In the reign of Henry VII. an important addition was made to the insignia of this Order, that of the collar. The whole habit sent to the King of Castile in the twenty-seventh year of this reign consisted of mantle, kirtle, hood and collar, and was of purple velvet lined with silk or sarcenet, the embroidered garters entirely disappearing.
The Statutes of the Order were reformed by Henry VIII., who also altered the dress to the fashion of the period. The flat velvet hat or cap, so familiar in Holbein's portraits, superseded the chaperon or hood, which was, however, still worn hung or depending upon the shoulder, and called the humerale. Both hat and surcoat were of crimson velvet.
The lesser George, or jewel of the Order, was introduced during this reign, suspended upon the breast by either a gold chain or riband, which latter was black.
In the reign of Elizabeth, the flat hat gives place to one with a higher crown, being more in keeping with the fashion of the time, but no other alteration of the habit was made.
During the reign of Charles II. ostrich or heron plumes appear in the cap, and the broad blue riband was worn over the left shoulder and under the right arm.
As at present worn, the mantle is of purple velvet lined with taffetas, bearing on the left shoulder the badge of the Order, viz., a silver escutcheon charged with the red cross of St. George and enriched with the garter and motto. In chapters it is worn over the uniform or Court dress. The surcoat, or short gown without sleeves, is made of crimson velvet, lined, like the mantle, with white taffetas silk. The hood, worn on the right shoulder of the mantle, is made of the same velvet as the surcoat, and lined with the same material.
Matthew Paris, describing the solemnisation of the marriage of Alexander III. of Scotland with the Princess Margaret, sister of Henry III., says:—
"There were great abundance of people of all ranks, multitudes of the nobility of England, France, and Scotland, with crowds of Knights and military Officers, the whole of them pompously adorned with garments of silk, and so transformed with excess of Ornaments that it would be impossible to describe their dresses without being tiresome to the reader, though it would excite his astonishment. Upwards of one thousand Knights on the part of the King of England attended the nuptials in vestments of silk, curiously wrought in embroidery; and these vestments on the morrow were laid aside; and the same Knights appeared in new robes of still more magnificent decoration. The nobles of Scotland and of France did not fall a whit below those of England in their show and parade. The Barons and the Knights were habited in robes of divers colours; sometimes they appeared in green, sometimes in blue, then again in grey, and afterwards in scarlet, varying the colours according to their fancies, or the wills of the ladies to whom they had dedicated their amorous vows. Their breasts were adorned with fibulæ, or brooches of gold; and their shoulders with precious stones of great magnitude, such as emeralds, sapphires, jacinths, pearls, rubies, and other rich ornaments. The ladies who attended had rings of gold, set with topaz stones and diamonds, upon their fingers; their heads were adorned with elegant crests or garlands; and their wimples were composed of the richest stuffs, embroidered with pure gold, and embellished with the rarest jewellery."