Linen Shirt

Description of the Product

In the northernmost Europe regular common man and woman living in the county side dressed pretty much similarly from the Viking Era to the Renaissance. Only jewelry and small accessories changed with the times. In the cities the fashion naturally changed and wealthy people changed clothing styles as decades and centuries changed. Viking Era clothing remained in use for a surprisingly long time and for example in Finland regular people walked around wearing ancient style clothing throughout the entire Middle Ages. A tunic made of linen became shorter as centuries passed but as a tried and true material a linen shirt still remains in use till this day as a nostalgic part of country-style clothing.

Flax is one of the oldest plants people have been cultivating and directions for linen textile manufacture has been found on 4000 year old Egyptian wall paintings. Linen was one of the most important textile plants in middle age Europe. Linen has been cultivated for example in Finland from the bronze age onward but as nettle and hemp grow better and faster in the north, large parts of linen was imported from other countries to the north during medieval times.

Sleeves were sometimes unnecessary long in pre-history dresses/tunics found in burials. Sometimes the sleeves were so long that separate handcuffs were needed to keep the sleeves up. Maybe the wearer was letting everyone know how wealthy he/she was, as he/she could spend scarce resources even on unnecessary clothing parts. With this shirt we have tried to keep the sleeves up to modern standards but if the sleeves are too long for you, at least then you know that you are part of the ancient royalty.

This linen shirt is high quality local hand work. Material is 100% linen and the textile has been washed (pre-shrunk) before sewing. Even though modern machines have been used to create strong modern seams, all of the seams have been finished by hand and needle to create a fully authentic look and to add character to your shirt. The shirt can be washed in warm 40 degrees (celcius) machine wash.

The neck opening and sleeve cuffs have been reinforced with a separate layer of linen. The shirt neck opening is in old traditional northern style and commonly it was closed at the top with a separate brooch.