order, by the dread of personal chastisement, and great respect and reverence was exacted by their elders. [Illustration] In the dress of the Blue-coat School (Christ's Hospital), we see the ordinary costume of boys of the Tudor period. It consisted of a long coat reaching to the heels and knee-breeches, a striped vest, yellow stockings, and a small round cap placed on the side of the head. The dress of little girls may be found on various monumental effigies, in which they appear like their mothers, in full skirts, sometimes distended by a fardingale, the body imprisoned in whalebone to the hips, a folded ruff encircling the neck, and their stockings (according to Stubbs) were of the finest yarn, silk, thread, or cloth that could possibly be had, of changeable colours, cunningly knit, with curiously indented points, clocks, and open seams. The shoes were of black, green, white and yellow velvet, or of leather stitched with silk and embroidered with gold and silver all over the foot. [Illustration] The paintings of Vandyck bring graphically before us the picturesque elements of the dress of the Stuart era. There is an air of richness and refinement about the long skirted silken frocks embellished with lace, the pointed collars, and beaver hats with trailing feathers universally worn, and the quaint lace caps, which, by a turn of fashion's wheel, have been remodelled for the children of today. [Illustration] At no period in the history of costume were the styles so offensive to those with a true conception of colour and form than in the first half of the nineteenth century. We have only to turn to the sketches of Leech and contemporary artists to find bare necks and arms, conspicuous underwear, very short skirts distended by a stiffened petticoat or crinoline, white cotton stockings, low shoes fastened by a strap and single button, mushroom hats, aprons and pinafores devoid of elegance and grace, and the hair cut close to the head or arranged in rows of stiff ringlets. Nor did the boys of England, in trousers buttoned high on short jackets, or with tunics worn with frilled linen collars and leathern belts, show to greater advantage. Queen Victoria inaugurated a new system of clothing for boys, when she dressed the young Princes in Scotch and sailor suits, and the wardrobes of all classes have been considerably extended of late, by the open-air life and outdoor sports in which every self-respecting lad indulges. Cricket, tennis, boating, football, and cycling, all imperatively demand appropriate apparel, and tailors now give reasonable attention to this important branch of their business, and provide fabrics and designs suited to the needs of the rising generation. [Illustration]