The Armour Archive

Tailoress

That article certainly was interesting, thank you for pointing it out. I noticed it refutes the concept of early cotton paper, saying that it was 'rag' instead; I'd need to read it more closely to understand the details. In any event, please keep suggestions coming!

-Tasha

Tailoress

Actually, my research into the history of cotton indicates that cotton cloth is quite period. Greeting Rebekah, and welcome to the AA! (Looks like this is your first post.) If you would be willing to post a bibliography for our benefits, I'd be grateful. Cotton textile research is on my list of "ge...

Tailoress

Oooohhh.... looks like I might be in the general vicinity this weekend... Thanks for the tips on the exhibits.

-Tasha

Tailoress

The guys from the Oakeshott Institute actually requested that no pictures of the Institute's items be put up publically without discussing the publishing venue and getting permission from them first. People who took pictures and who wish to publish them, whether online, i.e. here or some other forum...

Tailoress

I occasionally give slide-assisted lectures on pet topics and I came away from the ARS presentations with the sense that I have a LOT to improve upon. What I found so wonderful was that someone not necessarily enthralled with the topic of metal armour still could be kept enthralled by the talks. Tha...

Tailoress

Trevor wrote:- We are pronouncing things entirely wrong. "Bascinet" is pronounced "Bass-in-net". "Armet" is pronounced "Arm-met". "Burgeonet" is pronounced "Burr-gun-et".

And don't forget sallet! That word was used A LOT that weekend!

-Tasha

Tailoress

Having held the piece in my own hands, I must say that I a a little bit jealous. Escpecially since the bevor actually fits me! Hi there, Wulfe, Did we meet at the conference? I'm afraid I don't know what your real-life name is. I didn't realize you were there, or if I did meet you, I didn't realize...

Tailoress

I might do one when I make a garment with buttons, which need that sort of seam to position them for proper showing off And it helps tremendously with staving off the pain of pressing hard buttons into the tender flesh of your forearm, or worse yet, the point of your elbow when you place your arms ...

Tailoress

Bartok, there is a well-done article by Robin Netherton in the first issue of the yearly journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles that proposes how pendant sleeves and the later banded tippets developed fashion-wise. She has her theory about fur as the dominant lining choice. In any event, it's worth ...

Tailoress

Just curious -- is this the same technique known as "Trichinopoly chain knitting"?

userweb.suscom.net/~apolloniavoss/articles/trichinopoly_documentation.pdf

-Tasha

Tailoress

The best awl I've found so far (after growing to hate the compromise versions I'd found at Home Depot and Sears Hardware) was from Jo-Ann's Fabrics, of all places. They sell a cheap, totally useful awl that will make large-enough holes for your arming points or laces in general and is so sharp it co...

Tailoress

...SchwÃƒÂ¤bisch Gemund sallet and bevor reproduction made by Patrick Thaden!!!! The ticket was selected out of the sallet itself by Dr. Alan Williams on Friday night in Chicago. It was placed in a sealed envelope, unread, and signed across the flap by Dr. Williams, and then put away until Saturday....

Tailoress

Re: our medieval pouch, Tasha says the material "looks a lot like nylon or some other plasticky/shiny woven ribbon" The "plasticky/shiny woven ribbon" is Rayon, a fibre made of cellulose. Rayon was the first manufactured fiber. It was developed in France in the 1890s and was originally called "arti...

Tailoress

In my recent flurry of image downloading for personal study, I came across this provocative example of "linen clothes" from one of the Tacuinum Sanitatus manuscripts ( Nouvelle acquisition latine 1673, fol. 94v) that is now online at the Mandragore website (an online image repository at the Bib. Nat...

Tailoress

I'm sure Brian and Doug will make sure they've got complete admin info on every transaction. Never fear!

-Tasha

Tailoress

Omit the tippets. AFAIK, there's no evidence that sleeve-tippets were a separate accessory; they seem to have been part of an outer cote (often a short-sleeved surcoat that ends in what we call "tippets," worn over a long-sleeved kirtle). Amen. However, I do sometimes wonder if women occasionally e...

Tailoress

Hollywood does Propegate the myth of "everybody wore leather vests back then" but on the most part they do it becuase thats what joe-schmoe typical movie goer expects to see. They do not want to alienate the audience. I have heard this many times before, and I simply don't buy it. The uneducated av...

Tailoress

Some are better than others, but I have heard through grapevines about designers who've prepared their "vision" historically and then have been told to change things so that they are more ren faire or fantasy-like. I'm sure it's not the rule, but it does happen from time to time.

-Tasha

Tailoress

What I am surprised is that they haven't gone to the oversees suppliers of the US distributors, and got copies or somehow or other ripped the turnshoes and near turnshoes off - I guess they are just too lazy. This is probably for the same reason that movie producers, upon seeing the costume designs...

Tailoress

Heh heh... Here I was muttering to myself, wondering if any of these would work for you, Jehan, and then I scrolled down and saw your question. I would not be adverse to working with that red cashmere/wool blend. That would be a fine outer fabric -- we could forgo the silk altogether. It is up to yo...

Tailoress

Brian, I just realized those buttons have little fleur-de-lys on them. How clever! I like it! If you want to emulate the extant garments with buttons mentioned above, make sure your top button is a flat/disc-shaped one, and that all the buttons below the waist are too. The buttons down the chest are...

Tailoress

Tim, I'm glad you'll get her to read this -- many times, decent folks are taken by dismayed surprise when verbally attacked and often the only way to defend oneself is to have a set number of generic (and appropriate) responses memorized. You just keep them in the back of your head, and then next ti...

Tailoress

Effingham wrote:
I have moved over and created space for you on my Special Daft Bus.

Hey, when I got mine they told me it was the only one!!!

Well, we might need yours soon; Andrew just jumped aboard.

-Tasha

Tailoress

Tim, there is a time-honored tradition put forth by the likes of Ms. Manners and other etiquette mavens which should be memorized by all of us for just such boorish instances as you and your wife experienced. A) Choose a facial expression: either a bemused and perplexed smile or a bug-eyed stare of ...

Tailoress

I have moved over and created space for you on my Special Daft Bus. No need to thank me, really. Okay, if you think I'm COMPLETELY DAFT, I am willing to accept that. You're completely daft. Look the words up. If anything, the simple fact that "latter" is a temporal disnancer (e.g., "the last" or "mo...

Tailoress

What you are all missing is the symbolic importance of the object upon which Sir Robert stands... Had he chosen a regular old dog, like all those other Sirs from the next stronghold over, how would his descendents find comfort in knowing that Sir Robert was not one average man of many going into the...

Tailoress

WEEEEE BASHING AND COMPLAINING!!! You call it potato, I shall call it Po-TAH-to. Why don't you look me up in person next spring at the East Kingdom's next coronation. It's bound to be somewhat close to your neck of the woods, and I would give you a polite listen if you care to explain your comment ...

Tailoress

Yes. I'll PM you.

Tailoress

"(for you non-Americans, by "latter" I mean the folks seeking back-pats)" like we don't use the term in UK???? but thanks anyway. I was wondering if I'd get questions about this... I was once told that the terms "former" and "latter" as used by Americans are used in an opposite way by non-Americans...

Tailoress

How do YOU define "authenticity?" I define it as a headset above all else. It is the approach one takes to recreating the material culture. One's thoroughness or accuracy is another issue altogether. And perhaps more importantly, how do you apply it in your activities? When I go about making someth...

Tailoress

When I started out, it never occurred to me to buy from a fantasy-medievaloid catalog... instead I made my own torturously bad clothing. There is someone at Pennsic who sells really high-quality lace-up mocassins (not sure what they're actually called, so that's what I'm calling them). They start at...

Tailoress

Greetings Jehan, I do, but I'm a bit backed up at the moment -- awaiting my new industrial machine to arrive. Any day now. Of course for a hood, I could hand-sew that. I LOVE making hoods. If you wanted fur, I happen to actually have a fair amount on hand, though it's not the really fine stuff that ...

Tailoress

Is there a source for those reaaally wide sleeves? Hi Egfroth, (I'm sorry -- every time I see your name, I think of an eggcream drink, the kind with froth on top!!!) Anyway, back to serious answering... yes, there are multiple visual sources for this look in the early 15thc, both civilian and marti...

Tailoress

Mike, I didn't mention this days ago when you first posted your sketches because I thought you were using another source than the Ellesmere Chaucer (though that came to mind immediately when I saw your sketch), because the sleeves are not the same as those in the Ellesmere Chaucer. During this time ...

Tailoress

Very nice job! I second the suggestions that you save up and buy the good stuff -- good flannel wool, decent linen for a lining, etc. Or, silk, etc. Or, if you get really nuts, real fur for the lining. If you go with the two gore pattern again, I recommend you place the gores more centrally so that ...

Re: What I learned at the Armour Research Society's conferen

Padrig! You won the...

Re: "Authenticity" Without Being "Snarky...&q