The Armour Archive

Howdy,

Has anyone made a leather skirt for armor or have some good sources of construction of one? Ive got the strips cut out and attached to a c-belt. I am happy with that part however I want to add detail. I seem to only run across Roman era types and I am looking for (hopefully) more Byzantine. My persona is roughly 12-13th century but I am flexible with my overall kit. I am thinking about edging the bottoms with stylized brass pieces (to match with my helm). I am also going to reenforce a few upper portions of the strip with thicker leather hidden behind for added hip and hip bone protection.

Thanks,

Something to consider before adding metal tips to strips of leather...

How much will those strips move ? A metal tip on a strip of leather has potential for being quite painful when it swings about and hits like a whip.

Something mounted on the leather similar to a modern concho has less of this possible concern.

One trick in making a skirt of leather strips is to layer the strips. This can be accomplished pretty easily by attaching one set to the outside of the C-belt and a second set, offset from the first, on the inside of the C-belt.

Kilkenny wrote:Something to consider before adding metal tips to strips of leather...

How much will those strips move ? A metal tip on a strip of leather has potential for being quite painful when it swings about and hits like a whip.

Something mounted on the leather similar to a modern concho has less of this possible concern.

One trick in making a skirt of leather strips is to layer the strips. This can be accomplished pretty easily by attaching one set to the outside of the C-belt and a second set, offset from the first, on the inside of the C-belt.

I do have it arranged in overlapping layers on the c-belt. When I get home I can post a pic. Each strip is approx. 1.5" wide. I have it arranged so that the bottom layer has about 3/4" space in between. Then the top straps over that gap. I made the length longer than I thought I needed so I can adjust the height of them while wearing it for uniformity.

Good point about the swinging and having things mounted to it... it is rather flexible and light but not garment weight. Got it at Tandy and it is reddish-brown oil pressed (i think). It is rather spiffy looking and feels smooth. I was thinking (purely artistically) to have some kind of point (like an upside down house shape with designs) but I can see where that would not end well! I wonder if having a rounded edge would still work? The strips will eventually be shortened to mid-thigh so i cannot imagine that they would have so much swing as to create a "whip" like effect.

Thinking, thinking, thinking..........

If you're looking at byzantine then there is a lot of evidence of what they looked like on religious icons.
The problem with them, however, is that icons are intentionally made not to look like reality, or heavily stylized.
None of the ones I've seen lead me to believe that putting metal on the ends is authentic. But all of the ones I've seen could just as easily be fabric instead of leather.

By the way, the word you want is I believe 'pteryges', sometimes pronounced 'tear-jeez'. It's AFAIK from the same Greek word that goes into pterodactyl and archaeopteryx, but I'm not yet sure what the actual meaning is (couldn't be 'feather' because then pterodactyl would be 'feather finger').

Edit: apparently it means "wings".

Rohesia wrote: Got it at Tandy and it is reddish-brown oil pressed (i think). It is rather spiffy looking and feels smooth. I was thinking (purely artistically) to have some kind of point (like an upside down house shape with designs) but I can see where that would not end well! I wonder if having a rounded edge would still work? The strips will eventually be shortened to mid-thigh . . .

Reddish-brown, oily/waxy, smooth, -- and is it robust feeling and a little dense per area? -- suggests latigo leather to me; a good choice for armor work as it is made to be very strong and remarkably rot resistant. It's intended to repel horse sweat from lathered horses.

Rounded ends, pointed (-ish), ogival, whatever: these should all work from a structural point of view, and I could hardly imagine historical sources ruling any of these simple variations out. Pruning the straps, well, you won't give yourself any problems I've ever heard of.

[quote="Konstantin the Red] Reddish-brown, oily/waxy, smooth, -- and is it robust feeling and a little dense per area? -- suggests latigo leather to me; a good choice for armor work as it is made to be very strong and remarkably rot resistant. It's intended to repel horse sweat from lathered horses. [/quote]

Yeah that is it, latigo... I tried finding the name for it but I am out of town so I couldn't drop by the store and ask. It is really nice to work with and I think it works perfect for the armored skirt. It is thick enough to offer some protection but thin enough to have a desired "swing" effect. The leather itself feels and looks very sexy. My boyfriend stole some of the scraps for edging on his lamellar. It is however a little prciy but they had several long scraps in the bargain bin so I really got a deal.

~R