The Armour Archive

Black Swan Designs

Well there you have it! Good job!

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

Hi Karen- Interesting! Refering to the last set of images: #2 and #4 are 'Visitation' scenes, and the purse wearer is St. Elizabeth. The scene takes place shortly after the Annunciation, when Mary visits her cousin Elisabeth, who despite her advanced age has miraculously become pregnant with the fut...

Black Swan Designs

Here are a couple more:

Black Swan Designs

Look at Tasha's drawing, and consider that she's using a round ring as a frame, instead of a D shaped one. The flap is soft. It is sewn to the frame along the top. (Tasha's pattern is round on the top because she's using a ring. If this were a pattern for a D shaped frame, the pattern would be flat ...

Black Swan Designs

I've never seen a depiction of a woman wearing anything but a simple drawstring pouch, and that -under- her overgown. These are from Testard which is late 15th C, but I've seen the same sort of arrangement in Boccaccio, which is the other end of the century- http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs135.snc1/...

Black Swan Designs

Maybe you can post somewhere on the site for people who want to add free scraps to their orders? You know, they won't get to pick size, color, etc, its just whatever you grab and throw in, but it could be a simple checkbox or something when you are completing an order? On the surface that sounds li...

Black Swan Designs

I feel for ya man, I couldn't get out of my own way yesterday to save my life, and I didn't drive home. I have been chained to my computer trying to catch up all day yesterday and today, and am about DONE with email. Unfortunately, I still have 113 messages to respond to. I knew there was a good rea...

Black Swan Designs

OK, cool. Now I know I'm on the right track. I will make sure all of our garments have cards for next year. Guys have been asking me for a 'Granimals' system to help them figure out what goes with what. joleicia's comment revisits the idea that not everyone knows what pieces go together, so I'll thi...

Black Swan Designs

Haha! I took your Tin Man hat home and it's sitting on my desk. You guys are awesome, and I really hope you'll come out to the joust. Leslie and I miss you already.

MONKEY!

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

The vest-like underdoublet to which you refer is mostly a conjecture I disagree. There's plenty of evidence for it, both in the written record and in the visual record. http://www.historicenterprises.biz/misc/refpics/testard_pourpoint.jpg It existed, but I could only guess about how/when it was wor...

Black Swan Designs

he other context, is in a 1436 Johannes Hall manuscript, on the arming of a man, as something to hold up leg armour. Not that it really matters, but I disagree what the reference is to leg armour. IIRC, the reference says 'Thus the Jack will be secure and easy, provided that there be a doublet [pou...

Black Swan Designs

Thanks for the comments! Could you tell me if the new style of documentation info helped your friends make their decisions? Our sales were good, and I noticed a number of people spending a lot of time reading the cards before making their purchases. I wondered if the info and images provided with th...

Black Swan Designs

Hi All- We're back from Pennsic now, and will be in the office tomorrow. Francena won't be in until Monday- she worked her butt off at Pennsic, so we gave her the rest of the week off. Jeff and I will sort thru the orders that came in while we were gone, and will return phone calls and fill the orde...

Black Swan Designs

I leave for Pennsic in 4 hours, but will return on August 12. We'll be filling orders immediately on our return.

If you order now, we'll have the chausses to you by the end of August, well in time for your event.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

Although my specialty is reproducing extant garments, I realized I've been bad about keeping up with my documentation at Pennsic. This thread made me remember that people care about this stuff, and was the boot in the head I needed! I've just spent 2 days overhauling our 'docu-cards' (documentation ...

Black Swan Designs

If you're going to Pennsic, stop by the shop and I will teach you how to do some of those braids. It would be helpful if you brought about 20 feet of 5 different colour yarns, or a small skein of one colour.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

This cotehardie is XL, which means it will fit a 46 inch chest, 40 inch waist. We're in the Tudor house at #35, Street of Dreams, and we open at noon on Thursday.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

We're the tudor house on the Street of Dreams. I am quite happy to discuss historical clothing, even if you don't want to buy anything. 14-15th C. my specialty.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

They look great! Pretty cool that they are so nice, yet are your first attempt at jewelry making. Well done!

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

Interesting, that painting is *almost* 16th C. (1498), and the clothes are all over the place. The guy in white is wearing a sort of mahoitred doublet, but it looks a little off, and his shoes are post-mahoitred doublet blunt toed. The guy in front is wearing pretty typical late century doublet, but...

Black Swan Designs

Yup, I couldn't agree more. That method of construction pretty much precludes tailoring.

The catalog is home, I'll flip through it when I get home tonight.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

Oh, I forgot to address- I see the van der Weyden as being flatted, i.e. the lining sandwiched into the seam, the lining seam allowance trimmed back and the outer fabric whipped down onto the lining body. I've examined a lot of Victorian clothing made this way, but it being a popular technique in th...

Black Swan Designs

Jeff brought the exhibition catalog home with him- is the painting you're referring to in there? I think I know the type of construction you're referring to. It's pretty common amongst the RenFaire crowd, who swear it is the Way, the Truth and the Light of 16th C. garment construction. I've examined...

Black Swan Designs

'we don't wear these clothes ever day, and they wear slower, so it is easier to construct something to make switching a lining easier.' I'm not sure I understand your meaning here, so my comments may not address the point you were making. I don't think clothing construction was ever geared specific...

Black Swan Designs

Bagged linings are *immensely* easier to replace than linings done the way the lining is done in the van der Weyden. Way easier.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

I imagine that's one way of lining a garment. I'm not prepared to make a sweeping generalization about it being the only method, any more than I'm prepared to say sleeveless doublets were rare. Ways of making clothes probably varied from region to region, town to town and maker to maker.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

They look like workman's smocks with the sleeves rolled up to me. Rolling the sleeves is pretty typical for the period, both in fashionable garments and work wear. Some of the Duke's posse have their sleeves (or rather, just one sleeve) rolled up in Rene's Book of the Tournament.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

Take what you do seriously, but never take yourself seriously: http://www.pixures.be/web2009marle/images/mrl90108.jpg Lovely shot- http://www.pixures.be/web2009marle/images/mrl90287.jpg The 'ship riding the waves' has to be the cleverest bit of staging I've ever seen- absolutely fantastic! http://ww...

Black Swan Designs

Yeah, I've examined the construction quite a bit. Looks to me like the red face fabric has been flatted with gold and the seam allowances whipped down.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

This one? [img]http://www.bestpriceart.com/vault/abc_weyden57.JPG[/img] Rogier van der Weyden St John Altarpiece right panel- The Beheading of John the Baptist 1455-60 Staatliche Museen, Berlin But what's the story here? (sorry, my biblical history is a bit thin.) Is he a proper executioner or just ...

Black Swan Designs

Jeff and I spoke of this after I posted, and in looking at the 2 images, noticed that all 3 lack the puff at the shoulder, and have the enlarged armhole common to military garments. That makes me think that an upper class guy would not be using this sort of doublet under a fancy pleated coat so he c...

Black Swan Designs

Hmm, I'm seeing a trend here- 3 executioners wearing separate / attached sleeves. Interesting. Fact or artistic convention?

Gwen

(BTW, we're on the same track saying the same thing JB.

)

Black Swan Designs

This one? http://www.historicenterprises.biz/misc/refpics/dyer.jpg Dunno if I think that's the same sort of 'vest' we're talking about. If I had to guess I'd say it was a tabard-shaped smock. I like the term 'sleeveless doublet', and use it with my inside circle of cronies who understand that I'm re...

Black Swan Designs

I have the source listed as

The Book of Simple Medicines by Matthaeus Platearius d.c.1161
illustrated by Robinete Testard c.1470
Ms Fr. Fv VI #1

But I'm not confident about that, as it doesn't seem consistent with the other illuminations in the book.

Maybe Brent can check for me.

Gwen

Black Swan Designs

Oh, AIIRC, one of the sets of bifurcated points in the CoB are in the center back. There's no leg harness which requires a center back anchor point.

Gwen

Historic Enterprises post-Pennsic update