Legal Habits: A Brief Sartorial History of Wig, Robe, and Gown

From the dustjacket: "The robe-making business of Joseph Webb Ede, who married Rosanna Ravenscroft of the wig-making family in 1871, can be traced back to the seventeenth century. Today, Ede and Ravenscroft is the foremost supplier of wigs, robes and gowns to the legal profession, as well as supplying state robes, academic gowns and other clothing. This account puts wigs in their historical context and traces the development of the robes and gowns worn by judges and barristers, showing how they have continued unaltered in essentials for over 600 years -- a symbol of the continuity of the world's principal legal system. While the wearing of wigs lends to the administration of justice an impersonal decorum, the gowns and robes emphasise the formal gravity and dignity of justice -- as important today as in medieval times."