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Author Topic: Review: Medieval Design
Fire Stryker
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posted 08-21-2009 04:52 AM     Profile for Fire Stryker   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
I’ve been working on a mounted archer impression of the Bandes d’Ordonnance of Charles the Bold circa 1470s. To move things along, I finally bit the bullet and ordered a full kit from Medieval Design in Italy. Like other smaller items that we’ve purchased from them over the last two years (table clothes and napkins, salts and sauces, etc…), I can say that I am greatly pleased with what arrived in the mail.
http://www.medievaldesign.com/english.asp

What I ordered:
Burgundian XVe Century outfit.

What it includes:

  • Doublet
  • Hose
  • Hat Flemish (or you choice of other soft similarly priced hat)
  • Shirt – B (I asked if they could swap for the C model – yes, no problem)
  • Braies
  • Belt – model C

From the time I measured and ordered the kit to its arrival in the States, took a little over a month. I didn’t specify a timeframe.

Consult the ordering page (http://www.medievaldesign.com/eng-ordini.asp) for all the details on the how’s.

Medieval Design has a very comprehensive measurement chart which really helps for the fine tweaking details of custom clothing.

Color and Fabrics:
They have a lot of colors available to them. I asked what they had in stock and they sent me a list and links to pieces on their site to give me an idea as to whether something was light, medium, or dark; saturated or somber. They also can do brocades for richer impressions.

Fabric: nice quality wool and linen.

Doublet:
The doublet I chose was a typical ball capped sleeve, Burgundian doublet in a lovely wine color. Mine is not the “high fashion” of the Burgundian style; it closes completely in the front. The fabric is soft and well woven. There are ample, well sewn point holes. The doublet is lined with nice weight linen and hand finished seams (per my request). The backs of the sleeves are slit to the elbow and point holes allow me to show as much or as little of the shirt as I choose. The collar is a standing collar with a “V” shaped join between the collar and the body of the doublet.

It is well tailored.

Hosen:
The hosen are well constructed and made of the same quality wool. The hose are well tailored and fit me nicely; a set of point holes on both hose and doublet are well placed to allow the lacing of my riding boots.

The “braies” area of the hose came lined with linen.

Hose have stirrups. It is the only thing I wasn’t expecting. I made the assumption, so if you want footed, be sure to specify. No real complaints though. I find them quite workable.

Hat:
I went with the Flemish hat. Mine is not as tall as many pictured in 15th century Flemish miniatures, however, it is well fashioned and made of the same quality wool as my doublet and hose. It’s also came lined with linen with hand finished seams.

Shirt:
Light to medium weight, white linen. I asked if I could swap the B model (tie neck) for a C model (fold type) ; MD swapped it at no extra charge. Nicely made; slits on the side for better fit.

Braies:
White linen, drawstring. Design is okay. Mine don’t fit me that well. I’m not sure why, but I’m not that concerned about it.

Belt:
Leather. I asked if they could dye mine red. They did at no charge to me. There are no holes and there’s ample leather so that the customer can fit it themselves. The belt comes with the C style brass buckle; however, it does not come with a strap end. Make sure to order one.

Customer Service:
I’m really impressed with their customer service. They were very attentive to detail and didn’t leave anything to chance. Before the material was even cut, they had a question about the measurements and double checked with me. They answered my questions swiftly when I made inquiries.

We noticed missing from our package, a padlock that we ordered. Before we could inquire, there was a message from Medieval Design indicating that they had a newer and better design than the one we ordered and that they would send the updated lock as soon as possible. Nice!

Price:
Probably a little higher due to the current exchange rates, but at 399 euros (approx: 570 US) I didn’t suffer too much from sticker shock as it was comparable to other vendors domestic and foreign. I have a very well tailored kit that will help complete my mounted archer impression.

Payment methods:
PayPal and Wire transfers

So if I had to give them a star rating, I'd give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Grazie Luciano


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