The Armour Archive

Charlotte J

As to the question of archery and more activities in general I would like to say go for it but be careful of diluting the orginal idea. I have found that it is great to start something in smallish steps - It is too easy to become distracted by adding this and adding that until so many things are pl...

Charlotte J

Um - I'm a fan of No visible machine sewing. YES - hand-quilting is a HUGE pain. BUT - it is certainly worth the effort - it looks very different from machine stitching. I can also tell you from experience that a completely hand-sewn and hand-quilted doublet only took about 200 hours. The quilting ...

Charlotte J

Here's another reason to mix things up and have some home-made stuff thrown in with your store-bought stuff -- variety. We don't have a whole row of stores selling furred goods or metal goods, or tableware, etc, all providing slightly different quality and atmosphere. So to avoid looking cookie-cut...

Charlotte J

In reading through these posts, I would hope that many people would remember one thing... According to SCA organization policies: "All persons are assumed to be of noble lineage." Now.. how that person actually dresses themselves is up to them. But for the Emprise, there will be standards. Just a r...

Charlotte J

On visible machine sewing, I am good with that because it is a small detail not a glairing one. Potayto-potahto. You guys don't even want fully-hidden plastic breastplates, but it's okay to have machine stitching in plain sight? Nailing down these requirements to every stickler's satisfaction is go...

Charlotte J

What about one on one, half-speed, non-choreographed, with wasters? Even if there were only a handful of people who could participate, this would certainly be the audience for it. I'm also guessing that archery in a non-archery area is verboten? The main tourney... Is this melee, or one on one? Forg...

Charlotte J

I will be helping out with the Emprise. As a herald, marshal, attendent, whatever. Yeah, you do a great job at public announcement. It would be a loss if you weren't fighting though. You are also good at knowing what was done at tourneys. I have a question for you on that: would there be other cont...

Charlotte J

On regalia. If it's not period to the 14th c., it doesn't come in. If somebody is lucky enough to have 14th c. regalia, bully for them. For crowns and other hats, part of the kit would have to be servants and other appropriate clothing. On unacceptable stuff. It might be nice to have a safe place o...

Charlotte J

Jeff J wrote:OMG.

An SCA activity that very much like to help with. I'd like to be on whatever committee or whatever you set up.

*Checks sky for pigs*

*Checks butt for flying monkeys*

Charlotte J

If I'm at Pennsic next year, I will be there as a spectator. I could only wish that the tourney were part of a longer immersion event, full or half day, to include a period feast or something on the civilian side of things. There's no reason that people can't do this longer than an hour or so. It's ...

Charlotte J

@all: 1.) Getting good stuff doesn't set you back. The one action that sets you back is making/buying crap because the time and money is wasted. Research is free - so do proper planing and progress with thought. 2.) The right materials often aren't more expensive if you know where and when to shop ...

Charlotte J

Buying stuff is period. Having crappy stuff that you "made yourself" just for the sake of making it yourself, is not. As an example, the glorified "sheep to shawl"* project that many undertake in A&S, is not terribly period for most personae, especially those in later period. I like to make stuff my...

Charlotte J

I have heard that having your shoulder pieces not pre-bent is the way to go. Having a fairly flexible material that wants to be straight is the best way to avoid the pringling (bending) that some hoop tents are wont to do. If you think about it, those shock cords are trying to be straight, and it's ...

Charlotte J

Ach, why would you want to go about supporting Lancaster, anyway?

Charlotte J

Okay.. I was only wondering because it seems likely to me that wood is actually OVER represented these days, and that would be "low end" kit in a lot of cases. .pewter and/or potter being more likely for the station you guys seem to be shooting for. Generally, we do pewter for our gentlemen and hig...

Charlotte J

It depends on class, as well. IIRC, I pulled the event standards straight from the Retreat to Calais site, from Chef de Chambre and crew. They are (generally) somewhat more lax than Grey's standards, and are designed to allow a new person to have an easier time kitting out for their first event. Of ...

Charlotte J

Back to the original question... Why would a reenactor want to attend an SCA event?

Because there are more chicks at SCA events.

Charlotte J

Brennus - Thanks for the info. I concur with the "randomly" part. Where did you find some of those names? (So I know for next time - teach a girl to fish and all of that...) Tracy - *snicker* I considered "Roman de la Rose", but not "romin'". Ingrid - Thanks for the link. Good luck with your puppy -...

Charlotte J

Brent, I hope I can answer your original question... why should an historian or reenactor consider playing? 1. Opportunity. Last year, there ended up being only two LH events in the area to attend for 15th c. If you spend all of that time working on having something right and perfect, it's a lot of ...

Charlotte J

We found a reference to Die Jagd (The Hunt) by Hadamar von Laber (1300-1354). It's an allegorical poem describing how a mounted huntsman pursues noble game with his hounds; "Joy", "Will", "Delight", "Loyalty", "Heart", and later, "Kiss" and "Embrace". He has a final dog named "End". It is allegorica...

Charlotte J

So, does anybody know anything about how people chose names for their dogs in the 14th and 15th centuries, preferably England? France or the Low Countries works too. I did some googling, but all I came up with were those insipid baby-name sites. Not quite sure where to start on this one, and I'm jus...

Charlotte J

No, not as a Scottish... er I mean "Irish" pikeman reenactor. But the little red car and the 20 something blond is looking pretty good right now... er... to my friend. Careful what you... I mean, your friend... wishes for. Jeff J has a full head of hair (but isn't chubby) and ended up with a 20-som...

Charlotte J

...guys who late in life, bought these really snazzy thoroughbred jousting horses and VERY shiny armor? Thoroughbred jousting horses?? I wouldn't be caught dead jousting on a thoroughbred. Of course if I jousted on a thoroughbred, it'd -probably- kill me . They're psycho, dontcha know... not terrib...

Charlotte J

murdock, For the '80s, it seems that the fashionable neckline was wide, but not terribly deep. Of course, this could have also been artistic interpretation, but the deep scoop is very popular around the '90s and turn of the century. That's not to say that a neckline like that wouldn't be appropriate...

Charlotte J

Tasha -

I'll add my praise to the heap...

I showed Jeff that picture, and he thought it was taken when you were at your most svelte.

Hottie.

Charlotte J

What's Jeff got in front of him, that's leather, with little gold studs? Part of the saddle, I suppose? I know it's not, but at first glance, it looks almost like a cell phone! In all seriousness, I liked what Bob did for the first Calais. He said that if you're new to the hobby, we'd still like to ...

Charlotte J

And it doesn't matter if you are looking down on them or not, just whether or not they think you are. I don't think I can quite agree with this statement. ("You" and "your" used in a general sense, not aimed at anybody here.) If you really are looking down on somebody, but you put on a fake smile w...

Charlotte J

As for myself outside the cooler issue (from time to time) I fall between a main streamer and a progressive person. I tend to go to reenactments with as little as I can get away with. Last MTT I had a sack with clothing, a sack with maille, a linen bag I stuffed with straw to sleep on, and a few bl...

Charlotte J

audax, It's no biggie. I've just been around here long enough to see discussions disintegrate because people thought others were talking about a particular organization when they weren't. It always ends up hurting feelings, and is unnecessary. I also think you're missing my point about intellectual ...

Charlotte J

Murdock wrote:thanks Tasha,

Kate will want to see how the neck looks for hers.

Curious...

What time period is she going for? Does she have a specific decade in mind? The neckline is one of those elements that changes throughout the course of the century.

Charlotte J

Even if "farb" comes from "far be it", if you look at the story literally, I've always seen the negative part as the attitude of the person, not necessarily that they have something inauthentic. It seems to refer to the hypocrisy of somebody being rude and judgmental, when their own kit isn't up to ...

Charlotte J

That's also what the article said. Heck, we joke so much calling each other farbs, it's totally lost its bite for me. Either way, call a spade a spade. "Farb" may have negative connotations, but "mainstream", and "progressive" certainly don't. I don't know anybody in this discussion who thinks that ...

Charlotte J

Bart,

I saw two of your banners this weekend. I was able to find the camp that I was looking for because of them. They're beautiful!

Charlotte J

Strangely enough, up until now, I actually avoided reading the article, and was just responding to points made in the thread. The article? People are getting upset over that? Why bother? I thought it made some good points and didn't overly ascribe value judgements. In fact, he went out of his way to...

Charlotte J

FIVE: The Women Must Have a Decent Role. Pernille stepped in and said "You know, the hobby isn't really that interesting to me...I look and see all the men plumed up in their armor and weapons and helmets, very shiny and gorgeous, and the women are all like little brown ducks in the kitchen sitting...

Re: Visible hand-stitching

Any dog experts? Naming?