chin, in particular, was a favourite point of reference. "The boy, he does not look like a bawd, he has no double chin." (Dekker, Northward Ho.) "With her fat, sag chin, hanging down like a cow's udder." (Middleton, The Black Book.)
Prostitutes of the lower order frequently wore loose bodied gowns in the street, a form of attire that was not then, so far as we know, ever worn by respectable women.
Sir John Davies thus describes a bawd:
"If Gella's beauty be examined,
She hath a dull dead eye, a saddle nose,
An ill-shaped face, with morphew overspread,
And rotten teeth, which she in laughing shows;
Briefly, she is the filthiest wench in town,
Of all that do the art of whoring use:
But when she hath put on her satin gown,
Her cutlawn apron, and her velvet shoes,
Her green silk stockings, and her petticoat
Of taffeta, with golden fringen around,
And is withal perfum'd with civet hot,
Which doth her valiant stinking breath confound,—
Yet she with these additions is no more
Than a sweet, filthy, fine, ill-favour'd whore."
Though the meaning of the word is not clear the association of taffeta with whoredom is very common. A courtesan would not leave the house without a fan; but, perhaps, the most distinguishing mark of her dress was her ring—a death's
