a man's attire, as the loose collar of
a doublet, to be set on or taken off by itself, without the bodies, as
the picadillies now a daies, or as mens' bands, or womens'
neckerchiefs, which are in some, or at least have been within memorie,
called partlets.'

Sir F. Madden says: 'The partlet evidently appears to have been the
corset or habit-shirt worn at that period, and which so commonly
occurs in the portraits of the time, generally made of velvet and
ornamented with precious stones.'

[Illustration: A MAN AND WOMAN OF THE TIME OF EDWARD VI. (1547-1553)

The change from the dress of the previous reign should be easily
noticed, especially in the case of the woman. This dress is, of
course, of the plainest in this time.]

Hall, the author of 'Satires,' 1598, speaks of a man, an
effeminate dandy, as wearing a partlet strip. It appears to me, who am
unwillingly forced into judging between so many learned persons, that,
from all I have been able to gather from contemporary records and
papers, the partlet is indeed, as Minshein says, 'the loose collar of
a doublet,' in reality the same thing as a shirt band.

[Illustration: {Two men of the time of Edward VI.}]

Henry VIII. wore a band about his neck, the forerunner of the ruff.
Some of his bands were of silver cloth with ruffs to them, others, as
I have shown, were wonderfully embroidered.

In this case, then, the partlet is head of the family tree to our own
collar, 'to be set on or taken off by itself,' and so by way of ruff,
valued at threescore pound price apiece, to plain bands, to falling
bands, laced neckcloth, stock--to the nine pennyworth of misery we
bolt around our necks.

Dress, on the whole, is much plainer, sleeves are not so full of cuts
and slashes, and they fit more closely to the arm. The materials are
rich, but the ornament is not so lavish; the portrait of Edward by
Gwillim Stretes is a good example of ornament, rich but simple. Shoes
are not cut about at the toe quite with the same splendour, but are
still broad in the toe.

For the women, it may be said that the change towards simplicity is
even more marked. The very elaborate head-dress, the folded,
diamond-shaped French hood has disappeared almost entirely, and, for
the rich, the half hoop, set back from the forehead with a piece of
velvet or silk to hang down the back, will best describe the
head-gear. From that to the centre-pointed hoop shows the trend of the
shape. This late