Coat Sleeves

Inner-layer coats seem to universally have long straight sleeves (shown in some paintings draping over the hands, I cut my sleeves just one or two inches longer than my fingertips). The over coats, however, are shown with more variety: short sleeves, long sleeves or sometimes a hanging sleeve.

The hanging sleeve is arguably the most attractive and exotic option. On examination, the 15th century hanging sleeves (like the one pictured right) have football-shaped openings for the arm to come out representative (I believe) of a vertical slit in the sleeve.

Later hanging sleeves show a horizontal slit. Some pictures show dots or buttons along the edges of short sleeves. I believe these are buttons for holding the sleeve opening closed. See right for a lovely detail of a lady who has one short sleeve with the dots along the edge, and one long sleeve with the closed buttons¹.

There are very few depictions that show a three-quarters view of these hanging sleeves. One, pictured left, shows a seated man, his sleeve at least appears to only be slit on the front with no seam showing on the back and therefore not detachable like the Turkish sleeves.

The extant Turkish garments have a scooped or scalloped shape to the short attached sleeve which is also seen in depictions of the later Safavid illuminations (not surprising that the Turkish styles should become present during the Turkish rule of Persia.) The cut is a half circle into the hem from the front of the sleeve, possibly to make room for when the wearer's arm is bent.

A web page of a Turkish museum² has several photos of a 13th century coat (identified as Persian, Seljuk dynasty). The striped (apparently cotton) fabric shows some easily visible seam lines. While this extant garment is from two to three centuries earlier than the period of interest of this paper, it is useful as a source of possible seams and techniques in the absence of other extant garments. This earlier coat features very wide sleeves which have a piece added to attain a triangular shape and a seam halfway down the arm where a join was made to make the sleeve longer.