feminalia

[Matthew Amt]

The Thorsburg (sp?) trousers, the ones with the feet attached, have no side seams. IIRC, they do have a crotch gusset of some kind, but it's been a while since I saw that drawing. Ancient garments tended to be made from rectangles, as that's the shape that comes from a loom. The didn't do the more complicated, tailored cutting/fitting that we do today, apparently.

Actually, the Thorsbjerg trousers and the two pairs of short trousers from Denmark that I've seen patterns for are very oddly-shaped. One theory is that they developed from garments cut from animal hides, and simply kept much of that shape when translated into fabric. So it's quite possible that *tunics* were rectangular and/or woven to their finished shape, but trouser parts were definitely cut to specific complex shapes.

Coupla links:

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/coldcloth.html

http://www.frojel.com/Documents/Document04.html (scroll down)

Valete,

Matthew