No offense meant, but I just don't buy it. =} If the seam were far enough
up to be concealed by the oversleeve, the whole look/drape would be changed.
Even with really careful tailoring and stretching of the bias, a
circle-on-a-tube type of sleeve just doesn't give the same shape as one that
flares out right at the end. It just looks wrong. It'll take an extant
garment or a clear image of the flared sleeve with a seam to convince me.
Speaking of extant garments, I'm afraid the Mary of Hungary dress isn't
enough, either! It's almost a century older than this painting and much
more than a century older than some of the earlier renditions of this
sleeve. And above all, it just plain looks nothing like the style of sleeve
in question. There are mid-15thC paintings that show sleeves similar to the
M of H sleeve, all stiff and structured. Why would they consistently
portray the same type of sleeve two very very different ways?
(That black stuff on the gold lining of her left sleeve doesn't look like
stitching to me; it's repeated much lower down on the same lining portion,
near the edge. It looks more like some characteristic of the fabric/fur;
perhaps a variation on ermine patterning. The black spots on the edging of
her right arm sleeve make it look to me like they are ermine lined, but
given the aging it's hard to be sure. Either way, it's at the wrong
place/angle to be stitching between circle and tube; it's at about a 45
degree angle to the edge of the sleeve's hem, which just wouldn't make
sense. Of course, it doesn't make much sense for ermine, either, but
anyway...)
Sorry. I'm difficult, I know! =} Especially when I'm trying real hard to
not come down with a cold...
-E 'Zicam' House
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