Everywhere, as means of travel increase, the men and women of different races tend to become more alike in their dress, and in so doing lose much of their charm for other nations. When one travels one does not want to see familiar clothing, dull and uniform as Western civilisation can make it, but glowing pictures that stimulate the imagination and carry one back to the Middle Ages. Peasants, however, quite naturally, as they go into the towns from their quiet sheepfolds and hillsides and valleys, consider it more “fashionable” to dress as the townsfolk do, and the townsfolk who visit other countries soon drop anything peculiar in their garb which marks them out for unpleasant notice, and so the chain goes on. Only in far-away places, as a rule, with few railway facilities and no civilised comforts, is the national dress preserved in proud integrity. Of all the countries in Europe, Hungary probably preserves the most singular and picturesque peasant costumes, and as her railway system is excellent and her comforts for travellers reasonable (in places first-rate), more and more do those who want a complete change from their usual surroundings gravitate there. The purity of the air in most parts still permits white to be worn for daily use and in some districts the women, and even the men, dress still almost completely in white. But this is not, and cannot be, universal, though almost everywhere may be seen the “bishop’s sleeves” of snowy muslin or linen coming out from a sleeveless jacket richly embroidered. This jacket varies much in shape and size, most often being like a zouave, and the embroidery work upon it is a joy to behold, for every peasant woman, be she Magyar or Slav, can embroider to perfection. It is not only her jacket of velvet or cloth or silk that receives this tender attention but the waistcoats of her men-folk, and more curious still, the top-boots of soft leather, often crimson, without which at one time no Hungarian costume was considered complete. They even appear in the peasant’s songs, such as: With csarda hat set jauntily, And decked with perfumed rosemary, I’ll stroll adown the village street. How all the girls will smile on me! Wrinkled my top-boots are and long, Upon their heels gilt spurs shine bright; They’ll clank the time to dance and song. How all the girls will smile to-night! [Illustration: WOMAN’S WORK-DAY COSTUME IN KALOCSA] Pieces of metal are put upon the heels of the boots in order to make them clank and attract attention. These top-boots, so valued and well-cared for, are still seen far and wide. It has been said of them by a Hungarian writer, “that they may be taken as the most distinctive feature of Hungarian dress, the ornamentation of which, a veritable flower-garden, embroidered with leather, braid and silk, is a treasure of the Magyars unique of its kind.”