The Marches costumes

Look and Feel

The Marches draws strongly on English history from the 12th century through to the War of the Roses for costume, weaponry and armour. This nation is intended to appeal strongly to re-enactors and particularly to people who re-enact this period, partly because of the brief and style of the nation and partly because of the “low-fantasy” nature of the characters. To avoid “creep” please do not use anything from the Tudor period including later-period doublets. This is outside the scope of the Marches setting.

Feel

Gritty, solid, practical, superstitious, mud, blood, green fields, rural, iron.

Influences

Wars of the Roses England, Rangers of Ithilien (Beaters), Cadfael (Monks and Landkeepers).

Materials

Wool, calico, linen, leather.

Colours

Plain flat colours, mostly the soft colours of natural dyes or unbleached cloth. The palette is autumnal and natural dull blues, greys, browns/ rusts, mustards and greens, dull reds etc. especially at the lower end of the social scale. Wealthier Marchers have deeper, brighter shades.

Similar nations

Dawn

The nation needs to contrast with its neighbour Dawn. That nation is Arthurian high romance, the plate is gleaming, the colours glorious, bright and vivid. In the Marches everything should have a grubby, worn, lived in look to it. The Marches is Kenneth Brannagh’s Henry V rather than Laurence Olivier’s.

While there will similarities between Dawn and Marches, Marcher clothes should be made from rougher fabrics, in duller colours. The Marches should look far more real and gritty than Dawn, with the colours dimmed and the decoration stripped back.

Skirts and doublets should be less sumptuous, with narrower hems and thinner trims.

Higher class costumes will have a lot in common with average Dawn costumes, with richer colours and finer fabrics. Wealthy Marchers should still use a rich autumnal pallet of berry reds, jewel tone blues and greens and deep blacks, as opposed to the sunny and bright colours of the Dawn nobles.

Riches should be shown discretely in the Marches, through subtle touches of finer fabrics, in a lining perhaps, or through fancy buttons on an otherwise plain garment, unlike the more obvious Dawnish show with deep fur trims, expensive fabrics and wide, flowing robes and skirts.

Wintermark and Navarr

There are also overlaps between the Marches beaters, Wintermark's Steinr and the Navarr. Marcher beaters tend to wear light leather armour and simple, earth tone clothes, much like the Steinr and Navarr. The beaters can be pulled more into the Marches by using later medieval period clothing, like doublets rather than tunics, and accessorising with typical Marcher items, like bullock pouches and long belts.

The look should be simple and unadorned, avoiding large amounts of furs, scraps of leather and paints like the Navarr might wear.

Research

Historical inspiration

The Marches is the nation that draws most inspiration from historical costuming, drawing from the Medieval period of English history. Costumes should strongly evoke this historical period, although strict adherence to historical accuracy isn't required and a blending of styles from the medieval period, along with some fantasy elements is expected. When researching the styles of the medieval period, re-enactment is a great place to start. Medieval reenactment, War of the roses and 13th, 14th or 15th Century reenactment all provide helpful inspiration.

Women's costumes The key women's garments for the marches are kirtles, burgundian gowns and the cotehardie. Usually a linen shift would be worn underneath a linen or woollen over dress.

Men's costumes Men during this period generally wore a number of variations of a cotehardie, which in the later period became more a fitted doublet. Later style doublets, with slashing and intricate decoration as worn in the Tudor period are not suitable for the marches. Similarly, slashed 'landschneckt' styles are firmly within the nation of League and shouldn't be worn in the Marches. Doublets and cotes should be worn either with narrow fitting trousers, or hose. Either joined or split hose, are acceptable. If you wear split hose you will require a longer shirt than a 20th century one – say 3” above the knee - as it is normal for the shirt to hang out front and rear (thus covering one’s embarrassment).

TV and Films Pillars of the Earth, Cadfael, Kenneth Brannagh’s Henry V, Blackadder the First

Reenactment groups Some links to reenactment groups' costuming guides - a helpful source of inspiration and information.

Bibliography

The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant, Sarah Thursfield – Pretty much the bible for medieval costumes. Covers the layers from underwear to outerwear for the periods 1200-1500, plus headwear and accessories. Goes into detail about how to make the garments, which fabrics to use etc. A really excellent book.
Medieval military costume, Gary Embleton – Very useful book using colour photographs of live models. Goes into detail about everything from 13th Century foot soldiers to 15th Century knights, with sections on underwear, armour, women’s dress and Landsknechts.
Make Your Own Medieval Clothing for men, and for women, by W. Zerkowski and R. Fuhrmann, plus Headwear and Shoes available on the German website. Great books, giving designs for lots of different garments, though few instructions on how to make them. This would be more suitable for an experienced costume maker.

In detail

Women's costumes

Women's dresses for The Marches are long, lean and smooth and laced to fit. Back lacing shows higher status and gives a better line. Side lacing is more usual. As with military clothes, dresses can reflect household livery. 'Parti-coloured' (or split coloured) dresses look very effective.

Shifts The shift is a simple linen dress made the same way as a kirtle, but cut a little tighter and shorter to be worn as underwear. This style of under dress for women persisted unchanged well into the 18th Century. This sort of dress needs to be made of something that will be comfortable next to the skin, and is breathable - cotton or linen are the best fabrics fit this. Many traders sell very simple dresses that will be suitable for a shift, but these simple dresses are also very easy to make yourself. Patterns for classic T-tunics can be used to make this dress by making a very long tunic with narrow sleeves, though extra panels will be needed in the skirt to allow for movement.

There are a range of historical dresses which suit the Marches. The Kirtle is the basic t-shaped gown which was worn throughout northern Europe from the dark ages onwards. Later kirtles became more fitted, and those which button or lace up the front are called Cotehardies (there's also a shorter version of the cotehardie which men could wear). The Bliaut is a similar dress, the main difference between this and the kirtle is the wide flowing sleeves and the very tight fit, achieved through lacing on both sides of the dress. All three of these dresses are straightforward to make either from patterns or from pattern diagrams. Some sources of information and patterns are given below.

Kirtles

The underdress in this pattern Burda Patterns 7977
Burda Patterns 7468
Reconstructing History 018
Authentic Patterns Late Medieval Kirtle
Reconstructing History pattern RH002
Basic pattern instructions
Basic pattern instructions
McCalls Pattern 4490
McCalls Pattern 4491
Butterick Pattern 4827

Bliaut

Drafting instructions for a Bliaut

Cotehardies

The other style of dress worn in the medieval period is an unfitted robe, gathered in at the waist by a belt. This started life as the Houppelande, a large, robe like garment worn by men and women. Women belted this high under the bust and, over time, the burgundian gown evolved from this, with a similar shape but a deep v-neck. These dresses are far less revealing as the fit is looser than the kirtle and similar dresses.

Houppelande

Burgundian gowns

Simplicity 9058
Reconstructing History 007
Houppelande and Burgundian drafting instructions

Men's costumes

Cotehardie

Houppelande

Period Patterns 26
Simplicity 5925

Doublet

Reconstructing History 003

Gown

Reconstructing History 005

Shirts

Hose - joined and split

Braies

Reconstructing History 024

Trousers

Unisex items

Robes, Cloaks, Hats and outerwear

Examples, materials, patterns etc.

Arming clothes http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/patterns/patternpages/pp101.html http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/patterns/patternpages/pp102.html http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/patterns/patternpages/RH023.html http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/patterns/patternpages/RH021.html http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/patterns/patternpages/RH006.html

Any Marcher who owns farmland is a member of a Household, albeit perhaps a Household of one, and any Marcher Household can declare a livery. Members of the Household wear the livery in some way – perhaps as a coat, or perhaps as a simple sash or badge. Stewards of a Household that alies to a more powerful Household usually retain their own livery, or combine it with the new Households’ colours in some way.

Children's costumes

Specifics

High status characters

Middle status characters

Low status characters

Workers might wear sleeveless jerkins and leather trousers. Wealthier characters might wear finer robes but wool not silk. Back lacing shows higher status

Monks Both male and female monks wear traditioanl plain monks habit either in dark colours, or white with a dark scapula

Marcher Household A prosperous Marcher Household will wear often wear matching livery jackets, although simple sashes or badges are also used to denote afiliation.

Stewards and Electors The head of a Household, a Steward, wear richer colours, but wool not silk. Wealthy Marcher characters wear a full harness of plate in battle if they have it.

Beaters Beaters are skilled trackers and gamekeepers. They watch the borders of the Marches. They are inspired by the classic British archers of the period mixed with the Rangers of Ithilien from Lord of the Rings.

Beaters usually wear lighter armour, either just a padded or leather jack or else a leather tunic like the ones worn by the Rangers in Lord of the Rings.

Landkeepers Some landkeepers wear robes, similar to the monk, but waistcoat-shirt-and-hose, with rolled-up sleeves is a good alternartive.

What you can achieve at different price brackets?

Jewellery

Armour

Padded jacks are common for the poor with a harness of plate for wealthier individuals.

Yeomen Poor Yeomen may wear just a plain coloured padded jack or gambeson as their only armour. Wealthier Yeomen have jacks in their Household colours and mail or plate over the top if they have it.

Beaters usually wear lighter armour, either just a padded or leather jack or else a leather tunic like the ones worn by the Rangers in Lord of the Rings.

Padded or leather jacks are common for the poor with a harness of plate for richer individuals. Households often wear matching livery jackets, although simple sashes or badges are also used to denote afiliation.

Weapons

Shields are uncommon in the Marches, the most common are small metal bucklers when they are used at all. Any historical weapons from the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses are good, bollock daggers, axes, falchions, mauls, warhammers, poleaxes and bills.

Shields are not common. Small metal bucklers are sometimes used.

Weapons Bows are common. In hand-to-hand combat Marchers favour bills and other pole-arms. Two handed swords are common for richer characters in heavier armour, or warhammers, maces or poleaxes.

Heraldry

Nation specific garment

Possibly – if we can think of something suitable for each nation!