Arizona republican., 1921-04-19
Two Thousand Years of Style

and also as a protection against napier thrusts.
 Catherine de Medici and Queen Elizabeth are both shown in tKe doll collection wearing their favorite ruffs Here again there was excess. Ruffs finally became so ridiculously large in Eiizabeth's court that the Queen was alarmed and angry at the efforts of her courtiers to outdo one another To stop the ruff's progress she issued decree limiting the size of ruffs and appointed officers who were to devote all their time to Investigating violations of the edict and clip any ruffs exceeding the size limit.
 Generally a decree or any effort suddenly to curb extravagance in dress has only caused the fire to break out somewhere else Royalty set the fashion and could ban or en- courage certain tendencies of style as 1t liked But among themselves the courtiers tried to outdo one another just as the modern fashion follow CTS do.
 In all these centuries of the middle ages. and on up to the French revo- lution. only the leisure class made fashion history. It took a woman of wealth to afford a dress so heavy that two attendants had to support her when she walked. This is no ex- aggerated fancy. Historic records mention that Gabrielle d'Estrees. mistress of Henry ", wore a court gown so loaded with gold, silver and
 precious stones that she could not move about alone and could scarcely l stand under the weight of it.
 Between these clothes racks of the l court and the peasants there was no l great important middle class like that Of today Peasants working on the | land wore simple clothes. They could | not afford the costly materials af- fected by the nobility, and they could
 not work in the court styles. No
 woman could hoe or care for a child | in panniers or a ruff.
 Peasants Initiate Royalty
 The peasants in their villages got
 their much modified styles, however
 from royalty, just as the nobles did | The headdress worn by Anne of Brit
 tany in the 18th century is still copied by peasant women of that part o-
 France, and the tall. conical hennir
 of Isable of Bavaria G40o) is still the ] headdress of peasant Normandy | There would be comparatively little contrast or variety in a history o1 peasant costumes. Once style ! gained popularity with the peasantr, of a district it became a fixed inheri tance. That is why the Wright col l lttlkOA Ol ldSiAOI QOWn Zlt | modern times, a collection of court
 ladies. queens. and women of wealth | The comparatively modern dolls. o
 the 18th and goth centuries, show tht
 tendency of fashion to concern
 wider range of people than the mar
 row court circles. America, German,
 and France are represented in tn,
 dolls of these centuries. Instead O . being labeled Queen of France o
 "a lady of rank as the earlier doll!
 are, these models are marked "sprihs costume" ball gown" calling cos tune" street costume
 The fall of the bastile marked tn
 end of royal leadership In fashion , for France. There was a weak re . vival of royal prestige in dress unde i the Empress Josephine, but her in
 luence over French attire was negligi
 ble compared to the influence tha
 had been exerted by Marie An
 toinette.
 Soon, industrial development com , pleted the upheaval of fashion tradi ? tions. Machines turned out coats an dresses wholesale and opened factor P employment to girls who had worke l at home or in the fields. Material Q were made cheap, so that the work . ing girl could wear Silk and lace. AnC 3 equally important in the history O dress, the railroad, telegraph, steam boat and fashion journal made !, possible fn- the rest of Europe an