The fête dress of the Morlacchi woman is a gorgeous affair, with a chemisette embroidered in gold and red, and the blue petticoat upheld by a woollen girdle trimmed with shells. The stockings are red, and the shoes of undressed leather. The unmarried women wear strange head ornaments, including a scarlet cap with a pendent veil, and such decorations as silver coins, glass beads, feathers, shells, artificial flowers, and glass plumes, all of which elegancies are dispensed with at the altar, for the matron enwraps her head with a handkerchief and allows her hair to fall simply over her shoulders. The virgin conceals her hair with a cap, and twists beads and coins amongst her locks in approved Tartar fashion. The married woman is allowed the ease of the Turkish slipper, and all alike wear strings of beads round the neck, and as many brass and tin rings as they can obtain; and bracelets of leather covered with wrought silver or tin, and embroidered stomachers adorned with beads and shells express the last word of "smartness." The Finland peasant woman seems to be the only one with a nice appreciation of brown. She chooses this for her bodice, with a short skirt of black, and her sleeves are loose and decked with blue and red, and round her neck are five rows of large beads, while her pendent ornaments are of beads, and her quaint little apron of blue is striped with blue and black and a design in yellow and red beads. The white kerchief covers the head and forehead, falling on to her shoulders, and round her waist is fastened a belt striped with red and fringed. But gather your peasant costume where you may, whether in the North or the West of Europe, you will find its most prominent details the contrasting colour of the bodice, the blue and red embroidery, the silver and gold ornaments, and the linen and canvas fabrics. The kerchief and the cap are the distinguishing features, and the shape and fashion of the jewellery are inspired as often as not by the prevailing religious rites and the superstitious beliefs of the district. [Illustration: IN CHINA OF OLD.] CHAPTER XIII OF ORIENTAL DRESS All over China, and particularly in official circles, dress is determined by certain fixed laws, the result being that every detail possesses a meaning for those capable of interpreting it. The most significant feature is the button which adorns the crowns of hats peculiar to Mandarins, while embroideries likewise assist in determining the status of the wearer. Colour is another factor of importance. Yellow is sacred to the Emperor, the members of the Imperial family, and those privileged few to whom the sovereign desires to award the highest honour. Red is exclusively reserved for Mandarins, but blue, violet, and black are common property.