The most remarkable feature of the fifteenth century was the more common use of caps and hats of fantastic shapes and the change of form of the capuchon or hood into a regularly formed crown, with a thick roll, having a long tippet attached to it and trailing on the ground or tucked into the girdle. (Fig. _2a_.) A single feather is sometimes worn in the cap. (Fig. 5.) Long, tight hose and short boots or buskins, and shoes with high fronts and backs that turned over each way, were worn, all with long toes. The gown or jacket begins to be cut even around the shoulders, instead of being made high up the neck. The face was still closely shaven. The state mantles of the King and nobles were made of velvet and lined with white damask or satin. Legal and other official habits consisted of long, full gowns, girdled round the waist and trimmed and lined with fur, according to the rank of the wearer. During the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III., a very characteristic style of costume begins to come into vogue. The store from which we draw our knowledge--the brasses, effigies, and illuminated MSS.--is a very extensive one, and owing to the invention of printing and the use of the wood block for illustration, we have still another source of information. A very important feature of the costumes of this time was the excellent fit of the garments. As Mrs. Ashdown says, in her _British Costume_, “Broadly speaking, it had been perfectly possible for a dressmaker to cut out and complete any garment worn by men up to that period; after the reign of Edward IV. the era of the tailor began.” In Edward’s reign the jackets and doublets were cut shorter than ever, the sleeves slit so as to show the large, loose white shirts, and the shoulders were padded with moss or flock. Men wore the hair long, and had hats of cloth a quarter of an ell or more in height, and all wore most sumptuous chains of gold. Shoes with long, pointed toes, some as much as two feet long, called _poulaines_, were also worn. Sumptuary laws were again enacted in this reign against people who dressed beyond their social position, and both the wearers and the tailors and shoemakers were subject to fines for transgressing them. In the reign of Richard III., gentlemen began to wear the long gowns and more sober costumes that distinguished the reign of Henry VII. The costumes of the nobility generally consisted of hose or long stockings tied by _points_ or laces to the doublet, which was open in front, about half-way down the breast, showing a stomacher or vest, over which it was laced like a peasant’s bodice. Over the doublet was worn a long or a short gown, according to fancy and circumstances, the former hanging loose, the latter full of pleats before and behind, plain at the sides and girdled tightly about the waist. Small caps or “_bonets_” of various shapes were worn. Boots reaching to the middle of the thigh are frequently seen in the illuminations of the period.