The ladies of the court, fortunately, were not such thorough courtiers as to overpass all the bounds of decorum. They adopted the fashion of cushions, which remaining fixed behind, while the hoop swayed, gave size and roundness to the hips, but they did not imitate the king’s gentlemen in wearing the “panse,” or paunch, an absurd invention, which gave the male wearer a likeness to Punch, and was the exact opposite of the “buste ajusté.” The “buste” flattened the figure, while the “panse,” consisting of a quantity of cotton wool, formed an enormous Pantagruelian stomach, and imparted a truly grotesque appearance to those who wore it. This absurd fashion was of short duration; men found it cumbrous, and perhaps became ashamed of the ridicule it excited. If my fair readers will look at a painting at the Louvre, by Clouet, otherwise Janet, _circa_ 1584, they will feel flattered; for they will perceive that the palm of absurdity and singularity belonged of right at that time to the sterner sex. [Illustration] [Illustration: Henry IV 1590 Louis XIII 1614] CHAPTER XIV. REIGNS OF HENRI IV. AND LOUIS XIII. 1589 TO 1643. Universal mourning on the death of the Guises; intolerance of showy dress—Vertugadins, “espoitrement,” “corps espagnolé”—Diversity of colours—The pearls, jewels, and diamonds belonging to Gabrielle d’Estrées and to the queen—Dress of Marguerite de France—Low-cut bodices—Head-dresses of hair—Various styles—Venetian slippers—Edicts of Louis XII.—Caricatures: “Pompe funèbre de la Mode”—Words and fashions—Ribbons or “galants”—Dress of widows—“Demi-ceint” girdles—Gloves of all sorts—Patches—Masks; their use—“Cache-laid”—The Frondeuses—Mme. de Longueville. There is no difficulty in ascertaining the relation between the events of a certain period and the fashions of the same date. It may be that if the spirit of the age be serious, if the social community be exposed to severe trials, if continual misfortunes befall the mass of the people, the mode of dress will reflect those vicissitudes of the time; and, generally speaking, such is the case. Sometimes, on the contrary, extravagance and luxury seem to be flaunted in the very face of the general poverty, and the small prosperous minority are so profoundly indifferent to the misfortunes of the greater part of mankind, that they make not the slightest change in their mode of living, but indulge in every whim and caprice, and continue to bend the knee before the “fickle goddess.”