Roberto E. wrote: |
Okay, so this is what i got so far,
I guess the best way to start would be from the head down. |
I'd say it's better to start from the inside out instead. The soft kit -- the garments you wear underneath all that armour -- is the thing most people tend to get wrong, and the one that would have the greatest impact upon the final silhouette and look of your impression. This is pretty ironic since the soft kit is usually the cheapest part of the whole impression and improving it requires less expenditure than buying a new armour or retailoring an old one.
A really quick list of the soft kit components would consist of:
- A roughly knee-length tunic, perhaps longer (down to about mid-calf) if that's what you prefer. If you're looking for commercial models, I'd suggest Historic Enterprises' offerings here or here. However, I also agree with Leo's comment that the early and high medieval T-tunic isn't that complicated, and if you're in a position to expend time and effort rather than money then I'd suggest that you learn to make one yourself. You'll probably require two or three tunics to get the basics right, but that's not such a big problem if you have friends or relatives who might want to dress up together with -- the older tunics would make handy loaner pieces. Try this guide if you want to go down the DIY route.
- An undertunic -- not always necessary since (I think) we have evidence of outer tunics worn both with and without undertunics, and there might be a good reason not to add the undertunic's extra layer in particularly hot-and-humid conditions. In any case, you might want to make your first tunic or two out of undyed material so that it can be worn as an undertunic should you need or want to do so.
- Braies. This is the part other people aren't really supposed to see, so you might be able to fib it off with loose drawstring trousers cut off at the knee or even modern shorts. But real braies, properly constructed, can be more comfortable under the hose. HE also has some good braies if you prefer to buy some, while there are a couple of articles you'd want to check if you want to make them yourself: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/...sindex.htm and http://hibernaatio.blogspot.com/2014/04/nain-...tteen.html
- Hose. This is usually the hardest part for modern men since they feel like they'd look ridiculous in "tights," but 12th/early 13th-century hose seem to have been slightly less close-fitting than they'd later become in the 14th and 15th centuries, and more importantly you'd look a great deal less ridiculous in a full tunic-and-hose outfit than you think. Check Marc Carlson's page on extant examples of hose if you want to see what their construction is like; knowing this would be quite useful regardless of whether you'll eventually choose to make or buy.
- Shoes - probably the most expensive, since the right kind of leather (high-quality vegetable-tanned) isn't cheap even if you decide to make them yourself, and they require more practice to make correctly (so you'll have to either go through more leather as you go through the trial-and-error process of learning to make them yourself, or pay more for the skills of craftsmen/women who can make good historically-accurate shoes).
- Some sort of suitable headwear. Try http://larsdatter.com/coifs.htm and http://larsdatter.com/hoods.htm for some sense of what it'd look like.
If you decide to get some sort of arming garment (gambeson, aketon, whatever you call it) in preparation for getting your mail-based armour, you probably should look for quilted cloth rather than leather since there's little evidence that leather was used as armour in the Crusades. It was quite common for shoes, pouches/bags, belts, and straps (including on armour), but entire garments made of leather would have been quite rare and expensive -- and, if I'm not mistaken, more likely to be found among the Turks and Saracens than among the Crusaders. Try Alexi Goranov's article on this site for a good starting point.