CHAPTER I
IN CLASSIC TIMES
Fashion, even under exalted patronage, had scant chance to distinguish herself in the bad old days of the Romans. She, who now must be obeyed, was forced then to take a back seat enwrapped in the toga, and all who would have preached or practised the doctrine of diversified dress remained mute, inglorious modistes. It is not on record that any great personage invented any particular garment, or was accorded the honour of standing godmother to a favoured style. Such privileges as those of Queen Alexandra, who, at the indiscretion of any draper, may be sponsor to a ruffle or a petticoat, or of Queen Victoria Eugénie, whose name has been snatched to honour a face-cream, were not in vogue. This seems a pity when one comes to consider the alliterative allurement of such a title as the "Boadicean blouse," and to remember that the "Poppæan pomade," which might have been justified in the observance, was deliberately committed in the breach.
There was sorry opportunity for any who would have liked to stamp individuality on their costume. Style was a cut-and-dried affair, and save in the
