I think SCUM is a better acronym myself.....

Hhmmm, you looking for a figh... sorry, argument, scraggles? Naw, I cant be bothered.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that the idea that noticeably more people will get into re-enacting because its cheaper is wrong. How many of you out there nearly gave up simply because of the costs involved? Whilst it could be argued that cost of equipment during this period w...

I reckon that the biggest effect might be to stifle the East European manufacturers, by removing their major advantage over UK based people, i.e. lower cost. There will still be good quality UK people producing kit, and they will feel some pressure, but probably not dissappear altogether. Or at leas...

DAve Rushworths "Handbook of later medieval mens dress" says that hooks and eyes were used as fastenings. So that would be about the 15th century. Since is a wee pamphlet rather than a book theres no references, but I have generally found Dave to be reliable.

We dont. But the simple point is that much of it is accessible from Scotland far more than Norway, and we seem to have a claim to it, even if it is in international waters. Then a study surfaced suggesting that Scotland would have had a nice suprplus from the oil that it could claim, so, you have no...

Thanks gwen. I shall have a look for those books.

I think its because Bronze survives quite well, and also they were burying people in large mounds with said weaponry. Whereas iron has just rusted away. THen theres the whole thing about rapiers or cutting bronze swords, that seems to have kept some people busy for years.

13 doublets lasted until August, yet one now can last for 35 years?
INteresting information, thanks everyone.

A silly question- why did they come up with the idea of wearing great big furry hats anyway? Surely the insulative value was low, and although they would be good for making the wearer look tall, they would be impracticable on manouvres. Or is it only a parade thing?

Ahhh but Dave, the point about the tartan is the romance and historical attachement. THen nowadays it is as much a badge of allegiance, even if you have no family connections. Mind you, when even the FBI has a tartan, I would suggest things are out of hand. But then thats the sign that something is ...

I'm not looking for conetntious, I'm looking for sensible. Anyway, if the gvt hadnt lied to us about North sea oil it seems we probably could have been independent decades ago, and then the money wouldnt have gone to pay for 3.5 million unemployed. I would suggest instead that what it shows is natio...

I like asking hard questions. Asking the right questions is really hard. Does anyone disagree with my diagnosis of the popularity of the kilt?

Its kind of hard to explain, but basically the current kilt outfit is based upon definite ancestry, albeit much of it refined in an artistic sense, from actual working ancestors. Then, what happened was cultural, rather than fashionable, if you see what I mean. It was taken up as a national dress by...

An England footie shirt?

I cant think of anything else. Just about every bit of "English" clothing has only been really common amongst part of the population and as far as I am aware they all lack a certain unifying ideal like you have with kilts up here.

Its that individuality I think I am trying to get a handle on. Pictures only show so much, outer garments and not the under garments, etc. Does anyone have any idea how long a good piece of clothing could last? I imagine a pair of hose would be pretty far gone in a year, but a doublet could last 2 o...

I have a few questions and observations with regard to the evolution of tunics into doublets and other related upper body male attire. It has been sparked by reading books suchas the "the medieval tailors assistant" and my own observations of period pictures, as well as any other sources which prese...

You can buy all these books, and more on Amazon, where I got them last christmas, just search for the author and title. Agricola mostly has industrial scale forges and suchlike, especially for dealing with ore. Theophilus is more for small scale metal working and glass making for churches, and there...

I have little to add, but a few quibbles with His Grace's post. Hose are not that hard ot make, and you can make a get away with able pair in your first go, if you have someone helping you who knows what they are doing. Which is where you, White wolf, would find joining a group a huge help in gettin...

I'm not volunteering, but it would be interesting to see people trying to do Bronze age and iron age re-enacting. They did actually have textiles, nice big houses etc in the iron age anyhow. And horses, chariots, lots of fun stuff.
And Brochs. Brochs rock, literally and metaphorically.

So presumably a decade of military dictatorship, the fall of a major dynasty, the foundation laying of modern science, some nasty plagues, the building of many nice buildings is not enough?