Fashion Advice

sca-nerd:

I was gifted several yards of beautiful apple green linen at War of the Wings in October. It was an anonymous gift (it appeared on my bunk and no one has owned up to having put it there), and as such I want to do something kind of special with it.

I just don’t know WHAT.

My persona is 13th century German, and the visual references for that period are sparse. I am open to doing something outside of my century, but nothing TOO far outside of it. I just can’t decide what to do. I have some other fabric to use with it (be it a surcoat or what have you), and I am totally okay going to buy more. But I need to decide what I’m doing before I do that.

Does anyone else have any good references for German garb between 12 and 14th centuries that doesn’t come from A History of Costume by Carl Köhler? Or just something really spiffy that you think I should try? I’m running low on ideas.

So what you’re saying, @sca-nerd, is that I can’t convince you to try Chinese garb? 😉

JK! Signal boosting for you. <3

Update for Maria Marschall

From my Heraldry Buddy, for @sca-nerd


Some Early Middle High German Bynames
with Emphasis on Names from the Bavarian Dialect Area

[Link]

MARSCHALC: ‘a farrier, a groom’, later a high official; NHG Marschall.

Wernherus probus Marschalcus 1233
Heythenricus qui dicitur Marescalcus 1172 (MARSCHALL)

Medieval German Given Names from Silesia: Women’s Names [Link]

Marie   1   1346

(Guys, you know I’m not a herald right? I’m just a librarian. <3)

skraddaren-elef:

I have three days to make this for the known world costuming symposium, so if anyone has tips on how to even begin with that hat, please let me know, I’m screaming inside.

Thanks for the heads up, @sca-nerd​!

It appears to be a Cranach gown, which gives us a starting point. More specifically, it is from a 1546 manuscript titled 

The Saxon studbook: Collection of portraits of Saxon princes, with rhymed text; from the period between 1500 – 1546. (

Mscr.Dresd.R.3) [Link]

I found a page from What People Wore When:

A Complete Illustrated History of Costume from Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century for Every Level of Society that shows a similar headdress and has a brief description: [Link]

Could it be a decorated wulsthaube? [Tutorial Link]

Maybe a stuchlein? [Tutorial Link]

Or maybe a combination of the two, with the outer stuchlein decorated?

OKAY! So, I have tried to do some research on my own for a name so that I wouldn’t be obnoxious to Heralds when I was ready, but I am hoping that you can give me some other assistance. I am going for 13th Century German and the name would be Marie Marschall of Seareach (because I’m original like that). I found documentation for Marschall, but I’m not sure it is one the Heralds will accept. Do you have any resources or direction for me?

I consulted with a Herald Buddy about Marschall (because everything else should be fine – Maria is well documented and SCA groups as locative bynames are cool) and found some things.

First of all “Marschall” has been registered before, so we have that documentation from the Online System of Commentary and Response:

<Marschall> – R&W, p. 300, lists a <John Marschal> in 1296 and a <Rainald le mareschal> in 1140. “Surnames in 15th Century York”, URL:http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/york15/surnames-alphabetical.htm, lists Mareshall and Marshall. “An Index to the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland, England”, under the Bynames section, URL:http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/Rutland/bynamesalphabetically.htm, lists Mareschall. Based on these examples, we believe <Marschall> to be a reasonable spelling variant. 

Unfortunately, this documents the name to Germany, not England, and German and English aren’t compatible languages.

Truth is, Maria Marschall of Seareach is totally documentable for England. I can find some Marschalls in Germany via FamilySearch, but they’re all super late period. Like, born-in-1599-late-period.

Recommendation from Herald-Buddy? register it as English and play German. 😉

(Herald Buddy blogs over here: [Link] You should go read it. <3)

The Nibelungenlied, translated by Margaret Armour

The Nibelungenlied, translated by Margaret Armour