BY
WILFRED MARK WEBB
FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON
CURATOR OF ETON COLLEGE MUSEUM
WITH ELEVEN PLATES
AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE FIGURES IN THE TEXT
LONDON
E. GRANT RICHARDS
1907
TO MY WIFE
HILDA E. WEBB
[PREFACE]
It would be difficult to find a subject of more universal interest than that of dress, and hosts of books have been written which deal with the attire that has been adopted at different times and by various nations or social classes. The ornamental and artistic sides of the question have also received much consideration, but the volumes that have appeared serve chiefly as works of reference. The present book aims at being of more immediate interest and usefulness; it starts with things as they are, and is really a popular contribution to the natural history of man.
On all sides the advantages of observation and the need for the nature-study method in education are being rightly urged, but there is a tendency to narrow the purview. Anything in our environment is worthy of notice, and though attention is well directed towards that which is least artificial, we should not leave man and his works altogether on one side. There is material for observation, research, and deduction, even in a bowler hat and a cut-away coat.