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wrinkles, and coloured with saffron. women," he goes on to say, "living among the English, wear linen, a gown, and a mantle, and cover their heads in the Turkish fashion, with many ells of linen, only the Turkish turban is more round at the top, while that worn by the Irish is flatter and broader.' Speed also speaks of wide-sleeved linen shirts, stained yellow, the mantles, and the skeins, and says:"The women wore their hair plaited

in a curious manner, hanging down their backs and shoulders, from under the folden wreaths of fine linen rolled about their heads."

From the time of Charles II. the gentlemen in Ireland are said to have gradually abandoned the national costume, and to have adopted the English fashions. The lower orders, however, retained their dress to a much later period, and even now the brogues and mantles are constantly seen, and still oftener the feet unencumbered with shoes or stockings.

THE

TOILETTE IN WALES.

CHAPTER XV.

HE ancient costume of Wales greatly resembled that of Ireland; cloaks or mantles were always worn, and the feet were generally naked. The Rev. W. Bingley, speaking of

this country, says: "The women wear long blue cloaks, that descend almost to the feet; they are seldom to be seen without them. In North Wales they all have hats similar to those of the men, and blue stockings, without any feet to them, which they keep down by a kind of loop, that is put round one of the toes. In the unfrequented parts they seldom wear any shoes except on Sundays."

In Warrington's "History of Wales," we read that the ancient Welsh "had no expensive riches in their cloaths. The same garb that the people were used to wear in the day, served them also in the night; and this consisted of a thin mantle, and a garment or shirt worn next to the skin. They either went with their feet entirely bare, or they used boots of raw leather, instead of shoes, sewed together with raw skin."

THE TOILETTE IN FRANCE.

CHAPTER XVI.

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3

O France is universally conceded the palm in the race of fashion; and she is unwearied in her exertions to retain the distinction.

The dress of the ancient Gauls was,

we are told, very simple, and, like that of most other European nations, consisted of skins, formed into a rude kind of tunic, and in winter a cloak of the same, fastened on one shoulder, and descending to the heel. Though these garments could not well fetter their movements when they went to battle, still we find that, either for lightness or bravado, when in the presence of an enemy, the Gauls divested themselves of all covering as far as the waist. On the head they usually wore a skin cap, of a very

primitive shape: and even these few garments were simple in form and coarse in texture. The dress of the women only differed from that of the men in having the tunic longer, and the cap shaped like a triangle.

But though habited in so simple a manner, the love of ornament which has characterised the French in later times, appears, even at the early period of which we speak, to have been remarkable. They covered themselves with chains, rings, necklaces, and bracelets. In the " In the "neis," we read :

"The approaching Gauls,

Obscure in night, ascend and seize the walls.

The gold, dissembled well their golden hair:

And golden chains on their white necks they wear."

There are still extant many monuments of the Gauls; one of the most ancient was dug up in the cathedral church of Paris in 1711; it represents six figures, all dressed in tunics, with sleeves reaching to the wrist; over this is worn a saye, which is exactly the same as the Roman sagum, whence its name, only it has sleeves. The heads of these figures are covered with caps, which bend forward much like the Phrygian bonnet. Considerable difference as to the lesser details of dress is frequently met with in these statues, and no doubt various fashions were employed, both for forming and ornamenting the habiliments of the Gauls, even though their attire is described as so simple. Long garments, adorned with a border of sable, ermine, or miniver, formed, during several ages, the dress of persons of distinction.

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