History of the shirt

Throughout the passage of time shirts have been an important garment and were originally worn as an undergarment as opposed to the fashion item they are today. It is thought that the shirt originates from the Chemise ( French word for shirt) , which was worn by both men and women and possibly derived from the Roman Tunic.

Before the middle ages the shirt was made from linen and any rough cloth and used as an undergarment and night wear. The chemise was the only garment that was washed regularlyto prevent soiling the more colourful outer garments and to also add an extra layer for warmth. These early shirts did not have collars, cuffs or buttons down the front and were put on by pulling over the head.

These early shirts were made from a single piece of rectangle cloth and for the poor man , were made by wives or mothers. Men of wealth had their shirts made by tailors and were more sophisticated than the rectangular cloth version.

At the very end of 15th century Italian fashions introduced the shirt as an outer garment as illustrated in the painting by Albert Durer (below). This portrait shows a white linen shirt worn under an open fronted doublet. This shirt or “chemise” is decorated with gold embroidery

 In the 16^th century the shirt went through many changes throughout Europe and the low neck line shirts developed into high neck lined shirts and then as theybecame more of a fashion item,  ruffs were added to the collars and cuffs (Ruffs were large detachable pieces of fabric that were literally ruffled up to create a collar – ruffs were often coloured and very ornate)



Towards the end of the century shirts started to resemble the shirts we wear today . The following two portraits illustrate the high-neck and low-neck line styles that were popular in that period (see below left and below right)