who wore the long gown generally had it
lined with some fine fur, and to prevent this dragging in the mud, as
also to show the elegance of their furs, they fastened the train to a
button or brooch placed at the back of the waistband. This, in time,
developed into the looped skirts of Elizabethan times.

[Illustration: {Three women of the time of Henry VII.}]

The bodice of the gown was square cut and not very low, having an
ornamental border of fur, embroidery, or other rich coloured material
sewn on to it. This border went sometimes round the shoulders and
down the front of the dress to below the knees. Above the bodice was
nearly always seen the V-shaped opening of the under petticoat bodice,
and across and above that, the white embroidered or crimped chemise.

The sleeves were as the men's--tight all the way down from the
shoulder to the wrist, the cuffs coming well over the first joints of
the fingers (sometimes these cuffs are turned back to show elaborate
linings), or they were made tight at the shoulder and gradually looser
until they became very full over the lower arm, edged or lined with
fur or soft silk, or loose and baggy all the way from shoulder to
hand.

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

At this time Bruges became world-famed for her silken texture; her
satins were used in England for church garments and other clothes. The
damask silks were greatly in use, and were nearly always covered with
the peculiar semi-Spanish pattern, the base of which was some
contortion of the pomegranate. Some of these patterns were small and
wonderfully fine, depending on their wealth of detail for their
magnificent appearance, others were huge, so that but few repeats of
the design appeared on the dress. Block-printed linens were also in
use, and the samples in South Kensington will show how beautiful and
artistic they were, for all their simple design. As Bruges supplied us
with silks, satins, and velvets, the last also beautifully damasked,
Ypres sent her linen to us, and the whole of Flanders sent us painters
and illuminators who worked in England at the last of the great
illuminated books, but this art died as printing and illustrating by
wood-blocks came in to take its place.

Nearly every lady had her own common linen, and often other stuffs,
woven in her own house, and the long winter evenings were great times
for the sewing chambers, where the lady and her maids sat at the
looms. To-day