Just as the sark was underwear for women, the shirt was underwear for men. The only archaeological find we have of a linen shirt is a relative complete shirt from Viborg in Denmark. But that one shirt is exceptional. Yes, it consist of the typical, simple, square pieces with gusset in the armholes and slits at the sides, but the sewing is the more interesting with complicated seams and a lining above the waist. We should be able to suppose that most shirts were much more simple in their construction, but the general model with square pieces and slits at the sides should be plausiblie. Such a shirt is easy to tuck inside the trousers which is what should be expected from underwear. There is nothing indicating that shirts had gores and were worn so that other people could see them. The neckline could very well have been assymetrical. There is evidence for several types of assymetrical necklines with varying ways of keeping them closed. The Viborg shirt has an intricate solution where the fabric strip which edges the neckline continues into bands for knotting, in about the same way as for the gathered sark from Pskov which I described on December 8, but here they were used in combination with double square pieces at the front.

You can buy pattern for a simple shirt here: Tunics and Dresses