Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/352

332 tight breeches, cut-away coats and embroidered waistcoats, while their little sisters had been doomed to long skirts, hoops and stomachers, and whatever folly in fashion characterised their age. Now, though girls still wore their frocks to their feet, yet the newer fashion allowed more ease and grace than had formerly been possible; there was childish simplicity in the long folds of plain material that fell from neck to feet, only broken by a high-waisted sash. Low necks and short sleeves were worn from babyhood, while frilled trousers, white socks, and sandals completed the costume. The boys are familiar, too, in their nankeen trousers buttoning up over their waistcoats, their frilled shirt-collars, white stockings and pumps. Nankeen for children was freely used. Thus Miss Martineau gives us a glimpse of her family starting off on a journey from Norwich to Newcastle. "My mother, aunt Margaret, sister Elizabeth, aged fifteen, Rachel, myself, and little James, aged four, in nankeen frocks, were all crammed into a post-chaise for a journey of three or four days."

Caps or turbans, as they were called, were worn by all women and girls at this time. They were made of silk, velvet, muslin, lace