Draft of a paper concerning the history of dress, undated (Series 87.02) - No. 0008

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Some [Scraps?] Relative to the Dresses of our ancestors
Put together chiefly for the purpose of better understanding
The costume of the admirable Portraits Painted during
the Reign of Hen 8th Elizabeth James & Ch 1st

              The dress of our Forefathers from the time of the Conquest an early period to that of Hen 7th seems to have varied but little, to have been simple in the extreme & calculated much more for defence against the cold of our Rigorous winters than for ornaments
              Then dress of ceremony resembled almost exactly the Gown & Aspect of our divines & bore the same names, Sir Thos Wyat is described by Speed in his chronicle as wearing a shirt of male under a velvet Cassock in 1554. The Cassock at present is a waistcoat with Sleeves, The skirt reaching to the knees & folding double Breasted Quite to the skirts before over each other, a belt or girdle is necessary to keep it the skirts in its their place & it in fact serves both as waistcoat & Breeches, which latter are of very modern invention that grew originated from Tucking up the skirts of the Cassock or Doublet round about the thigh & ended became in time Trunk breeches, Calld at first Trunk hose about about the Reign of James the 1st.
1497           The Table of weights & measures fitd up in the Exchequer in the R Heny 7th a Print of which is extant exhibits the dresses of Persons of several different Ranks at that period, in this Persons of the higher orders are clad in Robes or Gowns with Cassocks under them, but the Kings under garment Reaches to his Feet (1). The Gowns of the inferior orders are Longer or Shorter as their avocatioins Render them more or Less sedentary, but the boy who attends the fire for heating Irons &/or burning false measures, and the Culprit in the Pillory, are clothd in doublets which Reach to their Knees & are girded but there are no traces of Breeches in either
                  in an old Book intitled the art of Carving Printed first by winken de worde in the year 1508 no doubt from a Ms that had been Long in use, the duties of a chamberlain are described, in this the articles of clothing which he is have ready for his Lord (Sovereign) Rising in the morn are enumerated as Follows