Dafydd Rapier Garb

Dafydd's new Rapier Garb-

Firstly, the rapier shirt. This is based on Elizabethan shirts for men, and specifically one found at the V&A museum. (I believe that the pics are (hopefully only temporarily) down on this site), 16th C smocks from the Bath Museum (both below). These had side gussets, armhole gussets, collars and cuffs. The V&A museum shirt, has neck gussets. As the shirt was for rapier (requiring movement) and to go under a fencing doublet, I did not want to gather the neck into the collar (as per the Bath Museum shirt). Neck gussets would work well for this. Below L is a sketch of the pattern I was to use, based on these shirts.

There is an overlap on the front slit, for safety with rapier.

I used 26 inch wide material (half of the bought linen width) to cut all pattern pieces from. This is more consistent with material widths available in Elizabethan times.

Below are pictures from the Rapier shirt: L-R: neck gusset hand sewn in place, side & armhole gussets (with flat-felled seams oversewn), collar and slit flap (hand sewn linen bias), cuffs (with handknitted cords)

I am planning to blackwork around the edges of the collar and cuffs. Now I have some silk embroidery floss, this will be used.

I am hoping to have the shirt finished for Dafydd's birthday.

Feb. 2005

I managed to finish the sewing but not the blackwork, for Dafydd's birthday. I will post a pic of the shirt when it is all finished. (right) and below - the blackwork!

Bibliography:

Egerton Castle, Schools and Masters of Fencing - from the Middle Ages to the Eighteeenth Century. Dover Publications. NY, reprint 2003. ISBN: 0-486-42826-5
Lochac Rapier Rules:
Web Gallery of Art: http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/
Arnold Janet, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, Maney, Leeds, 1988, ISBN:0-901286-20-6
Arnold Janet, Patterns of Fahsion, MacMillan, London, 1985. ISBN: 0-333-38284-6
Juan Alcega's Tailor's Pattern Book, 1589 Facimile, Ruth Bean, Carlton, Bedford, 1979.
The Milanese Tailor's Handbook http://costume.dm.net/Tailors/
V&A Museum website: http://images.vam.ac.uk
Bath Museum of Costume: http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/ http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseAction=SM.nav&UUID=013DFA14-32A6-4A33-B3CDA4E8E00C9D49)
Tudor & Elizabethan Portraits: http://www.tudor-portraits.com/Costumes.htm
"How much yardage is enough" Susan Reed, 1994. http://patriot.net/~nachtanz/SReed/fabuse.html
Suggested Yardages for Elizabethan Garments by Drae Leed. http://costume.dm.net/yardages.html# (29/5/03)
Smocks and Chemises (Drae Leed) http://www.dnaco.net/~aleed/corsets/chemise.html (5/8/00)

ieve that the pics are (hopefully only temporarily) down on this site), 16th C smocks from the Bath Museum (both below). These had side gussets, armhole gussets, collars and cuffs. The V&A museum shirt, has neck gussets. As the shirt was for rapier (requiring movement) and to go under a fencing doublet, I did not want to gather the neck into the collar (as per the Bath Museum shirt). Neck gussets would work well for this. Below L is a sketch of the pattern I was to use, based on these shirts.