Standards - Basic Clothing Standards

The purpose of this standards outline is to help new people in the group portray a common persona with the group. All new comers to the group must play at a common level for a minimum the first year. We do this so a person does not spend lots of money on a kit and so they gain a better understanding on the common portrayals within the Retinue.

This is a set of guidelines to follow: all items must pass an inspection by the standards committee. When in doubt about something check with the group before making a money costing mistake.

If you have questions please email James Barker

General Standards:

What we're trying to do is get to the most period-correct, day-to-day portrayal of English people from 1471 as possible. In pursuit of that goal, there are a few general rules:

The Rule of Three: In order to introduce a new item into use there must be at least three plausible references to it, preferably both textual and pictorial. Further those references must be relevant to the class and kind of people we are portraying. More references are always better.

The Rule of Common Usage: Meaning that what we do must be documentable to the class and culture of the people we are portraying. If it's a unique or very rare item, the number of references found to it is irrelevant, and it will not matter if you find 17 references to the fact that the Emperor Charles had a mechanical bird. He's an Emperor. We are not.

The Rule of Space: What we do must be documentable to the place we are portraying. Meaning, it doesn't matter if it was common as dirt in Poland , or an everyday occurrence in far Cathay . We are not, nor have we ever been, in Poland or far Cathay .

The Rule of Time: What we do must be documentable to the time period we are portraying. Meaning that just because it was being done in 1162 does not mean it was still being done in 1471.

Buying Your Gear:

You can buy every item on our basics list but we want you to contact us before buying anything. Even the most credible vendors out there sell items we don’t approve of for use in the group. If you contact us, we can help you sort through vendors, the items they sell and the options they offer, and get you the gear to get you started with us.

Making Your Gear:

We have patterns to make all these items for those going that route and we have specifics you need to know for buying so please contact us with your questions.

Before starting any project, confer with the group. There's nothing worse than putting 50 hours into the construction of a new garment only to find out that it's not appropriate for what we portray or spending money on an item that the group has decided not to allow. Better to be safe than sorry. Check first!

In order to prevent new members from making the mistake of dropping a whole lot of cash on an impression they may decide they don't want to pursue, we require perspective members to join us as low-ranking commoners for one year as laid out in our membership terms. The clothing requirements are easier to make, cheaper to buy, and the roles are simple to understand and portray, even for someone completely new to living history.

Construction Standards:

• All visible stitching (flat felling, top stitching, etc.) shall be done by hand.
• Stitching that is not visible (inner seams) may be done by machine.
• Buttonholes and eyelets should be done by hand.
• Buttons should for the most part be of cloth or cloth covered wood when appropriate. Metal buttons are luxury items and should not be used on a common man’s clothing.
• Linings, when used, should be of natural or bleached linen.

Fabric Standards:

Your wardrobe should be of wool or linen, as those were the predominant fabrics in use for our time and place. However, wool and linen should not be used interchangeably. The clothing section will let you know what material is required for a garment.

• Silks and Silk Velvets: Luxury fabrics and should be avoided by new members.
• Wool: Tabby (plain) weave is and was the most common weave available but some items require four-shed twills (Also known as a 2.2 or a 2 in 2), this will be indicated under each item.
• Linen: In tabby weaves. When buying white linen make sure you get “bleached linen” and not what is call “optic white” or “Irish white linen”. Optic white has a bluish tint and Irish linen has a reddish tint under natural light. Bleached has a slightly yellowish tint.
• Leather: Leather should be vegetable-tanned, oak-tanned is recommended. Chrome-tanned leather should be avoided. Dyes should be oil based or natural oils, such as needsfoot oil.
• Hemp Canvas: In plain weaves, unbleached. This fabric provides a good foundation for arming doublets and brigandine shells.
• Cotton: Cotton fabric should NOT be used for clothing under any circumstance. Raw cotton is acceptable padding for quilted items.

Modern Terms for Wool and What not to Buy:

What to look for:

• Worsted: Worsted is a smoothed finished wool that will not full well. If you want your outfit to repeal rain then worsted is not ideal.
• Tropical Worsted: One warning here, the weave will be open and loose to keep you cool, Tropical Worsted is a light material that will make great summer clothes but poor fall and spring clothing.
• Twill: Twill wools are a fabric with a twill weave, namely a textile weave in which the filling threads pass over one and under two or more warp threads to give an appearance of diagonal lines.
• Wool Flannel: Almost always wool flannels are four-shed (two in two or 2.2) twills. Wool Flannel makes nice hosen.
• Gabardine: Gabardine is a nice twill weave but sometimes it has a high closs finish which should be avoided.
• Coat Wool: Coat wool is very heavy weight wool in a tabby weave.
• Melton: Melton can be a tabby or twill. Often is a blend so be sure you get 100% wool. Typically it is heavy weight wool so keep that in mind when planning an outfit.
• Rug Wool: Rug wool is a cheap tabby weave. It typically has a very nappy finish and is not so pretty but you can use it.

What to avoid:

• Crepe: Crepe is a crinkled fabric that was not used in our era
• Jersey Wool: Jersey is a knit fabric. Knits are wrong for us and Jersey is known to rip easy and once it is ripped it starts to fall apart being a knit fabric
• Suiting: Modern suit fabrics just are not the right look for what we want. Also 9 times out of 10 it’s the wrong color for us.
• Stripes: Avoid any striped material because we have no evidence of such material in our era.
• Wool Blends: Avoid any artificial blend in a material. Artificial fibers trap heat on hot days while natural fibers like wool and linen breathe and keep you cooler.

To Full, or Not to Full, That is the Question:

Fulling: Fulling is the process of agitating (washing in hot water in a machine will do this to non-worsted wools) your wool to make the surface fuzzy and tighten up the weave.

Worsted: Worsted is a weave where the wool thread is spun in a way that leaves the wool cloth smooth and near impossible to full.

Broadcloth and Tabby weaves: Starting in the 14th century, England was well known for producing what is know as broadcloth. This was tabby woven wool that was dyed, fulled, teasled (combed), and sheared to have a nice smooth surface while the wool itself was tight in the weave and thus more water resistant. A good way to achieve this look is to full your wool lightly and brush it well with a wool brush before wearing to smooth it out.

Twills: Of the eighty medieval twill finds from the 13th to the 15th centuries only 13 were not worsted, When using a twill, it is up to you weather you want to full the wool or not, leaving it worsted would be most common place.

Color Standards for Wool:

Colors should be period appropriate. The most common colors seen in art are red, burgundy, blue, yellow, gold, and green. These colors should not be too dark like navy blue, nor should they be too bright and vibrant. Such colors were not known to be achievable by historic dying methods. Also black should not be worn by common persons. This was achievable, but extremely expensive and only the rich could afford this luxurious color. If you are not sure about a color ask the committee.

Colors to avoid:

• Black for lower and middle class portrayals
• Purple
• Electric blue (this color is too bright)
• Neon or day glow colors
• White: It is recommended that you avoid using white wool for your outer garments as it is rare to see on a common man in period art and it will of coarse get soiled.

The "No's"- Things not acceptable for reenactment:

• No modern eyeglasses. Contacts are acceptable.
• No modern jewelry. A wedding ring is discouraged, but if it is physically not removable or cannot be removed for strong personal reasons, alternatives such as substitution of a period ring or keeping the modern setting hidden should be taken. Additionally, medical alert or similar items should be kept hidden.
• No modern shoes.
• No nail polish or makeup.
• Facial piercing should be removed before an event.
• Tattoos must be covered.
• Modern hairstyles must be disguised. (This means no Mohawks or outrageous hair styles)