ABSTRACT
A woman’s head-dress may not be so important as her head; but there can be no doubt that what she chooses to wear on her head, and the way in which she chooses to wear it, vastly affect the impression she makes on others. The ancient Romans appear to have consulted utility alone in their choice of head-gear; but in their grand and simple costume beauty came unsought. For in-door wear we could wish more head-dresses were in vogue. Moreover there are cases in which a few bands of extra tresses are more than an improvement—they are even a necessity; witness a very scanty supply of hair, or hair in patches, on a young head. All head-dresses originally sprang from two primitive forms—the hat and the cap, summer and winter gear. Hair-powder is said to have taken its rise from some of the ballad-singers at the fair at St. Germain’s, whitening their heads in order to make themselves ridiculous.
