Middle Earth Ranger Forum

I simply ADORE this post, thank you so much, Elleth! This was a fantastic project! For my own upcoming ranger trousers I will probably take a few cues from this, but I think it also shows me a few things *not* to do, haha. Good to know, and thank you for being your own human-test-subject! I can't wait to see them on, with the rest of your kit! Yknow... nudge-nudge...

Oh I'm so happy it's a help!

The rest is.. coming. Probably midsummer at this rate, maybe not all the pieces yet - but coming.

Here's the embroidery on the front waistband:
Ideally you do a sort of celtic knot over-under as you embroider it, but I don't think I managed it perfectly on mine.

Awesome, thank you! I also love how yours lace at the sides. I may do a variation of this with the side lacing, as well as a lace-up fly in front. 'Cause... y'know.

For those interested in proper medieval hose, Dimicator recently published a public article on early-period soled woolen hose. Not my direction I think, but it's a fascinating study!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/soled-hose-in-19173474

Elleth wrote:For those interested in proper medieval hose, Dimicator recently published a public article on early-period soled woolen hose. Not my direction I think, but it's a fascinating study!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/soled-hose-in-19173474

I've done soled hosen for the last two years in my 14th c. kit.

They're... interesting.

Pros: Definitely convenient, especially when travelling or going light. Don't have to pack shoes, and much less bulky.

Cons: Hard to wash. Harder to deal with if you get a rock in your sole. Get a lot of odd looks as well, as it looks like you're just wearing socks. Pattens really become necessary if you're on wet/boggy ground.

If I were to do them again I'd probably do them differently, probably with a 1" rand like the Worcester pilgrim boot.

Ive been thinking about this topic lately, and especially after reading this article: https://middle-earth.xenite.org/what-do ... lves-wear/

It has two of Tolkiens drawings in them, both with figures sporting what looks like breeces and high socks, typical of the 1700s. It also includes Bilbo wearing the boots that the elves in rivendell made for him, with socks worn under the them.

Neither breeches nor long socks are especially 10th century, so ive thought about how it could be explained in a middle earth style. What ive come up with so far is based on both medieval and roman wear.

I think the "socks" here are actually short wool hosen, tied to linen braies. The braies are then hidden under a pair of wool breeces tied at the knees, based on the roman "braccae". The hosen are easily removed and dried if they get wet, replaced by an extra pair, so that you dont have to walk with wet feet until nightfall.

The Romans had socks. We even have remnants of letters where a son stationed at Vindolanda wrote his mother to send him more socks. They also had wool wraps and hosen.

I don't really think there's any reason to find a justification. Middle Earth is not a parallel for our real world, really. He drew from our histories, sure. What he created is wildly and delightfully different. I love the mixture of times and styles, myself. It makes the world more...wondrous and diverse. Mileage varies, of course.

Siani

Tolkien was very good at Worldbuilding amd Storytelling, not historical costuming. That is for certain, i mostly use his drawings as a fun challange.
The hoses, or socks are of corse socks, i do not doubt that Hobbits, Breemen and the rangers used both Naalbound socks, maybe knitted and sewn socks or hosen.
The dwarves of the hobbit are drawn as you might expect an 19th century traveler to be, but its still fun to use older medieval clothes as inspiration for your own version of the costumes.

Have a nice day!

Hunh.

It just now occurred to me that being a young boy in the late 19th/early 20th c., Tolkien probably grew up in short britches.
I can totally imagine that some of his subconscious mental image of the dress of the Shire was shaped by running the dirt lanes of the English countryside in something like this...
... but barefoot of course.

Anyhow, the idea of short-legged trousers for the men of Eriador is starting to grow on me.
What exactly they look like though, I'm not certain.

But something in colonial space of short trousers and long hosen or leggings makes sense.

The roman Braccae might have been similar to what the more simple folk of eriador used as breeches, as opposed to the 18th century one the hobbits wear. It might have Arnorian origins, but that is purely speculation.

It also does not seem unlikely that it simply merged with a hose-wearing fashion and produced the socks(short hosen) and breeces that we see so popular. The dwarves of the fellowship also wear this, and it might be that the dwarves of Ered Luin wear such clothes too. This would likely have been picked up in the dwarven diaspora, when they spent much time near the men of eriador.

Not being overly familiar with Roman dress, I hadn't actually seen a modern picture of breccae before... Whenever I read the line in Letter 211 about Men wearing breeches, cloaks, and tunics, I couldn't picture anything but 18th century breeches. Maybe it's the rustic material and tailoring, but with your example in mind I can definitely buy the idea now.
I'm wondering now if I shouldn't take one of my spare pairs of Thorsbjerg trousers and hem them off under the knee to get a similar look?

I think that would be a good idea, i could see something like a short pair of the thorsberg trousers being fit for most eriador peoples (Maybe even dale, after te dwarven infleunce of the west.). Making a pair of naalbound or sewn hosen/socks would fit. I think i have an interesting post about what have been thought of as part od a hood actually might have been a short hosen after all.

Here is the pattern and finished product anyways, not mine but are free to use.

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?

I'm fairly certain that kind of thing was the whole point of short trousers, judging from the illuminations of stripped farm workers and such. They certainly seem easier to get about in than those long bootie-footed trousers you see from the Iron Age.

I wonder if they coexisted at all? Say, one set for working in the fields in the summer and another for relaxing by the hearth in the winter?

Short Wool hoses are also great for walking in the forest, and can be used as shoes if the original pair gets wet. They seem pretty useful.