wearg-p-fshns-msg - 2/25/06 Comments on wearing period clothing. How to move in them and how they change the way you move. NOTE: See also the files: fashion-msg, child-clothes-msg, p-shoes-msg, pants-trews-lnks, patterns-msg, smptuary-laws-lnks, underwear-msg, corsets-msg, codpieces-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with seperate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the orignator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous mark.s.harris at motorola.com stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: Marc Carlson [marccarlson20 at hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 1:03 PM To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org Subject: [Ansteorra] re: walking authentically Personally, I find that walking 'authentically' means adjusting myself to the footwear. The complaints I've heard about "period shoes" tend to be based on the fact that the wearer won't or can't adjust to the demands of the footwear, and so they wind up fighting their shoes and their feet hurt. Plain medieval shoes are much like walking barefoot. Most modern people are used to not only having a slightly raised heel (which messes with the internal muscles of the shoe, causing some to develop that wouldn't, and others to atrophy), but also having padding and protection. If you will watch people walking, A lot of them tend to slam their heels into the ground. They also don't watch where they are walking. Someone walking barefoot is more likely to -place- their heel on the ground, and step around things like sharp glass and rocks. Walking in long toed shoes adds a certain twist to it since you have to step up high enough to clear the toe. Or else you waddle like a penguin. Using pattens and additional outer soles help emulate the more modern thoughlessness about how we walk, but are not always the perfect answer either (actually a lot of people shuffle in pattens, rather than -walking- -- personally I don't wear them, they drive me nuts). Marc/Diarmaid From: Morgan Cain [morgancain at earthlink.net] Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 8:39 AM To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org Subject: [Ansteorra] Re: [ANST] re: walking authentically > Personally, I find that walking 'authentically' means adjusting myself to > the footwear. The complaints I've heard about "period shoes" tend to be > based on the fact that the wearer won't or can't adjust to the demands of > the footwear, and so they wind up fighting their shoes and their feet hurt. > > Plain medieval shoes are much like walking barefoot. Most modern people > are used to not only having a slightly raised heel (which messes with the > internal muscles of the shoe, causing some to develop that wouldn't, and > others to atrophy), but also having padding and protection. If you will > watch people walking, A lot of them tend to slam their heels into the > ground. They also don't watch where they are walking. Someone walking > barefoot is more likely to -place- their heel on the ground, and step > around things like sharp glass and rocks. I agree with Diarmaid (except that I think he meant to say "muscles of the FOOT"), in part because I have a grandmother who has worn HIGH heels for so long that she can no longer set her foot flat on the ground. Her hamstring and muscles of the leg and foot have her permanently on tippy-toe. On the other hand, I walk barefoot most of the time; I actually prefer it. I make sure to have boots on when at Wars if I will be working around the battles, otherwise it's sandals or barefoot, and I have to remember to slip on my shoes when walking around at work. Many people are surprised that I can walk barefoot so easily, but if you are accustomed to it, it's not a problem. Diarmaid is right - they key to many persons' complaints about walking in medieval shoes, and the usual accommodation they make, is not being accustomed to having a soft sole. You do need to worry about stones in the way, etc., when wearing soft soles, because you DO feel them. And slightly aside of this, I have a friend whose wife made him a "Henry VIII" outfit, and he told us that the reason you always see men of that period in the particular feet-apart, hands-on-hips stance is because it is the only comfortable way to stand; the weight of the garments throw you off-balance otherwise. ----= Morgan From: Marc Carlson [marccarlson20 at hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 12:36 PM To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org Subject: [Ansteorra] re: walking authentically >From: "Morgan Cain" >...I agree with Diarmaid (except that I think he meant to say "muscles of >the FOOT") Oh, Probably. Let me check... nope you're right. I mistyped. Marc/Diarmaid Edited by Mark S. Harris wearg-p-fshns-msg 3 of 3