Burgundian Noblemen's Underclothes c1445-1475

Again, let’s start with the obvious observations:
� Every illustration I’ve found shows a white shirt
� The length comes to between mid-thigh and mid-calf (note that Figures 12-14
showing the length under a short doublet are the shorter length)
� The sleeves are loose, but not too full, and they end at the wrist.
� There is no obvious gathering at the sleeve head. The sleeve might be eased into
the armhole or it might be constructed with a gusset.
� The shirt is loose, and hangs relatively straight (there are probably side gores, but
there are not any front gores.)
� The shirt does not appear to be gathered at the neck or wrists in any way
� A center front opening cannot be seen when it’s worn under the doublet (an
important observation for figuring out how the neckline works)
Most extant shirt and tunics have round necklines, however, I have had no luck using
round necklines to replicate the neckline seen through the lacings at the clavicle (or
higher) in many of the Burgundian portraits (Figures 16-21). In my experience, round
necklines that are big enough to slip over the head have a tendency to dip lower on the
neck then the pictures show. This leads me to look at other possible constructions:
– The shirt has a very small round neckline (necessitating a slit opening
someplace other then center front (such as the shoulder seam or a side
front opening).
– The shirt has a horizontal slit opening (a.k.a. a shallow “boat” neckline).
– The shirt has a neckline with a gusset similar to Master Lorenzo Petrucci’s
reconstruction of Italian shirts from the same period.
Arguments for the “boat” neckline:
There is an extant shirt with a “boat” neckline, the Rogart shirt (see figure 25 below).
This shirt is not from this time and place (it’s from 14 th century Scotland), but it does
suggest a potential neck-hole construction to try, which was at least used once in
medieval Europe.
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