Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/124

 of its rim, and reduced in circumference so as not to fit the head, but merely to be poised on the middle of it.

In the beginning of this epoch artisans of all classes wore head-gear shaped like an overgrown nightcap, but they subsequently discarded this in favour of the cone-shaped hat mentioned above.

None of these head-dresses could be honestly called coverings, except, perhaps, the artisan's nightcap gear. They were as little adapted to the shape or size of the wearer's cranium as are some of the curious structures that young ladies in modern Europe pin to their hair.

As to the materials used for habiliments, they varied from the richest Chinese brocade to the coarsest home-spun. A white damasked silk robe with dark-red sleeves, purple lining, and a design of purple badges, woven or dyed, was a specially aristocratic costume; but, as a general rule, only persons of exalted rank were permitted to wear brocade unless they received it as a gift from the Shōgun's Court. The use of pure silk also was forbidden outside the Courts of the Emperor and the Shōgun, and purple lining shared the veto; but such interdicts, though frequently issued, never commanded much obedience.

Characteristic of the epoch was the use of family badges for decorative designs. A gentleman or lady might often be seen wearing a garment with large badges conspicuously blazoned