Let's Talk about Legs!

A place for pics and tutorials on making Soft Kit (clothing and accessories like buckles and cloak pins).

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Taurinor
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Taurinor »

I personally took the Professor literally when he said that men in northern parts would wear breeches. I know "breeches" is a vague word that can just mean trousers and that the Professor was not well-versed (nor particularly interested) in historic clothing, but I've been using 17th century-ish breeches with my Breelander kit for a few years now.

I say 17th century-ish because the pattern was very much a hybrid of the venetians from Janet Arnold's "Patterns of Fashion, 1560-1620" and the late 17th century breeches found on the Quintfall Hill body. I made them with the one-piece legs of the venetians, but the narrower cut of the Quintfall Hill breeches. Like a lot of folks here, I didn't feel like the rather extreme tailoring and copious buttons of 18th century breeches really fit into my idea of Rangers and the like.

I like wearing shorter pants when I'm out and about. I wear them with 18th century-style wool knitted stockings (we know that dwarves wore stockings - The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton), but knee-high cloth hose would probably work, too! I typically wear short boots, but I have worn my breeches and stockings with some second-hand Minnetonka tall mocs I picked up for a more generi-fantasy look, and they all play together quite nicely. There's an overlap between the top of the mocs and the bottom of the breeches that keeps critters out, but there's not a lot of bulk around my calf or ankle to get sweaty or chafe or the like. And, as Greg mentions, they're easy enough to pop off if I need to go bare-legged.
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Iodo
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Iodo »

Taurinor wrote: I wear them with 18th century-style wool knitted stockings (we know that dwarves wore stockings - The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton), but knee-high cloth hose would probably work, too!
I imagine that knitted stockings are more prone to getting caught on brambles and going into holes, so maybe cloth hose would be an advantage?
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BrianGrubbs
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by BrianGrubbs »

Greg wrote:An interesting thought for the hive mind: If one of Dunedain persuasion were wearing such a shortened pair of "pants" as described and pictured above, it would be a rather simple task of removing the tall boots and wool hose beneath to wade across a stream without soaking the footwear, amirite?
Hmmm, you know what, that would make a lot of sense. It's really difficult in my part of the world to travel any significant distance without having cross some sort of waterway, and those high boots do not appreciate full immersion very much. Also, as a dweller of the sweltering South, not having that extra layer of fabric under my boots would be much cooler.

I have several pairs of old wool trousers that I've been saving for projects, once of them is going to have to be used to put this theory to the test!

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Greg
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Greg »

To wit, My least favorite part of FotR, right here:
Splash.jpg
Splash.jpg (71.57 KiB) Viewed 16692 times
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Taurinor
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Taurinor »

Iodo wrote:
Taurinor wrote: I wear them with 18th century-style wool knitted stockings (we know that dwarves wore stockings - The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton), but knee-high cloth hose would probably work, too!
I imagine that knitted stockings are more prone to getting caught on brambles and going into holes, so maybe cloth hose would be an advantage?
If you go with "high boots of supple leather", it shouldn't much matter - if you've picked a fight with a bramble that can pierce leather, you've messed with the wrong plant!

I tend to be careful with how I pick my path; there are a lot of greenbriers in my neck of the woods, and they like to grab ahold of you. I don't portray a Ranger, but I imagine a Ranger would be careful, as well. Probably not so much to avoid being prickled, but to avoid damaging their kit (clothing being your first layer of protection from the elements) and leaving behind threads that might betray their movements. Not to say a Ranger wouldn't ever have to go through a brier patch, but I think they'd try to avoid it.

I've made a few (poor) stitched repairs to my stockings, and they seem to have held up, but I imagine if a Ranger were to wear knitted stockings (which we don't have evidence of, to be fair), darning would be an important winter activity. Cloth hose could be made of wool or linen (or silk, but that seems unlikely for wandering folk) - wool cut on the bias would be much stretchier and easier to fit to the leg, but linen might be less inclined to grab thorns and the like. Depending on the pattern you use, cloth hose might have seams under the foot or around the toes that you wouldn't have in knitted stockings, which might be a consideration, or might not.
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SierraStrider
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by SierraStrider »

Ha, reminds me of my travels in Iceland. Every time I came to a stream--remove pack, take off boots and socks, roll up pants, pick up pack, ford stream, remove pack, wait for feet to dry somewhat, replace footwear, pick up pack...

I eventually just hung my boots on my pack and hiked a few miles to the next homely house barefoot. Well enough on the cryptogamic crust of the tundra--less fun on the snowfields and rocky, volcanic soil.

I, too, may consider shortening my leg wear to accommodate such a strategy.
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Iodo
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Iodo »

Taurinor wrote: If you go with "high boots of supple leather", it shouldn't much matter - if you've picked a fight with a bramble that can pierce leather, you've messed with the wrong plant!
That's a good point, I'm still using modern walking boots with my kit, If I don't wear gaiters (in warm weather I don't always bother) they aren't long enough to protect stockings from brambles, I might try making a pair of cloth hose, I was thinking thin dense boiled wool, should be much less prone to snagging than knit wear
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by theowl »

Greg wrote:To wit, My least favorite part of FotR, right here:

Splash.jpg
I mean... His wizard friend was just killed by a fire demon and there's a good number of orcs right behind them. I feel like getting my boots wet would be the least of my concern in that moment.
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by theowl »

theowl wrote:
Greg wrote:To wit, My least favorite part of FotR, right here:

Splash.jpg
I mean... His wizard friend was just killed by a fire demon and there's a good number of orcs right behind them. I feel like getting my boots wet would be the least of my concern in that moment.

That being said, my ranging boots are the caboots version of aragorns boots paired with some alpaca wool socks and linen Venetian breeches. I've worn some full length wool trousers in the past, and I definitely prefer the shorter style, and definitely prefer linen since I'm in the southwest.
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Manveruon
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Manveruon »

theowl wrote:
Greg wrote:To wit, My least favorite part of FotR, right here:

Splash.jpg
I mean... His wizard friend was just killed by a fire demon and there's a good number of orcs right behind them. I feel like getting my boots wet would be the least of my concern in that moment.
This is, admittedly, very much my thinking as well.

Also, I should mention briefly that while walking for long distances with wet stockings and feet inside water-logged boots is certainly one of the least enjoyable pastimes a person might reasonably engage in, when Greg and I went for our mid-blizzard day trek a few years back, I ended up walking most of that way with my feet soaked straight to the skin - but because I wore a really excellent pair of socks (modern hiking socks, to be fair, but mostly wool, and not altogether dissimilar from some of the 100% wool stockings I now own), I found myself surprisingly comfortable for several hours of trudging through snow banks in sub-freezing temps.

So obviously it's not ideal - but then, adventuring rarely is.
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Iodo
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Iodo »

Manveruon wrote: So obviously it's not ideal - but then, adventuring rarely is.
So true :mrgreen: last time I spent a day out in kit (two weeks ago) It was raining really hard, I was dry until I took my cloak off to climb a fence and put it back on inside out :( it was only two hours back to the car so no harm done, it shows my inexperience
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Greg
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Greg »

Iodo wrote:I was dry until I took my cloak off to climb a fence and put it back on inside out :( it was only two hours back to the car so no harm done...
Next time try pulling the whole thing up across your chest and tossing it over your shoulder. Nixes the need to take it off, but gets it up high and clear of the fence.
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Greg
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Greg »

theowl wrote:
Greg wrote:To wit, My least favorite part of FotR, right here:
Splash.jpg
I mean... His wizard friend was just killed by a fire demon and there's a good number of orcs right behind them. I feel like getting my boots wet would be the least of my concern in that moment.
I agree on principle...the situation dictates action, but some things are intuitive after years of repetition. There was a perfect stone crossing ten yards behind him. If he can tell Hobbits it would take many years of sleeping in ditches to make them look like Strider, it should take a similar period of an indoor life of luxury for Aragorn to lose such a habit.

Thankfully, we know he had plenty of time to dry in Lorien!
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by Taylor Steiner »

That exact scene made me get waterproof knee high boots.
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Re: Let's Talk about Legs!

Post by theowl »

Greg wrote:
Thankfully, we know he had plenty of time to dry in Lorien!
Maybe that was the whole plan
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