his family. The object of this was to discourage any disposition to show extravagance in dress, it being justly thought that in the state of the Colony at that time, all the settlers’ means should be husbanded to ensure them the absolute necessaries of life.[1] Ten years after the adoption of this regulation, when the Colony had recovered fully from the blow inflicted by the great massacre upon all of its interests, there are indications that fine apparel was quite common in Virginia. In 1629, Thomas Warnet, a prominent merchant of Jamestown, died, and in his will bequeathed to different persons many articles of showy clothing, among them a coif, a cross-cloth of wrought gold, a pair of silk stockings, a pair of black hose, a pair of red slippers, a sea-green scarf edged with gold lace, six dozen buttons of silk and thread, a felt hat, a black beaver hat, a Polish fur cap, a doublet of black camlet, a vest, a sword, and a gold belt.[2]
The incongruity of such shining apparel with the rude surroundings of new settlements in the wilderness does not seem to have jarred upon the perceptions of the population except so far as it implied an unnecessary expenditure; and this view was only taken when the resources of the Colony for one cause or another were seriously impaired. About the middle of the century, a law was passed prohibiting the introduction of garments containing silk, or the introduction of silk in pieces except for hoods or scarfs, or of silver, gold, or bone lace, or of ribbons wrought with gold or silver. All goods of this character brought in were to be confiscated and then
- ↑ Lawes of Assembly, 1619, Colonial Records of Virginia, Senate Doct., Extra, 1874, p. 20. In the instructions to Wyatt, 1621, he was enjoined to allow only members of the Council and heads of Hundreds to wear gold in their clothes. Randolph MSS., vol. III, p. 161.
- ↑ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April, 1884, p. 197.
