at her coronation are twenty-seven yards of white cloth of gold for a
kirtle and train, and a mantle of the same, richly furred with
ermine. This was the dress in which she rode in her litter from the
Tower to the palace of Westminster. This was an age of long trains,
and the length was regulated by the rank of the wearer; Anne, for her
whole purple velvet suit, had fifty-six yards. From the entries of
scarlet cloth given to the nobility for mantles on this occasion, we
find that duchesses had thirteen yards, countesses ten, and baronesses
eight."

The costume of Henry VII.'s day differed little from that of Edward
IV., except in the use of shirts bordered with lace and richly trimmed
with ornamental needlework, which continued a long time in vogue
amongst the nobility and gentry.

A slight inspection of the inventories of Henry VIII.'s apparel will
convince us of a truth which we should otherwise, readily have
guessed, viz., that no expense and no splendour were spared in the
"swashing costume" of his day. Its general aspect is too familiar to
us to require much comment. We may remark, however, that four several
acts were passed in his reign for the reformation of apparel, and that
all but the royal family were prohibited from wearing "any cloth of
gold of purpure colour, or silk of the same colour," upon pain of
forfeiture of the same and L20 for every offence. Shirt bands and
ruffles of gold were worn by the privileged, but none under the degree
of knight were permitted to decorate their shirts with silk, gold, or
silver. Henry VIII.'s "knitte gloves of silk" are particularly
referred to, and also his "handkerchers" edged with gold, silver, or
fine needlework. These handkerchiefs, wrought with gold and silver,
were not uncommon in the after-times. In the ballad of George
Barnwell, it is said of Milwood--

"A handkerchief she had,
All wrought with silk and gold,
Which she, to stay her trickling tears,
Before her eyes did hold."

In the east these handkerchiefs are common, and it is still a
favourite occupation of the Egyptian ladies to embroider them.

We are surprised now to find to what minute particulars legal
enactments descended. "No husbandman, shepherd, or common labourer to
any artificer, out of cities or boroughs (having no goods of their own
above the value of L10), shall use or wear any cloth the broad yard
whereof passeth 2_s._ 4_d._, or any hose above the price of 12_d._ the
y