The Armour Archive

As a lot of you all know, as part of my armouries revenue generation, I place a sampling of my stock product line on e-bay every 3 weeks. I now have special auction management software that allows me to analyze various aspects of the selling and I have noted something very odd: Of all the items I sell, the legs by far have the most interest and bids. I just thought I'd throw this out because I'm curious as to why.

Eric

Btw, hosting space was purchased today. Look for my website soon at www.jamesriverarmoury.com
But wait a few days first

From my perusals of eBay, it seems that legs are less commonly offered than other parts like helms, bracers/arm armor, and the like. So, any that show get more interest.

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Owen
"Death is but a doorway-
Here, let me hold that for you"

Consider also that legs & helms are hopefully thicker material than the other components, so fewer individuals have the means to acquire/cut/work it. It could also be that you make nice legs, Eric!

Yes, Eric does have nice legs!

Someone had to say it.

[This message has been edited by Pheylin Quinn (edited 10-21-2001).]

If you tool around to the local caffine shops in the evening, you'll often see a collection of dark individual interestingly attired in various garments from the middle earth eras. These denizens are refered to as "Goths", and I believe that legs would go well with the dark look, and can be worn outside the requisite dark trousers and combat boots. If you were to offer chain maille bustier/halters with gothic type designs in brass/copper, I'm sure they would attract the same audience.



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William of Almaden

I owuld be one of those "goths"
sorta.. it really depends on what i feel like in the morning..
but in any case i've been thinking that suitably gothed up spaulders would go ell with the look, and well, yea, i can see legd and all dortsa stuff.
damnit, your giving me ideas now...
i already have to many projects on the go..

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What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:

Dearest William!
I am one of those Middle Earth fellows and I would hate to be mistaken for a "Goth"! Besides, "Goths" are more like Orcs, or wraiths.

Idëval

Idëval my friend!

I would never insult or denegerate anyone's style of attire, in fact, quite the opposite. I find the "Goth" appearance in the female of the genre quite becoming, as for middle earthers, I know only a few, yet they too could integrate spaulders, legs and arms into their attire and still be correct in appearance.

(I love black lipstick on pale skinned ladies)






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William of Almaden

GOTH CHICKS ROCK!!!!

Good to know I'm not the only one that wants to get goths into armour... but more than goths, punks!

Imagine a nice pair of fluted gothic spaulders with 1/4" square spikes around the edges, attatched to a leather jacket with a couple larger spikes in 2 holes near the neck... that'd look badass as HELL... that, and some bracers...

I met a punk chick that had gotten her dad to form flashing around the 4" heel of her boot once. Were I single, I'd have made external stainless steel toes for the boots...

Dead Milkmen "Punk Rock Girl" Great tune

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Garridan:
<B>Good to know I'm not the only one that wants to get goths into armour... but more than goths, punks!

Imagine a nice pair of fluted gothic spaulders with 1/4" square spikes around the edges, attatched to a leather jacket with a couple larger spikes in 2 holes near the neck... that'd look badass as HELL... that, and some bracers...

I met a punk chick that had gotten her dad to form flashing around the 4" heel of her boot once. Were I single, I'd have made external stainless steel toes for the boots...</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I actually made a bunch of armor for a few of the punks in Sunnyvale CA (since I lived with about 12 of them in a 3 bedroom house)
and it *does* look sharp..... people in the pit leave those guys the hell alone.... pauldron to the face hurts a *lot*, but pointy cop to the chest is worse, spikes or no spikes.

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-Gid
If man were meant to code, God would have 01001010010001111110110111011010111010101101010!!!

I really have to disagree with you there, William of Sutter Home. I'm a goth, ca. 614, & I've _never_ seen any of my folk wearing this leg armour you speak of. Well, my uncle *did* come back from Miklagard wearing these splinted looking things, but he cut them up & wears them across his chest. & what is this 'caffin' you speak of? It sounds good. Is it like mead? Or do you mean that 'kumis' the huns drink?

Oh, here's something you may not have heard before.

Its widely acknowledged that many of the germanic tribes were known by the weapons they preferred. The Saxons for instance had the 'seax' knife. The franks, the francsisca. The Lombards were not in fact so named because they had 'long beards', but because they used >long bearded< axes. & the Goths who conquered Rome? They, of course, used 'Goth Clubs'.

Lodhur,

Having done a stint in Palm Springs, I saw Goths at Starbucks wearing maille, and odd shaped elbow cops.

I really think there would be a good market for light weight 18ga armour and maille at goth/punk shops.

(and it Almaden, Sutter Home bottles elk piss)

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William of Almaden

I have been thinking about the same thing for a awhile. There is a goth/poser crowd that hangs out in Harajuku that I could probably make a fortune off. Hey if fake angel wings are ok I'm sure I could sell some spaulders or gaunts.

I actually made a bunch of armor for a few of the punks in Sunnyvale CA (since I lived with about 12 of them in a 3 bedroom house)

Sunnyvale? isnt that where buffy the vampire slayer is from? butternot let her know you outfitted the vamps...LOL

-+G

Fake angel wings...sigh

Rainald, you're not making me feel any better about going back. Still, you may be interested in knowing that there is a store that sells chainmail as jewelry, and even has a mask/helmet thing. Now if I can just remember the station name.

Hmm. Could we start our own fashion company do you think?

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The defining characteristic of fanaticism is the inability to understand why everyone else is not a fanatic.

All this is making me glad that I live a good ways pass the edge of the world.

Sounds like I'm out of touch with all the latest fads, and kinda of glad of it.

Actually, I probably wouldn't be doing armour if not for the goth/punk/industrial scene. It is through that scene that I met the SCA. Hearing me yammer on about norse-germanic tribal structure, my GF said, "I know this group that you really should be in...". & the rest was, well, history.

Simultaneous to getting in the SCA, I was doing custom leather bondage gear & corsetry for the goth/industrial/BDSM crowd. Selling to shops in No. Cal., doing shows. I think I was working on an 8 oz. latigo corselet when the thought came to me: "Hey! This could almost be armour!" I was never the same after that.

On a side note, I finally did away with the first piece of 'armour' I ever made intentionally. A horrid set of 'spaulders' highly appropriate for an orc from LOTR. These things were ugly as sin.

I was replacing them at my goobertech job (yes, I do most of my armouring at work), & one of my co-workers nabbed them. They had already been fawning over the new spaulders, but when they saw the old ones, they about creamed their black jeans.

One bade me strap them over his 'I need another beer, you're still ugly.' t-shirt, & was strutting around the cubicles like Nerdicus Maximus. The next day he was talking about how much his GF loved them --TMI!-- --TMI!--

All silliness aside, my next set of mundane boots will have some sort of roman greave, & sabaton add-ons. Maybe I'll buy some from you, Eric.

damn you all!
i couldnt resist the ideas. i may be tweaking out my haloween costume. i'll have 3 harnesses on the go now.
in any case, tomorrow i'm gona make a pair of spaulders, but i'm adding spikes to em, i'm thinking of making the spaulders all flat black, and puting a row of 5, 1" polished stainless spikes across the point of each shoulder.

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What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:

edited for grahmer and spelling

[This message has been edited by Tybolt (edited 10-28-2001).]

it could also be the fact that legs are the hardest piece to articualte properly. I have gone through three pair before I found some with decent articualtion.

I saw a bunch of punkins and gothlings wearing mail and bits of armor at the Bauhaus show in Boston a few years back, tho most of the "armor" was that leather "dragon armor" stuff from Chivalry Sports and the like. I personaly have had several Goths that I know ask Me to make mail stuff for them and ask Me to hook them up with steel bits, usualy shoulders of one form or another, but they usualy balk at the prices.
I went to the Sisters of Mercy with a group of friends a few years back, and Me and My wife were the only ones in our group not wearing mail. Funny thing was, it was all My mail, or stuff I modified that day out of My scrap bin and old harness rings ect.
I have noticed it seems to be the younger generation of alternitive types who wear more such stuff. Scene geezers like Me rarely seem to bother, but there is a definite market for such things. I would recomend things you would otherwise scrap be finished and made somewhat pretty and sold as seconds. There not using it for combat, so the function is not as important, and for the most part they don`t know what the heck they are looking at anyway, so if lines are wrong they will never notice, just be happy at a reduced price.
Thats mostly goths. Punkers and punkins Ive noticed seem to be more interested in making a rigid backing to mount spikes to, and hidden plates inside leather jackets. Not ironicly, thats the same thing we were looking for fifteen years ago when I was doing the whole gutterpunk thing. Custom milled spikes will always be popular with punks too I reckon. There is always someone looking for spikes that don`t have that same overdone narrow necked shape.
Anyway, these are just My observations, and your milage may vary, but what I`ve noticed in descending order of preference is: any bits of mail, decoritive and psuedo protective,shoulders, ranging from gothic winged spaulders to simple cops, vambraces, elbows, codpieces, gauntlets or demi gauntlets, shins of some sort, usualy attatched to biker boots, and some sort of body. I have never seen much interest in full legs.
John