A Well-Dressed Man

Gentle Reader, bear with me, I will make this a full-fledged tutorial once I make a second one of these garments and it's not the weeks before Birka and my mom nearly dying.

So let's talk about Þóðrekr ógæfa or as we call him around House Strangewayes: Tho. 

Tho is my best male friend and the premier model of a line I call "Not TogetherWear". Which is all the garb I end up sewing for the men in my circle and yet, we're not in a relationship. 

I have to keep reminding him to tell women he's not with someone, he's just loved a lot by his friends. 

Usually he wants Viking, around the 10th century, tunics and pants. His entire persona choice was based on what eras wore his definition of pants. I've mostly taught him how to assemble clothes, but the pretty embellishment is still the Fortune Dept. 

Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've noticed that there's a huge amount of early period "Viking" tunics out there on guys. It's the SCA equivalent of the sweatshirt, it's easy, it's comfy, and looks presentable. 

But what if guys were shown alternatives of what they *could* be if they just went off the beaten path a little? Thus begins the Henrician Tudor experiment. 

Actually, to be perfectly honest it started with the Queen's Challenge being "Beast of the East" and the joke of an Eastern Tyger Codpiece. ANYWAY....

I did a bunch of research. I took a lot fo screen caps of Wolf Hall and Damian Lewis, re-read The Tudor Tailor, and decided that while I could do something later, Tho was more suited to the early Tudor of young Henry the 8th.  And before you get on me about using "Hollywood" production as a resource, this was the BBC, and these pieces were meticulously researched and constructed. 

Let's all look at Damian Lewis - shall we?

The Yellow Peril

Gingers aren't even my thing, but damn. 

Who doesn't love a man in a slashed leather doublet?

I lucked into some fabulous blue linen and the Rocky Hill, CT Affordable Fabrics (everything is $2.99 and my yankee heart soars) and we had a plan. 

I drafted the pattern one sewing weekend off of his body. The only fitted part is the vest-like portion of the overpiece, the rest of the it is a very long peplum (it's a skirt) which I cut out of a long strip, hemmed and box pleated into the bottom of the vest portion. The front is closed with hooks and eyes. 

You'll notice I offset the shoulder so it didn't run exactly along the top of the shoulder for a more period seam

This step involved a lot of me drawing on Tho and him trusting I wasn't going to cut him. 

The original intent was to have an under doublet of gold but life, liberty, and the pursuit of sleep led there to only being a basic shirt. So he's downgraded to merchant class. The pants I could have made, but again, life, were ladies leggings ordered off Amazon. The hat Tho is a basic flat cap that he ordered off Etsy.

So it's a very attainable outfit for a person with a modicum of sewing skills, or bribing skills, to achieve.

The finished product:

Very proud of the finished product, if yet again, he can't wear a belt at the right height.
The clear cord you see from the belt is his insulin pump

Wearing the belt at the correct height.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

He was complimented on it quite a bit, and some woman at Gulf Wars offered to make him another set since he looks so good in it. 

I'd say overall - a success. 

And as for the Tyger Codpiece, you had to be at the fashion show at Birka to see that marvel. It got quite the response.