Prototype: Buckled Gambeson

The Buckled Gambeson prototype was previously glimpsed in a blurry photograph from the really early days of this blog. Now, it appears again, worn by an axe-wielding hero.

The Buckled Gambeson is made in a brown-green faux suede and padded with two layers of cotton. It's lined in a thick black linen, which also trims the edges of it. It has a very slight standing collar and a row of buckles down the front. The straps of the buckles are made of real leather.

The fantastical sleeve-caps are actually have some grounding in historical costume and were inspired by the decorative "wings" of an Elizabethan padded jerkin. These wings were used to obscure the join between detachable sleeve and the garment. This purpose is somewhat lost in this incarnation since there are no sleeves to attach and the Mercenary is still rather of the opinion that they do look like they belong more between the pages of a Dungeons and Dragons book than in serious history.

Due to it being padded with cotton, it is very warm and is also fully machine washable.

Again, we seem to have the lone hero fending off the demonic tree (it appears to be something of a running theme during this photoshoot).

The Buckled Gambeson is available in medium from Character Kit £75. The live roleplay weaponry can also be found there at very reasonable prices.

It has been suggested that there is a certain cyberpunk potential to the Buckled Gambeson (mostly due to its wonderfully ridiculous sleeves) and the Designer and myself have started to toss around ideas. Any ideas on how kit seen on these pages can recombine (Transformers-eque) into a cyberpunk outfit?

The caped cloak seen worn in the photos is made of a thick black wool-linen. It's lined in a dark blue fake silk, which picks out the dark blue of the swirly trim. It's buckled over the chest with a floral brass buckle. It will soon be availiable for £85 from Character Kit (the saga of website updating continues, not problematic, merely lengthy).

In other News: the Costume Mercenary has finally gotten around to rejuggling her sidebar. The sidebar editor in blogger is painfully user-unfriendly when it gets beyond about five items in length, which seems rather strange since it offers something in the region of a zillion gadgets and widgets. I currently hate the whole system with a rather searing passion.

More photos under the cut.