12th Century clothing photo links and comments

[kareina]

A couple of years ago I visited the museums in Vienna with Racaire and got to see for myself the gorgeous blue tunic. Seeing the details of the sewing up close convinced me that it is missing a decorated over bit.

Today I was catching up on reading the 12th Century garb email list and saw a link there to one of her photos of a belt which is displayed in the same collection, and was reminded of the tunic. I don't remember if I mentioned my thoughts on the missing bit here before, or if it has only come up in conversation, but even if I did it might bear repeating, since I have links to specific photos ready to hand just now, and I know that some of my friends are interested in such things.

Why do I think it is missing something? Well, you can see in this photo that the neck slit isn't meant to be seen--the stitching along the neck slit is a coarse covering of the edge and no where near as pretty as even the other seams, and doesn't come close to comparing with the fancy establishments on the cuffs and hem (see neighbouring photos).

The other clue is the tunic in the next display case. As you can see, there is a rectangular beaded and embroidered section sitting over the neckline of the white tunic. If the blue one had such a thing that matched the cuffs and hem it would explain why the tunic itself is so plain on the neck, and why the quality/style of stitching is so different for the neck slit compared to the other seams.

Comments

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

I've always thought it was understood that the blue tunicella was an underlayer or a middle layer - that another shorter garment with shorter sleeves would have gone over top of it. Of course, the hem and cuffs are so striking by themselves I know a lot of re-enactors like to make it on its one. I know I have. On my copy (in green linen rather than blue silk) made for a friend's knighting, I added a plain black band around the neck and along the slit. It worked well since his knighting chain then added enough "bling" to balance the look.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what may or may not have been understood about it--before seeing it in person I had seen one photo of it and thought it lovely, but the photo was not accompanied by text. Since seeing it in person I have only seen the photos Racaire took of it. My opinion is based only on my own observations, not on having talked to or read anything on the subject. An over tunic would work, but since the style is so similar to the tunics in the next cases with the over rectangles instead of an overtunic...

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

This photo is from 1768, so very post period, but take a close look at the two hems. You'll see it's a fairly accurate representation of the hems of the blue tunicella (the red and gold hem) worn under the white alb (the very wide, mostly gold, hem).

[kareina.livejournal.com]

yes, and they look nice together, too.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

In the second photo you link to, differential fading shows that the gold band on the left of the slit (wearer's left) clearly extended farther down at one time. The presence of those fade-marks suggest that if there had been another embroidered section on the central part of the chest (wearer's right-hand side of the slit), then we'd expect to see similar fade marks (and perhaps stitching traces) indicating its scope.

I agree that it's unlikely that the right-hand edge is unlikely to have been entirely plain as we view it today, but there are several other possibilities to consider. One is that it was edged by a narrow gold band similar to the one on the left (which again would be expected to leave fade- and stitch-traces similar to the ones on the left). Another is that it was edged by a gold band extending out over the slit-opening from the edge (i.e., overlapping the band attached on the left). In this case, there would be no additional fade-marks beyond those produced by the left-hand band and the stitching where it was attached would be in the same location as that seen along the edge of the slit.

This second arrangement would be similar to what is seen on some offset-slit linen albs of similar period, where the left-hand side of the slit has been "faced" (either on the outside or inside) by a separate strip of fabric, but the right-hand edge of the slit is finished with an extension of doubled fabric that overlaps the left-hand faced portion. Hmm this would be easier to explain if I can find a photo. Ah, here we go on xrian's Flicker account.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

yes, there is a hint of differential fading, and the narrow gold band does look like it could have gone lower down. However, I don't think that the gold band itself is really meant to be seen, for the most part, either, I think it it just there to be a hint of gold under the prettier layer, to keep the blue from showing at the neck hole. I think that the prettier layer never would have been attached, but worn loose over it (they look loose on the other tunics on display), in which case it might not have caused any differential fading--I don't think this tunic could have been worn or even exposed to sun all that often to still have such a nice rich blue colour all these years later.

The neck line you line to is lovely, thanks! I hadn't seen that one before.