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Italian Renaissance shirt
This italian Renaissance undergown from 17th century is currently
located in the Museum of Victoria and Albert in London. The garment
was very long - down to the ankles, and its pattern simply consisted
of rectangles which were gathered to fit at the top, on shoulders and
the wrists, sometimes yielding up to 4 fold reduction in size. The
undergown's simplicity is counterbalanced by its rich embroidery.
Shirts of this kind were almost always made of white linen or silk,
with contrasting black embroidery on the parts that showed through the
outer garment (e.g. tops of sleeves). Similar shirts were also very
popular in 16th century England.
Based on: Cut My Cote; Dorothy K.Burnham;The Royal Ontario
Museum; 1973; MacKinnon-Moncur |
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