From Hedeby (as usual) there are finds of very interesting fragments indicating that tunics or dresses not only could be made from square pieces, but als have fitted sleeves with strange cuts and a waist seam where the “skirt” consisted of both panels and gores. On the picture to the right I have recreated a more simple version and further right a version which uses most of the interesting fragments. In reality they belonged to different garments so there are many possible combinations here. Several necklines can also be combined with the rest.

From Birka we know about tunics which have been decorated with applications, embroidery, tablet woven bands and posaments made of silver, gold and silk. These were of course the finest tunics belonging to the upper class. They were possibly imported from the east and definitely inspired by eastern fashion. On the photo to the left you can see how a version of a similar tunic might have looked.

For most of these fragments we don’t know if they belonged to under or over tunics. You can possibly identify those by the weave. It is possible that under tunics used to be made in tabby and over tunics in twill, but that is uncertain.

You can buy patterns for tunics and dresses here: Skjorta och kjortel