Costume Update; Royal Navy Uniforms
Well, pretty much everything has been Brasso’d, Silvo’d, and Twinkle’d. The 1827 sword took a bit to do, but was well worth it. She glimmers like gold when freshly polished. Buttons on the waistcoat were a pain to do, but Johanna has a trick with a plastic bag. Keeps the waistcoat clean of any harmful chemicals, yet the buttons polish up brilliantly. I thought there’d be a lot more polishing involved, but we managed to get everything done in about an hour or so of steady work.
Having seen to the sword, we decided it’d be a good idea for me to try on the finished Royal Navy uniform. My uniform had been the first project started by Man the Capstan, and one of the last to finish. Having dealt with delayed laces and trims, uniform modifications, and just last minute adjustments, it’s finally 100% complete. A relief, for certain. One of the adjustments we made to the uniform were the pants. From earlier posts, readers will see that, like the Royal Marine, my pants were blue, and tucked into the boot. After some thought, and having seen a great pattern for fall-front breeches, we decided to swap out the blue pants in favour of a off-white knee-length breeches. We retained the boots, though, so it comes off very similar to Russel Crowe in Master & Commander.
In lieu of the fall-fronts, Johanna also made some modifications to Tim’s Royal Navy uniform as well, in order to better match the two styles. They turned out quite well, and despite what you’d think, are very comfortable! I think people today have gotten too used to mass-produced clothing. When something is tailored to your form, just right, it can be the most comfortable thing you’ll ever wear. One other new addition to Tim’s uniform is the replacement of his stockings. He was using a cotton blend of stockings, but they seemed totally inefficient and inadequate. What we need were silk stockings. We ordered some, and they now behave far more appropriately. The other stockings were sort of cheap, and fell down the leg too easily. Silk tends to grab better, and gives a more polished appearance. Just looks more genuine, I find.
More updates to follow, as they come available! Don’t forget to check out our Twitter feed on the right, and keep a close eye on the Tall Ships updates. This is going to be a fun weekend!
