SNAPPY SOLDIER TUNIC PLEAT

[tlclark]

Travis,

Did you read my entire post, or just the first line?

Ok, it's obvious I'm annoying people and I'm not trying to (it just comes naturally I guess!) So if I'm annoying people I'm sorry.

Yes I did read your entire post, but I just responded to that issue since the rest was largely covered before.

I'm not familiar with what Graham has to say on this matter, but I will look into it.

Both the chiton and the exomis could be short and it is not impossible that some slaves were dressed in Greek style clothing.

That's a very good point. I need to look closely at the tunic styles to see if we are looking at chiton or tunics.

are any of these statues of women and if so could the 'pleats' actually be the effect produced by the buttons / knots in the 'gap sleeved' style of women's garment?

No, I am only looking at male representations that don't have the usual clasps of a female chiton. Those produce very clear gaps along the shoulder seam and the buttons are very visible. On the images I'm seeing, their are no such feature.

About the pleats being "regular" that's a big problem. The pleats in the mainz stelae are very regular, as are the pleats in clothing on late monuments, such as the decannalia in the forum, the arch of the argentarii or other "genre", plebian, provincial or late styles. The pleats look far less regular in contemporary representations. I referenced the Pozzouli arch images, which show nearly - indentical imagery to the Mainz stelae, except that the style is dramatically different. The folds of the Pozzouli figures are softer, less regular, but definitely there. That makes me think, (but as Tarbicus mentioned I could easily be wrong) that this style of drapery is natural and not intentional.

Can you post up any pictures?

Unfortunately I don't have any good images that are my own, but if you check out Diana Kliener's Roman Sculpture you can see these shoulder gathers in an excellent image of Augustus from Corinth. (fig. 49 pg 73)

The shoulder is down and loosely held to the side, so we would expect to see the shoulder seam smooth, and yet it's clearly gathered. I've seen similar effects on many male statues. I will have to compile images of the shoulder seams to make the case.

Also, have you experimented with reconstructed tunics yourself? If so, did you try several different possibilities and what were your results?

I haven't made a full tunic, I've only sewn gathered seams to see how the material behaves. I think making a tunic is the next step, and I think that gathered seams will produce many of the effects we are seeing in the sculpture. I will let you know what I find out.

Thanks,

Travis[/quote]