The Evolution of Fashion

by Florence Mary Gardiner

When the Roman Empire was dismembered (A.D. 395) a style of dress seems to have flourished in the important towns of the Mediterranean, which was similar to that worn in mediæval times in Britain, and which may be examined in the specimens of statuary adorning tombs of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The semi-tight under-dress and sleeves appear to have been elaborately embroidered, and the loose mantle of plain material was edged with a border.

One of the earliest descriptions of the female dress in Britain is that of Boadicea, the Queen of the Iceni, whom we are told wore a tunic woven chequerwise in purple, red, and blue. Over this was a shorter garment open on the bosom, and leaving the arms bare. Her yellow hair flowed over her shoulders, upon which rested an ample cloak, secured by a fibula (brooch). A torque, or necklet, was also worn; a pair of bronze breastplates as a protection from the Roman arrows, and her fingers and arms were covered with rings and bracelets.

BYZANTINE.
ANGLO-SAXON.

The costume of the Anglo-Saxon ladies consisted of a sherte, or camise, of linen next the skin, a kirtle, which resembled the modern petticoat, and a gunna, or gown, with sleeves. Out of doors a mantle covered the upper portion of the body, and with the coverchief, or head rail, formed a characteristic feature of the dress of the day. Cloth, silk, and linen were the favourite materials for clothing, and red, blue, yellow, and green the fashionable colours. Very little black and white were used at this period. Saxon women were renowned for their skill with the needle, and used large quantities of gold thread and jewels in their work. Among other instances quoted, Queen Editha embroidered the coronation mantle of her husband, Edward the Confessor.

For some years after the Norman Conquest, women retained the costume of the Anglo-Saxon period, with certain additions and modifications. Fine coloured cloths and richest furs were used by both sexes, and sleeves and trains were such a length that it was found necessary to knot them, so that they should not trail upon the ground.

The next important change was the surcoat and tight bodice, which was fastened in front to fit the figure.

There are evident traces that as civilisation advanced the love of dress and the desire of the fair sex to appear beautiful in the eyes of all beholders increased in like proportion. From ancient MSS. and other sources, we have ample proof of this. St. Jerome calls women "philoscomon," that is to say, lovers of finery, and another writer states: "One of the most difficult points to manage with women is to root out their curiosity for clothes and ornaments for the body." St. Bernard admonished his sister with greater candour than politeness on her visiting him, well arraied with riche clothinge, with perles and precious stones: "Such pompe and pride to adorne a carion as is youre body. Thinke ye not of the pore people, that be deyen for hunger and colde; and that for the sixth parte of youre gay arraye, forty persons might be clothed, refreshed, and kepte from the colde?"

The increased facilities for travelling offered to those engaged in the Crusades, and the necessary intercourse with other nations, caused considerable quantities of foreign materials to be imported to England during the Middle Ages: and this had a corresponding effect upon the costume of the period, which was chiefly remarkable for its richness and eccentricity of form. Among the materials in use may be mentioned diaper cloth from Ypres, a town in Flanders, famous for its rich dress stuffs; tartan, called by the French "tyretaine," meaning teint, or colour of Tyre (scarlet being indifferently used for purple by ancient writers, and including all the gradations of colour formed by a mixture of blue and red, from indigo to crimson). There was a fine white woollen cloth called Blanket, named after its inventor, Sarcenet, also from its Saracenic origin, and gauze which was made at Gaza in Palestine. Ermine was strictly confined to the use of the Royal Family and nobles, and cloth of gold, and habits embroidered with jewellery, or lined with minever or other expensive fur, could only be worn by knights and ladies with incomes exceeding 400 marks per annum. Those who had not more than 200 marks were permitted to wear silver cloth, with ribands, girdles, &c., reasonably embellished; also woollen cloth not costing more than six marks the piece.