What follows is our Red Company Clothing guidelines. If all involved find them acceptable, we can get the ball rolling and adopt them for use with ARMET. If not, let's hear some commentary.

This is comprehensive- therefore long- so be forewarned. What we have is a basic overview of clothing and clothing philosophy, then men specific and women specific.

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An overview of historical clothing in the Red Company-1471

MISSION STATEMENT
Note: Historical accuracy is the cornerstone of The Red Company. We are not looking for large numbers of participants, we are looking for participants who are willing to do what we do right. We wish to establish and maintain a high standard of authenticity, over and above that which is required in other popular "historical" venues. We tell ourselves and the public that what we/they are seeing is a pretty fair approximation of what the 15th Century looked like, and we intend to be truthful. There is only one historical time and place depicted, and all participants must conform to that time and place in their clothing and presentation. All clothing, tentage and equipment must be documentable and more importantly, typical of the period. This requirement applies equally to jewelry and accessories. Jeff and Gwen will be the final arbiters as to what is acceptable and what is not. Please note that there is much latitude for the exercise of good judgement. The spirit we wish to foster is one of enthusiasm to get it right, rather than a barracks lawyer's attempt to fine loopholes into which you can squeeze by something that might be wrong, but which you would like to wear. If you aren't really committed to trying to do this right, please don't waste your time and ours.

CLOTHING BASICS
We call our outfits "clothes" and not costume. The word costume connotes falsification or theatricality, and since we strive to reproduce historical clothing as accurately as closely as possible, we are wearing clothes, not costumes. We try as much as possible to be ordinary, typical medieval people wearing their normal everyday clothing as they go about their day to day activities. Your clothing should be comfortable, typical, and help you feel at home in this bit of the 15th C. we create.

Finally, please consult with Jeff and Gwen prior to undertaking any item of clothing or kit, at least as you start out. Please do not depend on the "documentation" of period propriety from sources such as Museum Replicas Limited, Chivalry Sports or Design Toscano!!!

GUIDE TO TERMS
Braies: (brayze) men's undershorts
Hose (or hosen): men’s leg coverings
Point: Lace used to fasten clothing
Chape: metal tip of point
Shift or smock: woman's "slip", worn next to skin
Fulling: Washing wool in hot water to make it thick, fuzzy and stretchy

FABRICS
Linen is used for smallclothes and undergarments as cotton was an imported luxury fabric during this period. Color of linen can range from a nice beige "oatmeal" linen to a fine "lawn"--with the finer, whiter shades for the better off. Raw or unbleached linen should be avoided, as 15th Century people washed their undergarments often and violently and the washing action bleaches and softens the linen. In Italy unbleached or tan linen was used for mourning clothes, but this is a special and limited use. White, black or unbleached linen should also be used for lining your doublet and jacket.

It is true that linen is sometimes expensive and hard to find but don't buy synthetic substitutes as they are hot, itchy, and look completely different than the natural fibers they imitate. If you must substitute, try a cotton linen blend, and if necessary, use a coarsely woven white cotton until you can find linen. Check with Jeff and Gwen before buying cotton or a blend, as they usually have linen they can sell to you.

The first foundation of correct outer clothing is the fabric, and wool is strongly recommended. If you use a blend, be sure it looks like wool (i.e. it doesn't shine in the light). Doublets, overgowns, coats, cloaks, hoods, hats, etc. should always be made of wool. Any color found in nature is a good bet - subdued or washed out shades of blue, brick red, brown, green, yellow, tan, gray etc. This is not to say that they were incapable of bright colors in the 15th Century. However, bright colors faded fast, so only the rich were likely to have brightly colored clothes for long, and we are not be portraying the rich. Also, it takes a trained eye to select a correct bright color from an incorrect one, but one is generally pretty safe going with a dull one--so to avoid the awkwardness of showing up and being told your fabric is the wrong shade, it is best to play it safe.

Due to climate considerations, doublets and undergowns may be made of heavy linen, fustian (cotton/linen) or a linen/wool mix or linen woven cotton. However, overgarments should ALWAYS be made of wool. Use the same color guidelines for these fabrics as for wool.

CONSTRUCTION
Be as discrete as possible with machine stitching. Machine stitching is allowed, although it should not show on the outside of your garment, with the exception of eyelets and buttonholes. Hand stitching of visible seams, buttonholes, topstitching and eyelets is strongly encouraged. Any hand sewing you choose to do will impress all of us while enhancing your garment. An idea for eyelets and buttonholes is to machine sew the lot of them on a garment and then, one at a time, overstitch them by hand. This gives a useful garment which always looks good, but can be converted bit by bit to hand work.

As a general rule, you should aim at everything looking right at close quarters, but what is not visible is not an issue. If, in fact, you used a sewing machine, rather than hand stitching--or you are wearing modern underpants--we don't care as long as we can't see it. However, you should realize that clothing that is correct from the skin out gives you far greater flexibilty as far as removing pieces, or loosening bits, as needed for comfort or utility.

HOSE
The historical fabric used for hose was a wool fabric called puke, of which we know little. Wool which has been fulled and cut on the bias is the most historically accurate fabric, but fulled wool jersey is also used by many reenactors, including the members of the Red Company. Wool jersey is a thin knit fabric that will shrink when fulled, giving it the appearance of a thicker, nappier woven cloth. It comes in a great variety of colors and weights. Be careful when shopping for wool jersey, as much of what is sold in retail outlets is a wool/poly or wool/acrylic blend, which will not shrink or get fuzzy when washed. To prepare your jersey, machine wash it in hot water with detergent, and dry it on a hot setting. If the color is too bright, overdying with beige or a darker color Rit dye will often yield a more historical color.

DOUBLETS
Doublets may be fastened with points, or buttons made of cast pewter, bone or cloth. There are also some plastic buttons which look remarkably good. Women's gowns should lace through small rings sewn to the surface of the fabric or through eyelets worked into the edge of the fabric. Hooks and eyes are also acceptable, although fancy "clasps" are not appropriate.

POINTS
Points were either leather, cloth, or cord, and, oddly enough, closely resemble modern round shoelaces. We do have instructions on hand braiding laces dating to the fifteenth century which follows a procedure similar to lanyard tying. Nylon or obviously synthetic laces (round or flat) are not acceptable, and plastic tips should be cut off of round cotton laces and replaced with metal chapes.

HATS
Both men’s and women’s heads were usually covered with some sort of hat, hood or coif, and styles range from the simple to the ludicrously bizare. Although many styles overlap culture and country, try to stick with a style that is consistent with your portrayal. A simple hat that works very well can be made by cutting the brim off a round crowned hat or hat blank. A fez can also serve by removing any tassel and lining and soaking it in warm water to soften it before reshaping. Even a tube of wool can be rolled to form a hat!

ACCESSORIES
Shoes should be of an accepted medieval style with a slightly to moderately pointed toe, ties or bucles and leather soles. Lace up Indian moccasins or boots or rubber soled shoes are not acceptable.

Belts should be narrow (1” - 1 1/4”), with a simple frame buckle and should not have a keeper (the little loop you shove the excess belt through). Belts should be long enough to knot behind the buckle with a little left over, but should not dangle down between the legs ‘a la SCA.

Kidney shaped pouches of many styles were worn on the belt. Also worn were various types, sizes and styles of drawstring pouch, along with duffel bags, "tote" type bags and shoulder pouches.

Jewelry should be limited to simple pewter pins, badges and rings that which can be documented for the time and place. No earrings or pendants are appropriate for wear with the Red Company.

The utility knife looks much like a modern steak knife without the serrations, and is used for eating and cooking, as well as other things around camp. The double edged dirk or dagger was a military weapon, and was generally not used for utility purposes. No "bowie", sykes/fairbain, "flame bladed" or other modern hunting knives are appropriate. Your knife should have a sheath, so the knife can be conveniently worn on the belt.

Rosaries were very common, but modern rosaries, with Christ crucified and little black beads, were not. If you wish to wear a rosary, see Jeff for appropriate designs.

A word of caution: Avoid the "tinker" effect of suspending all your worldly posessions from your belt. This is often seen at Ren Faires. If you own a lot, you have someone else to carry it; if you don't own a lot, there's no sense in looking like a Christmas tree.

© Gwen Nowrick for The Red Company 2001. All Rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
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The Red Company - 1471
Men’s clothing

Shirt: A simple long sleeved, “T” shaped garment made of white or buff linen with or without any of the following: slit front, ties at neck, boat neck. Seam from elbow to wrist should be hand-sewn so no machine stitching shows when the cuff is turned back.

Braies: Underpants which look like modern boxers or jockey shorts made of white woven linen with a drawstring waist.

Hose: Joined or separate leg hose made of fulled bias cut woven wool or wool jersey knit. Joined hose will have a codpiece to cover the opening in front. Either style should point to the doublet or pourpoint.

Pourpoint: Sleeveless and collarless “vest” made of linen. The pourpoint is worn in place of the doublet under coats or arming doublets. The pourpoint closes in front with points or buttons and the hose point to the waist. Very little documentation exists for this garment, so proceed with caution!

Doublet: The doublet is fitted to the body and has a unique integral collar/yoke, peplum and a variety of sleeve styles. It may close in front with buttons, points or hooks and eyes. The hose point into it at the waist. Made of wool or linen, lined in linen.

Coat: Worn over other clothing for warmth, the coat is loosely fitted, “A” shaped and made of wool. It may close with buttons, points, hooks or with a belt. We recommend lining the coat with linen.

Coif: A close fitting linen coif is often worn alone or under a hat or hood.

Hat: A variety of wool hat styles are appropriate- sugarloaf, mushroom and muffin are just a few. All men should wear a hat.

Hood: A hood may be worn alone or with the hat or coif. The hood has a short mantle and no real tail. It sometimes buttons up under the chin and is usually more closely fitted than the woman’s hood to fit under a helmet. Made of wool, may be lined in linen.
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The Red Company - 1471
Woman’s Clothing

Smock (or shift): The smock is worn next to the skin and is always made of white or buff linen. It is a simply shaped garment with long tubular sleeves and a full skirt. The neckline should be very slightly smaller than the gown so that is shows at the neck edge. Seam from elbow to wrist should be hand-sewn so no machine stitching shows when the cuff is turned back.

Gown (or undergown): The gown is worn over the smock and is scoop necked, long or short sleeved and has a full skirt. The gown is shaped to fit the body, and is not baggy like a tunic. It may lace up the front through rings sewn to the surface or through eyelets worked into the edge. It should be made of wool, linen or fustian.

Pin on sleeves: These are worn when the undergown has short sleeves. They cover the arm from the wrist to the middle of the upper arm and are worn pinned to the undergown sleeve with a straight pin. These are made of wool, linen or fustian.

Overgown: The overgown is worn over the gown and is a very full “A” shaped garment with a “V” neck. The body fullness is controlled by a belt under the bust. It is long sleeved and made of wool.

Coif or Headcloth: All women over the age of 16 and all married women of any age must cover their head with a white linen coif or headcloth in one of several styles. The turban style is most popular with the Red Company’s women, although other styles may be acceptable, depending on your portrayal.

Underpants: There is no documentation to suport the wearing of underwear by women in this period. However, most women in the company choose to wear underwear. We suggest a split crotch “bicycle short” style made of linen, as this prevents chafing and is most convenient when using the privy. As long as they can’t be seen, you are free to wear whatever style you are most comfortable in.

Coat: Middle class women are sometimes depicted wearing coats over their gowns. These coats are loosely fitted, “A” shaped and made of wool. It may close with buttons, points, hooks or with a belt. We recommend lining the coat with linen.

Hood: A hood may be worn over the headcloth in cold weather. The hood has a short mantle and no real tail. It also buttons up under the chin to make it possible to put it on over the coif. Made of wool, and may be lined in linen.

Apron: A multitude of styles are appropriate and range from a rectangle or square of linen tucked in the belt to a tabard or gathered “A” style. Made of bleached or unbleached linen.

ACCESSORIES FOR MEN OR WOMEN
Shoes: Footwear should be made from historical patterns and of the turned variety, that being made of leather and lasted. Clump soles are acceptable and pattens are encouraged. Footwear may close with buckles or laces. Rubber soles, Indian moccasins and any of the “historical” shoes sold at RenFaires are not acceptable.

Jewelry: Jewelry should be worn sparingly and as appropriate to your portrayal. Historically appropriate pins, badges and rings made of pewter or silver with glass or enameling. No earrings or pendants are appropriate for wear in the company.

Belts: These are never more than 1 1/4 “ wide, and are most often about 3/4” wide. Belt width should be based on the job the belt will perform; narrow for a purse or knife, wider for a large sword.

Purse: A variety of styles are appropriate, some with buttoned or buckled flaps, drawstrings or a combination of both. Consult contemporary artwork for styles.

Knife: A shape similar to a modern steak knife is most common, with “scale” style grip construction. For lower class potrayals, a “whittle” tang style is appropriate. Sheaths should be constructed with the seam along the rear and on the flat of the knife coming well up onto the grip. Welt construction sheaths are not appropriate.

Rosary: Usually constructed with round or oval beads, these are made with as little as 1 decade inline to 5 decades in a circular arrangement. Few examples incorporate crosses, almost none have crucifixes.

A word of caution: We portray average middle and lower middle class people. As such, we have few possessions and what we do have is simple and class appropriate. Don’t accumulate lots of “stuff” to fill your tent or coffer. Avoid cluttering your person with innapropriate gegaws. Unlike the 16th C, the 15th C. look is clean, uncluttered lines and a minimum of frills. In this case, less is better!

© Gwen Nowrick for The Red Company, 2001. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

I think its important to clearly delineate the MINIUMUM One needs to participate.

lets face it, that list is intimidating. we (la maisnie) have agreed that we need to have a way that is still period but much easier to reach for folks taht want to try us out, etc.

to that end, our standards are similar to the REd Co, except we add that you can start out with a simple bocksten style gown and portray a low class servant/peasant type (as oppsed to us all, who are bourgois servants).

Funny, most folks look at that and go for the better option anyway . (something about being in a sack, no matter how period )

I think by having an OPTION of doing something that you can make in an afternoon, folks feel more comfortable committing to trying at all.

but again, that's how WE do it up here, and I certainly dont expect anyone else to play by our rules!!

-AM

When I'm vague about requirements, I'm told I need to be more specific. When I'm specific I'm told it's overwhelming.

RedCo. does not allow a lowered standard for new members, everyone is playing at the same level. We operate on the premise that it is as easy/difficult / costly to do something right the first time as it is to make something wrong and have to replace it later. If I give you the pattern and instructions for making up a 15th C. woman’s gown or man's doublet, it’s doubtless going to take less time and materials to make it than researching and fumbling around to make up something that’s 100+ years wrong for what we’re doing.

We understand that it takes time to get appropriate kit together, and that's what the loaner stuff is for. If someone wants to try RedCo. out for just a day, we can loan them stuff all the way down to their skivvies-- and have on more than one occasion.

MALE KIT: (Any of this may be loaned to new recruits. Recommended kit for multi-day event)

2/ Shirts
2/ Braies
1 or more hose
1 or more doublets
Shoes
hat
belt
pouch
All items of appropriate materials, design and manufacture.

Optional: utility knife, hood, coat.

FEMALE KIT: (Any of this may be loaned to new recruits. Recommended kit for multi-day event)

2/ smocks
1/ gown
1/ headcloth
stockings
shoes
apron

Optional: belt, utility knife, hood

All recruits have have access to the company loaner equipment for any clothing or kit items they need up to and including Company livery, a helmet and weaponry, as necessary.

Is there a color chart or a document that exists that is used to determine what is a correct shade/tint of a color? This is not my forte so I am curious.

In my case, we recommend people look at existing RedCo. clothes to get a feel for what's appropriate and what's not, or they can ask Jeff or me.

I'd be happy to make up swatch packets of appropriate materials/colors for any of the ARMET affiliates at no charge. Such a packet would give your people an idea of what sorts of colors and fabrics are acceptable.

This won't, of course, help with subtle tints, but for blue, (for instance), you've got aquamarine, blizzard blue (that must be a new one), blue, blue bell (another new one), blue green, cadet blue, cerulean, cornflower, denim (new), indigo, manatee (what?), midnight blue (previously prussian blue), navy blue, pacific blue (new?) periwinkle, robin egg blue, sky blue, teal blue, and turquiose blue...

This would be a great thing to have access to when clients want to know exactly what color I'm talking about. I could just send them over to that site and say "see- cadet blue!"

You'd be better off with a Pantone color book or paint matching cards.

Gwen,

As you know we (Wolfe Argent) have already signed onto the concept. The only part we differ in the guidelines is in the cautionary note you affix. This is because I believe it is important to represent the differing strata of society to the public, and to do so we allow the lower levels of the gentry as a portrayal - specifically the men at arms themselves, or if anybody joins up wishing to portray an official from the chambre de accounts in Dijon, or if we eventually get a small gun and someone portrays the Maitre de Artillery.

We can't realistically portray a proper nobleman or a wealthy knight on the order of Sir John Fastolf, but I do think it's possible to portray a gentleman without stretching the bounds of believability. The Hauptman after all represents a person of this station - he is Sir Tristan Keck unless I am mistaken !

The reaction of those starting out and those "herding cats" (you need a really BIG whip AM !) is why I see ARMETS guidelines having to be defined more on the order of the guidelines you posted to the event we attended in '98. We can set a minimum standard for an event (and bloody well enforce it) that will not frighten off a potential participant, while at the same time forbidding egregious displays of anachronisims.

As a for instance - we would frown on/discourage/possibly eject someone who showed up in a pair of lycra tights with a 16th c. slash & puff cotton poorly executed doublet (well, at least we would see if we don't have an extra pair of hosen & a doublet to loan them) and a pair of Medieval moccasins. We would definitely not allow sweatpants, sneakers, and a T-tunic. What about the fellow who shows up in a wool blend pair of hosen made to a questionable pattern, a cotton shirt, and doesn't realise he needs points to hold his doublet up? Not to mention his shapeless shoes?

None of the examples above meets the minimum standards of Wolfe Argent or Red Company - would the third fellow be welcome at the event? I would hope the answer would be yes. At least he is on the road, and we can surely help him - he would no doubt welcome the help (we could probably help the other two as well).

I wonder what our English & European friends think ? Do you face the same dilemma we do in the US regarding long established groups with low to no standards of authenticity that make it difficult to set a minimum level of authenticity at an event? I tend to think the problem is not so great there, as re-enactment is an older phenomenon. I don't see the same problem in other periods of re-enactment in the US.

My two Brabant mites (they are worth a little less than the mites of Flanders)

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Bob R.

We work the same way in the Red Company. The above represents 100% compliance; actual compliance falls somewhere in the high 70's to 90's.

John Smart showed up for an event with a shirt made of painter's canvas that laced up the front at the neck. Did we rip it off his back and tell him he couldn't wear it? No, we just asked that when he replaced the shirt that he do so with a shirt with no laces. No problem.

My dear friend David Randrup wanted to attend our April event last year to see what we were all about. He's done SCA for years, and wanted to know first hand what had dragged me away from the fold. He borrowed Jeff's clothes, wore his knee-high riding boots and had a great time. Did I mention that he's half Japanese and has a braid that hangs down to his bum? We didn't kick him out.

My friend Lisa (also an old SCA friend) wanted likewise to see what "living history" was all about. We loaned her clothes and she had a blast. Her husband wanted to come along, and brought his 14th C. stuff because he thought it was "close enough". We said, "not really, but we have some cool stuff you can borrow", which he did and also had a great time. We allowed him to wear his glasses, even though we don't allow our guys to.

Certainly, allowances are made all the time. Clearly, I'm not going to tell my friend David that he can't play with us because he looks Asian- I'm going to ignore it. I'm not going to tell him he has to cut his hair- likewise, he knows it's not correct so he braided it out of the way, instead of wearing it down. I could have asked him to drop the braid down the back of his doublet if it really was an issue, but it wasn't. I've told plenty of women that they can wear low flat shoes if they don't have medieval ones, and I myself am known to wear modern socks and shoes sometimes. None of us are perfect, and we acknowledge that. We set our sights high and strive for perfection-- and we don't let the fact that we aren't perfect ruin a perfectly good party.

High standards give us a goal to shoot for. If someone can make a horrible costume, they can probably made a good one with a bit of hand-holding. We try to skip the "horrible one" part of the sequence.

As far as the "cautionary note I affix"- what are you referring to? "We try as much as possible to be ordinary, typical medieval people wearing their normal everyday clothing"? If so, you seem to infer that everyone must portray a lower class person. I take it mean that members are welcome to be any class they can reasonably portray. Perhaps I misunderstood your reference?

Now what about those "guidelines you posted to the event we attended in '98". I don't recall them- do you?

That would be the LAHA event. Even though it was a couple of years ago, they still had all the info on line a while back.

Sorry, I just read into the word of caution at the bottom that everybody was to be middle class or lower middle class. It did not take into account station of persona.

Loaner gear is definitely the way to go to help out a new attendee to a company event. What I was driving at though is when you have an event advertised such as the LAHA event, and you have different groups or companies show up or unattached individuals, how do you handle the differing standards? Would you accept somebody wandering around in a polyester t-tunic with sweatpants and obviously modern shoes? They don't allow it at ACW events - they go so far as to tell the participants if they can or cannot wear branch of service "brass" on their headgear, or even tell them to remove a corp badge if it is a pre - 1863 event. The rules are published and publicised months before the event.

All units in other periods tend to have loaner gear, and there is an understood minimum acceptable standard on kit if you want to attend an event. The only reason we seem to have this problem in our period of interest is Medievally themed social clubs and Rennaisance Fairs have conditioned people to the idea that anything goes is acceptable for kit pre 1600.

I think where we are misunderstanding each other is event vs. company. I fully understand, accept and agree that if you are to start a company and you desire authenticity, then you must set your bar high initially - otherwise you will never overcome the inertia created by members comfortable with a lower standard. It is ever so much more difficult to raise a low bar than set it high in the first place. Anybody participating with a company as a guest or a member ought to expect to meet the standard of the group.

The problem comes when you try to have different groups and companies participate together at events - and individual "walk ons" - you even had this happen at the LAHA event. Not every group has the same standards, even groups seriously striving for authenticity. In this case, where do we set the bar? But this is what this topic is about.

I agree with the ARMET standards you propose, so in this case you are preaching to the choir. Why aren't other people from other groups contributing to the discussion? I think we need to ask ourselves this. We need to have cooperation between our differing companies if we want this hobby to grow (please note that I am not advocating recruiting hordes of enthusiastic recruits costumed out of the set of a bad Hollywood epic - I am the fellow who when told "the SCA was wonderful because it was such a large tent" that if I wanted to play in a tent that large I'd get a rubber nose and floppy shoes".

quote:

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Originally posted by Fire Stryker:
The problem with this is, if I may be a technogeek for a moment, the gamma on monitors and the difference between webbrowsers and cpu platforms may alter the results you see. So my brick red will not be the same as your brick red.

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quote:

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Originally posted by chef de chambre:
Sorry AM - you obviously are participating.

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yeah! :P

1. I'm a big girl and thrive on intelligent open dialogue Gwen I see how you can feel caught in the middle...I said what I did just as a "this is what la maisnie thinks is important", not as any sort of criticism of you (but I think you knew that )

2. for la mainise, it is CRITICAL taht our minimum standards be achievable. At the start, we all agreed that we wanted to set our bar as the MINIMUM standard, ie you HAVE to meet it to play. We would rather do that and raise the bar every year. Again, this is us, and how WE do things, and by no means is it mandatory that I convince any of you to change your ways . This year its no eyeglasses (hooray!) and maybe even shoes...

3. its also important to make your minimum standards achievable based on your resources. Gwen, you guys have loaner clothing. We dont. Every garment in our group has been made by you, except the stuff Kira made, and she does not have the time or inclination to clothe a dozen people. perhaps with time we'll gather some stuff, but we've only been in exhistance about three years, and most of our folks only for a year.

without loaner clothing, we MUST have an option for people who want to "try it out". It was critical for our own happiness, however, that we set the bar SOMEWHERE, ie just becuase you're new, we cant let you wander in wearing any old thing.

the compromise we reached was that if you make a loose peasant outfit, like we have a jillion pictures of, and look, here's some patterns on the internet, and its really easy to sew and its a documentable pattern, (albeit 50-75 years out of date), and if youdecide this isnt for you, you can still wear your new tunic happily in the SCA, but with a minimum of effort.

again, this is the MINIMUM standard. We have yet to have anyone actually only do the minimum. Folks always want to overshoot it (darn ).

4. again, by no means do I expect ARMET to accomodate us. We're in a backwater up here and plugging along happily. Some of us may individually subscribe to ARMET guidelines, but I thought you might be interested in the motivations and aspirations of another point of view .

quote:

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Originally posted by Peder:
AM about what percentage of the regulations does your average member meet? and what are the common places in which they do no meet them?

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you can read about OUR minimum standards at www.liripipe.com/maisnie. But if we stand ourselves in practice up to the ARMET standard....

All fabric is either of appropriate fibers or of such a good inappropriate fiber with the right weave that you cant tell unless you set it on fire. In practice, everyone is wearing the real stuff since its so much nicer....all undergarments are white, as are all foundations of headdresses.

Men hose is all of fulled woven wool or linen (some of our guys use 14th century hose)There may be a pair or two of fulled knit woolen hose out there as well. No one who still plays with us uses dance tights.

all the boys wear doublets and/or arming vests. The arming vest is gaining popularity as something that is easy to wear in cool weather and you still keep your hose up, not to mention requiring far less sewing skills.

Another popular garment is the soldiers coat, worn by men and women when they can swipe one .

Right now the only female garments in use are the "flemish dresses" either bought from Gwen directly or created from period paintings.

Women ALWAYS cover their heads and hair, even if just running to the outhouse in the middle of the night. Many of the men wear coifs, often paired with one of those goofy "penis hats"

Shoes right now are one of our weaker points...I'm the only one who knows how to make them and I only have one set of lasts (my size). I've made shoes for several of our members and others are trading with other local cordwainers for shoes as well. I am hoping that when the less expensive shoes come in from Jeff we can get EVERYONE shod appropriately. For now, folks wear those china flats/Kung Fu shoes (ie simple black canvas)

All accessories are appropriate. There are several "Billy and Charlie" belts, and we had a workshop to produce simple 1" belts for folks. Jewelry needs to be appropriate as well, and most of us just remove our modern stuff (earrings, diamond engagement rings, etc).
Pouches are either Kidney style from HE, or simple drawstring bags, a la MOL. Several of us use canvas haversacks to tote modern things around but keep them hidden when we have to go do a music performance (sheet music), or want to go partying and bring our own alcohol (beer or whatever )

Everyone has appropriate spoons, either pewter, horn, wood or in one or two cases, simple silver (I keep stealing it...its so valuable they shouldnt leave it lying around!). Most folks have satisfactory knives as well...finding blunt steak knives at goodwill etc.

I guess when I look at the list, the folks taht are here now are pretty good. We have one gal who is physically unable to wear the standard Flemish getup all the time and we are working on an alternative for her.

Where we need to work:
1. the boys need more clothes.
2. the girls need more alternatives and some different hats
3. everyone needs shoes!

One of the real strengths of la maisnie is that we DO look so good. But I am not comfortable setting a bar that is not a bar, you know? I want my bar to be my MINIMUM, if you are not this tall, you cannot ride this ride. So we all agreed in the beginning that the bar would be set fairly high, and that we would re-evaluate every year and improve on at least one thing.

i want to pass along your company guidelines to the others down here that are interested in getting a LH group up and running. i'm asking your permision since it clearly states to do so:

"© Gwen Nowrick for The Red Company 2001. All Rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited."

i worked at kinko's so i do get anal about the word copyrighted.

thanks,

I'm flattered that you think its worth passing along. However, I re-wrote what's posted above and can't find it right now. (sorry, it's early and I'm not a morning person- *yawn*)

I've reposted the revision (and what's up on our website now) here: http://www.wolfeargent.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000009.html

and posted our resvised event guidelines here: http://www.wolfeargent.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000010.html

I believe some form of this was generally accepted as the basic tenants for ARMET, so any group that follows these guidelines would be welcome to participate at an ARMET event.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

I haven't had a chance to read through in depth, but I did notice the following

quote:

---

HOSE
The historical fabric used for hose was a wool fabric called puke, of which we know little.

---

If people are interested I could post parts of the Minimum Standards for Clothing I wrote for 'The White Company (1450-1485)', the cloth section of which has been reprinted in 'Dragon', the newsletter of 'The Companie of Saynt George'

I would be delighted to see what you've written for TWC! Thanks for offering. I'd suggest putting it in its own thread so it doesn't get lost down here in this old thread.

I saw the part about puke and will happily change the info to reflect what you say. That particular article was written about 8 years ago, so it's good to be able to update it.

Maybe it's just because it's morning, but I didn't see where the above says that doublets came only to the waist, but I did find where it says that the hose point into the doublet near the waist. Perhaps I just missed your reference.

FYI, this version was pretty much rejected as being way too nitpicky, and the generally accepted version is here: http://www.wolfeargent.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=14&t=000009

I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on that version as well.

Thanks!