The Armour Archive

I dont think you would need a "proper" last per se for those shoes.

They dont have much of an upper to them, and relatively no instep support.. you might be able to make do with a somewhat worked with 2x4, truth be told.

I think I'm going to make a pair of them first.. turnshoes mystify me.. but those things I can probably make. Mark Carlson's site is the place to look if you have questions.. and I have found him exceptionally helpful in the past.

Maeryk

Cool, please keep us updated on your progress if you decide to make a pair. I for one would be very interested in seeing how you do it.

Hello,

Shoes aren't really that difficult--You just need an awl, something to stab it into (preferably not your leg), leather needles, and leather. The trick is that you have to hand-sew, and you have to not worry too much about period construction. I made a pair with little help from anyone else, and it worked out pretty decently.

First, cut the thick sole to the right shape. Then, poke holes in the sole along the edge at a 45-degree angle. Put the leather for the upper over your foot, cut the leather to the right shape, then sew the leather upper to the sole as if you were making a flat seam (the idea here is that the nearest edge of the upper leather will hide inside the shoe, and the edge of the heavy sole leather won't be hidden when the shoe is done). You'll probably want to make two-piece uppers. Regardless, once you've finished this part you'll want to sew the upper pieces to each other using a flat seam, cut off any excess leather if it exists, and put on latches/buckles if appropriate.

If you want the shoes to last better, then after you've sewn the uppers to the sole, but before you sew up the uppers, you should sew a couple more layers of sole leather to the sole. You do this by cutting through all the sole layers with an awl, at a 45 degree angle, and then using your leather needles to sew the layers together. This is called a clump sole. You could also glue these pieces on, in order to make sure they don't move as you sew them in place.

You also might want to put a wedge of leather into the heel, in addition to the clump sole. It should be wedge-shaped, rising towards the back of the heel, and its job is to rise up the heel a bit.

I hope this is useful info.


Best,

Domenico

Jason Grimes - too long ago you asked for some of the plates and especially boot prints from The Triumph of Maximillian I to post on your site. I finally have these and a few others copied onto a cd. Please send your snail mail address to me at THEKarlMarx@cs.com and I'll send it up to you.

Thanks Karl!! Email sent.

The disc is on its way. Let me know how well it reads.

Glad that the disc arrived ok. I look forward to seeing the three barred sturmburgonet too.

Anyone have a reasonable source for vertically striped socks/hose?

Thanks again for the woodcuts, I'm hoping to have them up by this weekend. The sturmburgonet is not yet up on the server. I will post it tonight.

Here it is.. This one is very much like the picture you sent me. It currently resides in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

http://www.grimmarmoury.com/gallery/landsknecht/1916_1649

I hope this helps some. I wish the picture was lighted better and they had shown more angles, but beggers can't be choosers.

It's been a while, has anyone had any luck finding vertically striped socks?

Is anyone (wearing Landsknecht armour) planning to fight at this Gulf Wars? I would love to get a group photo.

I am sure my wife could knit any pattern you wanted on socks.

Ho much and how soon for a pair (or even one) vertically striped purple & gold? As many stripes as reasonable and I have rather larger feets & calves (10 1/2 W). Are you all planning to go to Gulf Wars?

Let's try one more time here. Are there any Lansknechts going to Gulf Wars? (Fools' Wars, Border Raids, Barons War, or Pennsic?) It would be great to sit down and compare notes and gear.

There seem to be quite a large number of people interested enough in Landsknechts here to make an army. How many folks really have the costumes and armor? I attend a lot of larger events and wars and just have not seen as many Landsknechts as I would like to.

I posted this yesterday on the other Landsknecht list, and now see that it fits better here...

http://www.curiousfrau.com/Articles/shoes.htm

...has some interesting information on Landsknecht shoes, including pictures of several pairs of original shoes from period (early 1500's) and a drawing for an order placed by Durer with the direction/description in Durer's own handwriting.

(Thanks to Anna von Osnabruck for pointing it out to me.)

Granted some of the pictures are a bit harder to see, but it's still nice to see originals. Wish we had that luxery with other types of items.