The Hawaiian gazette., 1872-11-06
Development I'm Dress.
III GEORGE H. DARWIN.

AHcttlltl ~ d " u HOTL Ol COQ'
traction. On page 524 of FairholiIs q Costume
10 England" is the figure Of the head Of an
AnglO-Saxon woman, wearing hood bound on
with headband and on page $50 are figures
Of several hats, worn during the fourteenth
century, which were bound to the head by rolls
Of cloth and oil the early hats seem provided
with some sort Of band. This cord or band has
survived to Us in the form Of the hat-band A
similar survival may be observed in the strings
Of the Scotch cap, and even in the mitre Of the
bishop
II is probable that the hat-band would long
ago have disappeared had it not been made use
OF for the purpose Of hiding the seam joining the
crown to the brim. Here, then, we have part
originally Of use for one purpose, applied to a
new one, and so changing its functions-a case
which has an analogy to that OF the development
OF the swimming bladders OF fishes, used to give
them lightness in the water, into the lungs Of
mammals and birds, used as the furnace for the
production Of animal neat.
The duties Of the hat-band have been taken,
in modern hats, by two running strings fastened
TO the lining; and these again. in their turn have
become obsolete; for they are now generally
represented by small piece Of string, by means
Of which il is no longer possible to make the hat
fi the bead more closely.
The ancestor from which our present chimney
pot hat takes most Of its characteristics is the
hrOadrimmed, loE-crowned hat, with. AN immense
r,fnu1a fn1liur- four, - II
worn during the reign Of Charles H. At the
end OF the 18th, and during the 18th century,
this hat was varied by the omission of the plume,
and by giving Of the brim various cocks"
That these cocks were formerly merely
temporary, is shown by Hogarth's picture of Hu-
dibras beating Lidrophel and his man, Whacum,
where there is hat the brim of which is but.
toned up in front to the crown with three buttons
This would be hat Of the 18th century. After
wards, during the 18th century, the brim was
bent up in two or three places; and notwith.
standing that these cocks became permanent,
yet the hats still retained the marks of their
origin in the button and strap on the right side
The cockade, imagine, took its name from its
being badge worn on one of the cocks"
The modern cooked hat, apparently of such On
anomalous shape, proves, on examination, to be
merely hat Of the shape above referred to 4; it
is not, however, symmetrical and as the cock E"
on the right side forms a straight crease in the
quondam brim, and that on the left is bent rather
over the crown, thus making the right side of
the hat rather straighter than the left it appears
that the right side was bent up at an earlier date
than the left. The hatband remains, in the
shape of two gold tassels, which are just visible
within the points of the cooked hat.
A bishops bat shows the transition from the
three-cOcked hat to our present chimney pot
and because, sixty years ago, beaver-fur was the
fashionable material for hats, we must now needs
wear silllen imitation, which could deceive no
one into thinking it fur, and which is bad TO
resist the effects of weather. Even in lady's
bonnet the elements of brim and crown may be
traced
The busby Of our hussars affords curious
instance Of survival. Ii would appear to be now
merely fancy head dress, but on inspection it
proves not to be so. The hussar was originally
Hungarian soldier, and he brought his hat with
him to our country. / found the clew to the
meaning Of the bat in a picture of a Hungarian
peasant. He wore red nightcap, something
Ike that worn by our brewers men, or by ST.
Gillian peasant; but the cap was edged with so
broad band Of fur that it made 10 fact, low
A." busby." And now, in our hussars, the fur has
grown enormously, and the bag has dwindIed into
n tapping ornament which may be detached at
pleasure. Lastly, in the new busby" of our
engineers, the bag has vanished, although the |
top of the cap, which is made of cloth and not
Of fur, is still blue as was the bag formerly; the
top can not, however, be seen, except from a |
bird s-eye point of view.
1t appears that all cOcksdes and plumes are |
worn on the LEFT side of the hat and this may, |
think, be explained by the fact that large
plume such as that worn in The time of Charles |
H., or that of the modern Italian Bersaglieri, |
would impede the free use of the sword and !
this same explanation would also serve to show
how it was that the right side of the hat was the
first TO receive cock" A London servant
would be little inclined to think that be wears
his cOckade on the left side to give his sword-arm
full liberty.
CoATs.-Everyone must have noticed the nick
il the folded collar Of the coat and of the waist
coat this is, Of course, made to allow for the
buttOning round the neck but it is in the con-
dihon of a rudimentary organ, for the nick would
probably not come into the right place, and in
the Esistooat at least there are usually neither
the requisite buttons nor buttonholes.
d" The modern gentlemans coat may be said
TO take its origin from the rest or long outer gar
ment, worn towards the end of the reign of
Charles H." This vest seems to have had no
gathering at the waist, and to have been buttoned
all down the 'front.' and in shape rather like a
loose bag. To facilitate riding, it was furnished
with a slit behind, which could be buttoned up at
pleasure The button-holes were embroidered,
and in order to secure similarity of embroidery
on each side of the slit, the buttons we're sewn
on 10 a strip Of lace matching the corresponding
on the other side. These buttons
and button holes left their maks in the coats of
century later, in the forms of goldIacing on
either side Of the slit of the tails.
In about the year 100, it began to be the
=. Al. ,-.-4 - /