Note 239 — Chapter XIV · WOMEN'S DRESS.

Before closing the subject of women's costumes the 'Mob' must be noticed—that dress of which Swift writes: 'The ladies were all in Mobs; how do you call it?—undressed.'[239] This negligent costume, of which no actual contemporary description seems to exist, is never mentioned except to be decried—as, for instance, the question is asked, 'How is a man likely to relish his wife's society when he comes home and finds her slovenly, in a Mob?' And there were one or two other articles of dress not usually mentioned, and not described, as 'Women's laced Head Cloaths commonly called Quaker's Pinners' and 'Dowds.'