Celtic garb

[Skydd]

Any suggestions on how it should look?

[Eoric of the Riddermark]

It would be easier to help if you defined "Celtic".

[Skydd]

Ok. I'm thinking more along the lines of the warriors of Ireland in the Middle Ages.

[Eoric of the Riddermark]

That narrows it down a little bit.

If you're interested in clothing worn by an Irish Gael during the "viking" period of the Early Middle Ages, you should check out this discussion at the Armour Archive. You'll find some photos, explanations, and links to informative websites.

Another discussion over at the AA focuses on a few centuries earlier (before the Danes and Norwegians arrived).

[Ilariia Bulochnika]

No tartans before a specific time...I don't remember when exactly.

Baggy pants and a leine will always pass. And Eoric always has good sites.

[Eoric of the Riddermark]

Alleria> I just know where to look.

Skydd> I just remembered a really good site for information on medieval Irish clothing: try Reconstructing History Tons of information there, both on the "Legendary Ireland" page and in the entire "Celtic" section (just keep in mind that "Celtic" is pre-medieval). And I think the author, Kass, deserves an award for taking the time to tackle some common myths and misconceptions about things like kilts and plaid fabrics.

[Awen]

Lots of colors early, BC, crazy stuff, mixed patterns.

Leine, aka the belted dress aka what everyone thinks of when they think the Irish kilt existed. Also fitted jackets, which cracks me up when you think about how much fabric they must have crammed into a tight leather jacket.

You also need to better define "Middle Ages" because after a point, they started to wear the same thing everyone else did. If you're talking 500 ad or after then you're talking tunics, jackets, trews, etc. Less color because colors you were allowed to wear were restricted based on the Brehon Code and your place in society, but everyone that could afford it wore saffron-dyed linen.

The best thing about playing an Irish character is you can wear anything in a 200 year timespan. It was considered a great honor to wear clothing that belonged to your ancestors, so there were always decades of style being worn at any given time.

[Skydd]

Thanks guys, definately something I'll take into consideration.

[Ilariia Bulochnika]

I know you were good for it Eoric.

I need to bookmark that for faire next year.

The beauty about playing a persona only celtic-"inpired" is that you can adjust to your own level of celticness.

[Eoric of the Riddermark]

I had to dig through some old emails for this tongue-in-cheek "guide," but it applies to this discussion and I thought some of you might get a chuckle out of it:

Guide to Portraying an Irish Warrior

General:

All Irish warriors are fiercely independent. This applies to interacting with Vikings, Normans, or Englishmen?including those whose ancestors have lived in Ireland for hundreds of years. It is, however, perfectly acceptable to answer to and honor a dozen Irish kings in the course of a single day?s stroll.

Irish warriors always have long hair with two braids on each side in front. Sometimes they braid their beards, even the women.

Irish women are most feared because they all have long red hair and don't need armour or weapons at all. They are even more fiercely independent than Irish men. Irish women always win battles because they are so hotheaded and scare men.

Ireland didn't actually become Christian until the 20th century; before that they just pretended. Their innate fierce independence prevented them from really accepting Christianity. Secret enclaves of druids ran the country from before time began up to 1900. Therefore, Christian beliefs, symbols, or adornments must be avoided at all costs.

As good Celts, all Irish warriors will revere Boadicca, and sing praises to her bravery and leadership against the Romans. It must be conveniently forgotten (or at least never uttered) that the army she led was defeated by a group of Romans her army outnumbered 10 to 1. Boadicca, after all, was fiercely independent.

Clothing:

An Irish warrior?s armour is always worn over a yellow blousy shirt. With the exception of the yellow blousy shirt, all clothing must be primarily green.

Plaid fabric (with green in it) must be worn somewhere on or about the body. The fabric must not be wool, as everyone knows that everyone is allergic to wool, so it wasn't worn by real people ?back then?. Plaid fabric must have at least one Celtic knotwork* pin holding it in place.

Lace-up, fringed moccasins are the optimal footwear for running the Irish bogs. While brown is allowed, the moccasins should ideally be green.

Weapons:

All Irish warriors carry enormous two-handed swords or axes that weigh at least 15 lb. They can use such weapons because they are all really strong (because they are Celts) and their druids cast spells to make them even stronger.

Where possible, Celtic knotwork* and green ornamentation should be incorporated into a weapon?s pommel, handle, scabbard, etc.

Armour:

Real Irish warriors wear no metal armour. Metal is simply too heavy because it makes Celts sink in the Irish bogs and rusts too quickly. The lack of metal has nothing to do with expense or rarity of iron in Ireland, but is a mark of fierce independence.

Irish warriors run around mostly naked, with Celtic knotwork* designs (primarily in green) painted all over their bodies. However, they always wear a neck torc.

Irish warriors who do wear armour must wear only leather armour, dyed green and heavily decorated with Celtic knotwork* painted in bright colors.

All Irish warriors should wear a very wide belt (like a weight belt) as body armour. This is dyed green and heavily decorated with Celtic knotwork*, unless the warrior is an Irish SCA Knight (in which case it is white leather heavily decorated with Celtic knotwork*).

Besides the torso-belt, leather lace-up bracers with studs (interspersed with Celtic knotwork*) are the most important accessories. These should be green.

Ireland is an island, so any type or period of helmet could wash up on shore. Usually, though, an Irish warrior just wears a beret (often green) with a feather in it and a Celtic knotwork* pin.

A shamrock and/or harp must always be depicted at least once somewhere on an Irish warrior?s armour.

* ?Celtic? knotwork includes everything from ancient Greek repeating-tile designs and embroidered Roman vine patterns to Urnes ribbon-work from Viking woodcarving and English Winchester-style art from illuminated manuscripts. Anybody who mentions that Celtic knotwork originated with the Saxons will immediately be tossed into the nearest bog.

[Ilariia Bulochnika]

omfg I nearly died Eoric. I now know where to base all my garb from...especially when it comes to my beard.