A vlieger is a type of full-length sleeveless over-gown or 'cape-with-slits-for-armholes' worn by married Dutch women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.Buvelot, Quentin (ed.) (2007). Hollanders in Beeld—Portretten uit de Gouden Eeuw. Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle. Pages 67, 106. (in Dutch). The Dutch catalogue for an exhibition at the National Gallery in London (where it was titled Dutch Portraits—The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals) and at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Variations with short sleeves or high shoulder rolls are known. Sometimes sleeves were attached with aiglets, and often slits were made to allow belts or the hands to pass through.
In the Dutch Republic during the early 17th-century the vlieger was often worn with a millstone collar (a wide starched ruff). The vlieger was always black and always worn with a skirt, usually of the type fardegalijn. The black-on-black look after the Reformation makes them hard to distinguish in portraits if the sleeves and skirt are also black, but they can usually be inferred from a more colorful stomacher or belt-chain that makes the black silhouette stand out.
Vliegers:
The Spanish version was called a "ropa" and could be closed at the neck. The French version was called a "marlotte".20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment, by Francois Boucher (art historian) & Yvonne Deslandres, 1987, pp. 224-225
Ropas:
The vlieger is often confused with the 'huik' (or huyck), which was a black wool cape covering the entire body made from a long swath of combed black wool gathered on one side around a visor or round cap that was perched on the head and could be attached to a diadem cap. These were worn for modesty and/or warmth when women were outside in public spaces. Paintings by Hendrick Avercamp and others often show both the vlieger and huik in use in winter scenes on the ice, and paintings by Bartholomeus van Bassen and others show these capes worn in churches.
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