What is this woman wearing?

[gem]

Stumbled across this 1569 Flemish painting, "Water" from Joachim Beuckelaer's Four Elements series (see the entire painting & series here), and was immediately struck by the unusual attire of this fishmonger.



She's sporting a fairly familiar working-class ensemble of chemise/kirtle/overgown/apron, etc... but what is that large black V coming down around her neck and over her bodice? I've never seen anything like it, and to my modern eye makes her look a little bit like an academic!  If it's her partlet, it's certainly unusual!

(And while we're at it, I'm having trouble deciphering the pink/green, too. My first thought was pink sleeves... but she also has a high pink collar, so is it a jacket? I think the dark green is her gown, though--it seems to match the dark around her waist and just visible behind/beneath her apron. Would you wear a gown over a jacket? That seems cumbersome.)

So, Garb Detectives, have at it!

[Auryn]

On the green, I would say a jacket,
for the big black v, what about a shawl?

[CenturiesSewing]

The layers how I see them:

Smock
white partlet
yellow kirtle
green over gown
coral apron
pink sleeves
black wool partlet thing with pink lining

In the group of paintings she is the only older woman shown and I want to say I've seen the black V around before but I'm not remembering where.

[Kate XXXXXX]

The pink sleeves may well be protective over-sleeves, a sort of 17th C version of these:



This nurse for WWI is wearing something similar in white cotton: 

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

Hijacked someone else's write up on Dutch costuming for you.. maybe something in it will help

http://lowcountriescostume.com/?p=51

[isabelladangelo]

The layers how I see them:

Smock
white partlet
yellow kirtle
green over gown
coral apron
pink sleeves
black wool partlet thing with pink lining

In the group of paintings she is the only older woman shown and I want to say I've seen the black V around before but I'm not remembering where.

This.

It's just a short sleeves green overdress with pink sleeves under it.  You'll see it in a lot of paintings from that era.

Pink dress, green sleeves
Red Dress, pink sleeves


As for the odd partlet, the old lady in this painting is wearing one as well:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/aertsen/egg-dance/egg-dance2.jpg
In this one, it looks like it's rounded in the front  You can also see that she's wearing the smock, dress, overdress, white partlet, and then the black odd partlet. 

[markste]

I think black is gothic jacket and Hat is related to pirates..