(A compendium of discussions on the 12th Century Garb Yahoo Group list. Much of the early research into 12th costuming came from 19th art historians. Unfortunately, their re-drawings tend to me romanticized.)
Victorian medieval illustrations (Strutt)
“I realize he is not the ultimate authority, but can be useful as a “jumping off” point.
http://www.dragonbear.com/images/str039.jpg
“What’s up with the reddish sleeve things? Just contrast cuffs sewn onto the middle of the sleeve, or the tight undersleeve of a matching kirtle underneath and the contrast cuff is at the end of the sleeve?
http://www.dragonbear.com/images/str089.jpg
“Supposedly 14th c and a little late for us, but I’m curious. Has anyone ever seen anything like that red-lined-with-white overtunic?”
~ Joan the Harper
Message #138, August 20, 2002
“I would tend to believe these were tippets from the end of the outer dress, and the sleeves beyond were an underdress’ sleeves. The artist colored it wrong in my opinion, which isn’t always the most trustworthy of things 😉
“For the second, again, the coloring is not something I would trust, but yes, an open sided overtunic, though laced up the sides at the waist, I have seen elsewhere, now the problem is finding it again to show you 🙂
“My tuppence,”
~ Mór ingen Cathail
Message 140, August 20, 2002
“I think the title “Victorian Illustrations” says much about the authenticity of these images, however, for Victorian-era illustrations, they’re better than a lot I’ve seen. The bodices have only a slight corseted look, instead mostly copying the strange stomach wrinkles of period pieces. I’d say the sleeves on the yellow dress are a mistake by the artist – perhaps he only had a black and white image to work from. These images look very much like fairly good copies of period work, but original sources are still better. I’m fairly dubious about the colours. I’ve only seen one instance of a coloured veil (anyone
else?) and green doesn’t appear to be a popular period colour. I’d love a period image with coloured undersleeves (again anyone?, All of the stuff I have is in black and white, or has white undersleeves). not that bad (my opinion only), but there are plenty of period sources to look at once you know where to look. What do other people think?
“In Dodwell’s book (see the website bibliography) there’s a really interesting picture of an original manuscript and a Victorian era (I think) copy of it. The change is subtle, but is somewhat chubbier, with softer folds gentler lines of the fabric.”
~ Teffania/Tiffany Brown
Message #143, August 21, 2002