The skirt
As I said in the preamble at the start of this project, during the 16th.C the rear tassets diminished in number until, by the latter part of the century, they were reduced to a single lame forming the skirt - or even a simple turned out flange of the backplate itself. Fig. 11 shows the single lame forming the rear skirt in position on the backplate.
Construction of the front skirt is shown from initial making of the cardboard pattern through to the finished piece. In Fig. 12 masking tape is used around the lower flange of the breastplate to produce the line. This is transferred to cardboard ( Fig. 13 ) and Fig. 14 shows the pattern being checked against the breastplate.
The outline is transferred to the steel and the piece cut out ( Fig. 15 ) -
- before shaping and finishing ( Fig. 16 ).
Finally the front skirt is attached to the lower edge of the breastplate - Fig. 17.
