The “corset d’un fin bleu” must be rendered by “a bodice of the finest sky-blue.” Instead of “mancherons d’escarlate,” we must read, “brassards or sleeves of the finest possible quality,” because the word “écarlate,” or scarlet, was used in those days to denote quality, not colour, as at present. The “chaperon faict en poupée” was a piece of stuff placed on the head-dress. Sometimes, as we see by a manuscript in the National Library, French ladies would dress after the Italian fashion, that is, with a greater quantity of jewels, and without head-gear; their hair being curled at the side, and plaits wound round the head. Although extravagance in dress had not yet reached the point which it afterwards attained under the chivalrous Francis I., yet it began to be universally displayed in both masculine and feminine attire. At the privileged fairs, quantities of materials of more or less value were offered for sale. Bourges was so famous for its cloth, that wealthy purchasers frequently stipulated that their coats should be made in “fine Bourges cloth.” Foreign manufactures of gold, silver, and silk entered France by way of Susa, when coming from Italy; Spanish goods were sent by way of Narbonne and Bayonne, whence they were forwarded direct to Lyons, where they were unpacked and sold. The Paris ell was longer by one-half than that of Flanders, Holland, England, and other countries. Ordinary wool for women’s garments was sufficiently plentiful in France. The finer cloths were generally manufactured from English and Spanish wools. Lower Brittany and Picardy supplied, it is true, a somewhat finer quality, which was used in the manufacture of certain cloths, and in particular for one called _camelot_. Linen-cloth was produced in considerable quantities, but was inferior in quality to the Dutch linen, which was much esteemed, and formed an important item in the trousseaux of young girls. [Illustration] [Illustration: Francis the First 1515 to 1526 Francis the First 1530 to 1545] CHAPTER IX. REIGN OF FRANCIS I. 1515 TO 1545. The court of Francis I.—A speech of Charles V.—The king’s liberality—Order of the Cordelière—Word-paintings of the fashions of the day, by Rabelais—Costumes of the seasons—Feather-fans—Sunshades—The “hoche-plis” or vertugadin—Mme. de Tressan saves her cousin’s life—Satires and songs—Mdlle. de Lacépède—“Contenances”—Silk shoes with slashes—Head-dress called a “passe-filon”—Increase of love of dress—The bean-flower—Artistic head-dresses—Twists of hair called _ratraprenades_—Ferronières—Coaches in Paris; their influence on the fashions.