Researching My New 1640s Men's Wardrobe! 

“I have to, because I bought the shoes” is now my preferred way to argue myself into leaving the house. They cost a whole 50 pounds!! 😂

So many great outfits began because "I've already bought the shoes!" 😂

"Ain't nothing but breeches and hose." 😂😂😂

"Look at my big great pants, ye peasants, and despair" --Jimmy, the Welsh Viking

You should definitely go all in on the rat catcher impression like in that picture. Bonus points if you get a Small But Vicious Dog.

My son went to a week long war for his eleventh birthday and one of the things he bought on the last day was a pair of medieval shoes. And yes, when we got home he helped plan the rest of the wardrobe including fabric and trim!

Britches and hose! Omg it took me a second and then I 😂

Jimmy's CV: archaeologist, researcher, historian specialising in Vikings and re-enactment, 17th Century and Viking age; knitter, sewer of historical garments, maker of turned shoes. Is there no end to his talents?

'I have to, because I bought the shoes" legit

“Ain’t nothing but britches and hose” = gold! Also, thank you for telling us you are male and KNITTING YOUR OWN HOSE! Normalize men knitting and sewing! I appreciate your efforts to normalize these things. I know it’s more normalized in the reenactment world, but still not enough even there. Great video. I appreciate you telling us your full plan as well. It got me excited to hear more about your progress in the near future.

A - where were these books when I was in the SCA B - am I the only one who could hear Tim the Enchanter/John Cheese - "look at the bone man!"

Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" - "As any re-enactor knows.... it's all about britches and hose..." . Nice, proper pot of tea!

Ah, research. Our drug of choice. Followed closely by tea.

“Reenactment ain’t nothing but breeches and hose!” That needs to be a t-shirt if it’s not already! It’s great to see you doing a kit video! I love that stuff!

I cannot put into words how much I love that you are knitting your stockings ❤ great video, greater ending 😅

"It's so nice for it to be a hobby again!" I feel that in my soul, and so do you by this video! Wonderful to see, have fun!

Such an underrated period! 1640s are really interesting, and it’s nice to see you changing direction in this direction, and to see new topics! Plus, seeing the tea making process is fantastic

Hi Jimmy, 👍👍for knitting. I knit while I watch you and other costubers. I’m American with a few Welsh ancestors. I always enjoy your content. ❤

Love the footage of you making tea with the voiceover. It's quite pleasantly cinematic.

The wool yarn looks nice. Looking forward to seeing the knitting as it progresses. 🧦

You made me snarf my tea with, "Look at my pants. Look at my great big pants!"😂

Thank you for mentioning Briggs and Little! I am Canadian and will be starting to knit in the fall. Love that I can look into a Canadian mill.

"Ain't nothing but britches and hose" Jimmy-if you don't work that into your stand up routine it would be such a waste. Absolute GOLD 🤌🤌🤌

I look forward to seeing this project come together. And diolch for the Canada shout-out! Briggs & Little Woolen Mill is just an hour up the road from me 😊

Absolutely love that you're knitting with our yarn. Yay! Thank you so much for the mention.

Really excited for this project! Guys' clothes & creators do tend to be very outnumbered in the costube space by the frock-creators, so I think it's super-helpful for anybody who's keen on researching &/or reenacting in that area to see your process and work and be inspired? And anything that makes you personally happy & enthusiastic is cool too!! 😊 Look forward to watching you work as I knit...

Your dissection of a period garment reminds me of an episode in Amber Butchart's historical fashion series, "A Stitch in Time", which involved recreating a 17th century leather coat recycled into the 18th. Tattered and patched, it was pictured in a portrait of "The Hedgecutter", a very rough character indeed.

Thanks for making me a cuppa tea first, before telling me to look at your breeches. Love it when you geek out over a new project

I've been in the SK for about 30 years now and look forward to every season. Unfortunately, I had to miss TORM this year due to ill health. I've lost count of the number of shirts and soldiers' coats I've made over the years'. I'm looking forward to watching this project. Here to help if you need it I don't live too far away. Have you checked out Mathew Gnagy's books on the period, they are brilliant. You should come to a battle sometime soon, you'd have fun.

As far as I know, for 17th century men's kit on RU-vid, it's just you and Townsend. Highly recommend his channel if you haven't heard of it. It's mostly food and USA and it's wonderfully presented.

Full disclosure: The 17th century is not really my thing, BUT I love it when ppl are passionate over their hobbies, so I eagerly await the next part of the series!

Briggs and Little yarn, *and* Cut my Cote from the Royal Ontario Museum? If you’re not careful you’ll accidentally wind up with Canadian citizenship!

I never knew how much I needed a book with X-rays of historic clothing. Thank you for bringing this to my attention

I love it when you invite us to look at your great big pants, Jimmy 😂😂😂 I'm in the process of making an 18teens gown, which has turned into two 18teens gowns, and I'm probably just going to live in them once they're finished -- that or I'm going to start haunting the national trust properties of my area

Fr, Nora Waugh books are worth their weight in gold. I scored a copy of The Cut of Women's Clothes for $50 USD last year and now that I'm getting back into 18th c. stuff there's a bunch of patterns I'm eyeing.

As someone making a late Elizabethan/early Jacobean costume + having just designed a 17th century costume, I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS! I have the first two books you mentioned and they’ve been invaluable, but I’m looking forward to hunting down the others you mentioned as a new-to-me resource!

I'm looking forward to this journey. 😄I love the knitting hose as a knitter

The artists mentioned about 5 minutes in are: Jacob Duck, Adriaen van de Venne, Jacques Callot, and Wenceslaus Hollar also known as Wenzel Hollar. Love learning about new old artists. :D

you are smiling and I am smiling with you. Great energy at the end of the video. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Research is also the best part of any project.

For those in search of Nora Waugh 'Cut of Men's Cloths' - don't forget to check your local library catalogue - they may have a copy you can borrow or at least look at (mine does, although I do live in a reasonably decent sized, city so that does help).

Just here to appreciate the britches and hose joke, don't mind me 👍🏻

This project is going to be really interesting! Can't wait to see you develop this!

If you're not finding joy in your hobby then it's not a hobby. ❤ Welcome back to your joy. ❤️ As a knitter and a crafter myself I am very excited to hear all about your upcoming project 😁

I'm really looking forward to this. I'm doing up early Anglo Saxon, Viking and non-specific mid-Middle womens kits right now. It's a lot of fun. I keep falling down Wyrd Kindred braiding rabbit holes, though.😂

"Next time we are going to deep dive inside my breeches" Well thats me sold, i'll be on my fainting couch should anybody require me.

"...reenactment ain't nothing but britches and hose..." made me cackle and offend the cat passed out in my lap. Nicely done!

I am looking forward to tagging along with you, 😊. Like deployed 👍

Looking at the buttons of the rat catcher‘s vest I already know where the excitement and fun would start to run out of fuel if I had to sew these 😂.

oh man this has really made me want to work some more on what im calling my pipe-dream project...ive only done small(relatively) sewing projects so far but i REALLY want to make a full set like this at some point, and i agree completely that the research is the best part because you cant mess it up until you start setting things in stone!

I want kit for every era, every area. Thank goodness my budget doesn't allow, or my closet wouldn't have space for modern clothes 😂

Oh my god breeches and hose got me 😂😂😂

I am here for the joy of seeing you talking about this project. 🎉

I'm always thrilled when Briggs & Little gets a call-out! Their yarn is fabulous and comes in so so many gorgeous colours. (And if it's too authentically scratchy for a wearer -- treat it with hair conditioner. Works wonders.)

Middling sorts of people in any historical time period, but especially in the 15th-18th century would inevitably end up wearing previously own and/or repurposed clothes. So using a pattern which is decade out of date and a bit tattered would be historically appropriate.

PLEASE do a video on Wencaslas (Hölle??)! I would love to hear you talk abt one of your favorite historical figures who sounds very interesting! 🖤

I love excited Jimmy. I don't care what you do as long as you're excited.

It' a good thing we are on the costube side of the internet:"in the next videos you will be looking at my breeches"😮😂

... "it's Spring, I've just decided"... Wow, could you decide there won't be any more snow as well darlin'? Love the rat catcher's hat, will you be getting or making one? I know you have a hat, but the rat catcher's hat is way cooler. Take care, glad to see you happy and energized.

I have been working on a late 17th Century flemish sailor's kit, which has been a pain in the butt to research, as being from Dunkirk, portraying a sailor from there is just great, especially given that it is the period where Jean Bart (Jan Baert in flemish) was at his peak, (so I am going for 1680 to 1700) and this specific time frame was horribly frustrating to research for a sailor. So I am going for dutch paintings and engravings of the time, some rare french ones. I have based my clothes off of the Gunnister man's jacket, which seems quite similar to short jackets of the time. The breeches are based on both the Quintfall Hill finds and the Slop Contract from the early 18th century. My hat is a brimmed knitted cap made by Sally Pointer, and is a hat often seen on dutch paintings and engravings of sailor from the mid-17th to the first third of the 18th century. My shoes seem to be the exact same ones as yours, and I first thought them to be a bit too early, but latchet shoes seem to have been still existing in the late 17th century. I intend to remake my breeches, as its belt part is not fitted as I wanted it, and the leg part is a bit too short, making sitting unpractical, as the fabric is pulled from my knee to my butt, mking it go down a bit. I just need to make a short vest to have a kit that is up to my standards.

Oh goodie, yes, I did miss the costuming content! And 17th century? Perfect choice! I'll be watching everything!

I recommend the Stuart Press books for extensive research focused specifically on English commoners clothing, based on wills/inventories as well as iconography. Especially "Clothes of the Common People in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England", a fantastic resource for your lower status needs! It discusses fabrics, sewing techniques, outfits, patterns,... (not recommended for beginners though, there are no step by step instructions)

Ooh nice to see the shoes you mentioned when we last met, they look solid! Even though the evidence for this later period is so much more plentiful and not-fragmentary compared to the early medieval period, I think I do prefer to do simpler patterns with less evidence, this sort of tailoring is a bit beyond my current skills (mayhaps some day - I did recently get some fabric from a friend of a friend who's in the Sealed Knot do who knows what I'll do with that)

I love your musings on dress and history. I take note of clothing in films now. I was watching the 1971 film 'the blood on Satan's claw' set in 1640 England and the authenticity of the clothing and setting. ....... then Linda Hayden appeared and kinda took my mind somewhat.

Lol I am currently knitting with Brigs and Little wool! It is a chicken, with left overs. I love the yarn as long as I don't have to wear it. This video is timely because my son-in-law is switching to this time period too. His doctors have said no more heavy combat if you want to keep walking so he has switching to fencing. I made him the classic "pirate" shirt, he has already ripped it, and a pair of breeches. I looked at patterns but the best fabric I had in my stash was a tight corduroy left over from a making a pair of pants so long narrow strips for a wide bearlike male. It is heavily pieced. The shape is close to what you are making but I embleshed it with ribbons and bows to hide some of the piecing so it is more leaning to the Landsknecht look. But it is more for fencing not for regular wear. Now I have to consider something better, not quick and dirty for a public fencing demo. My daughter has the first 2 books you showed. She is happy to trade her viking outfits for more "interesting " gowns. (My breeches pattern was a mangled combination of Japanese field worker pants and his viking pants and pictures of Landsknecht pants, because i didn't have access to the books or his body. Don't tell anyone)

Holy cow, they’re reprinting Janet Arnold’s books? They were worth a fortune on eBay in the US for awhile!

I love that you took the time for some yarn shopping when you were in the Maritimes! I keep wanting to get out to Briggs and Little one of these days. (I have family in that general direction).

I love research too. This is going to be a great series. Just as an aside, knitting hose on 4or 5 double pointed needles is one of my favorite things to do at events.

So nice to see your lovely smile!!! I agree - the research is so much fun. My brain explodes with new ideas and opinions as each piece of information is gathered. ♥️

Whoo, I got 3/4 of these books! (Thank god for Christmas lists.) And I'm in a similar boat, since I've moved to a place that was established in the 1630s and I kinda wanted to put something together. (Mens kit, or maybe a Thomas(ine) Hall mashup.)

The shooooes ❤ I came to your channel for Costubing and will stay forever, mwah hahahahaaaaa (mine is an evil laugh)

I'm looking forward to your new wardrobe. Smiled too, when you held up your knitting. :) I'm working on my own socks while watching your video.

Take me with you on your journey!😊

Sat through the books thinking, "Yeah, good one, but has he got Waugh?" Mental big cheer when you got there, and a chuckle that she seems to be your primary pattern source. I do have a physical copy, cost a whole $10 back when re-enactors were a tiny crew. Now if you can get any of The Sacred Trio books for under $100 each, pounce on them.

I love the ECW fashion. The villain in "A Field in England" sported such an amazing outfit, I just had to do a version of it for myself. Those breeches are incredibly comfy although I found there is a fine line between "comfy, impressive breeches" and "frumpy sack to stuff your legs in". Changing the patterns can be risky XD

Am viking reenactor also going for a later period, I'm going for 18th Century! Not sure what exactly yet, but I'm sewing a shirt at the minute

Glad to see you enjoying it again! Can't wait to see the next part

So, were you in the midst of making the britches at time of recording? Your lack of trousers reminds me of my own typical mid-sewing project attire. :) I am so excited for this series and it was wonderful to see how thrilled you are to be doing this project. My favorite genre of youtube content is "people making stuff they really love making." The type of stuff isn't as important as the joy and enthusiasm of the creator.

Just caught this video and appreciate it as a seventeen century reenactor (ECWS) it's a bit of an ignored period.. but I love the fashions in this era

What a great new series on this project! Excited for more!

It's so good to see you happier and more relaxed! I can't wait to see what you do. And Yay! No pants dance!

Jimmy, how dare you say something like “reenactment ain’t nothing but britches and hose” while I’m drinking tea?

Briggs & Little? That's yarn from my home province of New Brunswick. My mum's a knitter and visits their outlet regularly.

It's nice to see you back into reenactment and excited about the project.

The opening 9 seconds of this perfectly encapsulates British weather, in particular the British Spring we are having right now

I bet you have already seen his work, but just in case you haven't: Take a look at Mathew Gnagy, the Modern Maker.

Your videos are so delightful! Research is probably my favorite part of costuming as well. And, not to make anyone jealous, but I found my copy of "The Cut of Men's Clothes" for $20 at a used book store!

I’m so happy for you that you feel inspired and happy for a new project. I know it’s a wonderful feeling. ❤

You look and sou d like you are in a much brighter place than you have been! So glad to see it!

Oh - for the love of the hunt. Discovering primary source material and being dazzled by more questions than answers. THAT is what history is about. Everything is history: astronomy, geology, dancing, painting, woodworking, archeology, anthropology medicine,cooking, material culture of everything. How is this not thrilling? It is who we are,and how we got here. Once you have researched your first project you will never be the same. Thanks Jimmy for bringing academic research into the lives of those who thought it wasn’t for them. Democratizing learning and crafting is crucial. *You viewers are all heroes - keep clicking, asking questions, questioning answers, and imagining. For those who make stuff- don’t stop. It’s the process that brings satisfaction, not just an end result. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤❤. If you don’t make stuff-START NOW.

I actually wear around a 1640s soldier's coat reproduction in daily life. It's very nice. I just need to make trews to wear with it, breeches/drawers aren't my style.

Living history fairs are dangerous. I go in to browse and come out with elements of a new outfit and a very large amount of fabric....and plans. 😅

I can't wait for the rest of the series! You're right the hobby part with making up your clothes is the fun part. My next project has started with a hat!

It is great to see you so excited about this project! ❤🎉

3:17 YES! ^o^ *glug* 12:36 I was wondering how many rats you planned to include ^.~ 16:52 Whoooooo!!!! ^o^

"Look at my pants!" *ends video with closeup of pants*

Exciting! I’m looking forward to this. I agree, there isn’t nearly enough of this on RU-vid.

I am seeing memories of the pocket challenge! Love you enjoying your kit production.

Welcome back Costuming Jimmy!

Must say: LIBRARY!! check if your local library carries a book, or if you can get it through lending. My local library here in WI can nab me both cut of men's clothes and cut of women's clothes through interlibrary loans. Plus libraries generally have budget to purchase a book through patron request, so think about that for recent publications. I'm very looking forward to your thought process on knitting hosen; I seem to recall it being one of the requirements for knitting guild entry, but it's been a while since I did that reading. Very curious about your approach to design process.