late roman equipment

[tlclark]

He advised me to study the garments worn by Priests especially those in the Orthodox church which will obviously be of interest to you. They do not seem to have problems bending their arms but possibly they are using finer material than most modern re-enactors tend to do.

Thanks,

I have 3, and it's fantastic BTW.

It's true, the byzantine examples are all nearly unamimous and show very tight fitting tunics. In many cases the muscles of the forearm are clearly delineated, suggesting VERY tight sleeves. Wool might have more stretch, but I can't see how they could have been so tight, especially at the wrist. Likewise, we have a lot more tunics from the 5th-7th C. and nearly all have parallel sleeves.

It's a real conundrum.

Aitor suggested perhaps that the sleeves were woven parallel, but sewn to be tapered, but I know of no evidence that such is the case.

I am going to make cuffs with splits so that I can get really tight cuffs, but I think my next tunic will have to be wool instead of linen, to allow more stretch.

Thanks.