The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-03-23

carriages built specially to accommodate
them.
| LIN 1896 hoops disappeared from pri-
waite life, being retained at court until
the time of George ", when they were
abolished by royal command. Revived
by Eugene, they reigned supreme until
1866, when the fashion began to die out.
Gedey's Fashions for July, 1870, show
| that in this country, at least, the tight
and narrow bodice and the widely dis
tended skirt were still the proper caper,
with hanging shawlike mantles and
wraps spreading over the skirt, longer
at the back than in the front.
Henry VIII, who could behead minis
tiers and divorce wives with apparent
ease and impunity, had big and trouble
some feet. rheumatism and govt most
Of his contemporaries probably expected
+ to experience, but he seems to have had
more than his share OF what we now
refer to merely as sfoot troubles" He
has been pictured with one foot resting
on a soft cushion, while, in one in
stance at least. he is shown. some
what in dishabille, with a crutch. Prac-
tically all his portraits show him with
very soft, easy footgear, usually of vel
vet. Sometimes greater width at the
toe and even more comfort was OBJ
tanned by slashings in the velvet, leav-
ing only soft silk pulled beneath.
A Wide TOed Shoe
Eventually the fashionable shoe Of the
period was almost twice as wide at the
toe as at the heel, the toes having only
the, slight covering which was afforded
by the pulled silk inserted in the slash
ings. When these Slashings were left
open the cOlOred sock showed under
meath. Incidentally, it is said that An
ne BoIeyn. central figure of not the
least of the kings matrimonial ventures,
had a mole on her neck, which account
ed for her favoring the ruff, which
she made popular and which is especial
ly associated with the age of her daugh-
ter, Elizabeth.
Richard III, the hunchback, leaned
to heavily paded and deliberately pulled
coats as offering means of concealment
for his deformity. And what the king
wore the court FASTENED to order.
In sharp contrast to the several in
stances of fashions or freaks in styles
set by one man or woman were the So
called clustered" clothes, the 'blister-
ed fashion being attributed to whole
aflny.Nluring the reign of Henry VIII,
which extended from 1919 to 1547, two
fashion influences were at work, one
distinctly English and the outgrowth Of
previous fashions in England, the other
the German-Swiss vogue. The many
works of Durer and Holbein show the
latter.
Tents Seized For Garments
The clustered" fashion, which called
for mems clothes not only pulled, but
slashed and cut all over, with the shirt
putting out through the holes, looking
clustered came in after the routing
of the forces of the duke of Burgundy
at Nantes in 1477 by the Swiss. The
victorious soldiers. in their ragged
clothes. seized the silken tents and BAN
ners of the duke, and whatever ma
teria1s they could lay their hands on,
to make good their deficiencies. Even
at that the garments made of these gay
pieces soon were ragged and torn, and
their. shirts pulled out at many a hole
lnd rent. =
The arrival of the victorious army
was the signal for wild burst of en-
thiisiasm on the part Of every stay-at-
home, who FASTENED to copy the free
garments, and the clustered" fashion
received the seal of approval of the
most fashionable. From the blistered
breeches Of Henry Wills reign were
evolved the trunks Of the next. Tight
hose were generally worn, sometimes
pulled at the knee; from the bagging,
sagging and slashing of the hose.
breaches were short step
--AS-