DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68501#0213
THE TOILETTE IN FRANCE.
193
primitive shape: and even these few garments were
simple in form and coarse in texture. The dress of
the women only differed from that of the men in
having the tunic longer, and the cap shaped like a
triangle.
But though habited in so simple a manner, the
love of ornament which has characterised the French
in later times, appears, even at the early period of
which we speak, to have been remarkable. They
covered themselves with chains, rings, necklaces, and
bracelets. In the “ TEneis, ” we read :—
“ The approaching Gauls,
Obscure in night, ascend and seize the walls.
The gold, dissembled well their golden hair:
And golden chains on their white necks they wear.-’
There are still extant many monuments of the
Gauls ; one of the most ancient was dug up in the
cathedral church of Paris in 1711 ; it represents six
figures, all dressed in tunics, with sleeves reaching to
the wrist; over this is worn a saye, which is exactly
the same as the Roman sagum, whence its name,
only it has sleeves. The heads of these figures are
covered with caps, which bend forward much like the
Phrygian bonnet. Considerable difference as to the
lesser details of dress is frequently met with in these
statues, and no doubt various fashions were employed,
both for forming and ornamenting the habiliments of
the Gauls, even though their attire is described as so
simple. Long garments, adorned with a border of
sable, ermine, or miniver, formed, during several ages,
the dress of persons of distinction.
o
193
primitive shape: and even these few garments were
simple in form and coarse in texture. The dress of
the women only differed from that of the men in
having the tunic longer, and the cap shaped like a
triangle.
But though habited in so simple a manner, the
love of ornament which has characterised the French
in later times, appears, even at the early period of
which we speak, to have been remarkable. They
covered themselves with chains, rings, necklaces, and
bracelets. In the “ TEneis, ” we read :—
“ The approaching Gauls,
Obscure in night, ascend and seize the walls.
The gold, dissembled well their golden hair:
And golden chains on their white necks they wear.-’
There are still extant many monuments of the
Gauls ; one of the most ancient was dug up in the
cathedral church of Paris in 1711 ; it represents six
figures, all dressed in tunics, with sleeves reaching to
the wrist; over this is worn a saye, which is exactly
the same as the Roman sagum, whence its name,
only it has sleeves. The heads of these figures are
covered with caps, which bend forward much like the
Phrygian bonnet. Considerable difference as to the
lesser details of dress is frequently met with in these
statues, and no doubt various fashions were employed,
both for forming and ornamenting the habiliments of
the Gauls, even though their attire is described as so
simple. Long garments, adorned with a border of
sable, ermine, or miniver, formed, during several ages,
the dress of persons of distinction.
o