ntury there
is seen a tendency to shorten the long gown, which had been the best
wear of a man of good estate, to a more convenient length, although the
knees are still well covered. Loose sleeves falling below the elbow
leave to view the sleeve of an under-garment, buttoned tightly to the
arm. In winter time a man's gown will have long sleeves that cover the
hands when the arms are at length. The full cloak, although still found,
is somewhat rare among a people that has, perhaps, learned to wear more
clothes and warmer upon the body. Hoods are worn in many fashions, to be
cast back upon the shoulders like a monk's cowl, the part at the back of
the head being drawn out into a "liripipe" long enough at times, when
the hood is drawn up, to be knotted round the brow turban-fashion (fig.
30). Long hose are drawn up the legs to join the short breech, and the
toes of the ankle-shoes are pointed so long that holy men see visions of
little devils using them as chariots. The women love trailing gowns.
They have under-skirts and loose over-garments, sometimes sleeveless.
Their hair at least would not shock those earlier prelates who cursed
the long plaits, for it is caught up in a caul or braided at the sides
of the head. In the second half of the century men of rank borrow from
Germany the fashion of the _cote-hardie_. In its plainest form this
short tunic, covering the fork of the leg, is cut closely to the body
and arms (fig. 31). Sometimes the sleeve ends at the elbow and then
another streamer is added to the one which falls from the hood, a strip
of stuff continuing the elbow-sleeve as low as the coat edge. This strip
and the hem of the skirt are often "slittered" with fanciful jags, a
fashion which soon draws down the satirist's anger. Parti-coloured
garments were an added offence; a gentleman would have his coat parted
down the middle in red and white, with hose of white and red to match.
Men and women of rank wear a twisted garland of rich stuff, crown-wise
on the head, set with pearls and precious stones, a fashion which is
followed on the great helm of the knights, being the "wreath" or "torce"
of heraldry. The dames of such as wear the _cote-hardie_ imitate its
tightness in the sleeves and bodices of their long gown. A curious
fashion which now begins is the sleeveless upper gown whose sides are
cut away in curved sweeps from the shoulder to below the waist, the
edges of the opening being deeply furred. The strange head-