Jane Seymour's coronation dress was of her faithless spouse's favourite material, cloth of gold; all his wives seem to have been obliging enough to yield to his fancy for this extravagance, and this poor lady's choice was decorated with a raised design of embroidery and pearls, and the stomacher beneath was thickly encrusted with jewels, while her surcoat was of purple velvet bordered with ermine and embroidered with gold, and a jewelled velvet caul was on her head. Anne of Cleves endeavoured to popularise the Dutch fashion of a gown without a train, and she was as much a failure in this as in her other ambitions. Catharine Parr, the last of the noble six, had a gown of cloth of gold made with a sleeve quite tight at the shoulder, bordered at the elbow with fur, and showing beneath a slashed and puffed under-sleeve, finished by a small ruffle at the wrist.
Mary inherited her father's love of splendour and costly apparel, and her favourite head-dress was of cloth of gold, and her gowns were generally of velvet trimmed with fur and jewelled. Elizabeth devoted herself to fashion in a frank, whole-hearted way that brooked no half-measures, and amongst her terrors of death must have been parting with her gowns, for she died possessed of no fewer than three thousand dresses. What a harvest for the ladies-in-waiting or the dealers of the day to gather! Her crimson locks she piled high up in curls and puffs, surmounted by crowns of jewels, and her sleeves and hooped skirts were padded into diamond design traced with embroidery, and every point would hold a pendent jewel. She showed no desire to achieve grace or elegance below the waist; nothing more entirely unbecoming to the feminine figure can be imagined than the tight, hard, flat, narrow bodice terminating in a point at the front, cut off at the waist on the hips, above the monstrously distended petticoat. The over-part of the dress and the skirt beneath it were boned and wired, and tight lacing ruled in an injurious degree, though the enormous sleeves, ruffles, and skirts might well have accorded such an effect of slimness as to render stringent measures unnecessary.
A TRIO OF RUFFS.
Dress was a magnificent affair altogether; velvet and taffeta and fine scarlet cloth were used, lace played its part bravely, and silken scarves fringed with gold and silver were thrown over the shoulders, with deep capes of satin or velvet edged with lace. Every shape and length of garment obtained, and the only extravagance from which dress did not suffer was in the décolletage, which was narrow and straight and of dimensions eminently decent.
QUEEN ELIZABETH IN FULL DRESS.
Elizabeth introduced the whalebone corset, and hers might well have been called the "wire and whalebone age," for the influence of these was needed for the petticoats, the gowns and stays, and it had a considerable share in the good conduct of the ruffles which extended some nine inches from the neck. In France the ruffles were so enormous that they hardly allowed their wearers to turn their heads at all, and courtiers who affected them were provided with long-handled spoons to enable them to take their soup in comfort. These huge ruffs were trimmed with lace outlined with wire threads to ensure sufficient stiffness, a demand creating the supply of starch, which made its appearance in this century, being introduced by the wife of Elizabeth's coachman, who established herself as Lady High Laundress of the Court, and made at once a competence and a reputation. Ruffs were of yellow as well as white, and yellow too were some of the extensive lace collars jewelled and embroidered in gold, which with wired edges outlined the shoulders of all dresses worn on state occasions.
Pins and ribbons were first brought into use in the reign of Elizabeth, and really to her interest in the subject of fashion we owe much. Silk stockings amongst other things, such as cosmetics, face washes and perfumes, and embroidered and scented gloves, and fans made of ostrich or peacock feathers with gold and silver handles, were adopted by the men as well as by the women.
Of the many head-dresses favoured by Elizabeth one resembled a cushion, ornamented with jewels; another, known as a ship-tire, left the neck and shoulders bare; and another, dubbed the tire valiant, was made of many kerchiefs, so disposed as to allow only the nose, eyes, and mouth to be visible.