5 Gadgets For Building a Winter Suit of Armor

Executive summary about Suit of Armor by Brando
1. WarmX Electric Underwear: WarmX's line of undergarments feature special conducting thread woven directly into the cloth that keeps you warm using power supplied by lithium-ion batteries.
2. USB Slippers: Like the kneepads, these slippers will keep your feet nice and warm when plugged into a USB port.
3. Aevex Gloves: Like the Ardica Jacket and the WarmX Underwear, these gloves keep your hands warm using battery power.
4. USB Eye Warmer: If you really want to get crazy with this suit, these USB-powered eye warmers will keep your eyeballs warm at the expense of your vision.
5. USB Shawl: What good is a flamboyant super suit without a cape? It's worthless, that's what. Plugging in this USB heated shawl should do the trick.

CMC Powered Combat Suit
The CMC Powered Combat Suit is a terran armored exoskeleton developed by the Cirion Multinational Corporation. Depending on a suit's material state and the user's experience it could take three to twenty minutes to suit up. A more involved method involved the suit being constructed from prefabricated parts around the user, seemingly sealing the user inside.

The following known CMC models exist;
A. Pressurized Power Suit
The Pressurized Power Suit was issued some time before the CMC-300 and -400 series became prevalent. Edmund Duke was once issued a Pressurized Power Suit.

B. Standard Marine Powered Armor
Marines are issued various versions of the CMC Powered Armor suit. These suits share the following features:
1. A Needle Gun can penetrate the suit, however.
2. Salvage System: Should the suit's arm be breached, the suit seals it off in a tourniquet. Structural support.
3. Visor System: Lights flicker on the interior of the visor's rim acting as a basic guide. Green, yellow and presumably red feature, keeping the user informed of the suit's integrity.
The suits raise the wearer's height by a full foot and can improve a gunner's aim.

C. CMC-200 Powered Combat Suit
The CMC-200 Powered Combat Suit was used in the 25th century. Limited life support.

D. CMC-300 Powered Combat Suit
The CMC-300 Powered Combat Suit is the much improved successor to the CMC-200. Improvements over its predecessor include:
1. Advanced NBC shielding.
2. Full life support.
3. Integrated communication system.
4. Lockdown System: Used to stabilize wounded soldiers and prevent a shorted-out suit from misfiring.
Overall, the suit is a marked improvement over its predecessor.

E. Command Suit
The Command Suit is a variant of the CMC-300 and features an enhanced portable comm system.

F. CMC-400 Powered Combat Suit
The CMC-400 Powered Combat Suit is an upgraded version of the CMC-300.

G. CMC-660 Heavy Combat Suit
The CMC-660 Heavy Combat Suit is the standard issue suit of Firebats. Possessing the same features as the CMC-300 model, it features special systems to protect its user from the plasma and flame wielded. In terms of armament, the CMC-660 features wrist mounted Perdition Flame Throwers.

Clothing of Norman Women in the Late 11th and Early 12th Centuries

Executive summary about renaissance women clothing by Sarah Doyle

First though, we have to consider the problems of looking at manuscripts for evidence of female clothing. During this period the majority of manuscripts were still illustrated by monks. Since the women of the time were not biblical characters, the assumption will have to be made that they are wearing the clothing of the highest ranking members of society. We can also ask whether monastics would have seen women wearing the latest fashions? We, therefore, have to be very careful when using manuscript evidence for ascertaining women's fashions.

Dresses were relatively fitted and had long droopy sleeves. Aelfgyva wearing a relatively close fitting dress with quite long sleeves and a standard wimple. Unfortunately, though the tapestry doesn't show us much in the way of detail. However, from other manuscripts we can tell that the sleeves were often lined in material of a contrasting colour and turned back to display this. There was, however, a wide variety in the length of sleeve. Whilst talking of sleeves I must point out that there is no evidence at all from this period for sleeves with knotted ends.

For some reason, possibly the change in ruling class, there are very few manuscripts dated to the period between AD1066 and 1100. For example, I have found illustrations of mantles right through until the late 12th century. Equally, the hood wimple, which appears in most pre-Conquest manuscripts, seems to continue until about the same date.

During the 12th century it became quite fashionable to have an open wimple leaving the neckline visible. This style, like the hooded wimples, doesn't seem to have a wimple band to hold them in place, so, presumably, they would have been pinned to a cap which is not visible. However, on closer observation the decoration on the "girdle" seems identical to the decoration around the hem and sleeves of the dress. Luckily, one manuscript has survived which shows us one method of drawing in the fabric. This very clearly shows us the long droopy sleeves, the underdress with tight sleeves, and the side fastening. There are other ways of making a fitted dress however. I've made a reasonably fitted dress from woollen cloth which is quite stretchy. Alternatively small loops could be used which would be laced together. Here the loops were probably used to pin a cloak to the dress underneath. The loops were reinforced at the back of the fabric to ensure the dress could take the extra strain. To utilise this method I believe that you would have to make the dress so that it fitted snugly over the bust and then use the loops to pull in the waist of the dress. There is a later pattern from Greenland showing a dress made in at least 10 panels of material, but this dates from the late 13th so we can pretty much discount it for our period of interest. However, a lot of the manuscripts show a lot of material in the skirt so you would at least need extra panels in the side of the dress and probably at the front and back as well. Patterned linen would have been popular as would finely woven fulled woollen cloth. In conclusion then what can we say about the clothing of Norman women? We can say that for special occasions, e.g. visiting court, she would have worn a semi-fitted dress with long droopy sleeves and a head covering. However, for everyday use and when working she would have worn a slightly less fitted dress with less droopy sleeves. We also have very scant evidence for belts, and this type of dress actually looks fine without one.

Hats, Caps & Wimples

The basic hat, which can also be used as a helmet lining, is a fairly plain form-fitting domed skullcap hat. Phrygian hat is Anglo-Saxon specific, and is highly debated. Pointy hat is a very Viking style, particularly common on Gotland picture stones, and possibly a specifically Eastern style. Hauk's hat was made in two pieces, then the fur trim was added.

All good Christian adult women were encouraged to cover their hair in our period. Among pagan Vikings, married women covered their hair with a knotted piece of fabric.

Wimples and large flowing scarves were probably outdoor wear, as contemporary drawings often show them being worn over a lady's cloak. Indoors, women may have worn plainer and more practical caps.

Bridal Styles For Renaissance Wedding Gowns

Executive summary about renaissance wedding gowns by Rod Hoss
Opting for a perfect wedding gown is the biggest challenge, a bride encounters. Amongst the different styles of wedding gown, renaissance wedding gowns are usually popular picks. Although, stunning at looks, renaissance wedding gowns are hard to find. The designs most folks relate to renaissance wedding gowns are from the Victorian age to the Renaissance age. Other than white, the popular color choices for renaissance wedding gowns are Hunter green, and dark maroon.

Elizabethan Wedding Dress
The bride did not wear a white wedding dress, this was a later tradition. Velvet, satins and corduroy were costly and therefore worn by the nobility. The wedding garments belonging to the majority of brides were generally made from flax, cotton and wool. A shift would also be worn beneath the gown. The bride would wear flowers in her hair and they would also adorn her gown.

The Bridegroom wore his best clothes which consisted of a doublet, breeches, hose, box pleated neck ruff and a cod piece. Elizabethan men usually wore a short shift as an undergarment. Colours came in a variety of different shades: red, blue, greens, yellow, white, grey, black, orange and tan.

The tradition of wearing streamers, flowers and ribbons, called Bride lace, was followed by Elizabethans.

How to Choose the Best Clothing Colors for You

The right colors help you look younger, fresher and more vibrant.
1. Set your favorite colors aside. Just because you love the color orange, it may not be a flattering color for you.
2. Conduct a color draping at home.
3. Identify unflattering colors as you drape the clothes.
4. Note the colors that flatter your skin as you drape. Flattering colors even out skin tone, diminish blemishes and lessen the appearance of circles under your eyes.
5. Ask makeup artists to consider your skin tone, hair color and eye color as they help you find the best color pallet for you.
6. Take mental notes of the colors you are wearing when people compliment you.

Fitting Your Gown To You

Searching for the perfect wedding dress can be the most exciting part of the planning process. For most brides, the wedding dress is a symbol of their childhood dreams and hopes for a fairytale-like wedding.
Every bride is beautiful and exquisite. Like your entire wedding, your gown makes a statement, reflecting your personality and personal expression. Sophisticated? Classic? Traditional? Avant garde? If you have never fallen in love with a dress before, now is the time to start.
The first dictum is ask for help. The dress may be gorgeous, but you will never look right, if the lines are wrong. Great cleavage? Wonderful shoulders? A lovely swan neck? There is no petite bridal line. Designers just reduce proportions. A tiny girl should never be limited.
Options if you have large hips:
1. An A-line gown gives height, reduces width.
2. Calls for a hollow waist, beginning an inch and a half below your natural waist, camouflaging your heaviest part.
Thick waist? A princess waist works best. Heavy thighs are easily hidden beneath a full skirt. Same rule if you have a full derriere. Remember: Draw attention away from your flaws. A big bust need not be a problem if the bride chooses the correct designer. Many will customize a cup size.
Color plays a part. The rule is there are no rules. Lastly, never forget no one is a perfect size 6. Getting dressed is often an illusion. Feminine. Chic. Sensuous. Sophisticated. Timeless. Always beautiful. Memories last forever. If you know your body, finding the dress of your dreams becomes a snap. Invest time with a wonderful professional, and it's easier still.

Velvet Wedding Dresses and Other Things Renaissance

Executive summary about renaissance wedding dresses by Sarrah Beaumont
The point is to lend authenticity to what would have otherwise been plain wedding dresses that every bride would wear. Ideally, though, Renaissance dresses should be made of velvet with silver embroidery.
Of course, all the velvet wedding dresses in the world would count for naught without the perfect ambiance. If you can't have your wedding in a stone castle, and a Tudor-styled hotel, your nearest bet is a vineyard. Don't forget to put red, orange, and yellow flowers in wicker mini-baskets. Use wooden candle holders and white candles, too. The colors will complement wedding dresses superbly while the baskets, flowers, and candles will give the place a rustic look. Ale, and fruit juices will complement your food choice perfectly!

Historically-Based Wedding Dresses for Theme Weddings

Theme weddings are becoming increasingly popular. Absolutely. It's perfect for weddings with a historically inspired theme.
While attention is mainly focused on the bride's gown during a traditional wedding, at a theme wedding the groom's attire is equally as eye-catching.
How to Dress for a Medieval Wedding
The costumes chosen for a medieval wedding are perhaps the most important elements in helping to create a period atmosphere.
1. Choose costumes for the wedding party based on a favorite time period and culture. Look through medieval and Renaissance costume books for ideas. Search the Internet under "medieval costume" and "Renaissance costume" as well.
2. Find a local seamstress who has experience in sewing period costumes.
3. Sew the wedding costumes yourself if you have sewing experience. Find patterns on the Internet and in period costume books. Some of the major pattern companies have begun producing a wide range of beautiful and accurate medieval and Renaissance costume patterns.
4. Choose to rent costumes instead of having costumes made. Look in the yellow pages under "costume rental" for local rental information. This is a great option for those who do not want to keep their costumes after the wedding.
5. Explore the Medieval and Renaissance Wedding Ring and the League of Renaissance Merchants Web Ring. Invite guests to wear medieval to the wedding.
6. An Elizabethan bride may have a 10th-century Viking groom. Choose to coordinate colors instead of periods.

Elizabethan Marriages and Weddings

Just as today a woman's wedding was one of the most important days of her life. Elizabethan Women were subservient to men. Marriages were frequently arranged so that both families involved would benefit.

Elizabethan women were expected to bring a dowry to the marriage. After marriage Elizabethan women were expected to run the households and provide children.

Arrangements for Elizabethan weddings would have been with the local church. There were no Registry Office marriages. The same procedure still applies to Church marriages in England today. Wedding invitations were not issued. If there was an Elizabethan wedding then people would just attend. The Elizabethan Wedding custom dictated that the couple's intention to marry had to be announced in the church three times on three consecutive Sundays.

Should a couple need to marry in haste an alternative, faster, route to legalising a marriage required a Marriage Bond which acted as a contract, security and proof to a Bishop that the issue of a Marriage Licence was lawful. Elizabethan wedding customs and contracts would have required that his father would have had to agree to the marriage.

The Bride and Groom would be attended by their family and close friends. Once at the church the ceremony would be a solemn one. When the marriage ceremony was over the wedding procession would return to their homes.

It was an Elizabethan Wedding custom to celebrate the marriage with a wedding feast. Large families were the norm as the mortality rate for children and babies was so high.

During the Elizabethan era of history women were very much 'second class citizens'. Elizabethan marriages were sometimes arranged immediately following a babies birth via a formal betrothal.

With parental permission it was legal for boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12 although it was not usual for marriages at such young ages. The bride did not wear a white wedding dress, this was a later tradition. Velvet, Satins and Corduroy were costly and therefore worn by the nobility. The wedding garments belonging to the majority of brides were generally made from Flax, Cotton and wool. The bride would wear flowers in her hair and they would also adorn her gown.

The Bridegroom wore his best clothes which consisted of a doublet, breeches, hose, box pleated neck ruff and a cod piece. Elizabethan men usually wore a short shift as an undergarment. Colours came in a variety of different shades: red, blue, greens, yellow, white, grey, black, orange and tan.

Celtic Wedding Dresses for a Fairytale Wedding

Executive summary about a medieval wedding by Helen Smeaton
Elegant Celtic wedding dresses are perfect for brides wanting to get married in a castle, the ideal setting for a true fairytale wedding. A Celtic inspired wedding dress is ideal for a castle venue with typical styles offering lush fabrics, long draped sleeves, boned bodices and gorgeous trains for walking down the aisle. Themed weddings are gaining in popularity and a medieval style marriage is a great excuse for guests to dress up and party.

Buying a medieval wedding dress:
1. Allow plenty of time to have the dress made as most medieval dresses are made to order.
2. If choosing a colored wedding dress, don’t tell the dressmaker it is for a wedding.

For a fairytale medieval wedding, choose a Celtic wedding dress with an elegant boned bodice, exchange Celtic wedding bands and tie the knot in a traditional castle.

Theme Wedding
1. Camelot
2. Lancelot & Guinevere
3. Robin Hood & Maid Marion
4. Heraldic Shields
5. Banquet Feasts

Overview of an Elizabethan Outfit

Executive summary about Renaissance Gown by Drea Leed

What a woman wore depended on her age, background, body type and individual taste. In 1580, a woman could choose to wear a French gown, round gown, loose gown, night gown, doublet, Italian gown, and Flemish and Polish gown, just for starters.

Meet Cecily Hawkins, a minor noblewoman living in London in 1575. Cecily has a number of servants to do her hair and put on her shoes after she dresses. Although the Elizabethan noblewomen didn't wear underwear per se, several modern re-enactors do; when wearing elizabethan dress in hot weather, shorts can prevent chafing.

After stretching and washing her face and hands, Cecily is ready to dress. A petticoat's not really suited to the French Gown she plans to wear, Cecily decides. Cecily decides to wear a kirtle instead.

Joan places a linen cape over her gown, to keep hair and hair oils away from the delicate silks. The front hair is rolled into two poufs, using some false hair to add body, and the rest is braided into a thick brown braid.

Meanwhile, Maud has been preparing Cecily's makeup, applies the white foundation to Cecily face and bosom, and then applies red "ceruse" to cecily's lips.

Cecily orders her fancy white linen ruff-band with the gold lace edging and spangles to be brought from its band-box. Joan and maud hook them onto Cecily's neck and wrists.

Cecily chooses a rich carcanet of garnets and pearls to wear around her neck. Joan keeps nagging Cecily to wear some protective clothing, so Cecily has Maud put a "safeguard" over her gown to keep any unfortunate mud from it during her horse ride across town. Cecily is finally ready to go to court!

A typical man's outfit would include boots, breeches, a shirt, a jerkin, and a hat.

Pale Lashes

Executive summary about Makeup by Deborah Grayson
You may want to experiment with softer, subtler shades. If your lashes don't curl naturally, press them with a lash curler. Choose mascaras that feature fine brushes, which will help in giving a more delicate application.

Although they're extremely sharp and you have to be careful when using them, I'm addicted to those little metal lash separators to rake through lashes immediately after mascara application while lashes are still moist.

Classics Renaissance and Medieval Costumes

Executive summary about Renaissance Costumes by Phe2

The airy music and elaborate medieval costumes made for an interesting and creative atmosphere. If you have any Renaissance costume, do not worry. This terminology is derived from the Renaissance fairs. The medieval costume with great potential are ripe. Imagine that you want the Queen, a day and if you plan to attend a Renaissance Fair, you are invited to a medieval costume for the full impact of this beautiful and imaginative action buy get.

The reason why so many people to medieval and renaissance costumes propelled the time that they reference. Medieval costume is very extensive range of ragged, depending on the simulated club member. For example, carrying a girl or maid costume lends an air of the medieval and Renaissance costumes are egregious. Have fun and really play the role they dress in medieval costume.

How to Dress for a Renaissance Faire

Enhance your Renaissance Faire experience by dressing yourself and your family in period clothing.

1. Search the Internet and look in costume books to get ideas for your costume. Many Internet sites focus on the Renaissance Faire, and these sites usually have pictures of people dressed in Renaissance attire.

2. For women and girls, peasant blouses, poet shirts, lace-up vests and long peasant skirts will do.

3. Choose clothing items made from natural fiber fabrics over synthetic fabrics.

4. Put your sewing skills to use and create your own Renaissance Faire costumes. Some Internet sites offer free, simple costume patterns, and most fabric stores have a wide selection of costume patterns available as well. Search the Internet under keywords such as "Renaissance costume," "medieval costume," "Elizabethan costume" and "costume patterns" to find Renaissance Faire clothing patterns.

5. Look on the Internet for retailers of Renaissance costumes and accessories.

6. Wait until you get to the Renaissance Faire and purchase a costume there.

Renaissance period had in fact some prettily designed dresses for men, women and children. Renaissance dresses for women had many layers of clothing. At the Renaissance time, dresses were believed to be unfinished without hats.