EARLY GRECIAN COSTUME. WHETHER we regard the Grecian attire of the head or of the body, it is precisely that of the earliest and rudest periods which exhibits in its arrangement the greatest degree of study, almost to foppishness. In those Grecian basso-relievos and statues, which either really are of very early workmanship, or which at least profess to imitate the style of work of the early ages (formerly mistaken for Etruscan,) every lock of hair is divided into symmetrical curls or ringlets, and every fold of the garment into parallel plaits; and not only the internal evidence of those monuments themselves, but the concurring testimony of authors, shows that in those remote ages, heated irons were employed both to curl the hair and beard, and to plait the drapery. It was only in later times that the covering, as well of the head as the body, was left to assume a more easy and uncontrolled flow.

At first, as appears both from ancient sculpture and paintings, men and women alike wore their hair descending partly before and partly behind, in a number of long separate locks, either of a flat and zig-zagged, or of a round and corkscrew shape. A little later it grew the fashion to collect the whole of the hair hanging down the back, by means of a riband, into a single broad stream, and only to leave in front one, two, or three long narrow locks hanging down separately; and this is the head-dress which Minerva, a maiden affecting old fashions and formality, never seems to have quitted; and which Bacchus, though not originally quite so formal, thought proper to re-assume when on his return from amongst the philosophers of India, he chose himself to adopt the beard and mien of a sage. Later still, the queue depending down the back, was taken up, and doubled into a club; and the side locks only continued to reach in front, as low down as the breast. But these also gradually shrunk away into a greater number of small tufts or ringlets hanging down about the ears, and leaving the neck quite unconfined and bare. So neatly was the hair arranged in both sexes round the forehead, and in the males round the chin, as sometimes to resemble the cells of a beehive; and at others, waves and meanders executed in wirework.

Greatly diversified were, among the Grecian females, the coverings of both extremities. Ladies reckoned among the ornaments of the head, the mitry or bushel-shaped crown, peculiarly affected by Ceres; the tiara, or crescent-formed diadem, worn by Juno and by Venus; and ribands, rows of beads, wreaths of flowers, nettings, fillets, skewers, and gew-gaws innumerable.

ROMAN WOMEN.

Among the Romans, the women wore dresses

of a kind of stuff, so transparent, that the body might be seen through it. This stuff was made of silk, so extremely fine, that it was dyed a pur-> ple color before it was made up; for when this species of gauze was manufactured, it was so delicate, that it could not possibly have admitted the dye. The shellfish which furnished the precious material for this color, was found near the island of Cos; whence writers have denominated this stuff the dress of Cos. Varro named these habits," dresses of glass." ed in vogue till the time of Jerome, who declaims loudly against them. We learn from Isaiah, that the women and maidens of Jerusalem wore dresses of a similar nature.

They continu

TAX ON BEARDS.

The growth of beards was regulated by statute at Lincoln's Inn, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when "It was ordered that no fellow of that house should wear a beard of above a fortnight's growth." Transgression was punished with fine, loss of commons, and finally expulsion; but fashion prevailed, and in the following year all previous orders respecting beards were repealed.

The favorite custom or fashion of a nation can never be altered without incurring displeasure; and no act of the reign of Peter the Great was so obnoxious as the tax be laid upon beards. This monarch ordained, that the noblemen, gentlemen, tradesmen, and artisans, (the priests and peasants excepted) should pay a hundred roubles to be able to retain their beards; that the lower classes should pay one copeck for the same liberty; and he established clerks at the different gates, to collect these duties. Such a new and singular impost disturbed the vast empire of Russia. Both religion and manners, as well as fashion, were thought in danger. Complaints were heard from all parts; and they even went so far as to write libels against the sovereign. But notwithstanding this, the decree against beards was rigidly put in force, and the most unlawful violence was publicly committed; the razor and the scissors were everywhere made use of. A great number, to avoid more cruel extremities, obeyed with reluctant sighs. Some of them carefully preserved the sad trimmings of their chins; and in order never to be separated from these favorite locks, ordered that they should be placed with them in their coffin.

WHISKERS.

Among the European nations that have been most curious in whiskers, Spain holds the first rank; and the Spaniards have often made the loss of honor consist in that of their whiskers. The Portuguese were not the least behind them

in this respect. In the reign of Catherine, Queen of Portugal, the brave John de Castro had just taken in India the castle of Diu; victorious, but in want of everything, he found himself obliged to ask the inhabitants of Goa to lend him a thousand pistoles, for the maintenance of his fleet; and as a security for that sum, he sent them one of his whiskers, telling them, "All the gold in the world cannot equal the value of this natural ornament of my valor; and I deposit it in your hands as a security for the money." The whole Jown was affected with this singular trait of heoism, and every one interested himself about his invaluable whisker; even the women were desirous to testify their respect for so brave a man; several sold their bracelets to increase the am asked for; and the inhabitants of Goa sent Lim immediately both the money and his whisker.

In the reign of Louis XIII. of France, whiskers attained the highest degree of favor, at the expense of the expiring beards. In those days of gallantry, they became the favorite occupation of lovers; a fine black whisker, elegantly turned up, was a very powerful mark of dignity with the fair sex. Whiskers continued in fashion during the early part of the reign of Louis XIV. This king, and all the great men of his reign, took a pride in wearing them; and they were the ornament of Turenne, Colbert, Conde, Corneille, Moliere, &c. It was then no uncommon thing for a favorite lover to have his whiskers turned up, combed, and pomatumed by his mistress; and for this purpose, a man of fashion took care to be always provided with every little necessary article, especially whioker wax. It seems the levity of the French made whiskers undergo several changes, both in form and name; there were Spanish, Turkish, guard dogger whiskers; in short, royal ones, which were the last worn, their smallness proclaiming their approaching fall.

It is not well known, that there was a severe law in China, against plucking, removing, or transporting the whiskers of Confucius, that idol of Chinese philosophers; and that beheading was the punishment of those caught in the attempt.

Confucius's incomparable whiskers were said to impart the knowledge, while they conferred the manly beauty, of the illustrious sage upon the wearer. After this proof of the antiquity and influence of whiskers, is it surprising that the weak should wear them, that they may look strong; the old, that they may look young; the cowardly, that they may look brave; and the ugly, that they may look beautiful?

WIGS.

Wigs were invented about the time of the first Roman Emperors. Baldness was then considered a deformity, and we are told that Otho had a kind of scalp of fine leather, with locks of hair upon it, so well arranged, as to appear natural; yet Domitian, who reigned some years after him, did not find means to hide his want of hair, though so mortified by it, that he could not bear to hear the subject of baldness mentioned.

The Chevalier Folard asserts, in his notes on Polybius, that wigs were in use before the time of Hannibal; and he cites a passage from that author, not only to prove that Hannibal wore one himself, but to infer from the manner in which the fact is related, that it was not then introduced into Rome until the period already mentioned. It is, indeed, pretty evident, that wigs were unknown in the time of Julius Cæsar; for it is well understood that he valued his crown of laurels more as a covering for his baldness, than for the honor it conferred; and it may fairly be presumed, that if wigs had been generally worn, he would not have neglected so easy a method of covering his baldness.

CAPS.

The cap is generally the emblem of liberty, and was given to the Roman slaves in the ceremony of emancipating them, whence the proverb, Vocare servos ad pileum. It is, however, sometimes used as a mark of infamy. In Italy, the Jews are distinguished by a yellow cap; at Lucca, by an orange colored one. In France, those who had been bankrupts, were obliged ever after to wear a green cap, to prevent people from being imposed on in any future commerce. By several decrees in 1584, 1622, 1628, 1688, it was ordained, that if they were at any time found without their green cap, their protection should be null and their creditors empowered to cast them into prison. A similar law prevailed at one time in Scotland; bankrupts were obliged to wear a coat of many or "dyvours colours."

The Chinese have not the use of the hat like us, but they wear a cap of a peculiar structure, which the laws of civility will not allow them to put off; it is different for the different seasons of the year. That used in summer is in the form of a cone, ending at the top in a point. It is made of a very beautiful kind of mat, much valued in that country, and lined with satin; to this is added at the top, a large lock of red silk, which falls all round as low as the bottom; so that in walking, the silk regularly fluctuating on all sides, makes a graceful appearance. In winter they wear a plush cap, bordered with martlets' or foxes' skin; but in the ornaments, it resembles the summer caps.

HATS.

Hats are said to have been first used about the year 1400, at which time they became of use for country wear, riding, &c. Father Daniel relates, that when Charles II. made his public entry into Rouen in 1449, he had on a hat lined with red velvet, and surmounted with a plume or tuft of feathers; he adds, that it is from this entry, or at least under this reign, that the use of hats and caps is to be dated, which henceforward began to take place of the chaperoons and hoods that had been worn before. In process of time, from the laity, the clergy also took this part of the habit; but it was looked on as a great abuse, and several regulations were published, forbidding

any priest or religious person to appear abroad in a hat without coronets, and enjoining them to keep the use of the chaperoons made of black cloth, with decent coronets; if they were poor, they were at least to have coronets fastened to their hats, and this upon penalty of suspension and excommunication.

The use of hats is, however, said to have been of a longer standing among the ecclesiastics of Brittany, by two hundred years, and especially among the canons; but these were no other than a kind of caps, and from hence arose the square caps worn in colleges, &c; Lobineau observed, that a Bishop of Dol, in the 12th century, zealous for good order, allowed the canons alone to wear such hats; enjoining, that if any other person come with them to church, divine service should immediately be suspended.

Pope Innocent IV. first made the hat the symbol or cognizance of the cardinals, enjoining them to wear a red hat at the ceremonies and processjons, in token of their being ready to spill their blood for Jesus Christ.

SPANISH ANTIQUES.

In the good old times of Spain, few things were more admired, than the skill displayed by the ladies in the adornment of their heads. Some of them wore necklaces made of steel, to which thin rods of iron were fastened before and behind, and curved upwards at the end. These were used to expand the veil, which was thrown over the head. Others decorated the head with an assemblage of semi-circular ornaments, which hung down to the ears or the shoulders, gradually diminishing in size. Their highest pitch of coquetry consisted in a very large and highly polished forehead. In order to have this mark of beauty in perfection, they shaved the head immediately above the forehead, and afterwards spared no pains to render the skin as smooth as possible. The head-dress of these ladies, with the large forehead, was equally singular. It was a kind of cap, a foot high, stuck on the hair, dressed in the form of a toupee, which was covered with a black veil. Similar head-dresses were seen in France under the reign of Louis XV.; and we find traces of them, at present, in some of the Spanish provinces.

SHORT AND LONG DOUBLETS.

In the reign of Henry IV., an act was passed, forbidding all, except the nobility, to wear short doublets; but no sooner were these proscribed, than long cloaks became the fashion, and their use by the commonalty grew at length as obnoxious to our ancestors of rank, as the short doublets had ever been.

"The commons," says the Eulogium, "were besotted in excess of apparel; going some in wide surcoats, reaching to their loyns; some in a garment reaching to their heels, close before, and strutting out on both sides; so that on the back, they make men seem women, and this they call by a rediculous name, gown," &c.

ENGLISH AND SCOTS.

The monk of Malmesbury, in his Life of Edward the Second, complains that such was the pride of dress, that the squire endeavored to outshine the knight in the richness of his apparel; the knight the baron, the baron the earl, and the earl the king himself. This vanity became general among the people of every class at the commencement of the following reign, which gave occasion to the Scots, who Dr. Henry says could not afford to be such egregious fops as the English, to make the following well known lines: "Long beirds hertiless, Peynted whoods witless, Gay cotes graceless, Maketh England thiteless."

MOURNING COSTUMES.

The colors of dress for mourning, differ according to persons and countries. In Italy, the women once mourned in white, and the men in brown. In China they wear white. In Turkey, Syria, Cappadocia, and Armenia, celestial blue. In Egypt, yellow, or the color of a dead leaf. The Ethiopians wear grey; and in Europe the mourning color is black.

Each of these colors had originally its signification; white is the emblem of purity; celestial blue denotes the place we wish to go to afterdeath; yellow, or the dead leaf, indicates that death is the end of human hope, and that man falls as the leaf; grey signifies the earth to which the dead return; and black, marks the absence of life, because it is the want of life.

The Lycians, as we read in Valerius Maximus, when any cause of mourning befel them, put on the clothes of women, in order that the effeminacy of the dress might the sooner make them ashamed of grieving. The Thracians, again, never grieved at all; but used to celebrate the death of a friend with every expression of mirth and joy, as a removal from a state of misery, to one of never-ending felicity.

Previous to the reign of Charles the Eighth, the Queens of France wore white upon the death of their husbands, and were called "reines blanches." On the death of that monarch, the color was changed to black.

A wardrobe account for half a year to Lady Day, 1684, in a MS. purchased by Mr. Brander, at the sale of the library of George Scott, Esq. of Woolston Hall, contains the following entries for the king's mourning: "A grey coat lined with murrey and white flowered silk, with gold loops, and four crape hatbands. A sad colored silk coat, lined with gold striped lutestring, with silver and silk buttons, and a purple crape hatband. A purple coat.'

The Emperor Leopold, who died in 1705, never shaved his beard during the time of mourning, which often lasted for a considerable period. In this he followed the example of the Jews. The empress dowagers never lay aside their mourning; and even their apartments are hung with black till their deaths.

The nieces of the Popes never wear mourning,

not even for their nearest relations; as the Romans deem it so great a happiness for a family to have a Pope in it, that nothing ought to afflict His Holiness's kindred.

Queen Anne, on the death of her husband, Prince George of Denmark, wore black and white,, with a mixture of purple in some part of her dress. The precedent was taken from the dress worn by Mary Queen of Scots for the Earl of Darnley, which was a case exactly in point.

The costume prescribed for mourning is entirely arbitrary, depending upon the taste and usages of different countries. In England, purple is the peculiar mourning worn by the sovereign. The king and queen never wear black.

SUMPTUARY LAWS.

However absurd some fashions may appear, or however culpable in a moral point of view luxurious modes of living may be, sumptuary laws have been considered by all sound economists as equally unjust and inexpedient; unjust, because of their depriving us of a portion of liberty, which it is not requisite for the welfare of the state that we should give up; and inexpedient, because such is the volatility of our natures, that no sooner is excess restrained in one shape, than it breaks forth in another, and perhaps a contrary direction. Never was this more strongly exemplified, than in the changes (already noticed) from long-piked to square-toed shoes, and from short to long doublets; but indeed the whole history of fashion is a series of triumphs over interference and restraint.

The Statute Book of England, compared with that of other countries, contains, however, but few laws of this sort; and all of them, except one, which had been overlooked, and is noticed by Blackstone, were repealed in the beginning of the reign of James I. The feudal barons having since then lost the power of despots over their vassals and dependants, and the distinctions between the ranks of society having become softened down into more easy and regular gradations, laws of this kind have, in modern time, ever been deemed too contemptible and impolitic to be again introduced into a British House of Parliament.

BOOTS.

Boots are said to have been invented by the Carians. They were at first made of leather, afterwards of brass or iron, and were proof against both cuts and thrusts. It was from this that Homer calls the Greeks brazen booted. The boot only covered half the leg; some say the right leg, which was more advanced than the left, it being advanced forwards in an attack with the sword; but in reality it appears to have been used on either leg, and sometimes on both. Those who fought with darts or other missile weapons, advanced the left leg foremost; so that in such cases, this only was booted.

Boots were much used by the ancients, either

for riding on horseback or walking. The boot was called by the ancient Romans, ocrea; by the writers of the middle ages, greva, gamberia, bainberga, bemberga, or benbarga.

The Chinese have a kind of boots made of silk, or fine stuff, lined with cotton, a full inch thick, which they always wear at home. These people are always booted; and when a visit is made to them, if they happen to be without their boots, their guest must wait till they put them on. They never stir out of doors without their boots on; and their scrupulousness in this respect is the more remarkable, as they are always carried in chairs.

In the year 1543, it was enacted, "that no person shall put to sale any pinnes, but only such as shall be double-headed, and have the heads soldered fast to the shank of the pinnes, well smoothed, the shank well shaped, the points well and round filed, counted and sharpened."

The pin manufactory affords employment to a number of children of both sexes, who are thus not only prevented from acquiring habits of idleness and vice, but are, on the contrary, initiated in their early years in those of a beneficial and virtuous industry.

THE EXACT CUT.

Honest Fuller relates, that "Sir Philip Calthorp, who lived in the reign of King Henry the Seventh, having sent as much cloth of fine French Tawny as would make him a gown, to a tailor in Norwich, it happened that one John Drakes, a shoemaker, coming into the shop, liked it so well, that he went and bought of the same as much for himself, enjoining the tailor to make it of the same fashion. The knight being informed thereof, commanded the tailor to cut his gown as full of holes, as his shears could make; which so purged John Drakes of his proud humor, that he would never be of that gentleman's fashion again."

EMPEROR PAUL.

The Russian Emperor, Paul, into whose composition the departed soul of some pragmatical tailor would almost seem to have transmigrated, was regularly attentive to the dress of his subjects. It was regulated by the police itself, under his orders. The dress consisted of a cocked hat, or, for want of one, a round hat pinned up with three corners; a long cue; a single-breasted coat and waistcoat; knee buckles instead of strings, and buckles in the shoes. Orders were given to arrest any person seen in pantaloons. A servant was caned in the streets for wearing