Little Welsh Viking

The pink tunic has had a LOT of work done to it. The neckline was chopped a little too deep, so I decided to put a fairly typical 11th century facing on it. I used some pale blue linen for it because, as the wonderful  Isabel Northwode  suggested, linen is a bastard to dye deep colours. The eventual aim is to get this thing embroidered with pearls, silks, rich designs and the like, but for now, dearest interpeople, I just want it wearable! The drape of the tunic works nicely. It's a touch snug for my current under tunic, so I may need to wear it "commando" or make a more snug undershirt for it, which is OK, because I have a linen stash and itchy fingers! The bottom hem. Now the rub appears! Remember my last post about the Old English Hexateuch? Well, I kind of fell in love with those side-split, trimmed tunics, so this bad lad is going to be one! I know, I know, it's a bit of a fanciful piece of kit considering how much evidence we have for silk tun...

Goodness me! Sorry about the hiatus there, everyone. I've got lots of news! As some will know, I've moved house to Scotland recently. That's pretty much taken life over for the last month or so, as it's a big move for me, and a stressful thing to do at the best of times. It's been made especially difficult because winter always gets a bit dark and cold and sad for me. The black dog is an infrequent, but vicious little visitor to my happy head, and takes up too much of it. Anyway, this blog is meant to be about old clothes, so let's talk sources, shall we? The Old English Hexateuch (AKA MS Cotton Claudius B) is an amazing resource, available for free on the British Library website. It has beautiful, full colour pictures of 11th century Saxon clothing for both the ladies and the gents. You want to see contemporary pictures of what C11th Saxons were wearing? Look here. Fabulous. Truly fabulous. Typical Saxon appearance: tunics, hose, dress and mantle, b...

And it is good trouser news... So, I went to Toronto last month (hence the brief hiatus. Sorry), and managed to get some serious, serious  fabric bargains. There are a few shops on and around Queen Street which offer incredible prices on genuinely lovely fabric. Wools, silks, linens, even some thread and notions, and they were CHEAP. One of the bargains I got was some gorgeous superfine wool tabby, for the equivalent of £7.50 per metre. The lady at the shop even burn tested it without prompting, and was very helpful to me and Madame while we were having a poorly day. Shout out to Fabric By Designers for their helpfulness! So nice. So soft. So wool. This stuff is beautifully soft, drapes gorgeously, and I grabbed a yard and a half of it to make my Viking trousers, because it's ideal! I wish I'd bought more now...ah well! I measured them based off my housemate's pair, as I mentioned in an earlier post, as they're ideal in terms of the look they provide. ...

Hello! I'm Jimmy, and when I'm not acting, playing music, or writing, I'm a Welsh re-enactor. This is the first post on a blog that will hopefully show the historical clothes projects I have on, the research I'm doing, and shamelessly plug some of the shows I'm in! Hope you enjoy following my quest to make myself look as old fashioned as possible! So, without further ado, have a few pictures of my early medieval impressions. I've been a member of Regia Anglorum for...crikey, eight years now! And it's a pretty research based group, so I try to keep my kit as provenanced as I can. The first picture is my 'generic' early medieval look (plus gloves I knitted, because I was cold!). It's my 'jeans and t-shirt' look for the 9-11th century comprising tunics, hose, braies, shoes, and in this one, my lovely sword by Heron Armoury. The second picture, courtesy of my lovely girlfriend, and fellow re-enactor Peryn (aka Isabel Northwode) show...