On 3/30/2013 4:44 AM, annbw...@aol.com wrote:
Fran and I don't always see eye to eye. But I have to agree with her on this one. Sounds like these tunics/shifts, which started the discussion, exist in great numbers. Let us hope someone, somewhere, has saved a couple, along with their provenance (if they were indeed worn at institutions, or whatever). For the rest, well, we can't save EVERYTHING. If we did, we would be covered with mountains of stuff.
I am intrigued by these because in 40 years, I have never seen anything like them (this sturdy) from American, UK, or Canadian dealers. French dealers seem to accept them as common and sometimes call them "rustic." Maybe, but then the French lower classes, rural or perhaps urban, were willing to sacrifice comfort for extreme durability more than the Americans or British. I have not seen any from other European countries, but then, the vast majority of dealers I see on English-speakingwebsites are naturally from English-speaking countries.
They are all cut with the selvage across the hem of the bottom (except sometimes the side gores) and any sleeves (many are sleeveless) and there is no hem there, just the selvage.
I also see men's shirts made from the same fabric, but I have not bought any.
Fran Lavolta Press Books on historic clothing www.lavoltapress.com . _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
