other things, to pafs from one extreme to another, the large jutting coat became quite out of fashion, in this reign, and a coat was worn refembling a waift oat. The men's ruffs were generally of a moderate fize, the women's bore a proportion to their farthingales, which were enormous. We are informed, that fome beaux had atally introduced long fwers and hiatus, which approached the roval ftandard. This roufed the jealoufy of the queen, who appointed officers to break every man's fwor, and to clip all ruffs which were beyond a certain length. The breeches, or to fpeak more properly, dra vers, fell far fhort of the knees, and the defect was fupplied with long hofe, the tops of which were faftened under the drawers. William, earl of Pembroke, was the first who wore knit ftockings in England, which were introduced in this reign. They were prefented to him by William Rider, an apprentice near London-bridge, who happened to fee a pair brought from Mantua, at an Italian merchant's in the city, and made a pair exactly like them. Edward Vere, the feventeenth earl of Oxford, was the first that introduced embroidered gloves and perfumes into England, which he brought from Italy. He prefented the queen with a pair of perfumed gloves, and her portrait was painted with them upon her hands. At this period was worn a hat of a fingular form, which refembled a clofe-ftool pan with a broad brim. Philip II. in the former reign, feems to wear one of these utenfils upon his head, with a narrower brim than ordinary, and makes at lealt as grotefque an appearance, as his countryman Don Quixote with the barber's bafon. ་ The reverend Mr. John More, of Norwich, one of the worthiest clergymen in the reign of Elizabeth, gave the beft reafon that could be given, for wearing the longeft and largest beard of any Englishman of his time; namely, "The no act of his life might be "unworthy of the gravity of his "appearance" I with as good a reafon could always have been affigned for wearing the longeft hair, and the longest /or largest wig. As the queen left no lefs than three thoufand different habits in her wardrobe when the died, and was poffeffed of the dreffes of all countries, it is fomewhat ftrange that there is fuch a uniformity of drefs in her portraits, and that the fhould take a pleafure in being loaded with ornaments. At this time the ftavs, or bodice, were worn long-waisted. Lady Hunfdon, the foremost of the laues in the proceffion to Hunflon house, appears with a much longer waist than those that follow her. She might poffibly have been a leader of the fashion, as well as of the proceffion. JAMES I. earl of Oxford, was the firft ENRY Vere, the gallant nobleman that appeared at court, in the reign of James, with a hat and white feather; which was fome times worn by the king himself. The long love-lock feems to have been firft in fashion among the beaux in this reign, who fometimes ftuck flowers in their ears. William, earl of Pembroke, a man far from an effeminate character, is represented with earrings. James appears to have left the beard in much the fame ftate as he found it on his acceffion to the throne. The cloak, a drefs of great antiquity, was more worn in this, than in any of the preceding reigns. It continued to be in fashion after the reftoration of Charles II. It is well known that James I. ufed to hunt in a ruff and trowfers. We learn from Sir Thomas Overbury, that yellow ftockings were worn by fome of the ordinary gentlemen in the country. Silk garters, puffed in a large knot, were worn below the knees, and knots, or rofes, in the fhoes. Wilfon informs us, that the countefs of Effex, after her divorce, appeared at court in the habit of a virgin, with her hair "pendant, almoft to her feet:" the princefs Elizabeth, with much more propriety, wore hers in the fame manner, when he went to be married to the prince Palatine. The head of the countess of Effex feems to be oppreffed with ornaments; and the appears to have expofed more of the bofom than was feen in any former pe riod. The ladies began to indulge a ftrong paffion for foreign laces, in the reign of James, which rather increafed than abated in fucceeding generations. The ruff and farthingale fill continued to be worn. Yellow ftarch for ruffs, first invented by the French, and adapted to the fallow complexions of that people, was introduced by Mrs. Turner, a phyfician's widow, who had a principal hand in poifoning Sir Tho mas Overbury. This vain and infamous woman, who went to be hanged in a ruff of that colour, helped to fupport the fashion, as long as fhe was able. It began to decline upon her execution. The ladies, like thofe of Spain, were banished from court, during the reign of James, which was, perhaps, a reafon why drefs underwent very little alteration during that period. It may not be impertinent to remark, that the lady of Sir Robert Cary, afterwards earl of Monmouth, was miftrefs of the sweet (or perfumed, coffers to Anne of Denmark; an office which anfwered to that of miftrefs of the robes at prefent. It appears from portraits, that long coats were worn by boys, till they were feven or eight years of age. We are told by dean Fell, that the famous Dr. Hammond was in long coats, when he was sent to Eton fchool. When James came to the crown, there was in the wardrobe, in the Tower, a great variety of dreffes of our ancient kings; which, to the regret of antiquaries, were foon given away and difperfed. Such a collection must have been of much greater ufe, to the ftudious in venerable antiquity, than a review of the "ragged regiment" in Weftminfter Abbey. CHARLES CHARLES I. 1 hat continued are feen dangling at the knees, in fome of the portraits of this period. IN this reign, the hat to fuch a and spurs were much worn by gent fort of crown as that defcribed in the reign of Elizabeth; but the brim was extended to a reafonable breadth. Hats inclining to a cone, a figure very ill adapted to the human head, occur in the portraits of this time. The hair was worn low on the forehead, and generally unparted: fome wore it very long, others of a moderate length. The king, and confequently many others, wore a love-lock on the left fide, which was confiderably longer than the reft of the hair. The unfeemlinefs of this fashion occafioned Mr. Prynne to write a book in quarto, againft love-locks. The beard dwindled very gradually under the two Charles's till it was reduced to a flender pair of whiskers. It became quite extinct in the reign of James II. as if its fatality had been connected with that of the house of Stuart. tlemen of fashion. It was ufual for the beaux in England and France, to call for their boots, and fome think their fpurs too, when they were going to a ball, as they very rarely wore the one without the other. Mr. Peck, the antiquarian, informs us, that he had, in his poffeffion, a whole length portrait of Charles; the drefs of which he thus defcribes : "He wore a fall"ing band, a fhort green doublet, "the arm-parts toward the fhoul"der, wide, and flashed; zig-zag "turned up ruffles; very long green breeches, (like a Dutch"man) tied far below knee with "long yellow ribbands; red ftock"ings, great fhoe-rofes, and a "fhort red cloak, lined with blue, "with a ftar on the fhoulder." Ladies wore their hair low on the forehead, and parted in fmall ringlets. Many wore it curled like a peruke, and fome braided and rounded in a knot, on the top of the crown. They frequently wore ftrings of pearls in their hair. Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and other jewels, were also much worn. Laced handkerchiefs, refembling the large falling band worn by the men, were in fashion among the ladies: this article of drefs has been lately revived, and called a Vandyck. Many ladies, at this period, are painted with their arms and their bofoms bare; and there is no doubt but they fometimes went with thofe parts expofed. Cowley, of the right fide much longer than the Cowley, in his difcourfe "greatnefs," cenfures fome enormities in the drefs of his time, in the following terms. <<< Is any "thing more common than to fee "our ladies of quality wear fuch "high fhoes as they cannot walk "in without one to lead them? and a gown as long again as their body; fo that they cannot ftir to the next room, without a "c page or two to hold it up." The citizens wives, in this reign, feem to have had their domeftic fumptuary laws, and to have ado; ted the frugal maxims of their hufbands. There appears from Hollar's habits, to have been a much greater difparity in point of drefs, betwixt them, and the ladies of quality, than betwixt the former, and the wives of our present yeo. I of Charles II. in Sandford, daTappears by the broad feal ted 1653, that he wore long hair and whiskers. It alfo appears from the prints of him, in Sir William Lower's account of his entertain. ment at the Hague, the fame year, that he fometimes wore a large cravat, and, at other times, a long falling band with tafels. His ruffles were large, his doublet fhort, his boots were alfo fhort, with large tops, his hair long, with a lock on reft. Mr. Benlowes, in his "Theo"phila," published in 1652, has given us a print of a man of mode. In his hat, the brim of which is extended horizontally, is a large feather: it inclines much to the right fide, as if it were falling off his head. His hair is very long, his ruffles are double, his doublet reaches no lower than the waiftband of his breeches: his fword is enormous, and fufpended to a belt, which comes over his right fhoulder; his breeches are large, with puffs like fmall blown bladders, quite round the knees; his boots are very fhort, with fringed tops, which are near as ample in their dimenfions as the brim of his hat. It appears from the fame author, that black patches were fometimes worn by the beaux at the time of the interregnum. Short hair, fhort bands, fhort cloaks, and long vifages, frequently occur in the portraits of this period. Mr. Benlowes has alfo given us prints of two ladies, by the hand of Hollar; one in a fummer, the other in a winter drefs. The former is without a cap, has her hair combed like a wig, except that which grows on the crown of the head, which is nicely braided, and rounded in a knot. Her neck-handkerchief is furrounded with a deep fcolloped lace, and her cuffs are laced much in the fame manner. The fleeves of her gown have many flashes, through which her linen is very confpicuous: her fan is of the modern make. The latter is reprefented in a clofe black hood, and a black mask, which juft conceals her nofe. She wears a fable tippet, and holds a large muff muff of the fame kind, which entirely hides her arms. THE CHARLES II. 'HE Monmouth, or military cock of the hat, was much worn in this reign, and continued a confiderable time in fashion. The periwig, which had been long ufed in France, was intro duced into England foon after the Restoration. There is a tradition, that the large black wig which Dr. R. R. bequeathed, among other things of much less confideration, to the Bodleian library, was worn by Charles II. Some men of tender confciences were greatly fcandalized at this article of drefs, as equally indecent with long hair; and more culpable, because unnatural. Many preachers inveighed against it in their fermons, and cut their hair fhorter, to exprefs their abhorrence of the reigning mode. It was obferved, that a periwig procured many perfons a refpect, and even veneration, which they were ftrangers to before, and to which they had not the leaft claim from their perfonal merit. The judges, and phyficians, who thoroughly understood this magic of the wig, gave it all the advantage of length, as well as fize. The extravagant fondnefs of fome men for this unnatural ornament is fcarce credible: I have heard of a country gentleman, who employed a painter to place periwigs upon the heads of feveral of Vandyck's portraits. Mr. Wood informs us, that Nath. Vincent, D. D. chaplain in ordi reigns. Open fleeves, pantaloons, and fhoulder-knots, were alfo worn at this period, which was the æra of fhoe-buckles: but ordinary people, and fuch as affected plainnefs in their garb, continued, for a long time after, to wear ftrings in their fhoes. The clerical habit, which before it is grown rufty is a very decent drefs, feems not to have been worn in its prefent form, before the reign of Charles II. The ladies hair was curled and frizled with the niceft art, and they frequently fet it off with heartbreakers. Sometimes a ftring of pearls, or an ornament of ribband, was worn on the head; and in the latter part of this reign, hoods of various kinds were in fashion. Patching and painting the face, than which nothing was more common in France, was alfo too common among the Jadies in England. But what was much worfe, they affected a mean betwixt drefs and nakednefs; which occafioned the publication of a book, intitled, "A just and feasonable repre "henfion of naked breasts and "shoulders, with a preface by Ri "chard |