Dresses were now profusely trimmed with ribbons and cords; and the mode of the silk corset separate from the skirt was adopted; the gown was of Florence satin, open up the front, and in winter lined with badger’s fur. By these means noble ladies marked the distinction between themselves and mere bourgeoises. A thin wooden busk in the front of the corset was called a “coche.” Occasionally the chemise, artistically arranged, took the place of the corset, properly so-called, which had itself succeeded to the “bliaud.” Towards 1480, women uncovered the neck very much in full dress, and “collets” or collars were worn turned downwards almost to the arms. These were called “rebrassés,” and were often trimmed with fur. Villon mentions them in his “Grand Testament:”— “Dames à rebrassez collets, De quelconque condicion.”[11]... Working women going into the towns to sell their merchandise or their work, wore a white apron and a gown of cloth, serge, or woollen; they were bare-headed, the hair being confined by a band on the forehead and hanging loosely behind. They imitated the bourgeoises in the make of their dresses, but refrained from trains. The fashion of hanging sleeves was succeeded by that of tight, close-fitting ones. Gowns were made with bodices laced up in front like the Swiss costume; and the collars, sleeves, and edge of the skirt were bordered with a wide band of velvet; the sleeves hung down to the ground. A girdle of velvet covered with gold-work fitted tightly to the waist. Another girdle called a “surceinte” embroidered with mottoes, initials, and even with heraldic arms, confined the outer garment. There were three kinds of head-gear, the pyramid, the truncated, terminated by a button, and the small “barillet,” which was like a little barrel. Hats were more general under Charles VI. and Charles VII., and were worn at all times. Long hair, whether natural or false, was called a wig. Poets raised their voices against the false hair, which was worn over the forehead till it touched the eyes; the ears were hidden by it, and the ends, reaching to the shoulders, were curled. The hair was either white, or of the bright yellow colour fashionable at the present day. An infusion of onion-skin was sometimes used as a dye. In the reign of Louis XI., French ladies “adorned” themselves with enormous head-dresses, three quarters of a yard in height, stuffed into various shapes, viz., a heart reversed, a shell, or a cushion, and covered with beads and precious stones. Doorways were widened that ladies might pass through them. Montesquieu, writing on the subject, says that “architects have often been obliged to contravene the rules of their art as to the dimensions of entrances to our apartments, in order to bring them into proportion with women’s adornments.” The fashion of long hair and also of false hair lasted until the close of the reign of Louis XII.