Costume: Fanciful, Historical and TheatricalAria, Mrs. (Eliza Davis)
History
Costume: Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical
Aria, Mrs. (Eliza Davis)
Costume -- History
The fashion of bordering dresses and skirts with deep flounces of fur
and velvet was introduced rather late in the century, and silken girdles
of conspicuous width were held up by jewelled clasps, and innumerable
gold chains fell round the neck. The round cap, covered by a kerchief
hanging to the ground, was popular, and the steeple form of head-dress
with pendent drapery tucked under the arm was a distinctive feature of
the time. Head-dress in the reign of Henry V. was perhaps as exquisitely
ridiculous as it was ridiculously exquisite, but, whatever its faults,
it possessed the supreme virtue of being becoming. What face would not
look well under the influence of such a head-dress as that sketched on
this page? Picture it made soft and white beneath a turban of colour, and
with jewels flanking it on either side beneath. The horned head-dress
looked its best--and that it had a best is no questionable point--in
jewelled velvet, when beneath it fell a long veil in graceful folds. The
picture on page 42 shows a head-dress accurately planned upon a perfectly
fitting frame, with white at the top and back, and jewelled velvet as an
outline for the ear-pieces, while the band of white across the front is
lawn, again traced with a colour. The sugar-loaf head-dress was usually
ornamented with a band of black velvet embroidered in gold.
[Illustration: ELIZABETH OF WOODVILLE.]
There is a fine record of Elizabeth of Woodville in the British
Museum, her hair pale yellow in colour, arranged with a small curl on
the forehead, and brought up under a high crown, with large closed
arches whence it falls, the points of the arches being finished with
_fleurs-de-lys_. Her dress is of gold brocaded in blue, and the sleeves
are tight-fitting; ermine outlines the shoulders, and a crimson scarf
does its picturesque duty as a girdle, and a broad hem of ermine outlines
the skirt, which is very full and has an extremely long train; and
beneath the dress we are allowed a peep of a blue petticoat and pointed
shoes. Several of the ladies attendant upon all this elegance have the
privilege of appearing with her in the illumination, in high caps with
the hair drawn through the top, short-waisted gowns, and trains with fur
borders. Another gown which had the advantage of serving royalty was
close-fitting and short-waisted, with tight sleeves, embroidered cuffs,
and a collar which took almost the form of a small cape, held in front
with a square brooch jewelled in the centre, and bearing three pendants.
A row of pearls defined the edge of the _décolletage_, a necklace of gold
encircled the throat, and the flat, close-fitting cap was embroidered in
gold.
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