Produced by Meredith Bach and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net The Evolution of Fashion BY FLORENCE MARY GARDINER _Author of "Furnishings and Fittings for Every Home," "About Gipsies," &c. &c._ [Illustration: SIR ROBERT BRUCE COTTON.] London: THE COTTON PRESS, GRANVILLE HOUSE, ARUNDEL STREET, W.C. TO FRANCES EVELYN, COUNTESS OF WARWICK, WHOSE ENTHUSIASTIC AND KINDLY INTEREST IN ALL MOVEMENTS CALCULATED TO BENEFIT WOMEN IS UNSURPASSED, THIS VOLUME, BY SPECIAL PERMISSION, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THE AUTHOR. IN THE YEAR OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA'S DIAMOND JUBILEE, 1897. [Illustration: _Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland._ _Princess Henry of Pless._ _The Countess of Warwick._ _Lady Marjorie Greville._ _Lady Eva Dugdale._ THE WARWICK BALL.] PREFACE. In compiling this volume on Costume (portions of which originally appeared in the _Ludgate Illustrated Magazine_, under the editorship of Mr. A. J. Bowden), I desire to acknowledge the valuable assistance I have received from sources not usually available to the public; also my indebtedness to the following authors, from whose works I have quoted:--Mr. Beck, Mr. R. Davey, Mr. E. Rimmel, Mr. Knight, and the late Mr. J. R. Planché. I also take this opportunity of thanking Messrs. Liberty and Co., Messrs. Jay, Messrs. E. R. Garrould, Messrs. Walery, Mr. Box, and others, who have offered me special facilities for consulting drawings, engravings, &c., in their possession, many of which they have courteously allowed me to reproduce, by the aid of Miss Juliet Hensman, and other artists. The book lays no claim to being a technical treatise on a subject which is practically inexhaustible, but has been written with the intention of bringing before the general public in a popular manner circumstances which have influenced in a marked degree the wearing apparel of the British Nation. FLORENCE MARY GARDINER. _West Kensington, 1897._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. THE DRESS, B.C. 594--A.D. 1897 3 II. CURIOUS HEADGEAR 15 III. GLOVES 25 IV. CURIOUS FOOTGEAR 31 V. BRIDAL COSTUME 39 VI. MOURNING 51 VII. ECCENTRICITIES OF MASCULINE COSTUME 61 VIII. A CHAT ABOUT CHILDREN AND THEIR CLOTHING 71 IX. FANCY COSTUME OF VARIOUS PERIODS 79 X. STAGE AND FLORAL COSTUME 89 THE EVOLUTION OF FASHION CHAPTER I. THE DRESS, B.C. 594--A.D. 1897.