Here and there we have met with survivals of class costumes (see pages [150] and [308]), and to these we may add that of the costermongers, for in the dress of both men and women there are peculiarities which single them out.
In the same way we find remnants here and there of special dresses that are characteristic of trades. The blue blouse of the butcher, the white clothes of the butterman or man cook, and the white cap of the latter are cases in point; and in connection with certain duties and modern manufactures we have special dresses. We might allude to the overalls of furriers, feather merchants, and stationers. Divers, sewage men, and miners have special dresses, and boiler cleaners have a curious dress of coat and trousers made in one, which recalls one form of the military tunic used by the Norman soldiers, which sometimes ended in closely fitting trousers. It was first drawn on the legs, and the arms were then put through the sleeves. Such combination garments are shown in contemporary drawings, and it has been questioned whether these were really made in one piece, but the artist, though he might not indicate with certainty the openings through which they were put on, is hardly likely to have left out the lines which would have made clear a division at the waist.
At the present time in England there are very little differences in the costume of single and married women, though it was once compulsory for them to dress differently. The remains, however, of the custom are to be found in plenty in foreign countries.
In many professions rank is indicated by the dress or its ornamentations. In the Army and Navy, the Church, the legal profession, such points are obvious. We have had occasion to deal with academical costume, and in the knightly orders the same holds good. Just as an undergraduate has a stuff gown, while a graduate may have a silk one, a Proctor is given velvet sleeves and the Chancellor of the University an embroidered gown and train, so, for instance, in the order of Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Knight of Grace has a stuff gown, the Knight of Justice a silk one, while the Grand Prior is habited in velvet.
[XXXV]
THE EFFECT OF CLOTHES UPON THE INDIVIDUAL
THE ORIGIN OF STAYS—TIGHT LACING NO NEW THING—ITS EFFECTS—MR. HEATHER BIGG ON THE NEED FOR SUPPORT—THE IDEAL FOOT—SKULL DEFORMITIES—PADDING
We have already seen (page [111]) that the human form may be directly mutilated in connection with the wearing of ornaments and in order to produce scars or tattoo marks which are considered to be embellishments and often in a way take the place of clothes, in so much as they do away with the appearance of nakedness. Now we may consider the distortions which are actually caused by clothes and bandages. There are cases for which, as a rule, we have to look outside the confines of Europe in which special contrivances are worn for a time in order to permanently alter the shape of some part of the body. Then, again, we meet among the races which claim to be most highly civilized instances which are not one whit less barbaric, but in which some article of dress is intended to cause or allowed to produce distortions, which satisfy the dictates of some particular fashion. It may be that an appearance of elegance or smartness is aimed at which may be the natural attribute of some persons and the envy of others, or a false idea of symmetry may lead to the same thing.
The idea of altering bodily conformation is very ancient, but following our usual plan we will touch, first of all, on the modern examples of the custom before tracing the older ones. Not very long ago, and not for the first time in history, a great many women became imbued with the notion that there was nothing more desirable in this world than a wasp-like waist; and there are rumours, not to say signs, even in the twentieth century, when it might be supposed that we were getting more sensible, that a similar madness is again to overtake the gentler sex.