Got my chausses and 13th century underwear package

[Sir Ulrich]

Allright so my chausses came in the mail today, I am impressed by the quality of the chausses also the linen is pretty soft so they're quite comfortable, actually they're more comfortable than the skinny jeans I normally wear. The shirt and braies however are somewhat rough and irritating to my skin, the braies were HUGE and super baggy but they fit me pretty well considering the stuff I usually wear the baggyness is a break from the tight pants I normally wear. The shirt I wish was less... rough on my skin it's actually quite irritating. Would washing it make it softer? Also it didnt come with laces, so I have yet to lace the chausses to the braies anyone got suggestions on what to use for lacing it? Preferably a period way to lace them.

[Sir James A]

I "cheat" and don't wear period undergarments, but for the chausses, I'd suggest using a pourpoint. It's a lot of weight to hold up by braies, and I'd wager they would pull themselves down or rip out pretty easily. If not a pourpoint, a C-belt designed for wearing plate legs would be my second suggestion, but a pourpoint would be much more comfortable.

[Sir Edward]

Just to be clear, are we talking about mail chausses or linen chausses? If it's the latter, they should point to the braies. If it's mail, then yes, some sort of pourpoint or doublet is probably ideal. I use a belt for mine, and I have to make it really damn tight, as in several inches smaller than my normal waist measurement.

[Sir Ulrich]

Linen ones, I don't have the money to afford maille ones yet, or at least the correct sizing yet. I did email the company saying it DID say it would come with laces for it.

[Sir James A]

Oops, my mistake, I must have seen "in the mail" and just focused on the "mail" part. I thought padded chausses would be underwear. :oops:

[Sir Wolf]

wash in cold and dry on no heat.

you can use leather thongs to attach the chausis to the brais. its not cotton it's linen, it's a lil rougher than cotton so you will get used to it. wash it a lot and use fabric softener when drying with no heat NO HEAT! (or it will shrink bad)

[Sir Ulrich]

Heres how they look on me, makes my outfit MUCH more medieval looking, I can't however stand how the boxer part of it sticks out a bit showing white and getting rid of my "dark" appearance I'm aiming for. May dye it black as well cause white looks terrible on me. I did wash the clothing and it's MUCH softer now. After wearing all that linen, I actually want to get a linen gambeson, just don't know where to get one for under 150 dollars, and I don't want a stuffed one just want a few layers of linen with a little bit of cotton batting.

[Sir William]

Check out icefalcon...he's got lightweight arming cottes for $125 or so...sale ends soon though I think.

[Sir Edward]

Looks good! Which part are you complaining about that's white? I'm not seeing it in the photo. If you mean a little white sticks out right in the crotch area, well... that's completely period. But yeah, dying it would probably work well.

The way that was hidden in period was with long surcoats. By the time the doublets and jupons and the like shortened to waist-length, they were starting to join the hose together and/or put on a codpiece.

[Sir Wolf]

ya u really should have a knee length tunic on also. but that can come later

i warn you, dyeing brais isn't very period the only colored brais i have seen are in religious paintings showing marters or torture scenes

[Sir William]

Yea, the white bits are supposed to show, Ulrich...lets folks know you're wearing smallclothes.  LOL

[Sir Ulrich]

I attached them using this crappy spool of made in India leather cord I bought a LONG time ago for crafts, so it works I think, only problem is it doesn't like staying tied all the time at least in a typical shoe lace knot. Oh well, to solve that I'm just gonna get a knee length gambeson and cut the cords on my braies to suit my waist length because the cords are ridiculously long and hang down to my knees if I don't tuck them in, not gonna cut them totally but they can use a trim. Wearing a tunic under my already tight gambeson would be a bit of a stretch, obviously I'm getting bigger and may soon need to buy a new one, not like I really like the one I already have as it's cotton and quite hot in the summer to wear. The funniest part was after I made my order the 13th century braies ended up going out of stock, I bought the last pair apparently.
Now I gotta figure out where to make my next purchase, could always go for turn shoes but I really DON'T like the soft feeling of medieval boots, the GDFB ones are good enough for me and probably more durable than them and feel more modern in the soles along with hobnails that make them less slippery than other stuff.

[Sir Matthew]

Be carefull with hobnails, sometimes they make the shoes more slippery. They were meant to grip the ground, like cleats, and to help preserve the leather on the bottom of the shoes or boots. My Broghans have heal plates and they are very slick on wet pavement or sidewalks and on tile floors like in stores. I'm actually planning to get a second pair without heal plates to avoid this issue. I like my heal plates for when the ground is wet or slippery so I'm keeping them on my current pair.

[Sir James A]

Although it's not period, if you do want to dye the braies, you can pick up some RIT dye at Walmart/etc for about $4, but I agree with the others to leave it white, as it's period. With the hauberk on too, I'm sure the white bit is hidden even more.

I think it's hard to see in the pic because the wall you're standing in front of is so light, but I think I can vaguely make out part of it. There's only so long I'm willing to stare at another man's crotch area online.

[Sir William]

Get a codpiece if swinging in the wind makes you a shade uncomfortable, Ulrich.