"A man's plain
high-necked shirt, probably Italian, survived in the wreckage
of a ship which went down on the Yugoslavian coast not long
after 1582...As in many European garments there is no shoulder
seam. The neck has been formed by a single T-shaped cut with
the extra width gathered in at front and back of a straight
stand-up collar. The sleeves are each a half-width cut in a
slope from elbow to wrist, and these pieces are added to widen
the top of the sleeves. Side vents are left at the bottom for
better movement."
The possible
cutting layout for this shirt is also given, and
according to the diagram the original width of the "plain
white linen" is given as 68cm (27"). The length of
the shirt section is not given, but I would approximate it to
be about 2 metres (6.5' or 79"). The collar is made from
a rectangular piece of linen folded in half across the width.
No neck gussets are present.
©
Dorothy
K Burnham, Cut My Cote. Royal Ontario Museum, 1997.
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