Doubtless the hair of original man was coloured so as to match his surroundings, and it seems likely that the tint of his skin was reddish. We have now no need for protective colouration (except in war time), and as we do not live in the tropics, we should gain no advantage from being black; therefore pigment is but little developed in our skins, and it has been suggested that clothes sometimes have been adopted by white races for æsthetic reasons apart from their development from ordinary ornaments.
It seems possible, too, that man, upon realizing that he differed from other animals in having no natural covering, set about to provide himself with one.
There is, however, another contributing cause which may have led to the adoption of dress, and this depends on the action of women themselves. They may put on clothes for reasons of coquetry just as on occasion they may modify or discard them. For instance, fashion at a moment’s notice may obscure one part of the body that hitherto was obvious, and at the same time emphasize the natural outlines of others which before were hidden. Again, the bare necks and arms displayed in our ball-rooms afford another case in point.
[III]
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN COAT
THE ANCESTRAL SHAWL—PROBLEMATICAL BUTTONS
Now that we have considered the origin of dress as a whole, we may turn with advantage to the evolution of individual garments. People are very often pleased to allude to what are called the vagaries of fashion, but it is curious to notice how little real change is made in costume at the present time. The really useful characters are always retained, and our modern clothes can be reduced to a very few types. A skirt is a skirt whether it falls naturally, is held out all round with a hoop, or crinoline, or is only supported behind by what at one time was known as an “improver.” And in the same way it may be said that trousers remain trousers whether they have bell bottoms or are peg tops.
Even types which we recognize as being quite distinct, are often so closely related as to cause surprise when their family history is made known. Although it constantly alters as regards details, which from a constructional point of view are quite unimportant, woman’s dress does not seem to have varied to any very great extent. Consequently, there are not quite so many curious features to be seen as in the ordinary clothes or uniforms of men. On the other hand, however, we may with greater reason hope to find that some primitive characters have survived until the present day.
No article of clothing could well be simpler than the shawl, and though there is an art in its arrangement, the only point in its structure that would appear to invite attention is the presence of a fringe on only two sides. This seems to be a small matter, but it takes us straight back to the time when men had ceased to be hunters merely, and having become agriculturists had learned, as we have already indicated, to weave fibres with the help of simple looms. From the cloth thus made clothes were constructed, though skins continued to be used as outer mantles. When the stuff was taken from these early looms, the threads of the warp were left hanging from two opposite edges, and the fringe that we have now on our shawls is a direct survival of this accidental occurrence.