In England it was commonly known as the ‘French Ruff’, whereas in France it was referred to as ‘the English Monster’! At their most extreme, ruffs were a foot or more wide and needed a wire frame called a supportasse or underpropper to hold them at a fashionable angle. Of course, there were those who deplored the fashion and, as one would expect, the Puritan Philip Stubbes made his views known in 1583 in The Anatomie of Abuses:
