The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1911-04-13
The Evolution of Woman's Attire
Womans Wear Reflects Steps Of woman's Development

place are the reflections, as in a
mirror, of the different steps in
the development of the fair sex.
Given a prominent period in the
history of women, the dress of the
men of the time. and one can
guess fairly accurately the cos-|
tune of the women.
In the ancient nations that
reached a high state of civiliza-
ton, woman attained in several
cases an equal footing with man.
Wherever this happened, the
dressing is quite similar. The
Egyptian woman Gig. -, for in
stance, wore a tunic exactly like
the mems, only her sash was tied.
The Greek woman wore most
beautiful flowing gowns, elabor-
ately figured and bordered, at
one and the same time both sim
pie and complex. The full long
skirts and general abundance of
material of figure 2 may have
been inconvenient, but the cos
tunes were extremely picturesque
and probably entirely satisfactory
considering the climate and the
needs of the time. The women of
the eastern countries had sim
liar tunic, more deliberately orna-
mented in rich patterns and con-
fined at the waist by girdle. The
women of Rome dressed very
much like those of greece.
After the fall of the Roman en-
pire in 395, some form of the
tunic, or long, loose gown, short
upper tunic and hood prevailed up
until the Norman conquest in
1866. The most marked change
previous to this period was the
development of the sleeves, which
fitted closely down the whole
length of the arm and then con-
tinued on abnormally until knot
had to be tied in them to prevent
stumbling over them, or else they
Terminated in bag or pouch at
the wrist.
With the advent of the Nor
mans, the men inaugurated their
extravagant era of dress, but it
took about a century for the wom-
en- to forsake their old simplicity.
The sleeves again became elongat-
ed and were made of a different
color from the dress; then the
hair was braided in long plaits
that hung down the back or over
the shoulder and was often in
cased in silken sack, finished
with tassel at the end. The
gowns became immoderately long.
By the latter part of the thir-
teenth century the tunic had
changed to a tight-fitting waist
with loose sleeves and long
trained skirt. The excessive
amount of cloth used in the cos
tune caused harsh censure from
the monks and satirists. In the
fourteenth century the ladies had
started out fairly on their career
of extravaganza. Figure wears
a long gown covered by a tight
fitting upper tunic; she seems
very proud of her gloves. Her
headdress has grown very ex-
IRENE, being arranged in a net
with two streaming contoise.
Now neck and neck with the
masculine element in ostenta-
tious dressing, the women pass the
men by adopting head-dresses of
such huge size that it is hard to
believe they were ever worn. Fig
urge A head-dress was actually
worn and many even more -ex-
treme.
The skirts became very voIum-
nous, fastened at the waist with
wide belts of contrasting color.
The waist was open at the neck
and had tight sleeves with huge
turnback cuffs. Tall steeplechase
hats with soft flowing scarfs of
gauze, though grotesque, are ar
tistic in comparison to the horned
affairs SO much worn by figure s.
When the great vain Queen
Elizabeth ruled in England, anoth-
er marked change took place in
the style of women's dressing.
The very high waist line dropped
to a very long pointed one, the
stomacher came into vogue, thel
sleeves grew tight and long, and al
great ruff of terrible proportions
adorned the neck, while the skirt
became stiff and round like a beel
hive with a slit up the front,
showing q richly embroidered pet-I