The uniform worn at the present day by the Yeomen of the Guard stationed at the Tower of London, gives us the military costume of the Tudor period. It is the oldest corps in her Majesty's service, and was instituted by Henry VII. as the bodyguard of the sovereign. In the dress of the Bluecoat Boys at Christ's Hospital we have that of the citizens of London during the reign of Edward VI. and Mary, when blue coats were habitually used by apprentices and serving men, yellow stockings also were in common use. The badges on the jackets of firemen and watermen date from this time; they were made of metal and placed on the sleeve, in the 16th century, instead of being embroidered on the back or breast of the garment as they had been previously. Retainers in the households of the wealthy, were provided with surcoats and mantles twice a year, of their patron's favourite colour, and this was called the _livrée_, from a French word signifying to distribute. Trade guilds and members of the learned professions, also adopted a distinct style of costume. Lawyers, who were originally priests, of course wore the tonsure; but when the clergy ceased to interfere with secular affairs the lay lawyer continued this sign of office, and also wore a coif. Their gowns were capacious and lined with fur: and the Justices of the King's Bench were allowed liveries by the King, of cloth and silk. Budge, or lambskin, and miniver were provided for the trimming thereof, and the colour appears to have varied in different reigns, but for a long time green prevailed. [Illustration: COURTIER IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH.] The courtiers of Elizabeth discarded the "frocke cote" for quilted and stuffed doublets and trunk hose, slashed and ornamented in the most quaint and extravagant manner. Below these were worn stockings embroidered with birds, beasts, and other devices, "sewed up close thereto as though they were all of one piece." Trunk hose were appropriately named, as they were often filled with wool, bran, and other materials. At last they became of such enormous size that it was necessary to construct swings in the Houses of Parliament in place of the ordinary fixed seats, for the accommodation of those wearing this singular article of attire. Enormous ruffs of muslin and lace encircled the necks of dandies of the Elizabethan era, and they appear to have had waists which would excite the envy of the belles of the latter part of the 19th century. In fact, the gallants of that day were even in advance of the fair sex, in their love of fantastic costume; and as Hollingshead, in _The Chronicle_, justly states in reference to the fashions of the period: "Nothing was more constant in England than inconstancy of attire." [Illustration: EARL OF SURREY, TIME OF HENRY VIII.]