Shirt

Shirt Front. Victoria and Albert Museum. Museum Number: T.104-1934

Shirt Back. Victoria and Albert Museum. Museum Number: T.104-1934

Night Shirt. Victoria and Albert Museum. Museum Number: T.594-1999

Waugh, N. (1964). The Cut of Men's Clothes 1600-1900.
London, Theatre Arts Book. 

These are some research images I found for my shirt. It has been difficult to find a shirt that is exactly like the one I am making, however several come close. The shirt I am making doesn't have a neck ruffle like the first image, but it is very similar in other ways like the cuffs, sleeves, and back. I also thought this image of a night shirt was good because the button stand looks similar to the one I am making, as well as the sleeves and cuffs however, obviously, not the length. Lastly this pattern is somewhat close to my shirt as well. There is a gusset both under the arms and at the the neck in this pattern and in my shirt. And where the ruffles might be on this pattern is where the simple button stand will be on mine. However one thing I haven't been able to find in my research is a similar collar to the one I am making. It is an odd shape and not just simply flat and folded over like the images above. In terms of putting my shirt in an era, I think that would be a very complicated thing to do. In the first image the shirt is from 1846, the night-shirt is from 1874, and the pattern is from 1720. So this shirt has the potential to have a wide scope in terms of it's place on a timeline. I think that is a very smart thing for the National Theatre Hire Department. The style of men's shirts, from what I have learned, doesn't go drastically from one era to the next. It has a kind of gradual development, so having a shirt that could cover quite a few years would be a smart addition to a hire department.