Charles I. and the Commonwealth.
There was little change in female costume at the beginning of this reign. The French hood and farthingale were still worn, and the high-crowned hat was generally worn by countrywomen and the wives of the citizens (Figs. 5 and 7), especially when they belonged to the Puritanical party. In the course of the reign of Charles, there came a change in female costume, contemporary with and as elegant as that which took place in the male costume.
The hood, the farthingale, and the starched bands disappeared. A good specimen of the new costume is given in Fig. 1, after Hollar. The dress is full, and falls gracefully about the body; the bodice is tight-fitting, and the sleeves are rich and full, but gathered at the wrist, and there is an elegant falling collar edged with lace.
The long petticoat was generally displayed in a certain measure by the robe, which was, at times, quite gathered up at the waist.
As a matter of course, the ladies of the Republican party, following the example set by their men folk, dressed very soberly, some of them adhering to old-fashioned articles of dress, such as the hood and high-crowned hat. A fashion introduced in the previous reign was that of wearing patches on the face. Fig. 3 gives a curious specimen of this fashionable absurdity. It excited the derision of the satirists, who repeatedly decried it in their works; but it continued in fashion for a long time—until the end of the 17th century.
The usual costume of a Puritan woman is shown in Fig. 5.
The female costume in the later years of the Protectorate is illustrated by Fig. 6 from the monumental effigy of Elizabeth Sacheverell, 1657 A.D., in Morley Church, Derbyshire.
Charles II.
With the Restoration, England threw off the sober, kill-joy aspect that it had worn, and the Court, with its gaiety, set the fashion in a studied negligence and elegant déshabille.
The glossy ringlets of the ladies, escaping from a simple bandeau of pearls, or adorned by a single rose, fell in graceful profusion upon bare, snowy necks, and the arms were bare to the elbow.