The Daily Grail Arthurian Costume

Introduction

The clothing in the Arthurian Society is based loosely on the clothing of the Arthurian legends. This means that the costumes used within the society are based on clothing from between the 5 th and 15 th centuries. The costumes worn in the Arthurian Society do not claim to be accurate reproductions of such clothing but is are based on them, influenced by films, books, etc..Most of the costumes used in the society are mostly based on Anglo-Saxon and early medieval clothing as later in the middle ages clothing became more complex and fitted and therefore more difficult to make.

Inspiration

There are a variety of sources for costume ideas; the costumes worn by other members of the society, films, television and art. The Pre-Raphaelite paintings of the Arthurian legends are a good source of costume ideas. Also have a look at the dress-up knight and lady on the center pages, and any other pics you like in the magazine. Above all use your imagination.

Colours and Fabrics

Contrary to popular beliefs very colourful dyes were used in medieval clothing. However they were very expensive, of course this is not a problem to us noble lords and ladies of arthurs court. Some colours such as flame pink are probably best avoided though they may have actually existed in the middle ages (for taste reasons if nothing else). A more medieval feel is given to costumes using single coloured and , striped fabrics and those with a pattern woven into the fabric rather than fabrics with dyed patterns.

Fabrics available in the middle ages included linen, wool, felt, velvet and silk, and various damasks and brocades. Although these can be used they present certain problems. These are generally not suitable in the arthiurian society due to expense and the dificulty of cleaning thease fabrics. Cotton, poly-cotton, linen look and velveteen materials are useful alternatives. Cotton gabardine and drill are good but more expensive than ordinary cotton. Synthetic fabrics that have a pronounced sheen should gfenerally be used sparingly if at all. (Unless you're Becca - 'I adore satin') It is advisable to wash offcuts of material before the finished costume to avoid disasters.

Accessories

Both men and women should wear jewellery as appropriate, especially large brooches to secure cloaks. Past time’s is a popular source of jewellery but there are many other shops with suitable jewelry about (which are often cheaper). Celtic style jewellery is particularly popular amongst the lords and ladies of the court.

As it was considered a little riscay, for women not to wear headdress. These can be made with a ring of flowers, or by wearing a scarf in your hair.

Handy Hints

• A simple costume can often be made striking by the details; the braid used, a coat of arms, the belt, jewellery, pouches, etc. It is generally advisable to keep things simple and concentrate on the details.
• Most medieval outfits involved two or more layers, either an overtunic and undertunic, a surcoat and gown, etc. Rather than having to make both layers, at least at first it is possible to cheat. A sleeved T-shirt can be used as an undertunic. A tight bodysuit can be can be used as the sleeves of an undergown or long length tunic.
• Hose can be imitated by buying or borrowing a pair of leggings, I have also heard men’s dancing tights recommended. Black (but definitely NOT blue) jeans can be used instead of breeches.
• Shoes or boots are a problem, having medieval looking ones made is very expensive and making them yourself would require a good standard of leather working. Most people use DM’s, walking boots, sandals or shoes.
• King Pellinore made a tabard out of an authentic Indian dress from the Emporiumby removing the gussets
• Braid can make a plain costume more exciting, furnishing braid is usually cheaper and is often more suitable for medieval costumes.
• Females will often find dresses in chain stores around Christmas, that will suffice.
• Women can make convincing costums from a body and length of material. The material can be made into a simple elasticated skirt, while sowing drapy sleeves on at the shoulders.

Necks

A variety of shapes of neck can be used (depending on the garment). The oval neck is fairly easy to make and is most suitable for surcoats and tabards. Rectangular necks were used for tunics and are the easiest to make but they were not popular during most of the middle agesAnother type of neck commoin on tunics, is a circle with a slit at the front to allow the head to fit through.. Oval and rectangular necks have to be fairly large, round necks with a slit can be much smaller. A total circumference of about 25 cm should fit most people.

Coats of Arms

You may wish to produce a costume with a coat of arms on it. How difficult this is varies considerably from Galahad’s red cross to the Orkney clans double headed eagle. If you do not know your character’s coat of arms you can always make one up, heraldry is quite simple and you can probably find someone to help you and lots of books at all levels. As a note, while men’s coats of arms were drawn within a shield, women’s were often drawn within a lozenge. There are a number of ways to go about actually making a coat of arms. In the middle ages it would probably be embroidered or appliquéd onto a garment: however this is time consuming and few people are skilled enough to do them well. Alternatives include using fabric paints or felt. Felt can be sewn or glued (be careful and try it out on scraps as many glues will show through) like appliqué but without needing to be protected from fraying. Normal felt is not washable but there is a type of washable felt available, under the trade name of Funtex.

What you Need

Many of you may be new to sewing and making costumes. A sewing machine is definitely not necessary, as I make most of my costume’s with just a needle and thread. Having said that a sewing machine is considerably faster than hand sewin. No matter how you are actually going to make the costume you will need; an air soluble pen or chalk to mark out the material, pins to hold everything together while you are sewing, and a tape measure.

Simple Patterns

The easiest men’s costume to make is a tabard. In its simplest form this is just a rectangle of fabric folded in half with a hole for the neck. This is then belted around the waist. A slightly more complex tabard is shown right, this is a rectangle of cloth, but also has semicircular sleeves. The front and beck of the tabard can also be sewn together at the sides , leaving long slits for the arms.

The tunic is another simple medieval costume. It changed little over the medieval age. Two designs of tunic are shown. The first with straight sides, split below the waist and the second with a full skirt. The greater the angle between the sides of a skirted tunic , the more full the skirt will be.

A tunic can be as long as you wish, during the middle ages the length of garments was a status symbol as it showed that the wearer could afford more expensive fabric. The easiest way to make a short sleeved tunic is to fold a rectangle of fabric in half and mark the pattern on one side, then sew the sides together and hem the sleeves, neck and the bottom of the skirt. Long sleeves can be made using wider fabric or adding two rectangles of fabric where the arm will be to create the extra width.

There are two basic forms of cloak suitable for the Arthurian society. The rectangular cloak is just a rectangle of fabric wrapped around the shoulders and fastened with a sturdy brooch. The semicircular cloak is a semicircle of fabric with a smaller semicircle of fabric cut out for the neck, this is fastened with a cord and/or two brooches. Both these cloaks are suitable for men or women. Semicircular cloaks can be extended to more than half a circle as shown below, however this usually requires more than one piece of fabric.

A simple female peasant/Anglo-Saxon costume can be made by wearing a knee to calf length skirted tunic with elbow length sleeves over a ankle length sleeved undertunic (or alternatively a body suit with a long skirt).

A popular 13th - 14th century ladies costume was the sideless surcote. This simple pattern is shown to the rightand can be worn over a bodysuit. Alternatively a modern A pattern can be modified by giving it bell sleeves as shown in the picture on the far right.