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Reinforcing points on arming clothes

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Sir Edward:

--- Quote from: Sir John of Felsenbau on 2012-02-03, 14:38:34 ---I'm not sure exactly "arming clothes" are. Are you talking about surcoats and shield? Those I make all myself.

--- End quote ---

Hi there, Sir John!

Actually, the term "arming clothes" refers to the foundation garments worn under the armor. In the age of mail (13th Century and before), this would consist of a padded gambeson or aketon, which is a thick jacket-like garment that provides the padding that the mail armor itself does not. As you get into the 14th Century and later, the arming clothes were less padded, but instead had attachment points to tie the plate armor onto.

Having the right foundation garments can make all the difference when wearing armor. And sometimes, they are armor themselves, which can seem a little counter-intuitive at first.

The surcoats and tabbards provide a nice way to display heraldry, but usually weren't frequently functional as armor themselves. There are exceptions of course, such as external Coats of Plates that had the heraldry sewn right in.

But anyway, to summarize, the "arming clothes" are the foundation garments that you wear under the armor, as additional protection and/or a way to attach the armor.

Sir Andrew:
Thats a lot of GREAT information there you guys! Sir Ian, was your wife sewing by hand, or using a machine? My wife has a good machine and heavy needles that she thinks she can go through heavy materials with, i.e. leather, etc....

Ian:

--- Quote from: Sir Andrew on 2012-02-26, 14:58:12 ---Thats a lot of GREAT information there you guys! Sir Ian, was your wife sewing by hand, or using a machine? My wife has a good machine and heavy needles that she thinks she can go through heavy materials with, i.e. leather, etc....

--- End quote ---

Machine sewing with a leather needle.  It was really more a fault of the gambeson being to thick, padded, and layered where the points needed to go than the leather being the actual problem. 

As an aside, I'm having Revival Clothing do a custom linen pourpoint, since their off-the-racks don't fit me anymore, and they have agreed to sew on the leather reinforcement tabs for me that normally come on the agincourt arming cote.

Sir William:
Ian, that's awesome that they'll do that for you.  Save you a good bit of time, no?

Ian:

--- Quote from: Sir William on 2012-02-29, 21:48:12 ---Ian, that's awesome that they'll do that for you.  Save you a good bit of time, no?

--- End quote ---

...and frustration! :)  Yeah, Nicole Allen et all are good people!

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