It will be remembered that not long ago objection was taken by a minister to women appearing in his church without any hats. It would appear that the whole custom is a relic of that still observed in eastern countries, where women cover not only their heads, but also their faces, though, as pointed out in an earlier chapter (see page [13]), in some places it is still considered more immodest to uncover the back of the head than to expose any other part of the person; and in Egypt, for instance, an Arab woman disturbed when drawing water will throw her single garment over her head in order to hide it.
One is rather afraid that those ladies who follow the lines laid down by St. Clement as to covering their heads in church sometimes obey his injunctions in the letter rather than in the spirit. For scoffers have been found who say that one of the reasons why fashionable ladies go to church is to show their own new hats and gowns and to look at those belonging to their neighbours. The question of covering the head was touched upon when dealing with servants’ dress in connection with the cap of the housemaid. (See page [149].)
The greatest contrast between Sunday and weekday clothes is to be looked for in the country among agricultural labourers, as the cessation of labour gives an opportunity for discarding the rough and heavy garments of the field in favour of something lighter and of better quality, and this quite apart from the religious idea which no doubt first led to the practice. Probably the custom of putting on Sunday clothes in the country will survive until the rural exodus, which has unfortunately begun, has led to the complete depopulation of our villages.
[XXII]
ACADEMICAL DRESS
GOWNS AND HANGING SLEEVES—THE FORERUNNER OF THE HOOD—THE ORIGIN OF THE DOCTOR’S HAT—THE EVOLUTION OF THE MORTAR-BOARD
Many complaints have been very justly made against the solemnity, if not the ugliness, of men’s modern evening dress. On important occasions it may be more or less enlivened by the ribbons and stars of various orders, but we really get a return to something of mediæval brightness at those functions connected with the universities at which academical dress is worn. Then the black coats and trousers are practically hidden, in many cases by scarlet, by purple, and other coloured gowns. Occasionally there are combinations of colours which are trying to the eyes of many, but on the whole the effect is one that is pleasing and worthy of repetition. Academical dress is in itself a survival, and the gay colours are almost enough to tell us this. Records exist which show that in the fifteenth century they were already adopted by the graduates of our universities.
The evidence which has been brought forward as to the origin of academic costume points to its having been derived from that of the clergy; but there are interesting connections with civil dress, as we shall see. One of the special features of many academic gowns is their long hanging sleeves, and we shall find that so long ago as the time of William Rufus sleeves had grown so long that it had become convenient to make a hole through them through which the hand and forearm could be protruded. (See Figure [134].)