hoods

[RikJohnson]

I made a new green outfit with seperate hood and while I was making Robes for a couple women last night, one asked why does the hood have that long pointed tail in the back?




Good question that I have often questioned.

Is if fashion?
or bragging "my hood is longer than yours so I must be a 'bigger' man than you"?
or a place to store trail snacks?
or showing that you were rich enough to totally waste valuable cloth on something so useless as a tail?

I'm inclined to the fashion belief as shoes around then were often made with points to long they had to be tied to your calves.

[Ringulf]

Not really sure how the long Lyre pipe started but they are seen starting around the 1200's. they did have the added benefit of being able to be used as a scarf if long enough, though the fashion arose from a story I can't quite remember. I will look it up.
As for the Paulines (pointed shoes tied to the calves) they are from the sixteenth century (1500's I beleive) so they are not of the same fashion, though they certainly could be of the same mindset in a different time period (some things never change)
We call the strings "cobler's viagra" in the SCA.

[RikJohnson]

Look at the first (edited) post.
you will find the hood I made

[Manveruon]

As far as liripipes go, that's actually a pretty modest one. My hood looks basically the same. I just like a fuller hood because I think it looks cooler, but in actual fact, a smaller, more tightly fitted hood is probably a lot more practical in most respects. Just walking around with that giant windsock on my head will effectively pull the hood clean off, which kind of defeats the purpose. The only advantage I can think of to having a fuller hood like that is that it's easier to keep the sun off your face by pulling the hood farther forward (I find it also helps to fold the front of the hood back a few inches to stiffen it up a bit, and avoid the "droopy hood" look). This could also be an advantage if one wanted to obscure their features somewhat by keeping their face in shadow.

But otherwise, a smaller, tighter fitting hood would almost certainly work better for traveling purposes. I believe the loooooooong liripipes arose out of the concept of "conspicuous consumption," as you mentioned earlier. Basically, wasting a bunch of fabric to show off the fact that you could afford to do so. However, when hoods began to be worn on the top of the head as a hat (I believe they called them "chaperones" at that point), I think the liripipe actually helped keep the whole mess in place. but I could be wrong about that.

[RikJohnson]

Good point about the smaller hood.
I'll consider reducing it.

[caedmon]

I'd agree with Manuveron, that is a rather modesty liripipe. The ones on my hoods tend to be 4-5 feet long, and get tucked into my belt. Personally I like the leafy dagged look. But mist of my gear does dual duty with 14th reenactment.

[RikJohnson]

I'd agree with Manuveron, that is a rather modesty liripipe. The ones on my hoods tend to be 4-5 feet long, and get tucked into my belt. Personally I like the leafy dagged look. But mist of my gear does dual duty with 14th reenactment.

I'm more concerned with the thing getting caught on things like cactus, pine trees, mesquite trees, etc.
I have enough trouble banging my scabbard and quiver against things and people while i am trying to NOT bang my spear and bow around. To have to worry about clothing too...

Plus I am thinking "Practical" and a long liripipe would interfere with staliking. Thus the suggestion that it be mre snug. I'm working on that now.

As i buy fabric at yard sales and swap meets and stores-on-sale, I have boxes ands trunks filled with the stuff. of course, none in an amount that will allow me to make a complete suit in the same fabric, but I manage.

I just made a Greek Chiton for a woman I know. It's a loaner as she is a model and offered to let me take pics were I to make her one. Broke my sewing machine doing it so had to borrow another until mine returns from the shop. Fortunatly, those are simple patterns and instead of embroidering the edges, I used tape.

Also found that the coat beneath the hood needs to have the buttons moved a half inch.
It will look much better once it gets some wear-and-tear but then, most of my garb is made to be worn, not shown off.

[Rifter]

I really do have to get a hood, plus 27 degree Celsius heat here...cloak is just extra weight to worry about heat with

[ineffableone]

Not really sure how the long Lyre pipe started but they are seen starting around the 1200's. they did have the added benefit of being able to be used as a scarf if long enough, though the fashion arose from a story I can't quite remember. I will look it up.
As for the Paulines (pointed shoes tied to the calves) they are from the sixteenth century (1500's I beleive) so they are not of the same fashion, though they certainly could be of the same mindset in a different time period (some things never change)
We call the strings "cobler's viagra" in the SCA.

Personally I think the beginning was just simply using rectangular piece of cloth to make cloaks. After cutting out the cloak, the pieces left were then used for the hood. These pieces tended to be in general triangular shaped with long points. My guess is folks originally just didn't\ want to cut the fabric if they didn't have to so got longish pointed hoods.

Later of course this became a fashion statement where people purposely made longer and longer pointed hoods, till they were just absurdly long.