The Heritage of Dress: Being Notes on the History and Evolution of ClothesWebb, Wilfred Mark
History
The Heritage of Dress: Being Notes on the History and Evolution of Clothes
Webb, Wilfred Mark
Clothing and dress; Clothing and dress -- History
In this instance we may have the degenerated turned-back cuff and one
revived, shown together. Such a case, we need scarcely point out, could
hardly occur in the case of an animal structure, for if by a "throw
back" or "reversion to type" we get a vestigial character once more
fully reproduced, we cannot expect the original structure and the
vestige to be shown at the same time.
The adoption of buttons more or less for ornament has long been
practised. John Brandon, who died in the year 1364, is shown on his
brass (in the church of St. Mary, King's Lynn) with no less than forty
buttons on the sleeves of his undervest, which has embroidered cuffs
and is buttoned to the elbow (see Plate IV). We shall, however, have
something more to say with regard to buttons from this and other points
of view as we proceed.
[Illustration: REPRODUCTION OF A BRASS TO JOHN BRANDON AND HIS TWO
WIVES, IN THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY, KING'S LYNN. DATE 1364. ON THE MALE
FIGURE A CONTINUOUS ROW OF BUTTONS RUNS FROM THE WRIST TO THE ELBOW OF
THE UNDER VEST. THE WOMEN WEAR THE WIMPLE AND THE GORGET OR THROAT
CLOTH.
_PLATE IV._]
An interesting case of superfluous buttons on the front of clothes is to
be seen in the case of the short jackets of the postilions, belonging to
His Majesty the King. There is a useful row down the middle which closes
the garment, and two ornamental rows which start from each shoulder and
curve downwards towards the middle row. These are probably vestiges of
buttons that were once of use, and to seek an explanation it might be
well to study some uniforms of the past. We shall find that in the
eighteenth century it was customary to button back the revers of the
uniform coat, as in the case of the French coast-guard officer of 1775.
(See Figure 31.)
Fashion afterwards decreed that the coats should be fastened again with
hooks, but the two rows of buttons remained.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--The uniform of a coast-guard officer of 1775
(after Racinet).]
In the coat of the postilion there is no trace of the revers which
showed the lining, and were consequently of a different colour from
the rest of the coat. We find, however, in the peculiar uniform of
the Lancers that there are the two side rows of buttons, to which is
fastened a red front. This appears to represent the two revers combined.
In the present year, 1907, a number of ladies' dresses are to be seen in
which the revers trimmed with a different material from the dress are
buttoned back against the latter.
In some ceremonial dresses and uniforms there are cross stripes on the
breast (see Figure 61) which, it has been pointed out, represent series
of buttonholes which have become hypertrophied, and are now exaggerated
beyond recognition. The braid on the cuff of the London Scottish
Volunteers seems also to represent buttonholes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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