THE AUSTRIAN PEASANT-BRIDE IN BLACK.
The typical Roman peasant woman makes a picturesque figure in a skirt of some dark material and an apron brightly trimmed with two broadish bands of embroidery, one appearing immediately below the hips and the other at the knees. The tight, sleeveless corsage laces behind, and is supported by narrow shoulder-straps, while the white chemisette has long sleeves and is low at the throat. Ordinarily the hair is allowed to hang loosely beneath a head-dress fashioned from a length of snowy linen, folded in such a way as to form a narrow strip, which is pinned at the temples and flung back to hang down behind. All but the very poorest wear necklaces, pendent ear-rings, chains and crosses.
A CROATIAN PEASANT.
The costume of the Trastaverini, although they are inhabitants of the same city, differs somewhat from that of the Romans. The women plait their hair, decorate it with silver bodkins, and confine it in a silk net. On gala days they don velvet bodices laced with gold, and silk skirts, which may be white to match the chemisette, or coloured, an essential accessory being a scarlet apron. The men also wear silk nets, their jackets being of black velvet enlivened by red silk sashes, while their black shoes vaunt large silver buckles.
In some of the Pontifical States there is striking resemblance between the dress common to the district and that associated with the Irish peasantry. The women tie kerchiefs on their heads in the same way as their Hibernian sisters, a second point of similarity existing in the hooded cloaks.
A CROATIAN PEASANT.
Strangely incongruous though it seems, when taken in conjunction with their sunny clime and joyous levity of temperament, the peasantry of Florence exhibit a marked predilection for black. On fête-days the Tuscans don a tiny hat cocked at an acute angle over the left ear, the hair at the other side being profusely decorated with pearls or an ornamental comb. They also display a pretty taste in jewellery, wearing pearl ear-rings and pearl and coral necklaces, other articles of attire including black velvet slippers, and sleeveless bodices laced with ribbon over a white chemisette. Occasionally the hair is turned up in a knot beneath a veil which hangs down behind, but, when working or going to market, the women imprison it in a silken mesh adorned with tassels, the latter being sometimes of gold and silver.