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Read Ebook: Head-Gear Antique and Modern by Wadleigh R H Editor
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A ribbon used to be worn around the head, tied in front with an elaborate knot. The net--after it the 'kerchief--was developed from the simple ribbon, in the same manner as straps on the feet gradually became boots.
The head-dress of the women, as well as their costumes, were different at different periods, as figures on preceding page illustrate.
Homer frequently mentions the veil as a part of the attire of the Grecian and Trojan ladies.
Of Helen, he says:--
O'er her fair face a snowy veil she threw, And, softly sighing, from the loom withdrew.
The ancient head-dress of the Irish appears to be but little known till the twelfth century, when it is said to have been much the same as that worn by the Southern Britons.
In ancient Britain, from the earliest time to the arrival of the Saxons, A.D. 450, we can find no mention made of ladies' head-dress, and but little is mentioned until about 1066, and even at this date not any style existed, although Anglo-Saxon females of all ranks wore a veil, or long piece of linen or silk wrapped around the head and neck. This part of their dress was exceedingly unbecoming, perhaps partly owing to the want of skill in the artists, and this head-dress was seldom worn except when they went from home , as the hair itself was cherished and ornamented with as much attention as in modern times.
In an Anglo-Saxon poem the heroine is called, "The maid of the Creator with twisted locks."
About this time the fashions began to travel northward from Italy, through Paris to London, and caps, hats, and bonnets of various and fantastic shapes were introduced.
As Shakspeare said:--
Report of fashions in proud Italy, Whose manners still our tardy, apish nation Limps after, in base imitation.
Artificial flowers, those beautiful imitations of the "stars of the earth," are brought to such perfection that they almost rival the blossoms they are intended to imitate.
It is a hard thing to say, but the women might have carried the Gothic building, this steeple head-dress, much higher had it not been for a famous monk, Thomas Conects by name, who attacked it with great zeal and resolution.
This holy man travelled around to preach down this monstrous style, and succeeded so well, that, as the magicians sacrificed their books to the flames upon the preaching of an Apostle, so many of the women threw down their head-dresses in the middle of his sermon, and made a bonfire of them within sight of the pulpit. He was so renowned, as well for the sanctity of his life as his manner of preaching, that he would often have twenty thousand people at a time to listen to him. The men placed themselves on one side of the pulpit and the women on the other, and the latter appeared like a forest of cedars with their heads reaching to the clouds, but, like snails in a fright, drew their horns in, to shoot them out again as soon as the danger was gone.
Whenever they wore them in public, they were pelted down by the rabble with stones; but, nevertheless, they mounted them again after a short time. The customs of the Norman peasants in many respects differ from those of Britain. The head-dress called Burgonin is the most remarkable and conspicuous part of their attire.
The weaving of gold and silver threads into ribbon and cloth, which is now in use, is no new idea; it was ascribed by Pliny to King Attalus, about sixteen hundred years ago.
"Here, on a fair one's head-dress, sparkling sticks, Swinging on silver springs, a coach and six; There, on a sprig or slop'd pourpon, you see A chariot, sulky, chaise, or vis-a-vis."
In the same poem we read:--
"Nelly! where is the creature fled? Put my post-chaise upon my head."
In Germany the styles seem to have differed but little from those of France, as, no doubt, France at that date furnished the styles for the world, as she does to-day.
Fig. 32 was copied from the "Nuremberg Chronicle" of A.D. 1493.
Fashion wears out more than women do.
As we advance in these pages one would suppose we ought to be exhibiting styles more quiet; but, on the contrary, when we look at Figures 38 and 39, which have been selected from miniatures in MSS., it would seem that improvement was made in the wrong direction.
The caps shown on the opposite page, in Figs. 40, 41, and 42, were worn in the reign of William and Mary in 1688, and were quite becoming.
In 1750 there was a change for the worse, and as we advance to Figs. 43, 44, and 45, we find them ridiculous.
In 1789, as in Figs. 46 and 47, there is nothing added to their beauty.
Here fashion, motley goddess, changing still, Finds ready subjects to obey her will, Who laugh at nature and her simple rules.
Figures 48 and 49, illustrating the Restoration of A.D. 1830, indicate a reaction against the Voltairean philosophy and French Revolution, and a return to chivalry and devotion.
At this period they were heart-shape in front, in remembrance of Mary Stuart, imitating an open carriage, hiding the charms of the fair face underneath from the passer-by.
In 1850 a modification is observable, as shown in Fig. 50.
As we arrive at the fashions of 1870 , we begin to feel more at home. Of course each generation thinks its own styles are just right, but in centuries to come modistes, no doubt, will look back upon our present styles as we do on the fashions of centuries past.
Such is life.
LADIES' DRESS CAPS.
Fig. 56 is a muslin breakfast cap called the "Langtry," made of Valenciennes lace, falling over the front, finished with an Alsatian bow, and the crown of Swiss muslin.
Fig. 57 is a new and novel idea called the "Turban," composed entirely of a large silk handkerchief. This is much worn for a dinner or evening toilet. The last three styles are taken from the originals at
WADLEIGH'S Fashionable Millinery and Cap Rooms, BOSTON.
On the opposite page is an illustration of the very latest Paris bonnet by Madame Magni?r.
The foundation is heavy corded silk of cream-color, with an immense wreath of Mignonette covering the front of the crown and drooping gracefully to the left, with face-trimming of a simple knot of Bretonne lace.
Fig. 59, designed and executed at Wadleigh's, is a white French chip. The face of the bonnet has alternate pipings of light-blue and cardinal satin, with a shirring of the latter. The outside is composed of a knot and twist of Sultan silk mingled with Bretonne lace, a fine wreath of forget-me-nots, and drooping cardinal buds, with Bretonne lace ties. Figs. 60 and 61 are also copies of the latest spring designs.
Fashion now assumes a most important place in the domestic economy of nations.
Fashion is the only tyrant against whom modern civilization has not carried on a crusade with success, and its power is still as unlimited and despotic as ever. There is no part of the body which has been more exposed to the vicissitudes of fashion than the head, both as regards its natural covering of hair and the artificial covering of hats and bonnets.
For a long period the world has acknowledged the French to be leaders of fashion. We look to Madame Virot, and other leading modistes of Paris, from season to season, for what might be termed first ideas, but still in all we are obliged to soften down and modify them to suit the more simple taste of American ladies.
ANCIENT MOURNING COSTUMES,
the outward signs of woe and sorrow, have always been demonstrated by some peculiarity in color in all nations.
The Roman women under the Republic wore black; under the Emperors white was adopted.
Grecian women covered their faces and wear black.
The Chinese, Siamese, and Japanese wear white.
Turks wear blue or violet.
Ethiopians wear gray.
Peruvians wear mouse-color.
Spaniards formerly wore white serge.
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