Chapter XX: Part 20

Costume, as readers of Carlyle's _Sartor Resartus_ know, always has a significance deeper than the mere whims of fashion. In the cosmopolitan society of modern times dress everywhere tends to become assimilated to a common model, and this assimilation, however regrettable from the picturesque point of view, is one of the most potent forces in the break-down of the traditional social distinctions. In the middle ages in Europe, and indeed down to the French Revolution, the various classes of the community were clearly differentiated by their dress. Everywhere, of course, it happened that occasionally jackdaws strutted in peacock's feathers; but even in England, where class distinctions were early less clearly marked than on the continent of Europe, the assumption of a laced coat and a sword marked the development of a citizen into a "gentleman" (q.v.). Nothing has more powerfully contributed to the social amalgamation of the "upper-middle" and the "upper" classes in England than the fashion, introduced in the 19th century, of extreme simplicity in the costume of men. But, apart from the properties of richness in material or decoration as a symbol of class distinction--at one time enforced by sumptuary laws--there have been, and still are, innumerable varieties of costume more or less traditional as proper to certain nationalities or certain classes within those nationalities. Of national costumes properly so called the best known to the English-speaking world is that of the Highlands of Scotland. This is, indeed no longer generally worn, being usually confined to gentlemen of birth and their dependents, but it remains a national dress and is officially recognized as such by the English court and in the uniforms of the Highland regiments in the British army. The chief peculiarity of this costume, distinguishing it from any others, is the tartan, an arrangement of a prevailing colour with more or less narrow checks of other colours, by which the various clans or septs of the same race can be distinguished, while a certain general uniformity symbolizes the union of the clans in a common nationality. Thus, e.g. the tartan of the clan McDonell is green with narrow checks of red, that of the clan Gregarach red with narrow checks of black. The costume consists of a short tunic, vest, a kilt--heavily pleated--fastened round the waist, and reaching not quite to the knees (like a short petticoat), stockings gartered below the bare knee, and shoes. In front of the person, hanging from a belt round the waist, is the "sporran" or "spleuchan," a pocket-purse covered with fur; and a large "plaid" or scarf, usually wrapped round the body, the ends hanging down from a brooch fastened on the left shoulder, but sometimes gathered up and hanging from the brooch behind, completes the costume. The head-gear is a cloth cap or "bonnet," in which a sprig of heather is stuck, or an eagle's feather in the case of chiefs. A dirk is worn thrust into the right stocking. Up to the end of the 16th century the tunic and "philibeg" or kilt formed a single garment; but otherwise the costume has come down the ages without sensible modification. Kilt and plaid are of tartan; and sometimes tartan "trews," i.e. trousers, are substituted for the former.

Among other national costumes still surviving in Europe may be mentioned the Albanian-Greek dress (characterized by the spreading, pleated white kilt, or _fustanella_), and the splendid full-dress of a Hungarian gentleman, the prototype of the well-known hussar uniform; to which may be added the Tirolese costume, which, so far as the men are concerned, is characterized by short trousers, cut off above the knee, and a short jacket, the colour varying in different districts. This latter trait illustrates the fact that most of the still surviving "national" costumes in Europe are in fact local and distinctive of class, though they conform to a national type. These "folk-costumes" (_Volkstrachten_), as the Germans call them, survive most strongly in the most conservative of all classes, that of the peasants and naturally mainly in those districts least accessible to modern "enterprise." These peasant costumes, often of astonishing richness and beauty, vary more or less in every village, each community having its own traditional type; and, since this type does not vary, they can be handed down as valuable heirlooms from father to son and from mother to daughter. But they are fast disappearing. In the British islands, where there were no free peasant cultivators to maintain the pride of class, they vanished long since; the white caps and steeple-crowned hats of Welsh women were the last to go; and even the becoming and convenient "sun bonnet," which survives in the United States, has given place almost everywhere to the hideous "cloth cap" of commerce; while the ancient smocked frock, the equivalent of the French peasant's workmanlike _blouse_, has become a curiosity. The same process is proceeding elsewhere; for the simple peasant women cannot resist the blandishments of the commercial traveller and the temptation of change and cheap finery. The transition is at once painful and amusing, and not without interest as illustrating the force of tradition in its struggle with fashion; for it is no uncommon thing, e.g. in France or Holland, to see a "Paris model" perched lamentably on the top of the beautiful traditional head-dress. Similarly in the richer Turkish families women are rapidly acquiring a taste for Parisian costumes, frequently worn in absurd combination with their ordinary garments.

The same process has extended far beyond the limits of Europe. Improved communication and industrial enterprise have combined with the prestige of European civilization to commend the European type of costume to peoples for whom it is eminently unsuited. Even the peoples of the East, whose costume has remained unchanged for untold centuries, and for whom the type has been (as in India) often determined by religious considerations, are showing an increasing tendency to yield to the world-fashion. Turkey, as being most closely in touch with Europe, was the first to feel the influence; the introduction of the fez and the frock-coat, in place of the large turban and flowing caftan of the old Turk, was the most conspicuous of the reforms of Sultan Mahmud II.; and when, in 1909, the first Turkish parliament met, only a small minority of its members wore their traditional costumes. The introduction of Japan into the comity of nations was followed by the adoption of European costume by the court and the upper classes, at least in public and on ceremonial occasions; in private the wide-sleeved, loose, comfortable _kimono_ continues to be worn. China, on the other hand, has been more conservative, even her envoys in Europe preserving intact (except sometimes in the matter of boots) the traditional costume of their nation and class, while those of Japan, Corea and Siam appear in the conventional diplomatic or "evening" dress in Europe. In the Mussulman East, even when European dress has been adopted, an exception has usually been made in favour of head-gear, which has a special religious significance. In Turkey, for instance, the hat has not succeeded in displacing the fez; and in India, though the Parsis had by the beginning of the 20th century begun to modify their traditional high turban-like hat into a modified "bowler," and Hindus--abroad at least--were affecting the head-gear of the West, those Mussulman princes who had adopted, wholly or partially, European dress continued to wear the turban. On the other hand, the amir of Afghanistan, when he visited India, had--out of doors at least--discarded the turban for the ugly "solar topee." In spite of the natural conservatism, strengthened by religious conventions, of the Eastern races, there is a growing danger that the spread of European enlightenment will more or less rapidly destroy that picturesque variety of costume which is the delight of the traveller and the artist. For Indian costumes see INDIA: _Costume_; for Chinese see CHINA; &c.

IV. OFFICIAL COSTUME

Official costumes, in so far as they are not, like the crowns and tabards of heralds, the coronets of peers, or the gold keys tacked to the coat-tails of royal chamberlains--consciously symbolical, are for the most part ceremonious survivals of bygone general fashions. This is as true of the official costume of the past as of the present; as may be illustrated from ancient Rome, where the toga, once the general costume of Roman citizens, in the 3rd and 4th centuries was the official robe of senators and officials (see also under VESTMENTS). Thus, at the present time, the lay chamberlains of the pope and the members of his Swiss guard wear costumes of the 16th century, and the same is true of the king's yeomen of the guard in England. In general, however (apart from robes, which are much older in their origin), official costumes in Europe, or in countries of European origin, are based on the fashions of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Knee-breeches, however, which survive in the full-dress of many British officials, as in ordinary court dress, had practically disappeared on the continent of Europe, surviving only in certain peasant costumes, when the emperor William II. reintroduced them at the court of Berlin. The tendency in the modern democratic communities of Anglo-Saxon race has been to dispense with official costumes. In the United States the judges of the Supreme Court alone wear robes; the president of the Republic wears on all occasions the dress of an ordinary citizen, unrelieved by order or decoration, and thus symbolizes his pride of place as _primus inter pares_; an American ambassador appears on state occasions among his colleagues, gorgeous in bullion-covered coats, in the ordinary black "evening dress" of a modern gentleman. The principle, which tends to assert itself also in the autonomous "British dominions beyond the seas," is not the result of that native dislike of "dressing up" which characterizes many Englishmen of the upper and middle classes; for modern democracy shares to the full the taste of past ages for official or quasi-official finery, as is proved by the costumes and insignia of the multitudinous popular orders, Knights Templars, Foresters, Oddfellows and the like. It is rather cherished as the outward and visible sign of that doctrine of the equality of all men which remains the most generally gratifying of the gifts of French 18th-century philosophy to the world. In Great Britain, where equality has ever been less valued than liberty, official costumes have tended to increase rather than to fall into disuse; mayors of new boroughs, for instance, are not considered properly equipped until they have their gown and chain of office. In France, on the other hand, the taste of the people for pomp and display, and, it may be added, their innate artistic sense, have combined with their passion for equality to produce a somewhat anomalous situation as regards official costume. Lawyers have their robes, judges their scarlet gowns, diplomatists their gold-laced uniforms; but the state costume of the president of the Republic is "evening dress," relieved only by the red riband and star of the Legion of Honour. In the Latin states of South America, which tend to be disguised despotisms rather than democracies, the actual rather than the theoretical state of things is symbolized by the gorgeous official uniforms which are among the rewards of those who help the dictator for the time being to power. See also ROBES; for military costume see UNIFORMS; for ecclesiastical costume see VESTMENTS and subsidiary articles. (W. A. P.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Apart from the enormous number of books especially
devoted to costume, innumerable illustrated works exist which are, in
various degrees, useful for the study of the history of this subject.
It may be noted here, e.g. that the illuminators and painters of the
middle ages did not affect historical accuracy in their presentment of
biblical or secular subjects, but clothed their patriarchs, apostles
or Roman warriors in the dress of their own ages, their pictures thus
becoming invaluable records of the costume of their time. In this
respect the knowledge of classical antiquity revived during the
Renaissance introduced a certain confusion. Artists began to realize
the incongruity of representing antique figures in modern garb, but,
in the absence of exact knowledge, fancy began to play a greater part
than research in the dressing of their characters. Portraits and
representations of contemporary scenes (e.g. Rembrandt's "Night
Watch") continue to be first-hand authorities for the costume of the
period in which they were produced; but representations of biblical or
historical scenes have little or no value from this point of view.
Thus in Rubens's famous picture of St Ambrose repelling Theodosius
from the door of his cathedral, the bishop is vested in the mitre and
cope which only came into vogue centuries later, while the emperor
wears a military costume modelled on that of Roman imperators of an
earlier day. Even in portraiture, however, a certain conservatism
tends to make the record untrustworthy; thus, great men continued to
be painted in full armour long after it had in fact ceased to be worn.

Of authorities for English costume the following may be selected as
especially useful: J. C. Bruce, _The Bayeux Tapestry Elucidated_
(London, 1856), with 17 plates; F. W. Fairholt, _Costume in England to
the end of the 18th Century_ (2nd ed., ib., 1860); William Fowler,
_Examples of Medieval Art_ (1796-1829), 116 plates; Froissart's
_Chronicles_, translated by T. Johnes (4 vols., 1844), 72 plates and
many woodcuts; R. N. Humphrey, _Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages_
(ib., 1849); _Facsimiles of Original Drawings by Holbein, in the
Collection of His Majesty, for Portraits of Persons of the Court of
Henry VIII._, engraved by F. Bartolozzi, &c. (London, 1884); John
Nichols, _Progresses, Pageants, &c., of Queen Elizabeth_ (3 vols.,
1823), and _of James I._ (4 vols., 1828), with numerous plates;
Hogarth's _Works_, engraved by himself, with descriptions by J.
Nichols (1822), 153 plates; Edmund Lodge, _Portraits of Illustrious
Personages of Great Britain_ (12 vols., 1823-1835), 240 plates; J. R.
Planche, _Hist. of British Costume_ (3rd ed., Bohn, 1874), and
_Cyclopaedia of Costume_ (2 vols., 1876-1877); Henry Shaw, _Dresses
and Decorations of the Middle Ages_ (2 vols., 1840-1843), 94 plates
and many woodcuts; Joseph Strutt, engraver, _Dress and Habits of the
People of England_ (2 vols., 1796-1799), and _Regal and Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Great Britain_, new edition with notes by J. R. Planche
(1842), 153 plates; Westwood, _Miniatures of Anglo-Saxon and Irish
Manuscripts_ (1868), 54 plates; C. A. Stothard, _The Monumental
Effigies of Great Britain_ (1817-1832; ed. Hewitt, 1876); Herbert
Haines, _Manual of Monumental Brasses_ (Oxford, 1861), with many
woodcuts; J. G. and L. A. B. Waller, _A Series of Monumental Brasses_
(London, 1864); H. Druitt, _Costume on Brasses_ (London, 1906). Of
foreign works on costume the most important are Hefner-Alteneck,
_Trachten, &c., vom fruhesten Mittelalter bis Ende des 18.
Jahrhunderts_ (2nd ed., Frankfort, 1879-1890); Viollet-le-Duc,
_Dictionnaire raisonne du mobilier francais_ (6 vols., Paris,
1858-1875), the first four volumes devoted to armour and costume;
Friedrich Hottenroth, _Trachten der Volker alter und neuer Zeit_ (2nd
ed., Stuttgart, 1882-1890), with excellent plates, Fr. transl. by J.
Bernhoff, _Les Costumes chez les peuples, &c._ (Paris, 1885), and
_Handbuch der deutschen Tracht_ (1898); Bonnard et Mercuri, _Costumes
historiques des XII^e, XIII^e, XIV^e et XV^e siecles_ (2 vols., Paris,
1867), 200 plates; Burgmair, _Triomphe de l'empereur Maximilien I_.
(Vienna, 1796), 135 plates; Chapuy, _Le Moyen Age pittoresque_ (2
vols., 1837), 180 plates; Chevignard et Duplessis, _Costumes
historiques des XVI^e, XVII^e et XVIII^e siecles_ (2 vols., Paris,
1867), 150 plates; du Sommerard, _Les Arts au moyen age_ (10 vols.,
Paris, 1838-1848), 510 plates; Duflos, _Recueil d'estampes,
representant les grades, les rangs, et les dignites, suivant le
costume de toutes les nations existantes_ (Paris, 1779-1780), 240
plates; _Espana artistica y monumental_ (3 vols., Paris, 1842-1859),
145 plates; Fabri, _Raccolta di varii vestimenti ed arti del regno di
Napoli_ (Naples, 1773), 27 plates; Jaquemin, _Iconographie methodique
du costume du V^e au XIX^e siecle_ (Paris), 200 plates; Lacombe,
_Galerie de Florence et du palais Pitti_ (4 vols., Paris, 1789-1807),
192 plates; Paul Lacroix, _Manners, Customs and Dress during the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance_, Eng. trans. (London, 1874),
_Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance_
(London, 1874), and _The 18th Century, its Institutions, Customs,
Costumes_ (London, 1875-1876); L. M. Lante, _Galerie francaise de
femmes celebres_, atlas (Paris, 1841), 70 plates; Malliot et Martin,
_Recherches sur les costumes, les moeurs, les usages religieux,
civils et militaires des anciens peuples_ (3 vols., Paris, 1809), 228
plates; Pauly, _Description ethnographique des peuples_ (St
Petersburg, 1862); Pauquet Freres, _Modes et costumes historiques et
etrangers_ (2 vols., Paris, 1873), 196 plates; Auguste Racinet, _Le
Costume historique_, in two forms, large and small (Paris, 1876,
another ed. in 6 vols., with 500 plates, 1888); G. M. Straub,
_Trachten oder Stammbuch_ (1600), several hundreds of curious woodcuts
of costumes; Vecellio, _Habiti antichi et moderni di tutto il mondo_
(3 vols., Venice, 1859-1863).

Examples and illustrations of early costume of great interest and
value may be found in the _Archaeologia_, M. Didron's _Annales
archeologiques_, the _Journals_ of the Archaeological Societies, the
various county histories, the _Monumenta Vetusta of the London Society
of Antiquaries_, and other kindred works.

Besides works on costume generally, there are a large number devoted
specially to national or "folk" costumes. Of these may be mentioned:
F. Hottenroth, _Deutsche Volkstrachten, stadtische und landliche, vom
XVI. Jahrhundert his zum Anfange des XIX. Jahrhunderts_ (Frankfort,
1898, 1900, 1902, &c.), including German, Bohemian, Swiss and Dutch
local costumes, with references to further works; L. M. Lante,
_Costume de divers pays_ (undated, c. 1825), 177 coloured plates of
female costumes, mainly French, some Spanish, German, &c.; A. Hard,
_Swedish Costumes_ (Stockholm, 1858), 10 coloured plates; Felix
Benoist, _La Normandie illustree_ (2 vols, fol., Nantes, 1854), with
excellent coloured lithographs of costumes by Hyppolite Lalaine; E. H.
T. Pingret, _Galerie royale de costumes_ (Paris, undated), beautiful
lithographs of costumes, principally Italian with some Spanish and
Swiss, lithographed from paintings by Pingret by various artists;
Edward Harding, _Costume of the Russian Empire_ (London, 1811), with
70 hand-coloured plates, including costumes of many of the
semi-barbaric tribes of central Asia; for Turkish costume in the 18th
century see _Recueil de cent estampes representant differentes nations
du Levant_, engraved by Le Hay (Paris, 1714); for Greek costume at the
time of the War of Independence see Baron O. M. von Stackelberg,
_Costumes et usages des peuples de la Grece moderne_ (Rome, 1825),
with 30 beautiful plates. For Highland costume see R. R. MacIan,
_Costumes of the Clans_ (Glasgow, 1899), with letterpress by J. Logan.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _The Races of Man._

[2] The comprehensive description by Herodotus (vii. 61 sqq.) of the
costumes of the mercenaries of Xerxes is classical (see Rawlinson's
edition, iv. 56 sqq.). For archaeological parallels one may compare
the tombs of Rekhmire (15th cent. B.C.) and Harmhab (14th cent.) in
Egypt, the "Black Obelisk" of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser II. (9th
cent.) or his famous gates at Balawat (ed. W. Birch and T. G.
Pinches, and with critical description and plates by A. Billerbeck
and F. Delitzsch, _Beitrage z. Assyriologie_, vi. 1; Leipzig, 1908).

[3] Old Babylonian sculptors who represent the enemy as naked (Meyer
[see bibliography below], pp. 12, 70 seq., 116), conventionally
anticipate the usual treatment of the slain and wounded warriors.

[4] Edited P. C. Newberry (_Archaeol. Survey of Egypt_, 1893). Cf.
also the Palestinian short coloured skirt with black tassels of the
14th century (_Zeit. f. Agypt. Sprache_, 1898, pp. 126 sqq.).

[5] See e.g. Ball, _Light from the East_, p. 36. On the Aegean dress
(Whether a development from spiral swathes or perhaps rather from a
series of skirts one above the other), see the discussion of the
Aegean loin-cloth by D. Mackenzie, _Annual of the British School at
Athens_, xii. 233-249 (esp. 242 seq.).

[6] Joseph's familiar "coat of many colours," which we owe to the
Septuagint, can perhaps be justified: R. Eisler, _Orient. Lit.
Zeitung_, August, 1908

[7] Erman, 226 sqq., cf. the modern Bedouin shoe, Jennings-Bramley,
_Quart. Stat._ of Palest. Explor. Fund (1908), p. 115 sq. (on dress
of Sinaitic Bedouin generally).

[8] Meyer, 97, see F. Hommel, _Aufsatze u. Abhandlungen_ (Munich,
1900), 160 sqq., 214 sqq. For other feathered head-dresses in western
Asia, see Muller, 361 sqq.

[9] Such tasselled or fringed caps were used by the Syrians in the
Christian era, see W. Budge, _Book of Governors_, ii, 339, 367.

[10] Comp. the horns of Bau ("mother of the gods"), Samas (Shamash),
(H)adad, and (in Egypt) of the Asiatic god assimilated to Set (so,
too, Rameses III. is styled "strong-horned" like Baal). With the band
dependent from the conical hat of Marduk-bal-iddin II. (Meyer, 8) and
other kings, cf. the tail on the head-dress of this foreign Set (e.g.
_Proc. Soc. of Bibl. Arch._ xvi. 87 sq.). The consort of the Pharaoh,
in turn, wore the sacred vulture head-dress.

[11] On the resemblance between divine and royal figures in costume,
&c., see further Meyer, 9, 14 sq., 17, 23, 53 sq., 67, 79, 102, 105
sq.

[12] Herod. iii. 8. If the bald Sumerians wore wigs in time of war,
(Meyer, 81, 86), war itself from beginning to end was essentially a
religious rite; see W. R. Smith, _Rel. of Semites_, pp. 401 sqq., 491
sq.; F. Schwally, _Semitische Kriegsaltertumer_, i. On the importance
attached to the beard, see _Ency. Bib._, s.v.

[13] A typical example is afforded by the solitary representation of
a Moabite (Perrot and Chipiez, _Phoen._ ii. 45) whose helmet and
dress suggest a god or king. Equally perplexing is the Egyptian style
on the Phoenician statue, ib. 28.

[14] Cf. Lev. xvi. 23 sq.; Ex. xix 10; Herod, ii. 37 (ed. Wiedemann);
Lagrange, _Etudes sur les relig. sem._ 239.

[15] M. Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and Ass._ p. 666; cf. _Rev.
biblique_, 1908, p. 466 sq., and Meyer, 59, 86, 97, 101. According to
the latter Sumerian priests served naked (p. 112).

[16] For the conspicuous dress of Syrian and Phrygian priests in Rome
and for other incidental references, see D. Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier_
(1856), ii. 655, 712 sq.

[17] Ex. xxviii., xxix. 5; Lev. viii. 6-9, xvi.; Ecclus. xlv.;
Joseph. _Ant._ iii. 7, _Wars_, v. 5, 7; see commentaries and special
dictionaries of the Bible.

[18] Zimmern, _Keilinschrift. u. Alte Test_. 629, n. 5; cf. the Bab.
priests' pectoral; Lagrange, op. cit., 236, n. 1.

[19] Jubilees, viii. 11, see W. Muss-Arnolt, _Amer. Journ. of Semit.
Lang._, 1900, pp. 207-212.

[20] The relations between sacerdotal and civic authority may be seen
in the vestments of the church (chasuble, alb, stole), which probably
were once the official garments of magistrates.

[21] See articles on mourning customs in the _Bible Dictionaries_,
and, for special studies, Buchler, Zeit. _f. alttest. Wissens._,
1901, pp. 81-92; M. Jastrow, ib., 1907, 117 sqq.; and in _Journ.
Amer. Or. Soc._ xx. 133 Sqq., xxi. 23-39. For the Babylonian evidence
see Zimmern, op. cit., 603. The sculptures of Sennacherib show the
bare-headed and bare-footed suppliants of Lachish meanly clad before
Sennacherib (Ball, p. 192, contrast the warriors with caps and
helmets, ib. p. 190, and on the simple dress, cf. above).

[22] Ezek. xvi. xxiii.; Isa. iii. 16-iv. 1. For the hairy garb, cf.
John the Baptist (Matt. iii. 4); it became the ascete's dress. The
founder of the Jacobite Church in Asia owed his surname
(_Burde'[=a]n[=a]_) to his rough horse-cloth. Here may be mentioned
the archaic revival in Egypt in the 8th century B.C., which also
extended to the costume.

[23] See for details, A. Brull, _Trachten d. Juden_ (1873).

[24] These ornamental bands are carefully described and reproduced in
colour by A. Lermann, _Altgriechische Plastik_ (1907), pp. 85 ff.,
pls. i.-xx. Some authorities hold that the skirt forms part of the
over-garment, but it seems clear that it belongs to the [Greek:
chiton].

[25] The _tutulus_ was worn at Rome by the _flaminica_.

[26] It was also worn by Roman children.

[27] This seems more likely than the alternative view that it was of
elliptical shape and was folded before being put on. Quintilian (xi.
3, 139. a _locus classicus_ for the _toga_) speaks of it as
"rotunda"; but this need not be taken literally.

[28] The Lares are thus represented in art.

[29] The suffibulum of the vestals, which was fastened on the breast
by a brooch (fibula), was a garment of this sort. The marriage-veil
(flammeum) derived its name from its bright orange colour. The
palliolum was a kind of mantilla.