14th Century Bocksten Tunic

Images of the Bocksten Tunic an Bocksten Man, Copyright Martina a Martin Hřibovi © 2006, posted with permission

Construction:

I primarily followed the pattern layout from Alric of Drentha's "The Bocksten tunic: Going beyond the T-tunic."

Doroga had requested a two-colored tunic if possible (called parti-colored or mi-parti). While no such extant pieces exist, two-colored tunics in this cut are frequently seen in art of the period (Scott 62). Several excellent images of a tunic in this style are seen in the Romance of Alexander (1338-44) found at Bodlien Library (the copyright holder does not permit use of the images on other websites). Numerous other images of mi-parti tunics can be found throughout 13th and 14th century works, see Larsdatter's page "Particolored Clothing."

Modifying Alric's pattern to be mi-parti was simple, I simply changed the 2 large body panels into 4 smaller body panels cut down the body. As the majority of the mi-parti tunics I looked at in this style were not counter-changed I did the colors covering the entire right and left sides of the body (similar to how I did my 14th Century Heraldic Gown).

While silk or wool would have been the period fabrics used for this piece, this was a gift for someone who also was looking for comfortable Pennsic garb. As such it is made of medium weight linen. Additionally, while all of the visible seams (wrist, hem, and neckline) are sewn by hand the interior seams were done on a machine to save time. My goal was to create a piece that would have the same look and feel as those seen in period while still fitting with what the giftee was looking for (easy to care for, cool in the summer, and durable).