Edward Winslow. Velvet and quilted hoods of all colors and sometimes
caps, flat on the head and meeting below the chin with fullness, are
shown in existent portraits of English women and early colonists.

Among relics that are dated back to this early period are the slipper
[Footnote: In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.] belonging to Mistress Susanna
White Winslow, narrow, pointed, with lace trimmings, and an
embroidered lace cap that has been assigned to Rose Standish.
[Footnote: Two Centuries of Costume In America; Earle.] Sometimes the
high ruffs were worn above the shoulders instead of "whisks." The
children were dressed like miniature men and women; often the girls
wore aprons, as did the women on occasions; these were narrow and
edged with lace. "Petty coats" are mentioned in wills among the
garments of the women. We would not assume that in 1621-2 _all_
the women in Plymouth colony wore silken or even homespun clothes of
prevailing English fashion. Many of these that are mentioned in
inventories and retained heirlooms, with rich laces and embroideries,
were brought later from England; probably Winslow, Allerton and even
Standish brought back such gifts to the women when they made their
trips to England in 1624 and later. If the pioneer women had laces and
embroideries of gold they probably hoarded them as precious heirlooms
during those early years of want, for they were too sensible to wear
and to waste them. As prosperity came, however, and new elements
entered the colony they were, doubtless, affected by the law of the
General Court, in 1634, which forbade further acquisition of laces,
threads of silver and gold, needle-work caps, bands and rails, and
silver girdles and belts. This law was enacted _not_ by the
Pilgrims of Plymouth, but by the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony.

When Edward Winslow returned in _The Charity_, in 1624, he