kass

Must be!

Yes sir! Coming soon. The pictures are just some quick snaps we took when we got the guns before we ran off to RF2. We're getting various detail shots done as we speak and hope to have the pictures up next week. The pistols are already done, but the long guns are taking a little longer. I'll post here when we have 'em.

Maria, a gram would only impart a slight colour to that much fabric. If you have access to more, get a couple of ounces. If you don't, why not dye a lovely handkerchief that you can wear tucked in the front of your mantua. It is small enough that it will come out a very brilliant red. Even if you can get more, my suggestion is to try the gram you have on a handkerchief anyway. It will teach you what to expect. I don't know if you've done much natural dyeing, but it's sometime very touchy and if I were you, I'd start with the hankie. After all, it'll make a wonderful accessory! Here's a company that sells PDF (prepared for dye) silk handkerchiefs in a variety of sizes: Silk Connection There's also a wonderful new book on the history of cochineal, if you're interested. I bet your library could ILL a copy if you don't have it already. It's called "A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Thank you, Foxe! And our Doglock Trade Musket is actually the same gun except with the proper stock for the period: http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/index...1&q=1&p=137&r=Y And it's a whopping $46 less!

a - Probably 50 in different eras. Went to about ten. b - I don't portray any pirate-related characters. I portray a woman from the 1690s. c - historic d - neither. I'm a textile historian studying the clothing of the Golden Age of Piracy. I reenact to have a place to wear my reconstructions and to teach people about the clothing (and lives) of our ancestors. I don't really have anything I want to escape from.

In that case, I think you'll find the black trim suits your purposes better, Jigme.

Hmmm... Depends on what kind of bribery is involved, William... Seriously, PM me and we'll talk.

Sometimes the facts actually make sense. You gotta post pictures of the coat when it's done.

There absolutely is, Jigme! We often see strips of fabric inserted into the center back and underarm seams to increase the size of a garment. Strangely enough, the fabric doesn't even have to match! There was a very brisk trade in second-hand clothing at this time. You may have bought this coat and it wasn't quite the right size. So you had it made larger. Clothing was expensive. Altering clothing to make it fit was much more common than having a new coat made.

At least they used gold and not silver. Shining it would have gotten embarassing...

Just finishing up the GAoP line. The Accessories pattern is finally available. It includes everything you need to make any GAoP outfit complete: hats and caps, shirts and shifts, petticotes, aprons, hairstyles, neckwear... Here's the link: http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/index...1&q=1&p=148&r=Y If you don't like ordering through the website, email or call me (number's on the website). We take PayPal, money orders and checks in US in addition to credit cards.

Off topic for a moment. You know, Wages, I don't think I realised that I'm having the same fight with Pirates that I had with Irish and Scots 10-15 years ago. I'm fighting the same misconceptions, the same fantasy-cum-history, the same scaredness and dedication to things that never were. Thanks for illuminating that so well! Back on topic: if a book purports to be a guide to any subject, it should not be full of myths about that subject. Unless, of course, the title is "Pirate Myths". I've never found any of these "Idiots' Guides" to be useful in the least. Instead get a copy of Johnson. Or "Under the Black Flag".

Precisely! Golden Hind not Queen Anne's Revenge. Put another way: Elizabethan period, not Georgian. Ruffs not cravats.

Yeah. If Bob and Foxe can make 'em, anyone can. Always feel free to email or PM me, Bill. That's what I'm here for.

Yup! I'm a sucker for dashing men in trunkhose.

Yup. It's marked on the pattern pieces where to cut for drawers. So we've met you then? That was us selling at Reenactor Fest.

Just FYI -- the costumes in "Sea Hawks" are wrong. They vary from a little wrong (wrong period or mixing periods) to VERY wrong (completely made up by the costume director). Don't use it as a visual reference. It's is very VERY Hollywood. But I love the movie... You just can't beat Errol Flynn! Here are some great pictures of my favourite Elizabethan living history group, Bonaventure: Click on Gallery and then on Elizabethan.

I do. It's in this one: Sailor's Breeches and Slops

Don't sweat too much, Mick. Their standard delivery time is 18 weeks. Yup one-eight. If my math is decent, that means you'll be getting your sword really soon. Also TORM is next weekend (16-18 March) and they always go to that. So it's likely that everyone is so busy with show prep that no one is responding to emails. They have quite a drive to come down from Scotland too. I bet you'll hear from them the week of the 19th. If not, try again then.

Old Man, you're not wrong. We find very few examples of drawstrings in the historical record -- probably for exactly the reasons you describe. Modern costumers (like the people who design costumes for the Ren Faires) use drawstrings because they allow people of many different sizes to wear the same garment. Period seamstresses and tailors made clothing that had to function properly. They used buttons and ties and other fasteners. But I don't think I've ever seen a drawstring used as a waistband -- except for an apron As for flies in drawers, we believe they were used. They weren't buttoned up though. Just open like in a modern pair of boxers. Pat, what you say about drawers being like "lining for your breeches" is pretty close to the mark, I think. Of course we don't have a ton of extant drawers because they tend to get dirty and worn out and thrown away. But the ones that survive (and the ones we can see in naughty pictures...) look just like narrower, shorter breeches tied with tapes (strings) at waist and knee (and sometimes not knee). But the wearing of drawers was far from universal -- much like today, really. :)

Oh wow! I've been busy. I totally missed this post! Thanks, Bo. I'm glad you like it. May you wear it in the best of health!

Hey! My shoes aren't post-1738! Seriously, criticizing someone's kit at an event is rude. It's also the act of someone who feels they have to prove themselves. And as our new friend CS mentioned -- it's usually done by people in the worst kit with toy pistols who think making someone else feel small will make them feel big. Well, it won't. These chest pictures are wonderful, CS! I'm so glad I didn't shut down this thread when it seemed to be about 19th century and fantasy stuff! Regarding "do I make it for a couple events or do I make something I can use all the time" -- that's personal choice. Like Pat, many of the events I go to require an airline flight. So there's alot of stuff I can't take with me. These days, I'm just happy to get my shoes on the plane! My personal choice would be to make one of these large chests for my house, and carry my event stuff in a seabag. After all, aren't these chests CS is posting home furnishings? I mean, they're not "luggage" are they? And yes, seabags are period appropriate. I should take a picture of the one Foxe made for us while he was here. Very utilitarian.

Asmiv, The tricorn was not worn in the 16th century at all. But I think you need to rethink your question a little bit. You shouldn't be thinking "what did pirates wear before 1600" but "what did seamen wear before 1600". After all, pirates didn't have a particular uniform for indentification (that kinda thing will get your neck stretched!). Here's Mr. Foxe's wonderful site of medieval and Renaissance pictures of sailors. Have a browse around and you'll see many different headcoverings. Don't be surprised if you don't see anything you think of as "piratical". Much of what we think of as "pirate garb" is fantasy.

Linen's definitely the right stuff for drawers, Jack (although I do have references to them being made out of kersey and cottoned wool!). Linen is great. The more you wash it, the softer it becomes. Once you make linen drawers, you'll never go back...

There are plentiful references to drawers being worn by sailors in the GAoP. They're in the Slop Contracts, in inventories, wills, et cetera. However, there are also plentiful references to men tucking their long shirttails between their legs and going without drawers. So they certainly were far from a universally-worn garment in the 18th century. And the assertion that there is some kind of unbroken line of skivvies from the Dark Ages until the Victorian period is flawed. But I'm not going to get outside the GAoP in this thread. Chole, one Slop Contract reference to drawers says they were longer than the breeches in the same document. That doesn't mean they all were. Besides, that contract dates to 1731, which is post-GAoP. Interestingly enough, the 1739 Slop Contract doesn't specify length for drawers at all. Neither does the 1725 SlopContract... The Slop Contracts also say nothing whatsoever about drawstrings. It says they have "good strings" at the waist and knees. This is taken to mean they were tied by strings instead of buttons, not that they were gathered with a drawstring. This is the full quote from the 1724 Slop Contract: This and the picture John posted of the striped drawers supports the idea that drawers were certainly not always all white. Smoke and Fire's drawers are based on some commissioned by Thomas Jefferson from his tailor, I believe. They are decidedly late 18th century.