They wore much jewellery, and perfumed gloves embroidered with gold and silver, and they carried looking-glasses about with them wherever they went.
PLATE 43.
(Fig. 1): Costume of a lady of the early part of the reign of Henry VII. The warm cloth hood took the place of the gauze veil on the head-dress, and it was folded back from the face and pleated behind. The gown was open from the neck to the waist behind, and was laced up. No girdle was worn. The fulness of the sleeves and of the garment generally give a very heavy appearance to the figure. (Fig. 2): Another view of a similar cloth head-dress. Figs. 1 and 2 are copied from Royal MS., 16 F 2. (Fig. 3): Head of a female figure of the reign of Henry VII., showing the face partly covered by a muffler, which became very fashionable and was in use among elder women up to the reign of Charles I. (Fig. 4): Pediment, pyramidal, or diamond-shaped head-dress of the reign of Henry VIII., from a portrait by Holbein. (Fig. 5): Head of “Cicely Page, who died ye XIIth daye of March, Anno 1598,” and is buried in Bray Church, Bucks, from her effigy. “The plain hat, ruff, and open-breasted gown are a good specimen of part of the dress of a country lady at the end of Elizabeth’s reign.” (Fig. 6): Female figure showing dress worn by a woman of the citizen class in the time of Edward VI., from a picture showing his progress from the Tower to Westminster. A cloth cap is worn with a border hanging round the neck, and a gown with close collar and tight sleeves, the latter with small puffs on the shoulders. (Fig. 7): Back view of a ruff as worn in the middle of Elizabeth’s reign, copied from a Dutch engraving of the period, showing the “supportasse” or under prop of wire to keep the ruff in its original position. (Fig. 8): Head of a female figure from the tomb of Sir Roger Manwood, 1592, in St. Stephen’s Church, near Canterbury, showing the French hood as worn during the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign. (Fig. 9): Pyramidal head-dress taken from a portrait of the Lady Mary, afterwards Queen Mary I., by Holbein. The broad bands which are seen hanging down in Fig. 4 are here looped up on either side of the head, and the bag-like portion, which formerly hung down the back, is also brought up to the top of the head and fastened there. (Fig. 10): Costume of a lady worn about the middle of Elizabeth’s reign, from the print by Vertue representing the progress of Elizabeth to Hunsdown House. This shows the enormous ruff and the huge, ungainly-looking “fardingale,” and the long stomacher brought low down to a peak in front. (Fig. 11): Costume of a lady of quality, 1588, from Caspar Ruiz, during the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign. The ruff is here reduced to small dimensions, and the whole costume is much more graceful than the grotesque figure shown in Fig. 10. (Fig. 12): Brass of Anne Rede, who died 1577, showing a ruff of ordinary size and a French hood often spoken of as a Marie Stuart bonnet.
PLATE ARMOUR.
(About 1500 A.D. to about 1600 A.D.)