Wilmington daily commercial. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1866-1877, 1872-11-12

In all the ehort-lived splendors Of which the
the old chroniclers tell 80 much, women
had but little part, whether as the wearers or
makers. The first milliners we're bearded men.
1t was a tailor, not a mantua maker in the mod
ern sense Of the world, who brought home
kathrina's new gown to the house Of Petruchio.
Nor did the comparatively simple and becom-
ing attire OF the ladies Of fuedal times change
by any means so often from the deeorous grace
Of its original type as that Of their own tickle
lords.
There is less difference, satoriAlly speaking,
between Queen Eleanor and Margaret of Anjoun,
between BerengariA and Isabel Of France, than
between the men Of their respective time,
They seldom made themselves sublmely ridicu-
lous as masculine vanity so constantly urged
the tops OF the period to do. Until we reach
the bristling rufs and steeple hats of Elizabethe
reign there is nothing unless it be the fAntas-
tic contrast Of colors brought in by Henry the
Sixth's imperious consort-to provoke a SMILE
from the days of tire Confessor to those of the
Defender OF the Faith.
But the men of those centuries were arrayed
as superby as 80 many bright winged butterflies
flashing with rainbow tints and powdered
with gold. In every household of any prefer
sion to rank, even in those Of the poorer gentry
who groaned over the fashioner's charges and
haggled smartly with the chapman who sold the
wares, large slice Of the family income was de-
voted to clothing his head. Aud not merely van
ity and ostentations, but the g,egarious instinct
which We share with sheep, pushed medieval
mankind into practical compliance with FASH
ions which were directly injurious to health
The warm clothing, and in particular the
weghty hoods, worn in Edward the Third
reign, we're excellent allies to the deadly epide-
mics Of the times, and may even have whetted
the scythe OF that Black Death that moved
among our forefathers as among thick grass
and that swept away half the population of Eu-
rope. The extravagant tightness OF the French
hose and doublet worn under Louis the Eleventh
AID Of which Charles the Bold's towering eff
gy, as he stands in stone larger than in life, be-
side the famous chimney piece Of the Bruges
town hall, is the best example-was succeeded
by the ludicrous bulk Of the bombasted gar
ments Of Francis Of France, and the blud Harry
Of England.
Trunk hose and Flanders coats, stuffed ont
with hair and wool with bran or straw, according
to the hberalty OF the customer. was what TAIL
ordom had then to offer to discerning public I;
and soon afterwaTd the stiff EliZabethan run ex-
crueiatlngly starched, and withits busting points
as sharp as the spiked leaves OF the holly hedge,
began TO incase the much enduring necks Of both
eexes. Then to the brocaded doublet and short
hose OF the original Of the Yandyck portraits there
succeeded the lace falls, the knee-buckes. tapped
coats, fathomless waistcosts, and majestic peri
wigs OF that Augustan age of which the Cesar
neld his revels at Whitehall, and spent in a month
easy-golng careless, almost joyless prodigahty
the yearly income which England and the French
king subscribed. for Charles the Second-Hdr-
pers Bdzdr