Party Pluderhose (and Chocolate doublet): The Overview and Photoshoot

About fifteen months or sew ago, I decided I really wanted to make a pair of leather pluderhose.  Something exaggerated, slightly shocking, but subdued in colours.  Something which would be relatively comfortable, and suitable for both rapier combat, as well as the bardic and partying afterward. And for court, I suppose.

This is what I came up with.

Materials:

I had two hides of dark brown leather from Uncle George's Leather shop (a discounted leather seller on FB), which was supposed to be deertanned cow.  I rather doubt that, but it is heavy enough for fighting in, and supple enough for a garment.

The poofs are in a silk canvas (yes...you read that right)--which is darn near knife proof--and was hand-dyed by yours truly.  Which is why the colour isn't even.  That silk was supposed  to be for my Hastings suit, but since the dye didn't come out even (crease lines, mostly), I couldn't bring myself to use it for that...for the poofs of pluderhose, on the other hand, I could get away with it since the draping and pleats would help disguise the faults.  This is also why the poofs aren't /quite/ as full as they probably should be--limited fabric.

Additionally, this pair of pluderhose has lining shorts...in deerskin split.  Same supplier as for the outer leather, and because it is the off side of the split, the thickness was extremely uneven and full of holes.  Which meant I had to piece them and patch them; you can see one of the patched in the lower right of the above photo.  Still, it was generally easy to sew with glover's needles.

Finally, there is a bit of linen in there as well, in the pockets.  I used whatever was heavy enough and was laying around.  And a complimentary colour.  I used the method outlined in 17th Century Men's Dress Patterns for the Richard Cotton suit so the pockets are free hanging.

The doublet was made of a delicious herringbone Italian wool flannel (link should be to the correct product) from Renaissance Fabrics, random light brown linen for lining, cotton canvas for canvassing, wool broadcloth (scraps from another project), and another random linen for interlining the body (which I later discovered I was saving that fabric..).  It is trimmed with the same silk as the pluderhose, and the pewter buttons are replicas from the Tudor Tailor; you may recognize them, as they show up in Patterns of Fashion 3.

Inspiration:

I'm not going to give full documentation on this post--that's not the point of this one--but I figure I'll go over a couple points and images I looked to.  There was a fair amount of back documenting on this project because one of my requirements was that I wanted the pluderhose to be long enough I don't have to wear full thigh high stockings and can get by with tall modern socks if I want (part of making it friendly for late nights).  While most examples of pluderhose stop just below the knee, there are a few images which don't.  That said, in order to get the drape, most of the ones fastened below the knee are most likely longer...these guys just didn't bother fastening the cuffs.

Standard Bearer, 1560-85.  British Museum #1952,0405.225

The other issue was that--while I wouldn't mind a set of wams or doublet with the magnificently puffed sleeves...I didn't have the fabric for the trim, not if I was using the same green silk.  As is, I barely had enough to bind the front, collar, and cuffs of the doublet.

The Butcher and His Servant

Happily I found /one/ image of a butcher wearing a lovely close fitting doublet (without shoulder wings, even!)  with long pluderhose.  I am in love with the slash-and-not-puff pattern of the all over trim...and am sad I didn't have enough fabric to try it.  Maybe someday.
And take a look at that documentation for the butt panels!  I had to work surprisingly hard to find that.

Patterns:

For the patterns, I used my own drafting and construction method for pluderhose (of course), which can be found on this blog.  I found I had to completely re-write the drafting method for the base shorts when I went to start this project...I think I went through 6-7 failed drafts before I began to figure it out. 

The doublet is also drafted by my own method (not yet on the blog, as I am still looking for testers!), but most of the details and methods of construction came from The Modern Maker's first book.

The Photos!:

And now for the bit you actually want...photos of the outfit being worn.  The photographs are by Travis Abe-Thomas (Blog: The Two Bears Codex); standard copyright applies.

The site we were on is the location for the local Renfair...what I was using as a backdrop is used for storage, I believe.

...it has pockets!  And my funnel neck beaker; this is a 16th century German style made custom for me by Mistress Anna Di Caterina Neri.  The colour isn't period, but is what I wanted.  Plenty of examples can be found on my late period ceramics pinterest board.

So...this may require a bit of explanation.  As tempted as I am to just let you wonder...Twobears remarked about how much the codpiece stuck out at certain angles.  I was demonstrating that it is supposed to.

I would like to note that those buttons are not comfortable to do up; they are overly pokey and the false thread makes it difficult to fit through the buttonhole, since they catch.  I suspect I will need help in order to button the doublet up the entire way.

 Not sure what I was laughing at there.  The Gryphon pin is not actually part of the outfit, but looks awesome and was a surprise gift right before the shoot.

 Rear view of the doublet.  Obviously.

Just walking away...

To skip back through the tall weeds!  I love how the panes and poofs move when I was doing that!



This outfit is by no means done...at the very least, I need weapons (I really want a halberd), some kind of knitted tall hat with feathers, and a matching leather cape.  I also need to make a set of points; I have the brass ends now, so I just need to get cord and put them together.  Prost!

© John Frey, 2019. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material.  Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.