No sly dig intended, merely the simple question 'why debateable?'
Your second post though clarifies matters as I believe what you are asking is simply put as "were the top and bottom of the leg covering garments seperate items or one?"
Would that be correct?
I have yet to see an illustration that would show the two items separately other than the German knitted examples shown
although we have no evidence to say if they ever had associated stockings . The only time I have seen the two worn as obviously seperate items is in pictures of reenactors, which I would thing goes more to show the modern 'shorts and t-shirt comfort' mentality than it does acurate historical behaviour.
Wills and inventories of the reign of Henry VIII that I have seen only refer to hose not upper and lower which would either indicate that they were indeed treated as one item or that they are not referred to as hose perhaps?
Previous discussion on how to reconstruct this type of garment by Historic Royal Palaces has come to no concrete conclusions I believe. Theories as to how the lower hose are suspended ranged from sewing them directly to the upper hose fabric, although one then has to decide how the upper part is made both taught enough to suspend the lower AND loose enough to allow for the 'bloused' look of the slashing.
Sewing the lower part to the lining of the upper part.
Attaching the lower to the upper by clothing hooks, a theory that could explain why many are found but few are seen in art.
Or that no physical attachment takes place, rather that the lower extends sufficiently up the leg and either friction or some form of loose gatering takes place above the knee and hidden by the upper part of the garment.
I personally feel that currently there is no 'correct' answer to this question and that the various solutions that I have seen all have
some degree of merit to them. In my opinion, short of a decent description in a document, a clear painting or a surviving garment all that we are left with is various peoples ideas and theories as to how best to reconstruct the garment; all of which will lead to reconstructions that will outwardly look like the pictures we see.
My gut feeling based on no real evidence is that the lower are attached to the lining of the upper and the whole is treated as one garment....but what do I know eh! Now off to deal with that same research as that nice Mr Grymm
