The Evolution of Fashion

by Florence Mary Gardiner

WIDOW'S DRESS OF QUEEN KATHERINE DE VALOIS, IN THE YEAR 1422

In the Middle Ages black was used for mourning as a rule, though purple and brown were occasionally substituted. Chaucer, in "The Knight's Tale," speaks of "clothes black all dropped with tears," and, again, of "widdowes habit of samite brown." In many cases, on the death of her husband, the wife retired for a year to a convent, when she assumed the nun's dress, of which the widow's weeds of the present day are a symbol. The mourning adopted by Katherine of Valois, wife of Henry V., the hero of Agincourt, who died at Vincennes in 1422, may be regarded as the typical widow's dress of that period. It consisted of a black brocade cote hardi, edged with white fur, and further embellished with black glass beads, which were also used for ornamenting the winged head dress. Her black woollen gown has a deep bordering of white fur. Some mourning habits of this period are represented in a splendid manuscript "Liber Regalis," still preserved in Westminster Abbey. They are composed of black fabrics in the prevailing fashion, and are furred with ermine. Froissart relates that the Earl of Foix, on hearing of the death of his son, Gaston, sent for his barber, and was close shaved, and clothed himself and his household in black. At the funeral of the Earl of Flanders, all the nobles and others present were attired in black gowns; and on the death of John, King of France, the King of Cyprus clothed himself in black mourning.

COSTUMES WORN BY KING PHILIP II. OF SPAIN AND HIS ATTENDANTS AT THE FUNERAL PROCESSION OF HIS FATHER.

GENTLEMAN'S MOURNING—TIME OF HENRY VII.

At the end of the fifteenth century, it was considered necessary in England to pass sumptuary mourning laws, owing to the extravagance of the nobility in the superfluous usage of cloth and other items at funerals. Habits and liveries were limited to certain quantities. Planché tells us dukes and marquises were allowed sixteen yards for their gowns, sloppes (or mourning cassocks) and mantles; an earl, fourteen; a viscount, twelve; a baron, eight; a knight, six; and all inferior persons, two yards only; but an archbishop had the same privilege as a duke. Hoods were only permitted to those above the degree of esquire of the king's household.

Margaret, Countess of Richmond, the mother of King Henry VII., issued, in the eighth year of his reign, an ordinance for "the reformation of apparell for great estates of women in the tyme of mourninge." "They shall have their surcottes with a trayne before and another behynde, and their mantles with traynes. The queen is to wear a surcotte, with the traynes as aforesaid, and playne hoode, and a tippet at the hoode lying a good length upon the trayne of the mantell, being in breadth a nayle and an inche. After the first quarter of a year, the hood to be lined with black satin, or furred with ermine; and all ladies down to the degree of a baroness, are to wear similar mourninge, and to be barbed at the chin." The surcotte, with trayne, hood, barbe, and tippet, are visible in the sketch of a lady of the sixteenth century, taken from Pietro Vercellio's famous work on costume. The gentleman's mourning of black cloth and fur, is reproduced from a contemporary MS.

Among the obsolete funeral customs, may be mentioned the Death Crier, the lying-in-state of all classes, and the waxen effigies of those of royal rank. Before newspapers published obituary notices, it was customary for the Death Crier, armed with a bell and attired in a black livery, painted or embroidered with skulls and cross-bones, to announce to the townspeople, and inhabitants of surrounding villages, that another had gone over to the majority. This functionary was in the employ of the Corporation, or civil authorities, and on the death of a member of the Royal Family, he was usually accompanied by the Guild of Holy Souls, who walked in procession, bearing lighted tapers and other religious emblems. Lying-in-state usually lasted for three days, by which time the arrangements for a simple interment were completed, and the body was placed reverently in the ground. The obsequies of kings and queens, however, were carried over a protracted period, consequently a waxen figure was prepared, which was dressed in regal robes, and substituted for the body as soon as decomposition set in. This fashion was in vogue till the time of William and Mary, and in Westminster Abbey there is a collection of waxen effigies, which may be viewed by permission of the Dean. As likenesses they are interesting, and they are also useful as costume studies.