Did Lobelia wear a Ruff?

[Rumil]

Hi all,

I was reading through 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' the other day and wondered about Pauline Baynes' illustrations.

While they are undoubtedly charming, how canonical (not 100% obviously) should they be taken as? Do any letters survive where JRRT discusses the illustrations? What can this tell us, if anything, about costume and appearance in Middle Earth?

A quick zip through a few (page nos. from Unwin paperback) -

p96 - Farmer Maggot's family and Tom - looks high medieval in dress style, Tom, wearing a more modern coat, looks to be the same size as the family - therefore of hobbit stature?

p110 and p115 - The innkeepers in both the 'Man in the Moon' poems again look high medieval

p118 - The troll is of human appearance, but much bigger than Tom

p120-123 - Perry the Winkle - the dress of the hobbits is very early Jacobean/ late Elizabethan. Old Mrs Bunce wears a long dress with a ruff. The townspeople wear 'cavalier style' floppy hats but the cut of their clothes looks earlier 17th century to me (Guy Fawkes-esque). The mayor seems to have dropped his cocked hat - more 18th century.

p128 - Fastitocalon- The bottom halves of the people (hobbits? men?) suggest Elizabethan fashions, big elaborate skirts for the ladies, puffy breeches for the gents.

p134 - The Hoard - the knght is very much high medieval - full plate and an emblazoned surcoat. Is the story somehow based on Turin's?

Plus lots of nice pics of kettles, teapots, an umbrella, pints of beer and cakes!

What do you reckon?