Clothing review - Oldcraft Workshop
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2022 11:09 am
A parcel arrived today containing a stack of textiles! Hooray!
There was a time when I would have viewed buying nice period clothing as a hindrance to more swords but over the years I have come to realise that you look terrible in bad clothes even with a fancy sword but quality clothing can't be faked.
Spending more and more time in freezing conditions had hammered home that my current garb wasn’t sufficient and so I put in an order with Mikhail Starikov from Oldcraft Workshop. I was nervous about this as Russian craftsmen have been difficult for me in the past but in the end I took the chance. I ordered a Bernuthsfeld (7th century) tunic and a pair of classic Thorsberg trousers. I also added a new cloak as the weave on my current historical one wasn’t keeping the alpine wind at bay.
The order took two months from payment to delivery at a cost of roughly $400USD. Now I know some folks here will be squirming at that but I am no tailor and taking into account the cost of the fabric and then the hours it would take me to do an inferior job I was happy to pay.
The clothes are all hand woven, hand sewn and (according to Mikhail) plant dyed. I tried them on today and they are extremely warm. They are made to measure and fit well though the sleeves are a wee bit large and will need some work. I plan to use them for both my living history and also incorporate them into my Middle Earth kit.
All in all I would happily recommend Oldcraft based on my experience though I would of course wait until the current crisis is over.
Some pics (I have no idea why I look so angry - it was bloody hot though)
There was a time when I would have viewed buying nice period clothing as a hindrance to more swords but over the years I have come to realise that you look terrible in bad clothes even with a fancy sword but quality clothing can't be faked.
Spending more and more time in freezing conditions had hammered home that my current garb wasn’t sufficient and so I put in an order with Mikhail Starikov from Oldcraft Workshop. I was nervous about this as Russian craftsmen have been difficult for me in the past but in the end I took the chance. I ordered a Bernuthsfeld (7th century) tunic and a pair of classic Thorsberg trousers. I also added a new cloak as the weave on my current historical one wasn’t keeping the alpine wind at bay.
The order took two months from payment to delivery at a cost of roughly $400USD. Now I know some folks here will be squirming at that but I am no tailor and taking into account the cost of the fabric and then the hours it would take me to do an inferior job I was happy to pay.
The clothes are all hand woven, hand sewn and (according to Mikhail) plant dyed. I tried them on today and they are extremely warm. They are made to measure and fit well though the sleeves are a wee bit large and will need some work. I plan to use them for both my living history and also incorporate them into my Middle Earth kit.
All in all I would happily recommend Oldcraft based on my experience though I would of course wait until the current crisis is over.
Some pics (I have no idea why I look so angry - it was bloody hot though)
