As many may know, I am a huge fan of the art of Nüremberg artist Albrecht Dürer. One of my absolute favourite pieces is his portrait of the Young fürlegerin with her hair in braids. I have looked at this so many times and I still find new details in it. Now I want to look specifically on her shift, or hemd as it is called in German.
It is a lovely hemd, with an embroidered smocked front and black lining along the neckline. But as one looks at many different portraits and paintings from the same time and region, I noticed something about that neckline. The back seems to be drawn down towards the front so that the back neckline also covers the entire shoulder. I will try and illustrate what I mean with some more pictures.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aVgNhDWz8qiQwbdCb2RY0kg1HW3iiPbkzX2-n8EQg2fnH-bgv9XLe48fsgyurK067WQ0m0Yv8wYED4LmvYqanRGRe6tUtyQDkEeQB9OupSyvt3WLhosmT_bd4vaE_OmWgjrsPJRTwcw/s1600/Wolf+Traut+portrait+of+a+woman.jpg) |
Wolf Traut, Portrait of a woman, Nüremberg 1510 |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJErHJQt9PcemDtL-e6dmlcU32PsASwcLBvGxA59OqmABxlIQfal8jkvg5GUkY9vZpy4-j1uD5fYUcxEnuHbDtpg3bkdR9e1GPCL60Jn99S5sjlnw_VuQGtj_6JQMghljjOVlZ3OPTgs/s320/Hans+Holbein+the+younger%252C+portrait.jpg) |
Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of a woman |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgD1jrQIoEQXkq5WjnieJwDWVJJUzLWEVHKRV8FHLRnOJrcrNej-LU-70hUVszrdFseZ_fLZ5VAsjHHaL3CueB6zU8fwqa5JFSfe2dLCwo2AmmqCMOqKvtE_l96z3tIuyoieyaIZiYtM/s320/No+black+lining.jpg) |
Detail of a painting, showing the Young woman in green in a similar hemd |
The back seems to be a rounded line, not indicating a seam or anything other than over the front shoulder where it meets the front.
I found this a bit intriguing so I had to experiment a bit with a simple version af a hemd, where the back is wider than the front, thus curving down over the shoulder and forming that seamless line down the front.
So my version is a plain shift in two pieces, two sidegores and sleeves and in order to clearly illustrate the slanted backpiece/shoulder, I put in a small lining of the neckline in black silk. Here it is:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtIlCOINzPfFI3Vzd5S7dVeWRaxdKbMc3jcOngUh93sSg8B_HxzvWYzlUskXmsgjCEtBgD8vPOW0zQ-Bt3KyAcpHmGO0gu0mf_Xlvg6wyHU6qCLfEpsU-R_VdTVgVsyOqkUyS5PXMlso/s320/Detalj.jpg) |
The shoulder part hanging down in the front |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_LjEcPu5QAKFJhYv9FL_GQJaw_Awm30jhCtkMRmriyOX3kRcINPBIY1tSHy7YYCDuuce7RdbmEbN8E70k0uLD9vgiRi2B9PFNOd2CXDQukEThg_9RcO8fz2wku9P9p5PVjXSR57HQOc/s320/Hela+p%25C3%25A5+galge.jpg) |
The hemd when done |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwbTEgM9Q-F7MHvrkrMi908mKkDsAYRVrzbgDg4qL6TcXQ3d0XGEI4-musKqZTQAgk-fpOulKYstvL5HufrFlhFEXUp47KkzS4_5a0R0IhOsrYWhhWRiBa3mPiXAA1ShkbiTTRUx7-xvM/s320/P%25C3%25A5+mig+%25C3%25A4rm+och+sidkil.jpg) |
Construction with sidegore sewn directly to the sleeve |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSOKRbRwbNcG8lc5-oCGgPro-8_gSaVn0_HRHDwLI1EajMy4yOXPLXIJxK0xLoA1Bm-FedcJHuZxkRHcBAry5UBbsikbvcR11FVklSR3NZqL-4IwvqbWyakH5Tt_s_nRfOkKxiVSwkWk/s320/Med+bl%25C3%25A5+hausbook.jpg) |
Worn with my blue Hausbook dress over it |
And clearly I have nothing to wear on top of it, since all my dresses are fairly high in the neck and doesn´t show anything of the shoulders.