How to Dress a Landsknecht

I want to talk a little bit about HOW I think a MALE Landsknecht Soldier was dressed.

1. First I think he put on his unterhosen or underpants.
2. Then I think he puts on his hose. These would be the equivalent of our socks.
3. He would tie or link his hose to his unterhosen.
4. Then I think he would put on his Hemd or shirt.
5. Over this, he would put on his Hosen. There is a HUGE difference from Hose & Hosen. The way that I remember it is, that Hose are like Socks and Hosen are like pants.
6. Our Landknecht would then put on his Wams. Wams are like a doublet. They have the wide slashed sleeves, and can either be closed in the front and very much resemble a doublet, or be open in the front, and held together with a placket called a brustfleck.
7. Over this he could wear a jerkin, or an arming coat called a waffenfrock.
8. He would then finish with a head covering, some gloves, and of course shoes.

That is how I THINK a male landknecht got dressed in the morning.

If you haven’t check out Saint Max’s website by now, I really think you should.

http://www.st-max.org/costume-male.htm

They have some of the strictest guidelines, but have spent TONS of time on research. I don’t think one should ever try reinventing the wheel. Thankfully, the Guild of St. Max has graciously shared their knowledge online for all those wishing to benefit from their hard work and dedication. Thank you.

What to wear under there

So I was looking at an image in my German Binder which I have renamed "The Bible" , and there was an image of a landsknecht with his hosen tied on from Osprey's Landsknecht Soldier 1486-1560. This image looked very much like a guy wearing Boxers Briefs with Hosen attached...Of course instead of where there would be a fly opening, there was a codpiece.

Well if it looks like a pair of boxer briefs, and it has the same function as boxer briefs....maybe just maybe IT is a pair of medieval boxer briefs.

I passed this idea on to Lukas, and he agreed with my assumption, and mentioned that we should try it out.

Well what better way in my opinion to draft period boxer briefs then by using real boxer briefs. I took a clean pair of Lukas's undies, and cut them up (I guess at this point, everyone knows what kind of underwear my boyfriend wears.)

Here is a picture of the once modern undies, in the basic modern undy shape.


I cut the undies up to where I would have 3 pieces, a front piece/leg, a crotch piece, and then another leg piece. Here are the odd little shapes I got.



This is the Front piece with the attached undercodpiece thingy..that's the technical name for it. This piece covers his front, and the one leg. The codpiece will go over the front opening.

This 2nd piece covers the back area as well as the under crotch area.

This final piece is the other leg.

I then copied the pattern pieces on some Black Linen ON THE BIAS and added a 1 inch seam allowance. Here is a picture (sorry about the quality) of the fabric right before I was to cut it out.

Now the reason I put it on the bias, is because modern underwear has stretch or knit in it, and Linen does not. However, I assumed that if I combined the give of the bias, with an additional inch seam allowance, that my new undies would fit.

I sewed them up, and started to fit them on Lukas. To be honest, I sewed some of it, forgot how it went together, then continued to sew it some more. We did this about 5 or 6 times, to get a good fit.

I thought that I didn't add enough seam allowance, however Lukas thought they felt good. I made him wear them around for a while. He said he liked them but....wants me to add 1-2 inches at the waistband to help keep them stay up...Which I agree with. I will therefore seam rip this pair and trace a pattern.

When it comes to actually wearing them, I will put in holes that will match the holes in the over hosen and the doublet, and all will tie together. Very period :-) and one asks....what if he must use the restroom...well that's why they invented the codpiece.

My goal is to make him 2-3 pair of these unterhosen (underhosen) in which he can attach his hose to. He will be able to mix and match the color hose he wears. Then he will wear his hosen over his hose :-) Each pair of the unterhosen takes 1-2 yards cut on the bias.

A Link for Smocking

I find humor in the face that I am putting a link for smocking...a link can be considered a link or thread in smocking....Well it was funny in my head :-)

I have learned that smocking is a bit of a lost artform. What is out there is not very useful for mascaline smocked landsknecht shirts. I can't just show Lukas a picture of a smocked item for the design, as all he sees is this cute little girl's dress with pink smocking. Nor can I have him choose a pattern without seeing it...his mind doesnt work that way....Maybe one day I will work on a smocking for historical/sca refrences handout....

Till then I recomend joing the SCA group Smockers_Anonymous . The owner/moderator is one of the Best SCA smockers there are. If you get a chance take her class at Gulf Wars. That is where I learned the wonderful world of smocking.

If you would like a good refrence online for some of the diffrent stitches, try http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/3351/smkstch.html#list It is a good source for the basics.

Enjoy

Grid For Smocking

I don't want to pay a fortune for the really nifty smocking design software I want to use, and I don't know if a regular cross stitch pattern will work the same way. Therefore I created my own.

I took one of shirts that was pleated on the pleater, and measured aprox. the pleats. I then drafted it up with a good old fashion ruler, and then edited it in Fireworks. I tailored this to my 16 needle Amanda Jane. Nothing I will be pleating will be larger than the 16 pleats (if that) so this should work fairly well. If you would like a copy of this in PDF format, let me know.

Keeping in Touch

Updates:
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Discussion:
If you would like to discuss what I am doing, or have questions, then you should sign up for http://die-naherin.broomstich.com/mailman/listinfo/sprachen_die-naherin.broomstich.com
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"for that dye is on me"

It will help me nothing to plead mine innocence, for that dye is on me, which makes my whit’st part black.

Buckingham, in Henry VIII, act 1, sc. 1, l. 207-9.

This weekend was dye weekend (along with brewing weekend)…Needless to say, we were very busy boiling lots of things this weekend. I would like to include some hints and tips that I have learned from fabric manipulation classes and from my degree. However, this is not a tutorial, when dying your own projects, always read all directions before you start.

My first tip is to always get the right dye for the job. I get my dye at Dharma Trading Company. For Linen, Wool and Silk, I use Acid Dyes. They take the best and there is less chance of your colors fading/running.

After I am done, I always wash the fabric 1 more time in a vinegar solution to help reduce bleeding. The last thing I want is to spend time on making an outfit and then have it bleed. Some additional benefits of washing something in vinegar: It acts as a stain fighter, reduces the amount of lint, and makes the fabric nice and soft.

The first color I knew I needed to dye was one of the reds to a darker maroon. Lukas was very specific the colors he wanted. This picture shows the red linen starting to boil in the pot. I then add a white feather as a controlled item. I always do this, when I am over dying a color.

Here I am, adding the dye. Sorry its sideways, I will try to fix it later. When working with Dye ALWAYS wear gloves and a mask. The dye will dye you and the fumes are toxic....See the Toxic fumes.....

Here you can see why I do a test feather...Look the feather is now maroon.

I then boil (PER THE DIRECTIONS) the fabric (yum fabric soup) for 30 minutes with vinegar. I let it cool, carefully drain it, and run it through the washing machine. I will then usually run it through the machine again with some vinegar. I do this till all the dye has run or bled out. Normally once, but up to 2 or 3 times with red.

When dying wool you need to make sure all lanolin and other materials (including soap) are out. I always wash the wool on hot with soap first, then run it through 2-3 more times without soap. If you have any soap residue it will not dye right. If you are doing Landsknecht or cut and slash garb then you want the wool felted or felled. The more times you run it through the water and the dryer the more felted it becomes...this is a good thing. The yellow wool to the side use to be a natural creme...It took the dye beautiful, but had some residue on it, so it was a bit spotty. I had to do 3 dye baths to get it done.

I also did a few feathers as my test subjects....however, as the now gold wool had some creme in it to start with, they didn't dye quite the same shade. While washing the wool, I continued to dye the yellow feathers in yellow along with some old coffee I had. They came out the exact right shade.

To fix and clean old (or recently dyed feathers) simply steam them with a hot iron or over a pan of water. Here you can see some of Lukas's old feathers getting cleaned.

It took all weekend (minus most of Sunday while we were out of the house) to wash, iron, dye, and steam all the fabric & feathers. I have a bit more ironing to do, but then it will be off to the cutting racetrack.

Designs for His Lordship Lukas

Here is the design I am going for, for His Lordship's Maroon & Gold Court Waffenfrock. I don't have a lot of time to draw them out completely...though I might do it on the road today) so I used the images from the Reconstructing History patterns that I am going to try out. I couldn't quite find the right color of maroon, so I got as close as I could, and dyed it (more on that tomorrow). I then purchased 3 yards of a cotton gold brocade that I will use for the base of the hat, and cut the remainder into 3" strips for the trim. I think this will look really nice.

Here is a picture of the plunderhosen set I will be making. It will be done in Red & Black with a matching Black Starfish Hat. I am not sure what happened to the image when I exported it, will figure that out latter.








Here is the final outfit I will be making Lukas for Lilies. Once again, not sure what happened to the image, I will figure it out when I have a second. However you get the main jist. This will be black and gold wool, with varying colored linen hosen. In case you haven't guessed, Lukas's colors are black and gold. However, when we went to go buy wool, we couldn't find black or gold...Hence having way to much experience in professional dying, I once again got as close as I could and dyed the rest. Though tomorrow I will post on my dying practices, I would like to make one note. DON'T USE RIT DYE ON WOOL. In order to get a full coverage, THAT WON'T FADE OR RUN, you need to use Acid Dye. Don't worry it really doesn't have acid in it, it doesn't cost that much more (in fact I find it cheaper), and it is really easy to use.

Button. Button. Everywhere!

“Never, never, never, never, never! Pray you, undo this button.”…Shakespeare

Buttons, are one of those few things, that I think can either make or break an outfit. I am not saying that a horribly designed or badly made outfit can be fixed by good buttons, but a wonderful outfit can be ruined by the wrong set. I have also had a few cases, where I went beyond the call of duty to have really cool closures that due to time & wear have ceased to be closing properly, have fallen off or have unraveled. This leads to a very cool outfit sitting in the closet due to said ruined button.

As for buttons themselves you have many options to choose from: Pewter, fabric, leather, hidden, displayed, bought, made, and so on and so forth. Just as there are numerous closure options there are thousands of placed to purchase said closures. Everyone has their favorites, and I would like to share mine.

For Frogs and some basic buttons, I enjoy shopping at Buttons4U. I would recommend shopping there if you need to buy frogs and some buttons in bulk.

For sca themed buttons, I have had great luck with Pomegranate Costume Supply. I know some people are not a fan of ordering through ebay, but I have found this seller to be honest, quick (much quicker then traditional stores), and easy to communicate with. An additional thing I really like about them, is that they cleary tell you if you are getting a metal or plastic button...This is mucho important. All the buttons for the upcoming projects are from Pomegranate.

Jo-anns isn’t bad for some buttons, but only if they are 40%-50% off. Otherwise, it is just too expensive.

I haven’t quite learned the finer art of fabric buttons, I will conquer this, and when I do, I will share.

If given the option I would have all my buttons be custom pewter. I don't have the knowledge, the time, or the location to start pewter casting, but I will one day (insert evil grin here). I do have a friend who does the most amazing pewter work (that would be Daphne) and she has been kind enough to do me some favors in the past and created awesome buttons. If you have someone who does pewter casting...make them your friend, or try to learn from them.

When ordering buttons ANYWHERE! Please, Please, PLEASE make sure you are ordering the right size. Some outfits (especially those made from heavy wool) will look silly with small buttons and some linen and silk garments look ridicules with big buttons. For a given male's outfit I recommend at least 30-40 buttons, and for long female cotehardies I say order 70 buttons. You might have some left over, but you can always make favors with them, or use them on sleeves. I would always rather have too many buttons then not enough

If you have favor button supplies, feel free to share :-)

The Fabric Order.

I just wanted to share with everyone the Grand Fabric Order; What it cost & What we will be getting out of it.

The entire purchase was:
Linen: $330.34 (49 yards)
Wool:$197.78 (16 yards)
Silk & Dyes $45.40
Buttons: $58.47 (324 buttons)

This buys us
1 Crème Chemise: Jenna $22.35
1 White Pirate Shirt: Jenna $15.87
1 Maroon & Gold Waffenfrock: Blair $71.01 (that includes trim)
1 pair blue fighting legs: Clint $23.01
1 pair black hosen: Clint $23.01
1 pair gold hosen: Clint $22.47
1 German Plunderhosen + Doublet outfit: Blair $56.65
1 German Shirt: Blair $15.87
1 German Shirt: Clint $15.87
1 Full wool Puff & Slash Outfit: Clint $98.88
1 Full wool Puff & Slash Outfit: Blair $106.80

To break it down better
For $38.22 Jenna gets two LINEN undergarments
For $250.33 Blair gets 1 undershirt, 1 court waffenfrock, 2 interchangeable German outfits
For $183.24 Clint gets 1 under shirt, 1 pair of fighting pants, 2 underhosen for the fighting pants, 1 German outfit.

Buttons have yet to be included on any of these.

I also have an additional 12 yards of the white linen that can be used/distributed as lining or additional shirts at $5.29 yard.

Introducing our Cast of Characters

I would like to take a few minutes, to quickly introduce my guinea-pigs… I mean the victims… I mean the players of conquest…uhm I mean friends, yes that’s it…I would like to introduce my friends who have given over their bodies and their checkbooks to helping me conquer the world of German Garb.

First, we have my significant other…His Lorship Lukas.

My boyfriend, His Lordship Lukas Mesmer, is one of the main reasons I do German Garb. He has a German Landsknecht persona, but never had anyone who made German garb. 10 years later, enter in new girlfriend, who happens to have a degree in costume design. My goals for Lukas, is to make him awesome German fighting Garb as well as comfortable Landsknecht clothing to wear off the field. I don’t believe a good looking man, who has a German persona, should go around wearing T-Tunics.

Next, we have my dear friend Baroness Keile

I owe a lot to Keile (or as I call her, Jenna). Without her, Lukas and I would not have returned to the SCA once we moved to Ayreton (Chicago). Keile has not been playing long, a little over a year, and dates the current Kingdom Rapier Champion Due to this last part, she was thrust into service of retinue to the current Queen of the Midrealm. She also had to attend Gulf Wars with only a few outfits. That’s where I enter. I helped Keile create enough outfits to get her through Gulf Wars. Recently, due to her service to Her Majesty, Kelie was awarded a Court Baronage, and let me tell you I don’t know many other people who are as deserving. Beyond having an incredibly sweet and likeable personality, she is one of the most helpful, caring, kind, hard working people you will meet. When she puts her mind to something, you better watch out. It was this unusual display of hard work that awarded her, her court Baronage after a year. Congratulations Doll, you deserve it. My Goal is to boost both Keilie’s war garb and court garb through a combination of late period styles (She has a Irish Persona). In a nut shell, I want to make Jenna look like the baroness I know she is J

Then, we have another good friend…”The Anton” or Lord Anton du Marais.

Anton is Baroness Keile’s significant other and a really awesome dude in his own rite. He is currently the Queen’s Rapier Champion, and the the once a future regional champion.... Ok Inside Joke. By persona, he is French…but his Warder says that’s ok as he is really French-German (very much like myself). Anton, is also a member of the Thieves of Heart rapier household, and a really amazing fencer. He is currently broadening his horizons by learning the basics of heavy fighting. My goal for Anton is to help out his earlier period garb with the help of my dear friend and Hosen Goddess Sheileigh (or the bunny), while making him German garb that would make his warder proud.

We also have MyBuddyDave, Master David Freidrich Von Einbach.

Dave really hasn’t agreed to letting me use him as my earlier period German Ken Doll, but he is a dear friend of mine and I owe him a bit. Along with his beautiful (both inside and out) wife, Mistress Conna, give me hope and inspiration to do the best I can. In this SCA world, there are some laurel's who make you feel worthless, though few in numbers, they are out there. In contrast, there are a few Laurel's who go beyond the call of Laurelling duty to make you feel worthwhile.. Master Dave & Mistress Conna are two such Laurels. David was gracious enough to allow me to make his peer cloak. Though intensive and 100% Earlier Period German, the thing is bloody hot. I am making him an additional lighter weight German Laurel cloak, so he can wear it to Lilies and Pennsic.

Finally, we have myself, Lady Aldyet Le Chaundeleur (name pending on me figuring out a new cool French-German name…suggestions welcomed and appreciated.)

If you don’t know me, well I am Lady Aldyet. Originally from the west, I have lived in Cynaugua, Drakenwald, Middle Kingdom, Back to the West, Calontir, and now back in the Middle Kingdom. I am recently off a stint of service as a Kingdom officer of Calontir. I have also been dealing with SCA burnout BAD. I am trying to relearn why I love the SCA. So far, I think it evolves around a few things: being needed or helping out, fencing (yeah to be back in a kingdom that fences), and getting compliments on really cool garb. It might sound shallow, but I love it when people like my garb, it really makes me feel like I am doing something right. I also love creating pictures. I really owe it to my friends for letting me turn them into the Renaissance Pictures that make the SCA fun for me.

The Landsknecht Conquest...

I love late period German/Landsknecht Garb. I love wearing late period German garb, and I find it surprisingly comfy. I like seeing guys in good Landsknecht garb. I think EVERYONE should wear Late Period German Garb (enter diabolical laughter here).

Ok so maybe the last part is a bit extreme, I think everyone who has the capacity to make or buy correct, semi-authentic, comfortable, good looking should wear Late Period German Garb. In my time in the SCA, I have seen Awesome German Garb (mostly in the west), and I have seen Bad German garb. My goal is to one day be including in that small previous group, who not only understands the mechanics of Period German Clothing, but can make it well! When I say make it well, I mean comfortable, fits correctly, and is period.

Here lies my quest! My personal SCA goal is to get as many friends and family members in Good SCA German Garb, while trying best to master the area of Landsknecht/German clothing. Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn into me chasing windmills.