ry and a half. Just as costume begins to take
the modern path we have the wig or peruke, strangest of all the
fantasies of fashion, introduced as the wear for all men of standing.
Pepys, the son of a tailor and a man with a shy affection for fine
clothing, may again here be quoted. On a Sunday in February 1661 he
"began to go forth in my coat and sword, as the manner now among
gentlemen is." In November 1663 he takes another step with fashion,
going to the periwig-maker to have his hair cut off and to put on his
first periwig, for which he paid 3^l, another to be made up of the hair
with which he had parted. The next day he wore the periwig to his
office, and "no great matter was made of it." Two days later my Lord
Sandwich "wondered at first to see me in my peruque," but even in church
Pepys found that he drew little attention in the new guise. The same
month the duke of York announced that he would wear the periwig, "and
they say the king also will." Thus began this costly and inconvenient
mode. At home and at their ease men commonly replaced the wig with a
soft silk or velvet "night-cap," and the coat with a "morning gown" like
our modern dressing gown. Powder, which had been dusted about the hair
by a few courtiers and fashionable folk since the reign of Elizabeth,
was used by most wearers of the wig. Hair "dressed with a powder" was
often seen in London under the Commonwealth, and now the great periwig
brought powder into frequent use.

[Illustration: FIG. 43.--A Gentleman of the Privy Chamber at the
Crowning of James II.]

Before the end of the 17th century the periwig reached its greatest
height and breadth, the curls of a fine gentleman towering in a mass
above the brow and flowing far down over the shoulders or nigh to the
waist. Guardsmen wore them tossing over their corslets, although a
smaller variety, the campaign wig, had been introduced for war or
travel. Many portraits of this age show its locks contrasting strangely
with the soldier's steel breastplate and pauldrons, but it must be
remembered that martial gentlemen would often choose to be painted in
armour although such harness was disappearing from actual use.

[Illustration: FIG. 44.--The Herbwoman and her Maids at the Crowning of
James II.]

Under James II. the coat adopted in the late reign was firmly
established as the principal garment of a well-dressed man. Gowns
remained but to make a ceremonial dress for the great officers of state,
for t