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garments of one type or another have been used for centuries as body
protection in many if not most parts of the world. Different fabric garments were worn over armor and others were worn under and indeed, some did both. However, which garments are used for which purpose and certainly what they should be called is to this day uncertain. It is common in period for differing terminology to be used interchangeably for the same garment and often even the same word would be differently and creatively spelled. Then we have chronologic and dialectic substitutions. All these factors only help to feed the nomenclature confusion. For all the written references to and presumed commonality of these garments in period, there are very few extant examples available on which we can base any solid conclusions. All of the statements made in this document are based on either personal experimentation or on comments made by "the experts". My goal here is to get the information out to interested parties and encourage discussion. |
