As Tasmin said, a substitute for real milk in Lent. I've not come across it mentioned any other way.

Apart from that: the fact that we have plenty of illustrations showing hard working people or people with "sporting activities" like in the fencing manuals with unlaced hoses, i.e. the points at the back unlaced, thus leaving the hose dropping at the buttocks, is a strong indication for m...

There is some evidence to sugestthat hosen were often bought 'off the peg' and then 'tweeked' to fit well. Whether that was done at home or if the hosiers offered a 'fitting service' isn't so clear, but certainly the possiblity of taking them in to retain the fit is viable. There are a number of pi...

Baggy Hose - this leads me to a question... We know that the pictures and art we do have all leans towards the idea that hose were well fitting, tight and stretched well. What happened in times of want and famine, or if you were ill, and in the end lost weight. I can imagine a well off merchant or a...

That leg actually looks to me like it has a white stripe down the front, not made in 2 'separate' colours (if you get my drift). There appears to be red either side of the while over the whole length. I don't see how you can see the other side of the leg from the picture given above. Do you have we...

The mason image is interesting because, even in its blurriness, it's showing arms pointed onto something, with shirt clearly showing underneath the arm. What country is the image from?

Looking at the bottom image, he's wearing something yellow underneath the top layer, and he could be pointed to that.

Polite? No, I reckon living in Miami is curing me of that slowly.

I'm thankful for the discussion, it's made me do something to improve my new soft kit.

I was going to make a point about coats (which should always have been worn) and doublets (which would have been covered by the coat), but Colin beat me to it

Fitting hose into your crotch nigh-on impossible to do properly on your own, and you need someone you trust (I mean really trust!) to get in there and do the fitting. And we have someone who does that for us, and has custom fit hose for every male in the group (and a female we needed to cross dress...

The fix for me was actually fairly easy. The HE hose has a definite waist band at the top, so I turned that down on the inside, sewed it down and am now redoing the point holes using the holes that are now on the inside of the waist band as the guide. That's brought them down to a much better height...

Well, the Historic Enterprises hose I've bought sit on the waist, not lower. In fact. if you sit them lower you end up with the 'baby's filled his diaper' look

I was just about the ask the same question. Given the way my hose have stretched I need to get rid of the foot and stirrup them now, and then I'll be back to the right height for the attachment...

Dave B wrote:As long as you don't start looking surprised when people have a sundial on thier wrist, scared of 'Dragons' when planes go over.

Oh Christ, please don't do that.... nothing annoys me more than that.....

Why can you not unlace the hosen from the doublet. Sure, it will take a little practice, but I don't see why it shouldn't become quite easy quite quickly, provided you've got descent points, etc. Remembe our ancestors had been wearing their hosen since child-hood. I'm with Colin on this, and have n...

Had the joy of seeing Wolgemut play at the Ren fair I'm currently working at, and they are great. Current line up is two drummers, Michael Gartner (I believe the one longstanding member in the US troupe) on Rauschpfiefe, and someone else playing German bagpipes. High energy and a breath of fresh air...

I made mine like a tube, then sewed the ends closed. That way it wouldn't fray. Then I just tucked the ends crossed over into my belt to hold them.

Annie, Yes, particularly smaller traders at fairs, from what I've seen. Mind, the firm I work for didn't take Amex up until this year, and we did $8 million in sales last year. Amex didn't let any other bank offer an Amex branded card up until 6 months or so ago, either. Chip and Pin, dear God I wis...

Amex is a lot more popular in the US, but the charges to vendors are large. So it is not uncommon that it's not accepted, even over here.

[quote="lidimy], what about Henry VII? Who on earth covers that period apart from maybe a one off event? That would be fascinating to do. It seems atm that it's a gap in re-enacting, or is that just my perception? Like... Burgundian gowns are going straight into turnback sleeved square necked t...

And people thought that kind of sang froid was Victorian in origin.

I've done a brief History of the Crusades in story form to 8 year old kids on a school gig. Managed to keep their attention as well, though that may have something to do with the sword I was waving around to emphasise points in the story.

The Methley Archer wrote:Nothing to do with the Jupon but your signiture photo montage is funny as f#uk

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who just spent a good few minutes laughing at that.

Nice Jupon as well.

More seriously, isn't there a slight difference in the curve of the bridge?

Well, in the US, the violin player tends to have all of their own teeth...

The detector pens are being fooled a lot of the time these days because the notes are being runned with a hand lotion that foxes the pen. We had that in the US when I worked retail. Found a fake $50 bill in the takings when cashing up at the bank.

Thanks for the info!

It seems that its the Bolton side of theScrope family who supported Warwick in the rebellion that the event is using as its base, so I think I can just about get away with having us be a contingent (all six of us!) from the Baron Scrope of Masham.

The group I'm with is looking at participating in a private event in Pennsylvania in September, held by lord Grey's Retinue. As this is a WotR event, we're looking for a Lordly house to be a part of, and for reasons that are long and complicated, I'm looking at Sir Thomas Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of...

Oooohhh wish I could go to this. I could check on what I'd been doing wrong for three years.

Annie, It is very likely that most countries don't bother using the subsection levels. Generally, it is the importer that does the work, but there are things the exporteer has to do to get the items out of their own country. It does however depend on the terms being used for sale. It is easiest to d...