Placement of fitchets

Fitchets are slits, or openings in seams, allowing the wearer to put his hands through to reach for a pouch hanging from his or her girdle. The presence of fitchets shows that the garment was a surcote, intended as an outer garment. The exception here seems to be H43, which was worn with a belt that covered the fitchets.

Note: the fitchets in H43 may not be fitchets, but simply be a case of the seams splitting when the garment was forced over the body it covered.