ABSTRACT
In the early fifteenth century the Venetian Senate passed a set of laws under the rubric, Pro manicis togarum, 'On the sleeves of robes'.1 This limited the size and scale of men's and women's sleeves, punishing the tailor as well as the purchaser for any infraction. A century later, the Senate was still trying to regulate what it termed, 'a horrible form of sleeve, called "a comedo", which uses at least three braccia of cloth-of-gold or silk, which is an exces sive expense and a style which is not appropriate to women', injunctions which were reiterated only six months later with fines on the tailor, the wearer, and the confiscation of the sleeves themselves.2
