When it became fashionable for gentlemen to powder the hair the ladies adopted the same custom (fig. 24), continuing in other respects also to imitate the attire of the men. But on festive occasions, balls, etc., the ionfici that had been formed of these towers of curls grew into awful structures, a moderate example of which is given in Figure 9 (pi. 37). It was the guillotine that assisted in checking the degenerate tastes of the age: it did this, however, by suppressing all outward manifestations of taste. At the same time it had become so customary to look to Paris for fashions that even the disordered hair (fig. ro) of the viragos of the Re•o lution became the vogue among the Germans.
Hcad-dress.—The cowl or capuchin belonged in the thirteenth cen tury to the costume of serving-men and to that of the common people generally. After that it was made part of the hunting costume, and was thus introduced into higher society. At the beginning of the four teenth century it was in universal use, and for a long time it took the place of every other covering for the bead, both for ladies and for gen tlemen.
We have already mentioned (p. 242) the principal head-covering of the sixteenth century. The Bard, at first a rather shapeless cap (p7. 38, fig. 1), was, without much variation, worn by both men and women; its place was next taken by a sort of flat cap (fig. 4) with broad rim cut in at vari ous places, changeable in form, and generally black, which color was also retained at a later period. The rim became narrower, the cap smaller (fig. 5), and the whole stiffened, until finally nothing but a small lid pinned to the hair (fig. 6) remained as the head-dress for women. Schol ars and clergymen developed a special Bard, which was higher than the one in general use, and also very stiff.
Toward the end of the sixteenth century the hat, which had occa sionally been worn in the early part of that century, came into general use among men. At first it was of a cylindrical shape, with a very narrow rim, and seems to have been made mostly of felt. People of rank wore it with a covering of silk plush. Later in the century it was worn pointed at the top, its rim became broader, and it was stiffened by means of a wire structure which was covered with black camelot. In this shape it became part of the official costume of the senators of Nuremberg (pl.
37, fig. 7). The abandonment of all stiffness in dress affected the head covering as well, and brought forth the well-known hat of the Thirty Years' War (p1. 38, fig. II), which had a narrow crown and a broad rim turned up on one side. In the preceding century the hat had been orna mented with a costly clasp of precious metals or stones, but waving ostrich-plumes were most becoming to its new style (p7. 37, fig. 3). The feathers became more numerous in the second half of the seventeenth century, although the hat had decreased in size (fig. 4), and when it had again grown larger and stiffer it was transformed into the well-known " plumage hat " (fig. 5), the rim being turned up on three sides.
The allonge wig (pl. 38, fig. 18) enabled its wearer to dispense with the hat as superfluous. Even after that wig had disappeared, the hat was carried under the arm when the head was dressed; it gradually diminished in size, and finally it lost its plumes also (pl. 37, figs. 8-1o). Once again, toward the end of the eighteenth century, an attempt was made to restore not the bold form in vogue at an earlier period, but the ample dimensions, and those grotesque, galoon-trimmed hats were invented which we occa sionally see, though in smaller size, as part of military uniforms.
The French fashion had deprived the ladies of the Bard without giv ing them any substitute. The attempt to introduce the pointed hat of the men failed; for a long time the women contented themselves with a kerchief (fig. 3), a veil, or ornaments only (p7. 38, fig. 12). Then there arose on the heads of the ladies of the court of Louis XIV. the mighty jontans-e (fl. 37, fig. 6), the ancestress of all female caps down to our times—a structure of laces and black or colored ribbons which reached its full development about the year t7oo, then sank until 172o, but served as the foundation of the lace caps (figs. 8, to) which were developed in various shapes in all countries. Even the lady's hat of to-clay originated in the fontange, for in the beginning of this century the caps were made of gayly-colored silk materials stiffened with wires. The small edge that first surrounded them was soon enlarged into a broad rim, and instead of the wire frame platted straw was used—a change which led to a variety of new shapes.