ECCENTRIC ILLUSTRATIONS OF DRESS.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1836, 10 January 1880, Page 4

ECCENTRIC ILLUSTRATIONS OF DRESS.

f From the “ Qaeen.”J ( Concluded.) “ The Clogs,” “The Boot,” “The Patton?," “The Wooden Shoes.” “ The Shoe end Slap,” and “The Slipper,” all have figured as favorite emblems of inos, as well as of their Beakers. Som° reference to their wear, by the travellers invited to rest their weary feet, may b° traced in the idea. “ The “ Slap” sigailijd a slipper, and I think was meant to describe the sort that were open round the heel, or laid down under it, which resulted in a clapping or slapping of the carpetless floors by the loose end of the sole. If William Ilf ‘‘saved us from woodenBhoes.” ho conferred a favor on irritable nerves, and saved us, at the same time, Trom dwindled ‘‘understandings;” for, by preventing any spring in the step, you reduce the leg to the shape of a “ pipe-stopper 1 ” In the boot and shoe department of our sign boards great varieties have been successively supplied, from the time when the early Britons wore a lot of raw cow-hide with the hair turned outward, to those of Edward 111, when the richest contrasts iu coloring, elegant decorations in gold and •j-'wellery, and endless varieties in form, were prolucsd by the a'tist-shofmik rs Chaucer speaks of the decoration of Chose worn by the priest Abaolm as “ Paule’a windows corven on his shoes" (ael'erring to the rose-window of the old St. Paul’s, destroyed in the great fire). Preposterous and bizarre indeed was the jfootgear of the reigns of Richard 11. and Edward IV. ; ana from that of Charles I. to William and Mary a complete revolution took place —less costly and elegant, as the subject of the sign-painter, they were less eccentric than previous times ; yet the heavy boots, with their formidable spurs, were effective objects for representation. Much might be said as to the symbolic importance attached to the shoe from the earliest ages. In the words of Ho:y Writ— 11 Over Edom will I cast out my shoe"—we find a reference to an eastern custom indicative of placing in subjection. The Jews take off the shoe in token of sealing a covenant ; and in common with Hindoos and Musselmans, as a ms'k o' - nr >ect. The former used to throw a shoe after i bride to show that they renounced all C re of or right jover her to another; and we derive this custom ourselves from our Saxon ancestors, who presented a daughter's shoe to the bridegroom on her marriage. Amongst other articles of clothing, that have figured in emblematic paintings in our streets and highways, there were the « Child’s Coat,” the “ Minister’s Gown, ’ the “Doublet,” the “Bonny Cravat,” “Blue Stoops,” “ Breeches and Glove," and “ Cotton Breeches.” The hostelery known as « The Tabard,” in Southwark, was famous in history from being patronised by the Canterbury Pilgrims. Prior to that time it belonged to the Abbot of Hyde, temp. Edward 1., who purchased the property for the convent, 1301. Stowe speaks of “ The Tabard Inn,” and describes the sign. It was suspended across the road on two uprights, and bore an inscription commemorative of the resting there of Sir Jeffrey Chaucer, and the nine and twenty pilgrims, 1583. The name of the inn representing the original structure has been corrupted to the “ Talbot.” “The Anodyne Necklace,” a famous and popular medium for the cure of a number of bodily ills in the eighteenth century, finds a place amongst our sign-devices, and so do the fan, purse, ling, and golden ting, the pincushion, and the still more common and modern umbrella. With this brief list of miscellaneous articles, if not all of wear, yet of personal use, I conclude my “ Eccentric Illustrations.”