury after her heart.
She went to the drawing room to help Noguchi with his dressing.
The sight of him standing there filled Kazu's heart with joy. Noguchi
was already dressed, and had himself chosen, from among the suits
carefully pressed by Kazu's command, the new one he first wore on
the day when he announced his intention of standing for office.
Noguchi, as usual, did not vouchsafe her even the flicker of a
her feelings

settled, in

smile,

but

this

thoughtfulness and his avoidance of any reference to

her costume touched her deeply. In the car on the

place, they sat side-by-side in silence.
at the

row

that she

way

to the polling

Kazu looked out the window

of shops exposed to the merciless morning sunlight.

had had such an unforgettable experience, she

not matter any more

This, probably,

if

they

Now

felt that it

did

lost.

was the moment of

husband and wife with such unyielding

greatest intimacy

between

personalities. Kazu's euphoria

was maintained

intact until she followed her husband, through the

popping flashbulbs and arc-lamps of the newspapers and newsreel
cameramen, into the polling place in an elementary school, and cast

her ballot in the box.

The counting

of the ballots began the following day. Election fore-

casts printed in the three

major morning newspapers showed

markably even distribution of opinion. One

a re-

political expert predicted

the victory of Tobita, another foresaw victory for Noguchi, and a

third,

176

without mentioning which side would win, predicted that

it

issa^

would undoubtedly be
two men. Kazu's

the

morning.

viction that

photo

state

with only

nose-length between

had started that

premonition of victory agitated her, and with

if

bulletin

was

issued.

at eight in the

room. The

set in the living

morning, and

Husband and wife

and the outlying metropolitan

first

to report

sat

magic

the con-

The

spell,

"It's

at eleven the

before the television

were the Santama region

districts.

Kazu, unable to contain her palpitations, murmured

a

it

they didn't win the world would crumble to pieces.

counting of ballots began

first

finish

of frantic excitement

as if

intoning

Santama, Santama!" She suddenly recalled the

strings of paper lanterns

on the night of the Folk Song

blackness of the surrounding mountains

when

Festival, the

the lanterns

were

lit,

and the enthusiastic applause echoing against the mountainsides. The

sunburned faces of the farm wives,

1965

with curiosity,

their little eyes filled

and their friendly gold-toothed smiles

all

fingernails into the armrests of her chair.

came back.

The

suspense

She dug her

made her

suddenly hot and cold by turns. Finally she could keep

silent

feel

no

longer.

"That's a lucky sign," she cried, "Santama will be

That's one place

we

first

to report.

surely won."

Noguchi did not answer.

The news bulletin flashed on the

television screen,

and the voice of

the announcer echoed as he read:

The
to lose

Yuken Noguchi

257,802

Gen Tobita

277,081

color drained from Kazu's face, but her desperate resolve not

hope became

like a sheet of iron

wrapped around her

YUKIO MiSHIMA

heart.

After the Banquet, 1963

Although

should properly be remembered as the first

win the Nobel Prize for literaturein 1930mafiy
thousands of readers k7iow him as the creator of George F. Babbitt,
the archetypal Average American, a mixture of blandness and boostSi77clair Leivis

American author

erism, prejudice

to

and pomposity, crassness and conservatism. Babbitt,

a middle-aged, middle-class, middle-of-the-road realtor from Zenith,

"the Zip City,''' is, like his carefully chosen wardrobe, "completely
UJidistinguished."

Myra Babbitt Mrs. George

F. Babbitt was definitely mature. She

had creases from the corners of her mouth to the bottom of her chin,
and her plump neck bagged. But the thing that marked her as having
passed the line was that she no longer had reticences before her hus-

band, and no longer worried about not having reticences. She was in
a petticoat
in

bulgy

now, and corsets which bulged, and unaware of being seen

She had become so dully habituated to married life

corsets.

177

..^if-^r.

fe

ffKS

mi

boK
RSI n
In

})IIU,()VI
It

1)1

i.i;<.->

SDKKKI.
kvrs...

IKWOIlks
b;L(;itKvr..

ooiiuicTI

1910
was as sexless as an anemic nun. She
good woman, a kind woman, a diligent woman, but no one,
save perhaps Tinka her ten-year-old, was at all interested in her or
entirely aware that she was alive.
that in her full matronliness she

was

After a rather thorough discussion of

all

the domestic and social

aspects of towels she apologized to Babbit for his having an alcoholic

headache; and he recovered enough to endure the search for

B.V.D.

undershirt which had, he pointed out, malevolently been concealed

among

his clean pajamas.

He was

fairly amiable in the

"What do you
on

think,

chair in their

conference on the brown

Myra?" He pawed

at the clothes

suit.

hunched

bedroom, while she moved about mysteriously

adjusting and patting her petticoat and, to his jaundiced eye, never

seeming to get on with her dressing.

the

brown

suit

"Well,

it

"I

about

it?

Shall

wear

another day?"

looks awfully nice on you."

know, but gosh,

"That's

"How

so.

Perhaps

it
it

needs pressing."
does."

"It certainly could stand being pressed,

"Yes, perhaps

it

wouldn't hurt

it

all

right."

to be pressed."

"But gee, the coat doesn't need pressing. No sense in having the
whole darn suit pressed, when the coat doesn't need it."
"That's so."

"But the pants certainly need

it,

all

right.

Look

at

them look

at

those wrinkles the pants certainly do need pressing."

Oh, Georgie, why couldn't you wear the brown coat

with the blue trousers we were wondering what we'd do with them?"
"Good Lord! Did you ever in all my life know me to wear the
coat of one suit and the pants of another? What do you think I am?
"That's

so.

A busted bookkeeper?"
178

1915
why

"Well,

in at the tailor

don't

you put on the dark gray

suit to-day,

"Well, they certainly needNow where the devil

suit?

Oh,

yes, here

He was

and stop

and leave the brown trousers?"

we

that gray

is

are."

able to get through the other crises of dressing with

com-

parative resoluteness and calm.

His first adornment was the sleeveless dimity B.V.D. undershirt, in

which he resembled a small boy humorlessly wearing a cheesecloth
tabard at a civic pageant. He never put on B.V.D. 's without thanking
the God of Progress that he didn't wear tight, long, old-fashioned
undergarments,
son.

like

his

father-in-law and partner,

Henry Thomp-

His second embellishment was combing and slicking back

hair. It

his

gave him a tremendous forehead, arching up two inches beyond

the former hair-line. But most

wonder-working of

all

was the donning

of his spectacles.

There

character in spectacles the pretentious tortoise-shell, the

is

meek pince-nez

of the school teacher, the twisted silver-framed glasses

of the old villager. Babbitt's spectacles had huge, circular, frameless

lenses of the

very best

glass; the ear-pieces

them he was the modern

and drove

business

were thin bars of

gold. In

man; one who gave orders to

clerks

and played occasional golf and was scholarly in

a car

re-

gard to Salesmanship. His head suddenly appeared not babyish but

weighty, and you noted
thick, long

upper

lip, his

his

chin overfleshy but strong;

beheld him put on the rest of

The gray
guished.

added

good
boots.

It

suit

was

a flavor of

mouth and
with respect you

heavy, blunt nose, his straight

his

uniform

was well

cut, well

standard

suit.

as a Solid Citizen.

made, and completely undistin-

White piping on

the

of the vest

law and learning. His shoes were black laced boots,

boots, honest boots, standard boots, extraordinarily uninteresting

The only

frivolity

was

in his purple knitted scarf.

With con179

siderable

comment on

the matter to Mrs. Babbitt (who, acrobatically

fastening the back of her blouse to her skirt with a safety-pin, did

not hear a

word he

said), he

chose between the purple scarf and

with

stringless

brown

tapestry effect
into

it

he thrust

harps

among blown

palms, and

snake-head pin with opal eyes.

was changing from the brown suit to the gray

He was earnest about these objects. They

sensational event

the contents of his pockets.

were of

They

eternal importance, like baseball or the Republican Party.

included a fountain pen and a silver pencil (always lacking a

new leads) which belonged in the righthand upper vest

Without them he would have felt naked. On his watch-chain
were a gold penknife, silver cigar-cutter, seven keys (the use of two
of which he had forgotten), and incidentally a good watch. Depending
from the chain was a large, yellowish elk's-tooth proclamation of his
membership in the Brotherly and Protective Order of Elks. Most significant of all was his loose-leaf pocket note-book, that modern and
efficient note-book which contained the addresses of people whom he
had forgotten, prudent memoranda of postal money-orders which had
reached their destinations months ago, stamps which had lost their
mucilage, clippings of verses by T. Cholmondeley Frink and of the
newspaper editorials from which Babbitt got his opinions and his polysyllables, notes to be sure and do things which he did not intend to
supply of
pocket.

do, and one curious inscription D.S.S.D. M.Y.P.D.F.

But he had no

him

cigarette-case.

No

one had ever happened to give

who

one, so he hadn't the habit, and people

carried cigarette-

cases he regarded as effeminate.

Club button. With the

Last, he stuck in his lapel the Boosters'

two words: "BoostersIt associated him with

conciseness of great art the button displayed

made Babbitt

Pep!"

It

Good

Fellows, with

business circles.

Kappa

Beta

With

this

You

look after

me

own

his

matter of dieting.

you,

in

Phi

took

said. "I

think

had too

much

dinner

fritters."

when

a fellow gets past forty

he has to

There's a lot of fellows that don't take proper

you

tell

at forty a

man's

doctor. Folks don't give

Now

think Course

meal after the day's work, but

we

his

to have some."

tell

his digestion.

care of themselves.

if

human, and important

Legion of Honor ribbon,

oughtn't to serve those heavy banana

know, but I

mean,

nice and

his V.C., his

morning," he

"But you asked

men who were

was

key.

evening.

"I

and important.

the subtleties of dressing ran other complex worries. "I feel

kind of punk
last

It

feel loyal

it

would be

a fool or his

doctor

enough attention to this

to have a good

man ought
a

good thing for both of us

lighter lunches."
at home I always do have a light lunch."
make a hog of myself, eating down-town? Yes,
swell time if you had to eat the truck that new

"But Georgie, here

"Mean
sure!

to imply

You'd have

steward hands out to us

180

at the Athletic

Club! But

certainly do feel

"

out of

morning. Funny, got a pain

sorts, this

down

side but no, that wouldn't be appendicitis, would

I

was driving over

Right here

go

was kind

it

Why

to?

don't

Last night,

it?

my

pain in

felt a

left

when

stomach, too.

sharp shooting pain. I Where'd that dime

serve

more prunes

evening an apple

you ought

still,

of

you

eat an apple every

but

Verg Gunch's,

to

on the

liere

course

day keeps the doctor away

more prunes, and not

to have

Of

at breakfast?

those fancy

all

doodads."

"The

"Well,
think

time

last

had prunes you didn't eat them."

didn't feel like eating 'em,

some of

did eat

to I was saying

to

Anyway I

'em.

Verg Gunch,

suppose. Matter of fact,

tell

you

just last evening,

mighty important

it's

most people don't

take sufficient care of their diges

"Shall

we

have the Gunches for our dinner, next week,"

"Why sure; you

"Now see here,

bet."

George:

want you

to put

on your nice dinner-

jacket that evening."

The rest of 'em won't want to dress."

"Of course they will. You remember when you

"Rats!

the Littlefields' supper-party, and

all

the rest did, and

didn't dress for

how

embarrassed

you were."
"Embarrassed,

put on

as

hell!

expensive

don't happen to have

wasn't embarrassed. Everybody

Tux.

anybody

All right for a

that stays

when

like the

and hustle

else,

on sometimes. All

it

woman,
fellow's worked

as

and

can
if I

darn nuisance, anyway.

around the house

dickens

all

all

that he's seen in just reg'lar clothes that

the time, but

day, he doesn't

head off getting into the soup-and-fish for

his

knows

should worry

want to go

a lot of folks

same day."

"You know you enjoy being seen in one. The other evening you
admitted you were glad I'd insisted on your dressing. You said you
felt a lot better for it. And oh, Georgie, I do wish you wouldn't say
'Tux.'

It's

'dinner-jacket.'

"

"Rats, what's the odds,"

"Well,

it's

what

heard you calling

it

the nice folks say. Suppose Lucile

all

a 'Tux.'

McKelvey

"

now! Lucile McKelvey can't pull anything

as mud, even if her husband and her
dad are millionaires! I suppose you're trying to rub in your exalted
social position! Well, let me tell you that your revered paternal an"Well,

that's all right

on me! Her

cestor,

folks are

Henry

common

T., doesn't even call

jacket for a ringtail monkey,' and

it

a 'Tux.'!

He

calls it a 'bobtail

you couldn't get him

into one unless

you chloroformed him!"

"Now don't be horrid,

"Well,
as

don't

want

George."

to be horrid, but Lord! you're getting as fussy

Verona."
Sinclair Lewis
Babbitt, 1922

181

Glossary

Baby

See robe a

dress

to decorate their tunics. It

la Creole.

Bliaut a long overtunic worn by both men

and women from the eleventh to the late thirteenth century. The male version had full sleeves
and was split to the waist so it could be worn
over chain mail. The female version had a more
closely fitted bodice and also featured full sleeves.

Calash A
modate the

collapsible

bonnet designed to accom-

fantastic hairstyles of the late 1700's.

Carmagnole A short jacket with wide

and lapels worn by French revolutionaries.

collar

undergarment worn by
unshaped linen shift
that could double as a nightgown. A variation of
it was worn by men until the shirt was developed.

Chemise The
women, it was

basic

straight,

Chemise gown A long-sleeved, tubular dress,

usually made up in a soft, clinging muslin, its
shape defined by drawstrings at the neck and at

Romans, who

was adopted by the

its width and

regulated

strictly

color according to social standing.

Although usually cut from the same

was a

Codpiece

material as the trunk hose or breeches, this

designed to cover the

opening of the hose. It was laced to the hose and
doublet with points, and by the sixteenth century
was heavily boned and padded.
separate piece of cloth

CoTEHARDiE

wom

tunic

by both

sexes

from

the twelfth through the fourteenth century. In

the early Renaissance

it

was modified

into a man's

short jacket with long, closefitting sleeves but-

toned from elbow to wrist. Cut very tightly to

the body, it reached to the upper thigh and
usually buttoned down the front.

Cyclas

sleeveless

overtunic

worn during

ancient and medieval times.

Dalmatic

A long garment with straight or flar-

the high waist.

ing sleeves that originated in Dalmatia and

Chiton The basic Ionic costume for women, it

was similar to the peplos but of linen rather than
wool and much more voluminous. Slits for the
arms were left at the top, which was caught together at intervals along the upper arm by seaming or by tiny brooches or studs. It was tied at the
waist with a narrow cord, the upper part pulled
out over the cord to give a blouselike effect. Narrower versions were worn by men.

popular during the third century.

Chlamys

In Ancient Greece, a short rectangu-

cloak of wool worn in place of the himation.

was worn for traveling or for military activity.

in the

Middle Ages

as

was
was retained
court costume and still
It

survives in religious regalia.

Doublet

The male upper garment that had

by the end of the

evolved from the pourpoint

and had a low neckand was standard male attire through the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
1400's. It fell to the waist

line

The

ExoMis

basic

ancient Greece,

it

working-class

garment of

consisted of a plain strip of

lar
It

cloth fastened
right

Clavi
182

vertical

border used by the Etruscans

and

arm

fell

on the left shoulder, leaving the

was usually belted at the waist

free. It

to about mid-thigh.

Farthingale A framework of graduated cane

or metal hoops worn around the hips to support
the skirt in the 1500's. Both cone-shaped and
wheel-shaped varieties were popular.

Flea coat

shaggy Renaissance lounging robe,

often of wolfskin, whose purpose was to attract

By the sixteenth century, it had become a

mere flea fur, the hide of a small animal elegantly
mounted in gold and gems and carried in the
hand or draped around the arm like a stole.
fleas.

French hood
court by

It

cap

little

Haik

from the Near East in the

was made by threading

fabric

third millennium b.c. that

wool or

tufts of

loosely rolled yarn through a

woven panel cloth; tufts were brushed

combed toward the hem of the finished

coarsely

or

set far

was introduced to the Eng-

Anne Boleyn.

Garde-infante A mid-seventeenth-century elliptical hooped petticoat, very narrow from front

to back but which extended on either side of the
waist to a width greater than the reach of the
arms. It was worn by women of the Spanish royal
family and the court.

Gaulle

Kaunakes

garment.
neatly rounded

back on the head.

lish

linen finely pleated and wraped

around the body in various ways. Sometimes it
was cut with sleeves, sometimes merely draped
and tied to give a sleeved effect.

transparent

See robe a

Worn by

Neglige a la patriote A white dress worn

under a blue redingote with a red collar during
the time of the French Revolution.

The Roman

Palla

Egyptian royalty,

this

was

was knotted
and draped around the body in such a manner
that the wearer appeared to have on three garmentsa short kilt, a tunic, and a long cloak. It
survives in a modified form in traditional Arabic
large, rectangular piece of cloth that

Greek hima-

Elliptical hoops worn in the eighteenth

century that concentrated fullness at the sides of

Paniers

a dress rather

la creole.

version of the

tion.

than at the front and rear.

Peplos a long robe worn by Doric women, it

reached from shoulder to ankle with a generous
overfold at the top falling to the waist.
pins.
side,

At

the

was caught and held by two large

It could be belted at the waist, sewn up the
or, in Spartan fashion, left open on the right

shoulders

it

side.

costume.

HiMATioN

sexes in ancient Greece. It

the

body and tucked

HouppELANDE
at

worn by both

long woolen robe

was draped around

in at the waist.

loose outer tunic, belted high

the waist and with extremely

sleeves,

full,

worn by both men and women

doublet.

flaring

Polonaise

in the

gown

fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

short,

breeches.

straight

women

piece of linen

sheath

worn by

dress

and made from

sewn up the

side.

rectangular

The

dress

was

supported by shoulder straps; sometimes these

were broad and covered the breasts; sometimes

were
became more

the breasts

left bare.

it

elaborate, being

In the

worn

modest hoops. The overskirt, heavily

flounced, was hiked up by drawstrings to form
three rounded, puffed swags of varying lengths,
one at either side and one in the rear.

PouRPOiNT

man's upper garment similar to

It was derived from the padded

the cotehardie.

Kalasiris

late-eighteenth-century

reaching well above the ankle and

over

JusTAUCORPS A term in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to refer to a

man's jacket. It had no collar and was worn with
a sleeveless vest, and closefitting knee-length

Egyptian

Petticoat
breeches Mid-seventeenth-century
open-legged trousers so full they looked like
skirts. They reached to the knee or even midcalf and were worn with a short matching

New

Kingdom,
made of almost

military jacket of the fourteenth century. In the

fifteenth century, the

term was an alternate name

for the doublet.

Rhinegraves

See Petticoat breeches.

Robe a l'anglaise

gown

of the late eight-

eenth century boned closely to the waist and

worn
183

The

without paniers or hoops.

at the hips

and had

skirt

a short train.

was gathered

cul de Paris

hoops over light

petticoats,

Robe a la francaise
earlier

sack

an overskirt
over

gown with
over

split

train

and

was worn
which concen-

a petticoat. It

hoops or paniers,

elliptical

back

stays.

from the

dress derived

trated the fullness at the sides only, leaving both

gown quite flat. An

extremely popular style, it was much favored by
Mme de Pompadour and was worn well into the

the front and rear of the

1770's.

Ruff
and

costume accessory worn by both men

in the late sixteenth and throughout

women

the seventeenth centuries.

strip of fine linen

It

jacket

the chemise dress

jacket.

with or without

a pleated

high-necked

dress,

was worn without

it

fitted

at the

waist with a wide sash. Generally of delicate

white muslin or gauze,

short,

worn by women with

and in vogue until 1830. Later, the style was

adopted by the military for an officer's mess

held out the fullness at the rear.

Robe a la creole An extremely simple

scarcely more than a chemise, caught in

Spencer
originally

consisted of a long

or lace, heavily starched and

At

gathered on the inner edge to a neckband.

their widest, cartwheel or millstone ruffs

had

The

Stola

women,

it

basic garment worn by Roman

was derived from and almost identi-

cal to the Ionic chiton.

Tebenna

The

distinctive Etruscan cloak, semi-

circular in shape, that

the

Roman

became the prototype for

toga.

The national costume of ancient Rome,

garment was usually of wool and went
through several changes in cut and draping that
paralled the growth of Rome itself. During the
Republic, the toga was a simple, all-purpose
wrap whose prototype was the Etruscan tebenna.
As the republic expanded into an empire, the toga
likewise expanded until it measured twenty feet
in length and the manner in which it was draped
became intricate and complex. The garment was
to become so cumbersome that it was gradually
Toga
this

abandoned.

radius of over eighteen inches.

Sack gown

loose,

dress featuring double

early eighteenth-century

box

straight-back neckline to

ground

pleats

fall

set

in

on

unbelted to the

converged
to a point low on the waistline with the opening
either sewn or caught together with bows. It
could also be worn open in front to show the
in a train. In front, the pleats

petticoat. Popularly

known

as the

Watteau gown.

Toga Candida

The

zling white, that

was worn by Roman candidates

for office.

Toga

picta
rich purple garment, heavily embroidered with gold, that was awarded to vic-

torious

aries as

Toga praetexta
white with

woman's

themid-1500's.

184

band of

tailored

blouse

first

that

freeborn

was

scarlet or purple along the

straight edge.

Toga pulla A black or dark-colored garment

worn by Roman mourners.

A short garment with a

and a purple hem that was worn by
augurs and certain priests.

Toga

in

The garment

citizens started out life in. It

scarlet

Roman

late nineteenth century.

Slashing The Renaissance practice of cutting

openings in the outer costume and pulling the
inner garments or the lining out through the sHts.
Spanish body

Roman

stripe

popular in the

generals and, later on, emperors

Toga trabea

well as to their trousers.

Shirtwaist

Roman

and consuls.

sons of

Sans-culottes Wide, floppy trousers, long the

standard costume of the French workingman.
Literally the term means "no knee breeches," garments worn by men of the middle and upper
classes. The term applied to French revolution-

garment, bleached a daz-

heavy corset worn by

women

The

garment of natural, unmale put on when,

about the age of sixteen, he reached manhood.
virilis

plain

bleached wool that a

at

Waistcoat

Roman

See justaucorps.

Watteau gown

See sack gown.

Acknowledgments

The Author wishes to thank the library staff of the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Shirley Goodman Design Resource Center for assisting her in her
researcli for this

Picture Credits

The

Editors would like to thank Russell

and Susan Stover

Paris,

The

book.

in

New

York for

Ash

in

London, Barbara Nagelsmith

in

their invaluable assistance.

following abbreviations are used:

BNP Bibliotheque

Nationale, Paris

G Giraudon, Paris

MMA Metropolitan Museum of Art

NGA National Gallery of Art, Washington
NYPL-New York Public

Library

SScala
HALF TITLE Symbol by Jay
paring

Newly Woven

Silk,

J.

Smith Studio title page Hui Tsung, Ladies Pre12th century. Museum of Fine Arts,

Sung Dynasty,

Boston.

chapter 1 6 Michelangelo, Expulsion from the Garde?! of Eden. Sistine Chapel

(S)
8 Venus of Lespugne. St. Germain-en-Laye (G) 9 top. Rendering of the
Sorcerer from the cave of Les Trois Freres, Musee de I'Homme; bottom, Bernardino de Sahagun, Historia de las Cosas
Codex Fiorentino, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence. 10 top, Antonio Moro, Queen Mary, 1554, Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum; bottom, Jacques-Louis David, Yowig Woman in White.
Chester Dale Collection, 1962. 11 J.A.D. Ingres, Madame Moitessier, NGA, Kress
.

NGA

13 top, Japanese helmet and mask, 16th-18th centuries, MMA,

Bashford Dean, 1914; bottom Reconstruction of the Mayan Bonampak
murals, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico City. 14 Museum of African
Art, Eliot Elisofon Archives. 15 Anna Held, 1900. Library of Congress.
Collection, 1946.

gift of

2
16 Queen Merit Amon, Deir el Bahari, 18th Dynasty. Egyptian
Museum, Cairo. 18 Sumerian statue of Ibikil, Ishtar Temple, Mari. Louvre. 19
Gudea of Lagash, Mesopotamia, ca. 2150 B.C. MMA, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund,
1959.
20 Fresco from the Tomb of Queen Nefertari, Luxor. (Borromeo) 21
Model of a weaving shop. Middle Kingdom.
anon, gift, 1930. 22 Relief

CHAPTER

MMA

from Tomb of Ramose, Thebes. (George Holton) 22-23 Fresco of Tutankhamen, Valley of the Kings. (Fiore) 23 Methethy and his sons, 6th Dynasty.
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City. 24 left. Pectoral and necklace, 18th
Dynasty. Louvre (S); right, Tutankhamen's corselet, 18th Dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo (John Ross) 26 Tutankhamen's treasure. Egyptian Museum, Cairo
(Borromeo) 27 Fresco of Semite envoys. Tomb of Sebekhotep, 1420 b.c. British
28 Assyrian reliefs of king and warrior. (Fiore) 29 Relief
Museum (Holford)
30-31 Sarof Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, 7th century B.C. British Museum (Holford)
cophagus from Hagia Triada, Minoan Heraklion Museum (S) 32 Statue of the
snake goddess from Temple at Knossos, Minoan. Heraklion Museum (S) 30 Gold
earrings, Mycenaean, Acropolis Museum.
CHAPTER 3 34 Zeus with attendants. Amphora, 6th century B.C. British Museum
(Holford) 36 top. Caryatids on the Erechtheum, Acropolis (Archivio B); bottom, Relief of the Three Charities. A-Iuseo Chiaramonti, Vatican (S) 37 Archaic
kore, ca. 500 b.c Acropolis Museum. 38 Bronze charioteer, 475 b.c. Delphi Mu-

185

39 Frieze of Archers of the Royal Guard, Susa, 4th century b.c. Louvre (S)
40-41 ReUef of warriors, Persepolis. (Fiore) 42-43 Dancers from the Tomb of
Triclionio, Tarquinia. (S)
44 left. Relief from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius,
Museo Capitolino; right, Statue of Tiberius. Louvre (G) 45 Statue of Titus.
Museo Nazionale Naples. 46-47 Fresco from the Villa dei Misteri, Pompeii (S)
49 left, Head of a Roman woman. Museo Capitolino; right. Relief from a sepulcher,
200 A.D. Landesmuseum, Trier.
seum.

CHAPTER 4

50 Otto II, Le Maitre de Registrum Gregori, ca. 985. Musee Conde,

53 Gundestrup Cauldron. National Museum, Copenhagen. 54 Mosaic
of Empress Theodora, San Vitale, Ravenna. (Pucciarelli) 55 Homilies of St. John
Chrysostom, 11th century. BNP, Paris, Ms. Coislin 79 fol 2 v. 56-57 La Vie de St.
Denys, 13th century. BNP Nouv. Acquis. 1098, fol 50. 58 Charlemagne's dabnatic.
Chantilly.

Treasury,

Vatican (S)

60 Moralia in Job, 12th century. Bibliotheque

61 Royal Portal, Chartres. Archives Photographiques 62-63 The Bayeux Tapestry. Bayeux Museum (S) 64 Sketchbook of
Villard de Honnecourt, 1225. BNP Ms. Fr. 19093 fol 23v. 65 left, Knight from
Rheims Cathedral, Archives Photographique; right, English knight, 1250. Pierpont
Morgan Library M. 638 fol 28.
St. Peter's,

Municipale, Dijon Ms. 168 fol 4v.

CHAPTER

5
66 Jean Clouet, Frangois I. Louvre (G) 48 Scenes from the Life of
Mark, 14th century. Catedral de Manresa (MAS) 69 left, Luca della Robbia,
symbol of the Florentine wool guild, Museo dell 'Opera del Duomo, Florence (S)
right. The textile market, Bologna, 1470 Museo Civico, Bologna (S)
70 A. Lorenzetti, Buon Governo in Citta. Palazzo Publico, Siena (S)
71 Grandes Heures du
Due de Berry. 15th century. BNP Ms. Lat. 18014 fol 228v. 72-73 Livre des Tournois de Roi Rene, 1460. BNP Ms. Fr. 2695 fols. 67-68. 74 Pisanello, Woman in
Court Costume. Musee Conde, Chantilly (G) 74-75 Maestro del Cassone Adimari,
Marriage of Boccaccio Adimari, 15th century. Accademia, Florence (S) 76 Hunt
77 Tapestry, Arras,
at the court of Philip the Good, 15th century. Versailles (G)
ca. 1435. MMA, Rogers Fund, 1909.
79 left. Portrait of a Lady, Franco-Flemish,
15th century; right, Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, 15th century.
Both: NGA, Mellon Collection, 1937. 80 left, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Duke

St.

Henry

Dresden; right, Titian, Alessandro Alberti.

82 top, Hans Holbein, Anne Boleyn, Weston Park/
Courtauld Institute; center, Henry VIII's armor. Tower of London; bottom, Hans
Holbein, Anne of Cleves. Louvre. 83 Hans Holbein, Jane Seymour. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 84-85 Robert Peake. A Procession of Queen Elizabeth,
1597. Simon Wingfield, M.P.
86 Nicholas HiUiard, Miniature of a Young Man,
1588. Victoria and Albert Museum.

NGA,

the Pious,

1514. Pinakothek,

Kress Collection, 1952.

88 Peter Paul Rubens, The Artist and His First Wife, Isabella Brandt,
Munich. 90-91 Ball of the Court of Henry III, 16th century.
Louvre (G) 93 Anton Van Dyck, Gaston de France, Due d'Orleans. Musee
94-95 Italian undergarments, 16th century. MMA, Rogers
Conde Chantilly.
Fund, 1910 97 Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV. Louvre. 98-99 Antoine Trouvain,
Apartemens, 1695. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnich Collection. 99 Louise
de la Valliere. BNP 100-101 Ball at the court of Louis XIV, 18th century.
Rogers
Musee de Arts Decoratifs, Paris. 102 Man's suit, French, 1725.
Fund, 1911. 104 Antoine Watteau, detail from The Gersaint Shop. Charlotten105 Maurice Quentin de la Tour, Mjne de Pompadour.
burg, Berlin (G)
Bequest of Maria James,
Louvre. 106 American Fashion dolls, ca. 1790.
1911.
107 Frangois Boucher, Le Dejeuner. Louvre. 108 Jean Moreau, Rendezvous pour Marly, 1780. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnich Collection. 109
top, Marie Antoinette. BNP; bottom, Antoine Raspal, Atelier de Couture a Aries.
Musee Realtu, Aries (AME) 111 Fashion plates from Galerie de Modes et
1817-87. NYPL. 112 M. Darly, Tight Lacing, 1776.
Costumes. Frangais
CHAPTER 6

1610. Pinakothek,

MMA

MMA

MMA, Dick Fund,

186

1941.

114 Pierre Paul Prud'hon, Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck and His

7
Family. 1901. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. 117 Le Bon Genre, plate 27. MMA, Dick

CHAPTER

Fund, 1938. 118-19 J.L. David, Coronation of Napoleon, 1804. Louvre. 120
Fashion plates from Petit Courrier des Dames, 1827-33. NYPL. 121 George Cruik-

NYPL.

122-23 R. Sharpies, Cloakroom at an AssemArt Gallery, Bristol. 124 T. Phillips, Lord Byron.
National Portrait Gallery, London. 125 La Belle Assemblie, 1828. NYPL. 126
Thomas McLean, The Bustle. NYPL. 126-27 top, Thomas McLean,
Winding up the Ladies. NYPL; bottom, Robert Cruikshank, Monstrosities of 1821.
NYPL. 128 BNP. 129 Le Monde Elegant, 1860. NYPL. 130 top. Corsets,
Museum of the City of New York; bottom, Honore Daumier, Croquis d'Hiver
MMA, Rogers Fund 1922. 131 E. Guerard, Les Tuileries, 1856. Musee Carnavelet (G)
132 J. Worth evening dress, 1869. MMA, Rhinelander, 1946. 133
left, Frank Leslie^s Lady's Magazine, 1870's. NYPL; right, Journal des Demoiselles,
shank. Life in London, 1821.

bly Roofns Ball, 1817. City

NYPL.

1877.

CHAPTER 8 134 Irving Wiles, Miss Julia Marlowe, 1901. National Portrait Gallery,
Washington. 136 Sears Roebuck Catalog, 1897. 139 left, Charles Dana Gibson,
The Gibson Book. NYPL; right, NYPL. 140 Library of Congress. 143 Library
of Congress. 145 Gazette de Bon Ton, 1920. NYPL. 146 & 147 Courtesy Dior.
147 Courtesy Chanel. 148-49 Guy Marineau 149 Sal Traina. Both: Courtesy
150 top left, Lester Sloan; center, Tony Rollo; others: Bernard Gotfryd.
151 top left, Robert McElroy; bottom right, Lester Sloan. Both:
All: Newsweek.
Newsweek. Others: Courtesy

WWD.

WWD.

IN A LITERARY FASHION 152-80 A selection of Vogue covers from 1900 to 1975.

Courtesy Conde Nast (Bernard Gotfryd).

oClCCtCCl
r

. 1

Arnold, Janet.
1

Bibliography

Handbook

of Costume.

New York:
A History

Macmillan, 1973.

New York: Morrow, 1975.

Boucher, Frangois. 20,000 Years of Fashion. New York: Abrams, 1966.
Bradshaw, Angela. World Costumes. London: Black, 1952.
Broby-Johansen, R. Body and Clothes. New York: Reinhold, 1968.
Bruhn, Wolfgang. A Pictorial History of Costume. New York: Praeger, 1955.
Cunnington, C. Willett and Phillis. The History of Underclothes. London: Michael
Black,

J.

Anderson and Garland, Madee.

of Fashion.

Joseph, 1951.

Davenport, Millia. The Book of Costume. New York: Crown, 1948.

Ewing, Elizabeth. History of 20th Century Fashions. New York: Scribners, 1974.
Garland, Madge. The Changing Form of Fashion. New York: Praeger, 1970.
Gorsline, Douglas. What People Wore. New York: Viking, 1952.
Harris, Christie and Johnston, Moira. Figleafing Through History: The Dynamics
of Dress. New York: Atheneum, 1972.
Horn, M.J. The Second Skin. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
Kidwell, Claudia B. and Christman, Margaret C, Suiting Everyone: The Democratization of Clothing in America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Inst. Press,
1975.

Kohler, Carl. A History of Costume. New York: Dover, 1963.

Kybalova, Ludmila. Pictorial Encyclopedia of Fashion. New York: Crown, 1968.
Laver, James. Costume
.

Modesty

Through

in Dress.

the Ages.

New York:

New

Houghton

York: Simon and Schuster,

1964.

Mifflin, 1969.

The Concise History of Costume and Fashion. New York: Scribners, 1974.
Payne, Blanche. History of Costume. New York: Harper and Row, 1965.
Rudofsky, Bernard. The Unfashionable Human Body. New York: Doubleday,
.

1971.

New York: Viking, 1974.

New York: Theatre Arts Book,
Costume. New York: Scribners, 1958.

Squire, Geoffrey. Dress and Society, 1560-1910.

Waugh, Nora.

Corsets and Crinolines.

Wilcox, R. Turner. The

Mode

in

1970.

187

Brummell, George (Beau), 118

Inde X

Bum

roll, 91, 103,

109

Burgundian costume,

77, 81

Bustles, 103, 124, 132, 136

Achaemenid costume, 40
Adams, Maude, 138
Africa, 14, 17 ff.
After the Banquet, 175-77
Agamemnon, king, 156-57
Agriculture, advent of, 17, 19
Akhenaten, 27
Alaric, 51

Alcuin of York, 59
Alexander, 41
Amulets, Egyptian, 22, 24
Ancient world, 17 ff.

Anne of Austria, 95
Anne of Cleves, 83, 86
Antony and Cleopatra,
Archaic period,

Armor,

42

9-10, 42

Henry

of

36, 37,

161-62

VIII, 83

Japanese samurai, 12, 13

medieval, 61-63, 65
Renaissance, 70
Ashurbanipai, king, 28, 29
Assyria, 28-29
Athens, 37
Attila, 52

Augustine, St., 56
Augustus, emperor, 47
Babbitt, 177-81
dress, 110

Baby

Babylon, 28, 29
Bakst, Leon, 145

Byron, lord, 122, 125

Byzantine costume, 51, 53

58, 59

Calash, 110
Calimala, 68

Cap
fur, 67

Mesopotamian lambskin,
mob, 117
Cape

19

Egyptian leopard-skin, 22
French, 93
medieval, 60
Carolingian dynasty, 59
Caryatids, 36
Casanova, 106
Catherine of Aragon, 82-83
Ceinture a la victhne, 118
Chain mail, 62, 70

135-36, 137
20th-century, 138, 140, 145
Cosmetics, 15
Egyptian, 22
Roman, 49
17th-century, 99
Cosmetic surgery, 14-15
Costain, Thomas B., 61, 63
Cotehardie, 70, 71, 74

Court costume

Chanel, Coco, 142, 146, 147, 148

18th-century, 110
medieval, 60
Renaissance, 70, 87
VersaiUes, 98, 100-102
Courtesy, 74
Cravats, 122

Charlemagne, 58, 59
Charles V, 79, 81, 86, 89
Charles X, 126

Crete, 28, 29 ff.

Crinoline, 124, 131, 132
Crusades, 61-62, 64, 65

Charles the Bold, 77

Charter Island, 63-64
Chartres Cathedral, 61
Chateaubriand, 122
Chemise, 57,60, 110, 124
English, 117-18

China
binding of feet

in,

14

silk of, 54--55

Ballets Russes, 145

Chiton, Ionic,

Barbarians, 51 ff.
Barrymore, Ethel, 138, 139
Bas-reUefs
Assyrian, 28

Chlamys,

35

Chlotar

57

Greek, 36

ff.,

Constantine the Great, 49

Constantinople, 49, 53, 55
Cooper, James Fenimore, 164-66
Corselet, Egyptian, 24, 25
Corsets
Renaissance, 82, 86
17th-century, 91, 98
19th-century, 121, 124, 126, 131,

I,

36, 37,

40-41

Christianity, 56-57, 60
Civil

War,

129

Classical style, 40-41, 117

Cid de

Paris, 109, 116

Culottes, 148

Dalmatic, 47-48, 56, 58

Danton, Georges Jacques, 115
Darius, king, 38

David, Jacques Louis, 116, 117, 118

da Vinci, Leonardo, 67
Death in Venice, 166-68
Deerslayer. The, 164-66

Denim, 150
Department

store, first, 128

Depression in United States, 142-44

Devereux, Robert, 86
Dickens, Charles, 159-61
Diderot, Denis, 106
Dior, Christian, 145, 146, 147

Persian, 41
Benois, Aleksandr, 145
Bernard of Clairvaux, 60
Bertin, Rose, 106, 110, 112

Clavi, 44, 47, 56

Cleopatra, 161-62

Dolls, 106-7

Bliaut, 61, 64

Cloak

Dorians, 35-37
Doublets, 67, 70, 74, 75, 81, 82,

Clement VII, pope, 89

Clement of Austria, 56

Bloomer, Amelia, 138

Christian, 56

Body

Etruscan, 38, 43

hair, 17

Egyptians and, 22

Body

paints, 7

Boleyn, Anne, 83

Bonampak,

13

Bonnets, 126
Boots
ancient, 29, 32

Etruscan, 44
Russian, 142
Breasts, baring of
in Crete, 32, 33
in

Egypt, 23

Brassiere, 142, 145, 146, 147

Braye cloth, 71
Breeches, 81
18th-century, 105
knee, 116, 118
19th-century, 116, 118
petticoat, 96
Broadcloth, 116

1!

Greek, 38

Roman,

47

Spanish, 83

Cloth-making, 18-19
Clouet, Jean, 67
Clovis I, 57

Coat
boxy, 129, 144
18th-century, 105
English, 118, 121
Mandarin, 145
matched, 129
Persian, 40
Codpiece, 71,81, 158
Coiffure. See Hairstyles.
Colbert, Jean Baptiste, 98
Collar, Spanish, 83

DoEuiller, 145

83, 87, 92

17th-century, 96

Draped

style

Byzantine, 55
Egyptian, 21, 23, 25
Greek, 35, 37-38, 40-41
primitive, 8

Roman

toga, 42,

45^7

Dresses
Cretan, 32-33

Edwardian Age,

135

18th-centurv, 106, 109-10

English, 117-18, 125

Egyptian, 21, 23
Etruscan, 42
French Revolution and, 115, 116
lingerie, 138

neoclassic, 120

Commodian, 56
Commodus, emperor, 47

19th-centurv, 117-18, 122, 124,

125, 129, 132, 136-37

Congress of Vienna, 121

in 1920's, 142

Renaissance, 75, 78, 82-83

Roman, 48

Romantic

era, 124, 125

sack, 103, 105, 146

17th-century, 91, 99, 103, 105

sheath, 21,23, 146
shirtwaist, 144

Dutch,

89,

94-95

Hennin, 77

Fur, 64

Henrietta Maria, 94
Henry, duke of Saxony, 80

caps, 67

care of, 69
fake, 19
rank and, 78

Henry
Henry
Henry
Henry
Henry

Future fashions, 150-51

Gable,

82, 83

86

Edwardian Age, 135

Egypt, 12, 14, 17, 21 ff.
Eighteenth Dynasty, 24,
Einhard, 59

EHzabeth

26, 27

Garde-infante, 98
Gargannia, 157-58
Gaulle, 110, 116
Gauls, 45

Embroidery

Germany,

medieval, 64

7,

8-9, 10

59

Mesopotamian, 29
Renaissance, 67, 70

Gibson

England, 63
Renaissance, 79, 82 ff.
17th-century, 94
18th-century, 109
19th-century, 117-18, 121, 126-27,
128

Erechtheum, 36
Etruscans, 38, 41 ff.
Eugenie de Montija, 130, 132

Europe
Crusades and, 61-62,
medieval, 51 ff.
Renaissance, 67

Exomis,

64, 65

Girl, 138, 139

Gold

Holland, 94-95
Homer, 33, 156-57
Honorius, pope, 53
Hood, French, 83

Hoops, skirt, 98, 105, 106,

Hose, Renaissance, 70, 71,
Houppelande, 70, 71, 74,

Egyptian, 22
Etruscan use of, 44

Howard, Catherine,

Mycenaeans and,

Hui Tsung,
Huns,

Goths, 51-52
Great Expectations, 159-61
Great Gatsby, The, 171 ff.
Greece, 10, 35 ff.
Classical, 40-41

Dark Ages of, 35

Gregory the Great,
Gudea, 19

Hair,

Hairstyles, 15

17,

57

Innocent

I, pope, 57
International Exhibition (1851),

126-27
lonians, 35, 37, 40-41
Isabey, Jean Baptiste, 118
Italy

French influence

of, 89-90
Renaissance and, 67-68, 69, 74

dog's-ear, 117

Edwardian Age,

future of, 150-51

journals, 107-9, 154

Egyptian,

51, 52

156-57
Incroyables, 116-17, 118
Individualism, Renaissance and, 67
Industrial Revolution, 122, 127-28,
129

22

dolls, 107

135

18th-century, 106, 110, 113

ff.

French Revolution and,

Felt, 18

medieval, 64

American women's,

Feminilia, 48
Fiske, Minnie

Nubian,

English, 122

Maddern, 139

Flapper, 141-42, 143

Flaubert, Gustave, 169

ff.

ff.

Flax, 19, 21

Flea coat, 70
Florence, 68, 69
Fontanges, Mile de, 99

France

Anglomania

in,

109

Directoire in, 11, 116-17

18th-century, 105 ff.
fashion journals of, 107-9
Italian influence in, 89-90
19th-century, 118 ff., 126, 130, 132
Renaissance and, 67, 77-78, 79, 81,
83, 86

Republic

ff.,

81

21, 22

Feet, binding of, 14

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 171

75, 77

86

Iliad,

Habsburgs, 78
Haik, 21, 23

Fashion, 14-15
democratization of, 141

81, 87

Ice Age, 17

Guilds, 68, 116

Farthingales, 81, 82, 86, 91-92

110, 131

Howells, William Dean, 135, 136

title page

32, 33

ff.

35, 38

IV, 90-91
VII, 82 ff.
VIII, 82 ff.

Hilliard portrait, 86
Hiniation, 35-41

Renaissance and, 78-79, 81

Gibson, Charles Dana, 139

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 132

89

89-90, 91

Herrick, Robert, 154

Gay Nineties, 138

Genitals, covering of,

83, 86

I,

59, 60, 87,

III,

Herculaneum, 117
Herodotus, 37, 40

Gallo-Romans, 57

Edward VI,

II,

of, 116, 117

revolutionaries in, 115-16

17th-century, 89 ff., 95 ff.
silk of, 89-90, 102, 105, 116, 132

Francis I, 67, 79, 89

Franks, 57-58

French hood, 83
French Revolution, 115-16

117, 118

26, 27

Renaissance, 77, 78
Roman, 49
Halston, 149
Harold of England, 63
Hastings, battle of, 63

Hats

Jackets

French Revolution and, 116

Renaissance, 70, 71, 74-75
spencer, 118

Jaguar skins,

James I, 87
Jazz Age, 143,

12, 13

171

French, 93

Jeans, 146, 149

mail-order, 139

Jerusalem, 64, 65

poking, 117

Jewelry
costume, 147

steeple, 77

top, 10

Hatshepsut, queen, 23
Haute couture, first house of, 130, 132
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 162-64
Hazlitt, William, 14
Headdresses, Renaissance, 71, 77, 82
Heels
high, 96
stiletto,

147

Held, Anna, 14
Held, John, Jr., 141
Heliogabalus, emperor, 47
Hellenism

Alexander and, 41

Romans

and, 45

137

Egyptian, 22, 24
Etruscan, 44

John the

Fearless, 77
Journals, fashion, 107-9
covers of, 154 ff.

Justaucorps, 102
Justinian, emperor, 53, 54

Kalasiris, 21, 23, 26

Kaunakes, 19, 28
Khafre, king, 23
Knights, 61 ff., 65
Knossos, 32
Korai, 36, 38
Kunigunde, queen, 60

189

Langhorne

sisters,

139

barbarian, 52

Persepolis, 40, 41

Louise de, 98, 99

Laver, James, 9
Leather, 17
"Leatherstocking Tales," 164

medieval, 61 ff., 65
in Renaissance, 70-71
Roman, 42, 48
Milton, John, 154-56

Leggings
Egyptian, 25

Mini skirts, 147

Minoans, 28, 29 ff.
Minos, king, 32
Mishima, Yukio, 175-77

la Valliere,

Frankish, 57
Gothic, 52
Leo 1, pope, 57
Leo in, pope, 59

Mob
112

Renaissance, 82-83
17th-century, 94, 103, 105
19th-century, 124, 131
Pharaohs, 17,21,22,23,27
Philadelphia Centennial (1876), 135
Philip
Philip

caps, 117

Mode

Leonard (hairdresser),
Leroy (tailor), 120

Persian costume, 38-40, 41

Petticoats

a la greque, 115

Modesty, origins of costume and,

Mme,

Ingres

Roman,

centralized, 78-79

Montespan, Mme
Montijo, Eugenie

Lingerie dress, 138

Motteville,

Livia, empress, 48
21, 22

140
19

mechanized, 127
Louis XIII, 92, 95
Louis XIV, 95 ff., 107
Louis XV, 105, 115
Louis XVI, 109, 115
Louis Philippe, 126, 130
silk, 89, 105, 116,

130

box

de, 130, 132

Renaissance and, 77

Mme

Poiret, Paul, 141, 145

Mycenaeans,

Polonaise, 109

32, 33, 35, 156

Napoleon

Napoleonic era,
Nationalism

de, 102, 103

Mann, Thomas, 166-68

Marat, Jean Paul, 115
Marathon, 38
Marie Antoinette,
112, 113

Marie Therese, 98, 99

Marlowe, Julia, 135

107

Merovingian costume, 57
Merveilleuses, 116, 117, 118
Mesolithic era, 18-19
Mesopotamia, 19-21, 27-29
Messalina, empress, 49
Metternich, Princess de, 130

Mexico
Aztecs

of, 8, 15

style 146

Kingdom,

23, 25

Look, Dior's, 145-46, 147

Grecian,

Status.

Realism, 126
Regency period, 121

primitive, 8

primitives and, 7, 8-9

Sumerians and, 28

Orleans, duke of, 93

Renaissance, 9, 67 ff.
Richard the Lion-Hearted, 60-61
Richelieu, cardinal, 92
Rigaud, Hyacinthe, 96
Roaring Twenties, 141-42

Ornaments

Robes

21

Egyptian,

22,

primitive,

7,

l^ anglais e, 109
Byzantine, 51

24

de chambre, 103, 105

51, 59

la Creole, 109
Cretan, 28
Doric, 35, 37
Egyptian, 25
18th-century, 109-10
a la fra?igaise, 105, 106
Frankish, 57
medieval, 58, 59-60, 61
Persian, 40
Roman, 48
17th-century, 94, 96, 99, 103, 105
Sumerian, 28
Robespierre, 116
Romans, 41 45 ff., 117
decline of, 51 ff., 56,57
Romanticism, 122-24
Roosevelt, Theodore, 140
Rubens, Peter Paul, 89
Ruff, 87, 90, 93

Paenula, 47
Palais Royal, 103
Palatine, count, 96
Paleolithic costume, 18
Palla, 45, 47,

48

Pallium, 47
Paniers, 106

Pansid slops, 87
Pantalettes, 124
Pants, 123
Pants suit, 148
Paradise Lost, 15456

Paris
revolutionaries in, 115-16

Midi

Parthia, 40

190

Procopius, 53, 54
Prohibition era, 141, 142
Protective clothing, 9
Roman, 48

Egyptian, 23

37, 38

17th-century, 103
19th-century, 117, 130, 132
Parr, Catherine, 86

skirt, 148

de, 105-6

ReUgious costume

26, 27

Mayans of, 12, 13-14

Michelangelo fresco, 7
Middle Ages, 11, 51 ff.
Military costume, 12-13
Assyrian, 28-29

ff.

Mme

Pompeii, 117
Pourpoint, 71, 74-75
Primitive man, 7-9

Rabelais, Francois, 157-58

Rank, dress and, 12-14. See also

OttoH,

86

Maximilian I, 78-79
Mayans, 12, 13-14
Mazarin, cardinal, 95-96, 98
Medicis, Catherine de, 87, 89, 91
Medicis, Marie de, 90
Medieval costume, 11, 51 ff.

118

de, 89

Neo-Edwardian

Old Kingdom,
106, 107, 109, 110,

13, 117,

Neolithic period, 7, 19
Netherlands, 89, 94-95

Nubian wigs,
Nudity

Mercure Galant,

Diane

Poking-hat, 117

Priscus, 52

covers of, 154 ff.

Mail-order houses, 137, 138-39
Mail suits, 61-63, 65, 70

I,

Poitiers,

19th-century, 122
Renaissance and, 79-81
Needle, eyed, invention of, 18
Neglige a la patriote, 116
Negligee, 105
Neoclassic style, 115, 117, 120

New
New

Mme

130

III,

Bovary, 169-71
Magazines, fashion, 107-9

Mary

dress, 103

de, 98
Muslin, 115, 116
French Directoire and, 11-12

Madame

Maintenon,

103

Pleats

Pompadour,

Longuette, 148
Longworth, Alice Roosevelt, 138, 139,

Lyon

Phihppe of Orleans,

de, 99, 102, 105

Minoan, 32

Loom,

Philip the Fair, 78, 79

Good, 77
Pisanello, 75, 77, 78

Monarchy,

42, 43

Loincloths
Egyptian,

7,

portrait of,

11

Egyptian, 21 ff.
Greek, 36, 37-38

95

Philip the

Moitessier,

Linen

III,

Phihp the Bold, 77

8, 11

Lewis, Sinclair, 177-81

11

II,

Peasecod belly, 9-10,

Peplos, 35, 36, 37

87, 90, 92, 93

Ruffles, 126

Runnv^mede, 63-64

Sack coat, 129

Sack dresses, 103,
Sagum, 47

Spanish bodies, 82, 86

Spanish surcoat, 86

105, 146

Sparta, 35

Saint Laurent, Yves, 149

Saint-Simon, due de, 102

Saladin the Great, 64
Samurai, 12, 13
Sans-culottes, 116

Scarlet Letter, The, 162-64

Sears and Roebuck, 137, 138

Secularism, 67

Seduction principle, 10-12

Sericulture, 54
Set, 23

Sewing maciiine, 127-28, 129

Sexual display,

7,

Seymour, Jane,

8-9,

Speke, John, 14
Spencer, 118
Status, 12-14
Byzantine costume and, 55-56
Mesopotamians and, 28
purple fabric and, 56
durmg Renaissance, 78
Roman toga and, 45-46
Stola, 45, 47, 48
Stomachers, 94, 103
Suetonius, 47
Suits

matched, for men, 129

pants, for

83

Shakespeare, William, 161-62

Shawls

tailored,

women,

148

American women's,

144

ancient, 18, 19

Babylonian, 28, 29
Sheath dresses, 146
Egyptian, 21, 23
Shift, 57
Shirts, 17th-century, 92,

human, wearing

Mayans

of,

and,

12, 13

leopard, 22

tanning

of,

17-18

American women's,

Tarquinia, 43, 44
Tattooing, 14

Tebenna,

38, 44, 45,

Tertullian, 47, 56
Textile industry

mechanization of, 127, 129

Renaissance and, 68-69

Theodora, empress, 55
Theophano, empress, 51, 59
Thoreau, Henry David, 154
Tiberius, emperor, 42
Toga, Roman, 42, 45^7, 49
paintings
Egyptian, 22
Etruscan, 38, 45

18th-century, 109
Etruscan, 42
110, 131

midi, 148
mini, 147

Minoan, 32-33

Trains
18th-century, 106
Renaissance, 75, 77, 78

Trousers

in 1910's, 141

barbarian, 52
English, 118, 121, 122
fly front, 122-23

in 1920's, 142

French Revolution and, 116

in 1930's, 144

Gothic, 52
matched, 129

19th-century, 121, 125, 126, 131, 132

in 1940's, 145

Slops, 87

medieval, 60
metal, 62-63
Persian, 40
Roman, 45, 48
17th-century, 96
for women, 148
Trouvain, Antoine, 98
Tudor, Henry, 79

Smith, Adam, 78
"Sorcerer," 8

Tudor, Mary, 83
Tunics

in 1950's, 146

in 1960's, 147-48
prehistoric, 18

Renaissance, 81, 82-83, 86

17th-century, 94, 98, 99, 102-3
Sumerian male, 19
Slashing, 80, 81

Spain, 11

Renaissance and, 79, 81-82, 83, 87

17th-century, 89, 92, 93, 95, 9P

in 1920's,

137

in, 136,

ff.

ff.

141^2, 171

ff.

in 1930's, 142-44

in 1940's, 144-46

Julia's Clothes," 154

Vanity Fair, 143

Velvet, 132
Venice, 166-68
Venus of Lespugue, 8
Versailles, 98, 100-2

Vest
46

Tomb

Skirts, 12

hooped, 98, 105, 106,

Mesopotamian, 28

suit,

Tanning, 17-18
Tarquin the Proud, 41

primitives, 8

United States
home sewing

"Upon

137, 144

by

medieval, 60, 62
19th-century, 124
Roman, 47
17th-century, 94, 95

in 1970's, 148-50

Tailored

54-55
Byzantine use of, 54, 55, 58, 59
French, 89-90, 102, 105, 116, 132
medieval robes of, 58, 61
recycling of, 105
Roman use of, 48
Skins, 17-18

Underwear

in 1960's, 147-48

Tailleur Sincere, Le, 107

stiletto-heeled, 147

Tutankhamen, king, 23-25

in 1950's, 146-47

Shoes

Silk,

42, 47, 48

Surcoats, 74, 86
Synthesis, 47

Tablion, 55-56

69
17th-century, 92
19th-century, 121

Roman,

Turbans, 117

in 1900-1920, 138

Shirtwaist dresses, 144

Italian,

during Renaissance, 70

duke of, 90
Sumerian costume, 19, 28
Sumptuary laws, 78, 92, 96
Sung dynasty painting, title page

96

high-heeled, 96

Mesopotamian, 28
Persian, 40

in 19th century, 135

Sully,

Assyrian, 29

jaguar,

137,

Egyptian, 17, 23
Etruscan, 43-44
Prankish, 57
medieval, 57, 61, 64, 65

Assyrian, 29
barbarian, 52
Christian, early, 56

18th-century, 105

matched, 129
Victoria, queen, 126, 131

Visigoths, 51-52
Vogue, 154
Voltaire, 103, 106

Waistcoat, 102, 116, 118, 122

Walden, 154

War

costume, 9-10, 13. See also

Military costume
Wars of the Roses, 79

Watteau paintings, 103, 105

Weaving, invention of, 18-19

Wedding
Wigs

costumes, 149

Egyptian, 21, 22

Nubian,

26, 27
17th-century, 96
William the Conqueror, 61, 63
Women's movement, 138, 139-41

Wool
English, 63
Florentine, 68
Greeks and, 35, 36
Mesopotamian, 19-21

Romans and, 48
World War I, 140
World War II, 144-45
Worth, Charles Frederick,

130, 132

Xerxes, 38
Xipe, Totec, 8

Young, Brigham,

123

191

(Continued from front flap)

maidens smeared themselves with ochre, and an-

woad

cient Britons stained themselves blue with

but

the pursuit of beauty has remained a uni-

versal constant.

In

engrossing volume

this

pageant of costume
cave

paintings,

vase

paintings,

Egyptian tomb

Roman

sources

latter-day

accompany

the

more than one-third of

text

all,

such

and

catalog

and

some 160

illus-

mail-order

as

Greek

medieval bas-

portraits,

fashion-magazine sketches. In
trations

millennia-old

friezes,

frescoes,

court

Renaissance

reliefs,

the

traced through Neolithic

is

of Costume,

and

these are in full color.

special section entitled "In a Literary Fashion"

examines the significance of costume

device through

Homer, Shakespeare, Milton,

writers as

Dickens, and Hawthorne.

selected bibliography, and

volume

as a literary

works of such renowned

the

a valuable

Rabelais,

complete glossary,
index

a full

make

this

reference work.

Rachel Kemper, author of Costume,

teaches the

history of civilization and art at the Fashion In-

Technology

stitute of

recently

delivered

in

New

series

history of costume at the

York

City. She

of lectures

on the

Cooper-Hewitt Mu-

seum of Design.
Costume
vative

is

new

in Newsweek Books' innoWorld of Culture. Each book,

volume

series.

devoted to one of the

illustrated historical

arts,

contains a copiously

review of the subject,

a sec-

tion of literary excerpts, and a helpful reference

section. Titles in the series include: Music,
tre,

Painting,

Architecture,

Cinema,

TheaDance,

Opera, Sculpture, Modern Painting, The Novel,

Poetry, Mythology, and Gastronomy.

Front Domenico
Back Bernard Gotfryd.

Jacket illustrations:
DALE, SIENA.

di

Bartolo. ospe-

-.

'.*?

fil^

V^-'
,1