Page:Costume, fanciful, historical, and theatrical (1906).djvu/74

40 a peep of a blue petticoat and pointed shoes. Several of the ladies attendant upon all this elegance have the privilege of appearing with her in the illumination, in high caps with the hair drawn through the top, short-waisted gowns, and trains with fur borders. Another gown which had the advantage of serving royalty was close-fitting and short-waisted, with tight sleeves, embroidered cuffs, and a collar which took almost the form of a small cape, held in front with a square brooch jewelled in the centre, and bearing three pendants. A row of pearls defined the edge of the décolletage a necklace of gold encircled the throat, and the flat, close-fitting cap was embroidered in gold.

Elizabeth of Woodville is represented on the previous page in a close, slightly-pointed coif made of a trellis of ribbon and jewelled above the cap of black, the filmy white veil hanging over these with much grace; and the bodice of her velvet dress, which is cut round to show a fine linen chemisette, bears collar and cuffs of embroidery.

The hennin reached its height of popularity in every sense of the word in the reign of Edward V. Briefly it may be described as a lawn kerchief stiffened with canes or wires, these kerchiefs being plain or diapered with gold, the frame projecting outward from the back of the head, and beneath it the hair is gathered up into a caul of gold or embroidery. The original hennin was a tall funnel-shaped tube in brocade worked in beads and fixed firmly on the head, and from the top floated a fine veil. The "little hennin" was a short head-dress covered by a veil which fell over the shoulders. The hennins—and you can see many examples