[Shamsi Modarai]

[Nathan Keysor]

I agree with Shamsi on the Historica Enterprises clothing but for shoes I recommend Lady Loren http://www.ladyorensmedievalshoes.com/

She has shoes and boots and customs crafts them from a tracing of your foot. Also her prices are very reasonable.


Nathan

[Matthew Amt]

One other possible clothing source is my sister:

http://www.merchantadventurers.com/

CHEAP but well-made and reasonably authentic. Some of her stuff is more accurately made than others, but she does know the difference and will happily tell you so. She doesn't stock good turnshoes, but once in a while she'll have a pair of cheap moccasins of some sort.

You might also find my humble Midgard website helpful, though the Viking section is still a loss:

http://www.larp.com/midgard/

And yes, for any Crusader, hosen and braies are IT! Though with a simple pair of trousers and some winingas you'll be better-dressed than anyone else at the average Renn Faire.

Have fun!

Matthew

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[quote="Robin Smith"]

[Shamsi Modarai]

I have no idea if the hosen were considered bad, but I do know that the the shorter surcoats (such as in Chaucer's time) were definitely disapproved of since they showed so much...erm.....leg.

[Robin Smith]

[Lafayette C Curtis]

Well, if we need a little more speculation, then it might have had something to do with humanism, which tended to promote the display of the human body (whether unclad or clad in tight clothing). Of course, it'd only be true if there was a significant rise in the popularity of tight hose that can be pegged down into one of the medieval renaissances (not an oxymoron!) of learning, such as the one under Charlemagne or the one in the 12th century.

[Jeremiah Swanger]

*clears throat* Back to topic...

Actually, I think the whole pants vs. hosen thing warrants its own topic, IMHO...

I thank everyone for their advice so far. I'll give Historic Enterprises a call when I figure out how much of my car I have yet to pay off... and whether they can make something for someone 6'3" and 300 lbs (I'm not exactly a small fellow)...

I'll definitely be ordering an A&A Danish Axe, as theirs is the industry standard.

Still wondering what to do for a sidearm, though. I'm torn between Albion's Huskarl and Thegn models. I've already established that I want to go Anglo-Saxon, the only question is "do I want to swing toward the dark side of the Viking Age for a bit?"

Out of curiosity, what in the world was going on with Germany during the Viking Age? Were they all Franks? The nation of Germany doesn't seem to come into its own until the rise of the Knights Teuton at Acre...

[Jean Thibodeau]

As a nation Germany seems to have been very fragmented in practice if not in theory for most of it's history, even when an Emperor was supposed to be in charge his actual real power might have varied from from region to region and different periods.

I could have this wrong, but a united Germany is a mid-19th century thing I think maybe originating from the Prussian region.
I may be wildly generalizing here.

Early Viking period I think overlaps with the reign of Charlemagne who did create a really big unified Frankish/Germanic empire. After his death the Empire was divided between his sons and sort of fragmented.

[Hugh Fuller]

I posted the following over in SwordForums in answer to the same question that you posed there:

[Taylor Ellis]

[Robin Smith]

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[Greyson Brown]

Now, I may just be adding calculation to comedy, but at the 1353 tournament held in Eltham, England, Sir John Chandos and Sir James Lord Audley were both given pairs of plate covered in black velvet (also in Richard Barber's The Balck Prince p.105 (the inspiration for mine, seen here).

Additionally, I have been able to achieve colors that are, at least to the naked eye, indistiguishable from black simply by aplying several coats of olive oil. Several experiences incline me to believe that these results are repeatable with other oils as well.

-Grey

[Robin Smith]

Greyson, don't get me wrong, blacks most certainly did exist, but they were uncommon. Well, atleast far less common then it is in modern reenacting. Certainly by the 1353 (late medieval) they had the dyes, but that certainly isn't going to change my position. I think, for the sake of authenticity, blacks should be avoided if possible. Also, for Jeremiah. we are talking 11th C or earlier here...
Your scabbard looks great, and maybe its the pictures, but the natural ultradark brown of the strap looks quite distinct from the chemical black of the grip on the sword to me. As with an Iron Oxide dye, its close to black, but still not the uniform deep black of modern chemical dyes. I wouldn't call it indistinguishable to the naked eye, but they are close enough for the 10ft rule.

[Matthew D]

I would be very careful using olive oil on your leather.. it does have a habit of going bad and causing damage to the leather. As for the iron oxide dye, I am at a lose as to what effect it would have on your metal.... if the reaction is finished then it shouldn't continue to react with any metal..

[Glennan Carnie]

Oak galls can be used to dye leather black, and they were readily - and cheaply - available in England.

Robin is quite right, black cloth would fade almost immediately and good logwood blacks weren't really available in Europe until the mid-fifteenth century.

Contrary to Hollywood myth, black wasn't considered a colour worn by swarthy hero-types. Black was the colour worn by people who worked indoors, out of the sun. Black was considered rather effete; rather like men wearing pink is, today. Also dark green, dark brown, russett brown and grey required multiple dye baths to achieve the depth of colour and were definitely NOT be worn by peasants!

By far and away the most common colours were the reds/oranges (from madder) and blues (from indigo, including woad), with yellow a distant third. Green, despite the fact that it's one of the easiest colours to dye with natural dyes, doesn't appear in the art of the period very much (either not fashionable or a difficult paint pigment to produce, so not used in paintings)

[James Barker]

[Jeremiah Swanger]

[Mikael Ranelius]

On the other hand black is the most common color for shoes in medieval art. You can also dye fabrics black by over-dying indigo or woad and madder