In
winter every one wore the _bottes sauvages_, or oiled moccasins laced
up halfway or more to the knees. They were proof against cold and were
serviceable for use with snowshoes. Between them and his feet the
habitant wore two or more pairs of heavy woolen socks made from
coarse homespun yarn. In summer the women and children of the rural
communities usually went barefoot so that the soles of their feet
grew as tough as pigskin; the men sometimes did likewise, but more
frequently they wore, in the fields or in the forest, clogs made of
cowhide.
On the week-days of summer every one wore a straw hat which the women
of the household spent part of each winter in plaiting. In cold
weather the knitted _tuque_ made in vivid colors was the great
favorite. It was warm and picturesque. Each section of the colony
had its own color; the habitants in the vicinity of Quebec wore blue
_tuques_, while those around Montreal preferred red. The apparel of
the people was thus in general adapted to the country, and it had a
distinctiveness that has not yet altogether passed away.
On Sundays and on the numerous days of festival, however, the habitant
and his family brought out their best. To Mass the men wore clothes
of better texture and high, beaver hats, the women appeared in their
brighter plumage of dresses with ribbons and laces imported from
France. Such finery was brought over in so large a quantity that more
than one _memoire_ to the home government censured the "spirit of
extravagance" of which this was one outward manifestation.
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