The Armour Archive

1. Is it period to wear the lower half of a milanese breastplate over a brigandine?
2. were doublets worn under a brigandine?
3.what were period colours and fabrics for brigandines?
thanks for any help you can provide.
i'm talking about late half of the 15thC by the way, about 1480ish.

Just a little to get you started.

While i am by NO means an expert, I'm pretty sure that it is period to wear a plackart(the lower half of a milanese breastplate) over a brig. secondly, i've seen a lot fo pictures of them in blue and red, and i think a few in green. and lastly i'm pretty sure that linen canvas with a frustran(sp) shell over top is pretty comon.

Do you have any pictures you can post? or could you direct me to some?
I'd love to have one so that i can chop and change with my mood.

http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/images/jpeg/i3_0009.jpg
The central character on horseback represents Edward III in ~1460-1480 armour. As you can see, there is the plackart, and a rivet pattern indicative of brigandine. However, as Peder and Chef and I have discussed, there was a vogue fashion in having a cloth-covered brigandine, with said cloth decorated with rivets in the fashion of a brigandine. However, the outline of such a piece of armour sometimes insists that it was a solid covered breastplate. The other two folks I've mentioned have yet to see it proven that there were any instances of plackart over brigandine.
another http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/images/jpeg/i3_0011.jpg
look through the froissart images to your heart's content.
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/manuscrits/amanuscrit.htm

I found this and think it rocks; http://www.whiteroseapparel.co.uk/stevebrig3.gif
Anyone who can make this gets a reserved spot in heaven, right next to the holy bev shear.

there are others, many in ecclesiastical illuminations.