very little alteration in the lady's
dress since the previous reign. The skirts were full; the waist was
high, but not absurdly so; the band round the dress was broad; the
sleeves were tight; and the cuffs, often of fur, were folded back to a
good depth.

The neck opening of the dress varied, as did that of the previous
reign, but whereas the most fashionable opening was then from neck to
waist, this reign gave more liking to a higher corsage, over the top
of which a narrow piece of stuff showed, often of black velvet. We may
safely assume that the ladies followed the men in the matter of broad
shoes. For a time the old fashion of the long-tongued belt came in,
and we see instances of such belts being worn with the tongue reaching
nearly to the feet, tipped with a metal ornament.

[Illustration: A WOMAN OF THE TIME OF RICHARD III. (1483-1485)

The great erection on her head is made of thin linen stretched upon
wires; through this one may see her jewelled cap.]

Not until night did these ladies discard their winged head erections;
not until the streets were dark, and the brass basins swinging from
the barbers' poles shone but dimly, and the tailors no longer
sat, cross-legged, on the benches in their shop-fronts--then might my
lady uncover her head and talk, in company with my lord, over the
strange new stories of Prester John and of the Wandering Jew; then, at
her proper time, she will go to her rest and sleep soundly beneath her
embroidered quilt, under the protection of the saints whose pictures
she has sewn into the corners of it. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
bless the bed that she lies on.

So we come to an end of a second series of dates, from the First
Edward to the Third Richard, and we leave them to come to the Tudors
and their follies and fantastics; we leave an age that is quaint,
rich, and yet fairly simple, to come to an age of padded hips and
farthingales, monstrous ruffs, knee-breeks, rag-stuffed trunks, and
high-heeled shoes.

With the drawings and text you should be able to people a vast world
of figures, dating from the middle of the thirteenth century, 1272, to
nearly the end of the fifteenth, 1485, and if you allow ordinary
horse-sense to have play, you will be able to people your world with
correctly-dressed figures in the true inspiration of their time. You
cannot disassociate the man from his tailor; his clothes must appeal
to you, historically and soulfully, as an outward and visibl