As the fig-leaf identifies Adam, so may the chaperon twisted into a cockscomb mark Richard II. As the curled and scented hair of Alcibiades occurs to our mind, so shall Beau Nash manage his clouded cane. Elizabeth shall be helped to the memory by her Piccadilly ruff; square Henry VIII. by his broad-toed shoes and his little flat cap; Anne Boleyn by her black satin nightdress; James be called up as padded trucks; Maximilian as puffs and slashes; D'Orsay by the curve of his hat; Tennyson as a dingy brigand; Gladstone as a collar; and even more recent examples, as the Whistlerian lock and the Burns blue suit. And what romantic incidents may we not hang upon our clothes-line! The cloak of Samuel Pepys ('Dapper Dick,' as he signed himself to a certain lady) sheltering four ladies from the rain; Sir Walter Raleigh spreading his cloak over the mud to protect the shoes of that great humorist Elizabeth (I never think of her apart from the saying, 'Ginger for pluck'); Mary, Queen of Scots, ordering false attires of hair during her captivity--all these scenes clinched into reality by the knowledge of the dress proper to them. And what are we doing to help modern history--the picture of our own times--that it may look beautiful in the ages to come? I cannot answer you that. Some chapters of this work have appeared in the _Connoisseur_, and I have to thank the editor for his courtesy in allowing me to reproduce them. I must also thank Mr. Pownall for his help in the early stages of my labours. One thing more I must add: I do not wish this book to go forth and be received with that frigid politeness which usually welcomes a history to the shelves of the bookcase, there to remain unread. The book is intended to be read, and is not wrapped up in grandiose phrases and a great wind about nothing; I would wish to be thought more friendly than the antiquarian and more truthful than the historian, and so have endeavoured to show, in addition to the body of the clothes, some little of their soul. DION CLAYTON CALTHROP. Contents PAGE WILLIAM THE FIRST 1 WILLIAM THE SECOND 10 HENRY THE FIRST 21 STEPHEN 29 HENRY THE SECOND 46 RICHARD THE FIRST 55 JOHN 62 HENRY THE THIRD 67 EDWARD THE FIRST 81 EDWARD THE SECOND 92 EDWARD THE THIRD 102 RICHARD THE SECOND 122