--not that one can
call the little coats great ideals of dignity, but even they, by their
richness and by the splendour of the persons they adorned, come into
the category.

The long gowns of both men and women were rich beyond words in colour,
texture, and design, they were imposing, exact, and gorgeous. Upon a
fine day the streets must have glittered when a gentleman or lady
passed by.

The fashions of the time have survived for us in the Court cards:
take the jacks, knaves, valets--call them as you will, and you will
see the costume of this reign but slightly modified into a design, the
cards of to-day and the cards of that day are almost identical. Some
years ago the modification was less noticeable; I can remember playing
Pope Joan with cards printed with full-length figures, just as the
illustrations to 'Alice in Wonderland' are drawn. In the knave you
will see the peculiar square hat which came in at this time, and the
petti-cote, the long coat, the big sleeve, and the broad-toed shoes.
You will see the long hair, undressed and flowing over the shoulders
(the professional classes, as the lawyer, cut their hair close, so
also did the peasant). Over this flowing hair a dandy would wear a
little cap with a narrow, rolled-up brim, and over this, on occasions,
an enormous hat of felt, ornamented with a prodigious quantity of
feathers.

[Illustration: {A man of the time of Henry VII.}]

There was, indeed, quite a choice of hats: the berretino--a square hat
pinched in at the corners; many round hats, some with a high, tight
brim, some with the least brim possible; into these brims, or
into a band round the hat, one might stick feathers or pin a brooch.

[Illustration: A MAN OF THE TIME OF HENRY VII. (1485-1509)]

The chaperon, before described, was still worn by Garter Knights at
times, and by official, legal, civic, and college persons.

What a choice of coats the gentlemen had, and still might be in the
fashion! Most common among these was the long coat like a
dressing-gown, hanging upon the ground all round, with a wide collar,
square behind, and turning back in the front down to the waist--this
was the general shape of the collar, and you may vary it on this idea
in every way: turn it back and show the stuff to the feet, close it up
nearly to the neck, cut it off completely. Now for the sleeves of such
a coat. I have shown in the illustrations many varieties, the most
common was the wide sleeve, narrow