This is my Gaelic gown and, for as important as it is, I have surprisingly few pictures. I say it is important because it is the culmination of years of research about Gaelic clothing. Hours of pouring through descriptions and pictures made by men who had generally never seen what they were describing and trying to sift fact from fiction. This is what I believe, approximately mind you, that the 16th century Gaelic common woman wore.
A linen shirt to the ankle, modest and made of narrow loomed fabric, with the quality of linen being the best she could afford or produce. A woolen gown, lined in linen, and front lacing, with a silhouette that is reminiscent of a century before. Old ways are hard to change and why for? The strip style sleeves are a fashion novelty borne of having a shirt sleeve too large for a fitted sleeve and desiring to show it off. The breid, the Gaelic name for the veil, was another article that I had not previously seen constructed in this fashion, but which I had been able to find several sources citing it as such. It is worn folded and pinned like a medieval veil. I consider it a high compliment that within two seasons after I debuted the breid I was seeing other peoples versions of it at events.
Once upon a time I had a paper written documenting the research, but alas, it was lost in the Great Computer Crash of 2006. One day soon I'll reproduce it, but for now these few pictures will have to suffice.
A linen shirt to the ankle, modest and made of narrow loomed fabric, with the quality of linen being the best she could afford or produce. A woolen gown, lined in linen, and front lacing, with a silhouette that is reminiscent of a century before. Old ways are hard to change and why for? The strip style sleeves are a fashion novelty borne of having a shirt sleeve too large for a fitted sleeve and desiring to show it off. The breid, the Gaelic name for the veil, was another article that I had not previously seen constructed in this fashion, but which I had been able to find several sources citing it as such. It is worn folded and pinned like a medieval veil. I consider it a high compliment that within two seasons after I debuted the breid I was seeing other peoples versions of it at events.
Once upon a time I had a paper written documenting the research, but alas, it was lost in the Great Computer Crash of 2006. One day soon I'll reproduce it, but for now these few pictures will have to suffice.