Part 13

We now come to the period of high-topped boots, which continued with variations to the time of George II. In the portrait of Charles I. by Daniel Mytens in the National Portrait Gallery will be seen an example of the earlier form of top-boot. The tops fit close, and are turned down at the knee, and the edges again turned up half-way down the calf of the leg. A large flap with double edges protects the instep.

The form of top-boots was developed in various ways, until it reached an extravagant pitch in France in the reign of Louis XIV. The variations were mainly in the shape or adjustment of the tops, rather than in that portion of the boot which covered the foot. They were worn by the dandies with a profusion of costly lace. Several examples are given.

This was the period of the highest, or rather widest, development of the tops of the boots; so wide, indeed, did they become, that the gait of a man might be described as straddling rather than walking.

An example is given of a boot worn by the Comte de Soissons, 1628, which has a stiff rounded top like a basin, with a short hose worn over the hose proper, turned down below the knee and edged with rich lace.

A variation of the top-boot worn from the time of Elizabeth onwards is a kind of soft leather hose or buskin drawn up to the middle of the thigh, the edge folded over and slashed; these were worn during the slashed period, when everything was slashed--hat, sleeves, doublet, and tunic (p. 297).

The "Wellington" boot of the present day is practically identical with that worn by the illustrious soldier from whom it takes its name, and is a very slight variation of the form of riding boot which was in use at the beginning of the eighteenth century, except that it is of softer leather, allowing the boot to fall into folds at the ankle. The boot in the portrait of Napoleon by Isabey, in the Musée de Versailles, may be described as a sort of half Wellington, but the top-boot which is usually associated with Napoleon is cut away at its upper edge at the back, the front forming a kind of mask to the knee, a form of boot which, in fact, had been worn from the time of William III.

Cloth and woollen boots and shoes, as were worn in the Middle Ages, have been recommended for _modern_ wear as being more healthy, and as allowing the natural perspiration of the foot to exhale, their sponsors affirming that "cloth and wool are perfectly suitable and safe for wet weather, as the wetting of the wool does not chill the feet, the heat of which promptly evaporates the moisture from the covering, which soon dries." It must, however, be admitted that with a cloth covering, the dirt and mud of a London winter would be a trial, and here, doubtless, we have a reason for the cobblestones of mediæval towns. Cobble-stones are clean, but must at once be ruled out of the question for London. Cobble-stones would indeed add a fresh horror to London life. But is it too much to expect the richest city in the world, with its thousands of unemployed, to keep its streets clean? Is there any reason why large cities should not be kept clean as well as small cities?

"Boots and shoes should be roomy, to prevent the toes from being squeezed together, and should be so made that the great toe is not pressed against its neighbours, but is encouraged to lie in a straight line drawn from the heel to the root of the great toe. The heel of the boot should be low and broad."[31]

The Greek ideal of the foot is the true one. The Greeks rightly regarded the foot as an undeveloped hand, and they endeavoured in their sculpture to impart that hand-like character to their feet. One has only to notice the flexible toes of new-born and young babies, in order to perceive the reasonableness of this position. The Greeks in their sculpture made a distinct division between the great toe and the rest of the toes, as between the thumb and the fingers of the hand--the three toes well forward in a bunch; the first the longest, the next a little shorter, and the third shorter still; the little toe by itself, raised up. Now compare with this any natural foot habituated to shoes or boots. The bunch of three toes is pressed back, and also sideways against the great toe, thus losing the division between them and the great toe, and destroying the true contour of the foot. The pads of all the toes are pressed sideways instead of being immediately under the nails, and the foot has entirely lost its original character, and has become grotesquely malformed by corns, bunions, and similar growths. The most beautiful natural foot, the _only_ beautiful foot which we ever remember having seen, was a cast in Sir Edgar Boehm's studio of the foot of a black woman who had never worn shoes.

Of late there has been a disposition to return to the sandal as a covering or rather protection for children's feet (one fears that it will be long before grown-ups adopt the sandal, except perhaps at the seaside or in the country). The change is a healthy one from every point of view. Upon æsthetic grounds it is especially welcome. One walks along the street during the summer months, the mind perhaps preoccupied, and the eye suddenly lights upon the rosy feet of one of these little ones as they trip along the street. One involuntarily exclaims, "What a charming design! What a beautiful piece of ornament!" Of a truth, in place of the uninteresting product of the shoemaker, which we had become so inured and accustomed to, one is suddenly introduced to that masterpiece of the Great Designer, the human foot, and the foot, too, in its natural state, before it has become crippled and distorted by long confinement in a leather prison.

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Thomas Deloney's "booke called the Gentle Crafte, intreating of Showmakers," tells how Crispin and Crispianus, sons of King Logrid of Britain and of Queen Estreda, were sheltered at Faversham, Kent. Crispin wooed and married Princess Ursula, whose son was born in the shoemaker's house. Hence the saying, "A shoemaker's son is born a Prince." From their high lineage, shoemaking is named "The Gentle Craft."

"I am of Crispin's trade, a brave Shooemaker, He loved a Princess dear, and ne'r forsak't her.... This craft was never held in scorn, Sir Thomas Eyer did it adorn, A Shoemaker's son a Prince is born."

_Roxburghe Ballads._

[29] "Health Culture," G. Jaeger, M.D.

[30] A movement, headed by the Empress, has been instituted recently for the abolition of the practice of mutilating the feet of Chinese women, which was universal throughout all classes of society. In the cities, ladies were carried through the streets pick-a-back, and moved about their houses on their knees. In the fields the women worked on their knees, being unable to stand.

[31] "Health Culture," G. Jaeger, M.D.

INDEX

Addison, scantiness of dress, 141

Angelico, Fra, painting by, at Florence, 101

Anglo-Saxon super-tunic, 76; embroidery, 76; Chronicle, treasures of King Malcolm of Scotland, 100

Barbers, introduction of in Rome, 239; charter granted by Henry VIII., 247

Barber-Surgeons, 247-249

Beard, formality of Assyrian and Greek, 237; dyeing and powdering, 238; ceremonies and customs relating to, 238; Peter Lombard's dislike of, 245; edict by Henry I. for suppression of, 245; various shapes of, 246; vow of Henry VIII. relating to, 246

Beaumont and Fletcher, quotation from, 140

Bloet, Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, mantle presented by to Henry I., 90

Boadicea, tunic of, 68

Bodice, rigidity of, 144

Boots, shoes, and other foot coverings, 281-301

---- short, 288; top, 288, 297, 298; Wellington, 298

Buckles, 296

Buskins, 284-286

Byzantine women, dress of, 72

Calash, introduction of, 230

Cap, flat, of Tudor period, 218-220; fool's, 209

Carlyle, T., 18, 26, 110

Charlemagne, dress of, 68; letter to King John of Gascogny, 89; mantle of, 90

Charles I., costume of, 126

Chaucer, quotations from, 52, 46, 78, 82, 98, 118, 242, 275

Chopine, 292

Chlamys, 85

Cloak, Spanish, 102; Puritan, 102

Clothes, index as to character, 22; climatic influence on, 22; uses of, 20; their symbolism, 26

Coif-caps, 258

Collar, Gurth's, 181

Collars and cuffs, 181-201

Cotton MS. caricature of winged devil, 42

"Couleur Isabella," 188

Coverley, Sir Roger de, remarks on hooped petticoat, 164

Cravat, origin of, 182; general use of, 195; art of tying the, 195-201

Crestine or net-caul, 211

Crinoletta, 160; "disfigurans," 177; echo of earlier prototype, 178

Crinoline, rise and fall of, 159-178; invention of, 162

Crispin, St., 281

Cross gartering, 114, 286

Cut-purse, 78

Dickens, quotation from "Pickwick," 280

Doublet and hose, 111-132

Dowglas, monk of Glastonbury, extravagances of dress of reign of Edward III., 37

Dress: should be one of the decorative arts, 53; conditions of beautiful, 106; floral patternings of, 146; modes of, 1773, 148; fashionable, 1782, 149

Elizabeth, Queen, short cloak, 101

Embroidery, a conspicuous element in Anglo-Saxon dress, 76

Empire gown, 152

Fabrics: cloth of gold, 43; silk, 44; ciclatoun, cendal, taffetas, sarcenet, 46; patternings of, 48; satin, 46; velvet, 46; Sicilian brocades, 49-51

Farthingale, 162; great wheel, 164

Fashion, genuine woman of, 153

French Revolution, influence on dress, 150; disappearance of three-cornered hat, 227

Froissart, Harleian Library, caricature of pig walking upon stilts, 42

Garter, mantle of, 52, 94; vestments of, 94; jewel of, 95; embroiderings of, 94; as at present worn, 96

General survey, 19-57

Girdle, various kinds of, 77; of Charlemagne, 77; imperial girdle of Holy Roman Empire, 77; of Henry VI., 77; in brasses, 78

Gosson, Stephen, "Schoole of Abuse," 36

Gozzoli, Benozzo, frescoes at Pisa, 101

Greeks, costumes of modern, 78

Gresham, Sir Thomas, gift of silk stockings to Edward VI., 120

Hair, moustachios, and beard, 237-277

---- length of, privilege of Kings and Princes of the Franks, 240; condemnation of by the priesthood, 240

Harold, King, banner under which he fought at Hastings, 52

Hat, chimney-pot, 25, 57, 205, 220, 222-224; development of, 222-224; centenary of modern, 222; Greek broad-brimmed, 210; cocked, 130; Kevenhuller, 132, 227; slouch, Stuart period, 226; panama, 232; bowler, 232

Hats, caps, and bonnets, 205-233

Headcoverings not a necessity, 205

Head-dresses, extravagances of, 260-271; horned, 36, 41, 213-215; heart-shaped, 215; steeple, 215

Hennin, 216

Hood, Roman hooded cloak, 208; variations of, 209

Hooped petticoat, 159-175; inconveniences of, 170; disappearance of, 170

Hose, tight-fitting, 114; parti-coloured, 115; Gallic, 120; silk, 120; Venetian, 120

Illuminated MSS., colouring of, 73

Jerkin, 117

Jewels, worn in hats, 224

Jonson, Ben, quotations from "Silent Woman," 38, 236, 268; "Every Man out of his Humour," 122

Kirtle or petticoat, the, 135-156

Kirtle "Romaunt of the Rose," 73-136; a development tunic, 135

La Tour Landry, Knight of, St. Bernard's admonition of his sister, 36; extravagance in dress, 41; horned head-dresses, 214; painted faces, 276

Lorenzo, Fiorenzo di, paintings by, 99, 100, 113

Love locks, 250

Lydgate, monk of Bury, satires, 41

Lyly's "Euphues," 1580, fable of wind and sun, 22

Macaronies, 260

Malay Peninsula, clothing of aborigines, 20

Mantle, the, 83-106; of Elijah, 83; St. Martin, 84; Raleigh, 84; Archdruid's, 88; coronation mantle of Holy Roman Empire, 88; Frankish, 89; colour of Charlemagne's, 90; Edward the Confessor's, 90; Norman period, 90; Queen Matilda's, 91; of the Order of the Garter, 94

Mary, Queen, description of portrait of, 138

Merry Monarch, beauties of the Court of, 141

Merveilleuses, 150

Moustachios, Charles I., third Empire, a reigning monarch, 272

Muffs, 104

Nazarite law, 240-244

Ondina or waved Jupons, advertisement in _Illustrated London News_, 1863, 175

Otaheite, festal dress, 166

Painted faces, 250-252

Paris, Matthew, description of marriage of Alexander III. of Scotland, 96

Pattens, 290-292

Pegtops, 54; Dundreary's, 275

Peplum of the Greeks, 85, 88

Pepys, references to dress, 102-104, 142-144, 255

Periwig, first appearance of in history, 255; proportions of, during the reign of Charles II., 255

Petticoat breeches, 128-130

---- inflation, era of, 138

Picadil, 189-192

Piccadilly, 190; fringe, 275

Piers Plowman, description of Meed (Bribery), 212

Pilche, 98-100

Pole, Edmund de la, letter to, 46

Pot-hat, examples of in past art, 25

Puffing, 117

Punch, Mr., fragments of a love-song, 74; satire of crinoline, 172-176; crinoletta, 176; short side-whiskers, 276; warning to ladies riding in crinolines, 170

"Roman de la Rose," satire on dress, 38; dress of Mirth, 53; horned head-dresses, 213

Roxburghe ballads, 40, 252, 255, 283

Ruff, invention of, 183; extravagances of, 187; various kinds of, 192; disappearance of, 194

Ruffle, 183-184

St. Bernard, admonition of his sister, 36

Salisbury, Lord, remarks on modern costume, 56

Sandal, Greek, 283; of Italian peasantry, 286; modern, 301

Shoe roses, 296

Shoes, early British, 286; Anglo-Saxon, 288; pointed toed, 289-291; broad toed, 294-296

Slashings, 117-118

Sleeves, serrated, 72; development of, 112-113; tight, 112; cut work of, 112; "pokys," 112

"Spencer" jacket, 137

Starching, 184

Stow, reference to ruffs, 187

Strutt, 73

Stubbes, "Anatomy of Abuses," feminine habit of aping masculine dress, 42; peascod bellied doublets, 124; ruffs, 180, 186, 188; praise of barbers, 250; moustachios, 272

Sumptuary laws, principal Acts, 28-36, 290

Surcoat, Anglo-Saxon period, 76; thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 74

_Tailor and Cutter_, hints of impending changes in men's attire, 56

Tailors, Latin song upon the, 92

"Tale of Beryn," the, quotation from, 89

Toga, plan of, 86; dimensions of, 88

Trouser stretcher, 56

Trousers, their antiquity, 25; the apparent eternity of, 54; development of, 54; inconveniences of, 56; Frankish, 69; Norman, 114

Trunk hose, bombasting of, 118, 122; of period of James I., 126

Tudor period, magnificence of dress of, 140

Tunic, the, 61-80; primitive form of, 61; Egyptian, 63; Greek, 64; child's tunic, Egyptian, 64; plan of, 66; super-tunic, 66; Lacedemonian girls', 67; Charlemagne's, 69; military, 77

Turban, 209

Uses of clothing, the, 20-24

Veddas of Ceylon, 20

Weaving, silk, in France and England, 52

Whisk, 188-189

Whiskers, Dundreary and mutton chop, 274; short side, 276

Wigs, Egyptian, 254; first appearance in England, 255; cost of when first worn, 256; different shapes of, 256; Lord Ellenborough's, 258

William III., long-skirted coats, 104

Wimple, 183, 211

* * * * *

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, WOKING AND LONDON

End of Project Gutenberg's Chats on Costume, by G. Woolliscroft Rhead