The Mercenary on Silver Goggles and Other Rambles

For those who like reading me talk about steampunk, costumes, character, the design process and larp, I've been interviewed by the very interesting and thoughtful Jha at Silver Goggles. I've probably written far too many words, but the internet seems to encourage that sort of thing given the lack of word limits.

Other times I've written about these things include:
Water Palace and Other Places: Oriental Steampunk Inspiration which is an illustrated ramble on varous ricepunk ideas.
Steampunk: What the Mercenary Means which is a lengthy, lengthy discussion of the different layers of the word steampunk when I use it with regard to costumes and talk probably too much about the design process.

I talk more about ricepunk in Asian-influenced Steampunk and other pictures of that day can be found under the tag ricepunk.

Empire: The Shield Wall of Highguard

Given how we were pulling together these costumes from what we had about (both in terms of stock and personal kit), it was a little tricky to find the identical shields and tabards needed for the proper Highguard look. We managed to borrow one of Durham University Treasure Trap's tabards made by our patron goddess, the legendary Anne.

The base layers and much of the armour worn by the Shoddy Knight is the same as that in the Dawn photos. It is the colours of the tabard and the choice of shield and helmet (Norman, incidentally, from Planet Trading - they were bought for Ragnarok) that makes the difference here, with Dawn favouring bright primary colours and Highguard with their dark blacks and whites.

The shield is the Lorien Shield from Character Kit and the sword is again the Excalibur.

A couple more photos of the lone solider of Highguard under the cut.

Empire: The Rich Colours of the Brass Coast

As perhaps wasn't implied by the teaser post, some nations got a lot more love than others. For the earlier ones we ventured forth to the nearby church and the woods, others we did in the garden due to dwindling daylight. For some nations, like Urizen with its elven and oriental influences, we managed to pull together a multitude of outfits from past and current stock. Other nations presented more of a challenge simply due to having as much of the kit to hand.

Brass Coast was one such nation. We did these late in the afternoon of Sunday in the garden and as such there just isn't much.

It's the Slander Rat (the eponymous proprietor of Slander Rat Crafts and fuzzy things creator extraordinaire) underneath all those robes. As the Proprietor quipped as he left us, she was wearing enough clothing for about four characters.

The challenge for us in these was to get the palette right, to have both the rich, warm colours but to not clash. We had thought to reuse far more from the Carthaginian Philosopher ensemble, but the colours simply weren't working out for us as Carthage uses far cooler colours with a focus on blue. We were careful to avoid the various pitfalls listed under Look and Feel and the Designer was delighted to note that Freeborn favoured the sort of headcovering (the Tagelmust) he knew how to knot, having learnt it for Odyssey.

Of the layers, the outermost robe is an elven coat (gold faux suede, half lined, ivy trim, £75). It is not the most Freeborn of garments, but works very well here as one among many layers, especially with its sleeves. The white voile base layer is the same as that worn by the Carthaginian Philosopher, one like it would cost in the region of £25-35. The dark red skirt and orange paisley robe are both the model's own. The dark red embroidered sash has been seen before with the Embroidered Elven Robes.

The lamp belongs to the Slander Rat and I believe is from a charity shop. The scarves are from a street market in Hong Kong. The dangling waist ornament was once a necklace and was from ebay.

More photos of the Freeborn under the cut.

Miranda and Layout Update

Been playing about with photoshop and I've desecrated Waterhouse's Miranda by smooshing it with a photo we took of the Pillywiggen in the kirtle.

In other news, the blog has had a redesign and apologies for any wibbliness this may cause to your browsing experience. Also, many of the older posts are probably not happy with being viewed at this width. I know about it and it should be fixed... eventually.

Empire: For the Glory of Dawn

These photos were taken at the St Giles' Medieval Fair. They were celebrating their nine hundred year anniversary. The backdrop of historically accurate tents and tat was borrowed from the awesome Dunholm Living History, who had pitched up (we've also caught them in the back of some of these shots; simply imagine them to be yeomen).

We wondered why a knighting would be happening in front of these tents, but our theory is that it's an emergency dubbing. Perhaps due to some glorious deed recently performed by The Shoddy Knight. It doesn't quite have the dignity of Leighton's The Accolade. 

The linen underdress worn by the Valkyrie with the angel blue brocade gown was hand-dyed (in my kitchen out of tupperware) some years ago to be worn (along with the incredibly ornate cloak) as part of a costume for a character based on the Lady of the Lake. There are some lovely concept sketches for that outfit in its more Lady of the Lake incarnation which I will scan when they are unearthed.

The particoloured surcoat worn by The Shoddy Knight was also made for the same event (Durham University Treasure Trap's Midsummer). It was designed for the leader of the Knights of the Swan after the swan on the original tabard was declared too ducklike.

The shield is sold as the Footman's Shield on Character Kit and the sword is named the Excalibur (two lenghts, 31" and 38"). The tooled sword frog is the work of our inimitable leatherworker. The chainmail is borrowed and knitted by a friend of ours over thousands upon thousands of hours of daytime television during his first year at university. It is somewhat legendary as he had apparently slept in it (not comfortably).

The two dresses have appeared on the blog before with their own writeups. The red velvet one can be found under Deep Red Elven Gown and the blue brocade one (worn with a different underdress) can be found under Angel Blue Gown.

Other gowns on the blog that could pass for Dawn include: The Ten-Gore Cotehardie (concept sketches of which is here), Winged Doublet (though leaning to League) and Kirtle (though not linen for Dawn since the rumpled look is more Marches).

To commission blue ensemble in similar materials from the Mercenary would cost in the region of £160. A red velvet dress would cost in the region of £150 in stretch velvet and £180 in silk velvet. A surcoat would cost £40 plain and £60 for an embroidered version, though it can vary wildly depending on the complexity of the design. The tooled sword frog as ornate as the one worn by The Shoddy Knight would cost in the region of £30-40.

More photos of Dawn's Glory under the cut.

The Masked Duelist: Red Shot Silk Dress

part of a series of Maelstrom-related Portraits 

done by Chris Brett

Membership of one's club is part and parcel of nobility, and one's choice of club (and a club's choice in one) is as much a testament to social standing as any other could be. Noted clubs such as Langars and Bites are old, even ancient, and their dark oak-panelled walls have seen many matters of great import discussed and fortunes made or destroyed in a single night.


I cannot quite believe how long this has languished in the Drafts folder of this blog. But here it is now, just in time for the last event of Maelstrom in less than a week.

The playing card is, of course, a reference to the prestigious Prince Edmond Dueling Club in the New World. Each member is given upon joining a playing card, signifying their status within the club and they move up the hierarchy by dueling members with the next card above theirs. The hierarchy determines things such as priority with regard to training opportunities.

Myself as the character, Odette, has probably fought far more duels masked (sometimes claiming very, very unconvincingly to be her own brother) than otherwise, so the red leather mask seemed only appropriate.

The red gown is made from a shot silk (also known as changeable taffeta) with white-and-gold embroidered panels. The difference in colour between the warp and the weft isn't particularly dramatic, being only different shades of red, but I do believe it gives a lovely depth of colour that a plain taffetta wouldn't. Unlike many of the other layered dresses on this blog, the underskirt is built as part of the dress, which makes for a cleaner line and less bulk at the waist (as well as faster costume changes) but does rather decrease potential versatility.

The dress also has two pockets hidden in the flair of the sleeves, near the elbow. Handy for fans, masks, playing cards and assorted other indispensable accouterments.

A similar gown would cost in the region of £130-40.

More photos of the Red Taffetta Dress under the cut.

An Imperial Weekend: Costumes for PD's Empire

We spent this weekend pulling together various outfits for Profound Decisions' much anticipated live roleplay game, Empire. Since its wiki with the bulk of the nation briefs and costume guides (except for orcs) became available, we've been perusing it at all hours and such dressing up seemed the inevitable result.

There was a lot of running around and being looked at strangely by passerbys. During the course of the weekend, we also managed to borrow tents from reenactors, draw squiggles on ourselves, eat copious quantities of Chinese takeout, watch Doctor Who and even attend a medieval-themed church fair in (inaccurate) costume.

More photos and silly anecdotes to follow. See Costumes for Empire Index.