Modifications in female dress after the Invasion of the Franks—Customs of the latter—The Merovingians—Costumes of skins and felt; cloaks and camlets—The coif, the veil, the skull-cap, the “guimpe,” the cape—Fashionable Merovingian ladies adorn themselves with flowers—Various articles of dress—The “suint”—Young girls dress their hair without ornaments—St. Radégonde—The hair of married women. The influence of political events on costume is more decisive than is generally supposed. Cæsar’s conquest of Gaul had greatly modified the dress of the Gallic women. After the invasions of the barbarians, and when the Franks had snatched the most vivacious region of our country from the Romans, a material change took place in the dress of the women. Former invasions had generally been of a temporary nature, but the invasion of the Franks was of a permanent character. This rendered it highly important in regard to the moral life of the population. The Franks, like the Romans at an earlier period, made a real conquest of our country, in which they founded a different state of society from that which had been established by Cæsar and his successors. The rough, not to say ferocious manners of the north crossed the Rhine together with the bold and indomitable warriors whose adventurous exploits have been made known to us by history, and both private and public life felt their influence. The Frankish woman, who was large and coarsely built, wore a long black gown, or a gown edged with scarlet, but her arms were bare and her bosom was uncovered. She crowned her head with flowering gorse, and would rush fully armed into the bloody fray. At times inspired, or filled with the spirit of prophecy, she sang the deeds of father, husband, or son, or recounted the victories of the confederacy. She resembled the other Allemanni women in her dreamy creed and gentle superstitions, and she possessed quiet energy and comparative sociability which enabled her to triumph over obstacles. While holding tenaciously to many primitive customs she was not altogether averse to innovations, nor to art, industries, and southern civilization. She held her place admirably at the court of Clovis, who, as tradition informs us, liked to dispense his favours and had a taste for magnificence. No sooner were the Franks firmly established this side of the Rhine, on the northern and eastern territories, than the rusticity of the Germans began to blend with the refinements of the Latin race, and in some cases to counteract the elements of corruption in the latter. The customs of the Franks took root among the Gallo-Romans, and for a time the smaller details of dress disappeared, or at least held their place with the utmost difficulty.