The front torso panel is cut to accommodate a strong rib cage and protruding abdomen. The tucks in the yoke offer elasticity for movement of the shoulder blades in the back and though I have not seen a photo of the back torso panel/yoke seam, I suspect that the tailored cut would resemble the shapes which I show here in rough sketches. The yoke is folded at the middle point of the sleeves; then the sleeves are seamed together in line with the side seams for the torso panels. A further detail in the sleeves: the tapered wrist area is puckered along the seam so that the sleeves can be pushed up, adjusting to arm length or to accommodate the wearer's work. The neck hole was apparently finished with needlework and the hem is a standard self-facing hem with very fine hem stitching, by hand, of course.
The shirt is housed in the Petrie Museum, University College, London.
This well-designed and finely worked linen shirt fits into a genre of clothing that was produced exclusively in linen until the use of cotton grew popular: clothing to be worn next to the skin.
Various other regions beyond Egypt also created linen undergarments that formed the basis of a clothing ensemble. Elizabeth Wayland Barber's book Women's Work: the First 20,000 Years - highly recommended reading for textile artists - describes the first stages in the development of the tunic, chemise or shirt. The garment starts out as a sleeveless shoulder-to-ankle garment of general use as the basic mode of dress in warm climates or seasons.
A Greek design was cut in two pieces, a front and a back, which were simply joined at the shoulders and belted at the waist, often with openings rather than seams along the sides of the garment. The neck was left open with the extra material draping into a "bateau neckline."
The Mesopotamian design for the tunic (chemise or shirt) was merely a cloth tube created by wrapping a length of cloth around the body reaching from chest to ankles, exposing the right arm and shoulder - allowing freedom for work - and then the end of the rectangular wrapping was draped over the left arm and shoulder.
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