Main > The Armoury
Albion Ritter
Sir Edward:
--- Quote from: Sir Ulrich on 2014-04-22, 07:29:57 ---I checked it out in the light, the leather is not like a solid black. But it has a few brown bits in it. Apparently it's really dark brown almost black it's like it almost has brown bands with black dye too. Quite a cool effect honestly. Though black wont look bad with my teutonic outfit even if people discourage it.
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In a way, that's much better. Medieval black dyes were really a very dark brown. Modern dyes are too pure. :)
Sir Nate:
--- Quote from: Sir Edward on 2014-04-22, 13:40:05 ---
--- Quote from: Sir Ulrich on 2014-04-22, 07:29:57 ---I checked it out in the light, the leather is not like a solid black. But it has a few brown bits in it. Apparently it's really dark brown almost black it's like it almost has brown bands with black dye too. Quite a cool effect honestly. Though black wont look bad with my teutonic outfit even if people discourage it.
--- End quote ---
In a way, that's much better. Medieval black dyes were really a very dark brown. Modern dyes are too pure. :)
--- End quote ---
I like a sword grip black, But I like a belt or scabbard brown.
Sir Humphrey:
You got an amazing deal on that sword. I was very tempted myself, but don't need another early sword. I bought his bare Albion Poitiers blade instead.
Question on black dye. Why is it discouraged? Black dye is one of the easiest to make with period ingrediants. I used to make it by the gallon. With good veg tanned leather, it will make it as black as night. However, with long exposure to the sun and air, it will begin to fade all the way out to chocolate brown. There may be a misconception that it did not look black when new based on the look of period pieces.
Ian:
I'm inclined to agree that the "lack of black" in period is a modern reenactorism misconception. At least to the scale that people seem to think. On textiles anyway, it was probably just cost prohibitive for most people. I've not seen any of the English Sumptuary Laws address black specifically though. They do address how expensive the bolt of fabric used for your clothes can be though. It's all based on your annual income and holdings.
Sir Edward:
Yes, I think there's a bit of a misconception out there. Nothing seems to indicate that it was banned or controlled in period, except that it may have been more expensive than most other colors, and culturally I think bright colors were more highly prized.
But it's also possible that there is a fear that if they allow black, then almost everyone will use it, when instead at an event there should be a much higher proportion of other colors.
I also suspect that the modern avoidance of it may have come about at a time when there was less information about it, so people tried to stick to what was more well known. Once a "rule" is there, it tends to persist.
So it could be a lot of different things.
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