In the earlier part of last century the occupiers of Layton, Lytham, Fox, Burn, Mains, Rawcliffe, Rossall, Larbrick, etc., Halls, and others of equal social standing, who formed the gentry of the Fylde, and who consequently must be taken as our mirror of fashion, were clothed in straight square-cut waistcoats, extending to the knees, and of very gorgeous patterns; velvet breeches fastened below the knees; long silk stockings; buckled shoes, with high red heels; periwigs of monstrous size; hats, cocked on three sides; long lace neckerchiefs; and lastly, but far from the least important, a coat of rich material, having long stiff skirts and wide cuffs, turned back and adorned with gold or silver lace. The ladies had laced stomachers beneath a bodice with straight sleeves, ending at the elbow in moderately wide cuffs. The skirt of the dress was divided in front and looped up behind, disclosing a petticoat equalling or surpassing the richness of the upper garment, and trimmed with flounces and furbelows. The boots resembled those just described, but were more delicate in workmanship. The head-dress was composed of a species of cap, the lace material of which rose in three or four tiers, placed one above another, almost to a point, whilst the hair was brushed up and arranged in stiff curls, somewhat resembling a pyramid. This coiffure had only a brief reign, and was superseded by one less exalted, and of more elegant appearance. Hoops were introduced about 1720, and thirty years later silk aprons and gipsy straw hats, or small bonnets, were worn. In 1765 periwigs were discarded, and the natural hair was allowed to grow, being profusely sprinkled with powder, both by males and females. The country people were habited in long, double-breasted coats, made from frieze or homespun, and of a dark brown, grey, or other quiet shade; a light drugget waistcoat, red shag or plush breeches, and black stockings. There is no necessity to trace the costumes of our ancestors further than the point here reached, as their varieties present few phases of special interest, and probably the most striking are already sufficiently familiar to our readers. A sure, though somewhat unsteady, decline was shortly inaugurated in the sumptuous and elaborate dresses of the people, which continued its course of reform until the more economical and unostentatious dress of modern days had usurped the place of the showy habiliments of the eighteenth century.