Standards - Basic Clothing Standards

All men's clothing should adhere to the rules of under the basic clothing standards

The Men’s Clothes:

Braies: Braies are your underwear. They should be made of white linen. The style in the 15th century where like briefs or very short boxers to avoid visible lines in the hosen.

Shirt: A shirt should be made of white linen. It should be made in a tunic fashion with a gusset under the arm. Click here for an essay on shirts.

Hosen: Hosen need to be made of four-shed twill wool or a higher count weave. Twill wools were used in period because they have greater stretch on the bias and enough give not to rip when worn. Tabby does not have the stretch needed and should not be used. Men’s hosen will be joined and have a codpiece. They will end at the middle of the hipbone not the modern waist above the hips. This needs to be pointed into the doublet to stay up. They should be made with a 14th century style foot since there are no 15th century finds at this point in time. You can also use a stirrup style instead of a full foot.

Doublet: A doublet may be made of tabby or twill weave wool. A doublet should also be set-in lined with white linen. We want all doublets to have ball shoulders and they should lace shut with points in the front. The arms should button close at the wrist with one or two buttons. The waist where the body and the peplum meet should be at a man’s natural waste (usually at the bellybutton) not at the modern waist at the hips. The peplum should end at the hips or one inch below. Point holes to tie up your hosen should be no higher than two inches from the bottom of the peplum. One inch is preferred. We use the Flemish and French look for our doublets look because the few existing pieces of art from England look the same. German and Italian styles differ greatly.

Livery Coat: A livery coat may be made of tabby or twill weave wool. A livery coat should also be lined with white linen. We make livery coats in the style that you see in Rene’s book of tournament with a long peplum and no sleeves with large openings for the arm. We hook and eye shut the front of the livery or you can make it a pull over but the garment will not fit as well. Our colors are split red on the right side and green on the left with the livery badge on the green.

Gown: A gown may be made of tabby or twill weave wool. A gown could have a white linen lining, but for a soldier it is not required. Wool repels rain but if a linen lining gets wet you will get wet. Gowns should be no longer than mid- thigh length and should be pleated at least 3 times on each of the four panels. The sleeves should be long enough to fit over the ball shoulders of the doublet and could be slit in the front and in the back as seen in period art, if you wish. A gown can also be fur lined, squirrel being most common in the 15th century.

Hats: All men wore hats. The various type worn depend up on position and station. An acorn hat may be made of tabby or twill weave wool, and it should have a linen lining. The acorn hat looks much like a fez but is not as stiff or rounded. Common man and noble wore it alike. This is the only kind of hat we want to be worn by men lower than the gentlemen rank in the group. Additionally, there are felted wool bowlers and chaperones for higher stations.

Belt: The belt should be made of durable leather such as a 6oz or higher vegetable tanned leather. It needs to be able to hold up to the weight of a dagger or purse on it without stretching or folding. The belt fittings should be period in design and made of brass, bronze, or copper for they made up 80% of all belt finds and thus are the most common materials used. The most common style was a D ring buckle held on by a brass plate with a brass plate end.

Shoes: Shoes should be made in a style seen in art of the 15th century or from examples of shoes from that era. We prefer a brown color or finish to black. Please no bright colors like red or gold, and only use colors you can prove existed. Shoes should be made of a thick bottom and thinner leather on the upper part. The upper should not be more than 4 oz. leather and should be malleable. Vegetable-tan or oak-tan leather will work best and chrome-tan leather should be avoided. Shoes must be constructed as a turn shoe with the proper split hold, also known as a top stitch.