Greetings citizens of the Empire!
I have bored people senseless with my questions (thank you so much for answering them) and am now finally making progress on my kit. I thought it would be interesting to keep a log of the progress made, and would welcome some feedback.
I am going to start with my soft kit. Obviously this is a work in progress. What I still need for this outfit, I think, is a brooch for the chaperon, a chain of office, a more decorative belt, and some hose.
Looking pretty damn good so far! I agree that what you need is some bling there. Chain and belt are an excellent start… have you considered anything for the arms? Something to contrast that red…?
What House colours are you going for, if any?
The house colours are bordeaux, green, mustard yellow. I am planning for green hose and a mustard yellow under tunic. The bling will be gold and brass mainly.
I am not sure what I could add to the arms, other than gloves for when the weather is cold.
Those boots are beautiful, are they fully waterproof with good grip and ankle support? Anvil is unfortunately phys repped by a sheep field that is known for getting quite muddy on any wet event (E1 and E4 usually). I would hate for them to be ruined, and from experience we know that spending the weekend with damp and cold feet ruins an event.
Green trousers will work well with that tunic.
Arm decoration could be a favour - ribbon or similar probably with a backstory to it.
Hi Charlie,
The boots will be for non combat only. The soles are modern ones, not flat leather (I do have a pair of those for more historical accuracy, but things can get slippery). I have some brown leather walking boots for combat, and black Wellington boots for mud. For the favour (great suggestion), I will need to see if I can find someone pre game to arrange something, and give me some RP from the get go.
That chaperon looks awesome. Very cool; it’s a great colour.
Sealskinz waterproof socks are your answer here. I have had my boots fail on me and not actually noticed until I realised I was squelching around.
Thanks Jim, will add sealskinz socks to the shopping list.
Hi there, small update on my progress.
Not much done on the soft kit, other than buying fabric, but started designing a buckler. The drawing is to size and could probably be scaled up to a full sized shield.
Anyway, one step at a time.
Oh that’s beautiful! 
Cheers LauraH,
I am pleased with it in general, but will probably change a few things. Not super happy with the wings, especially the transition between feathers and the “dragon” wing. And the claw holding the war hammer (or bec de Corbin) is a bit messy.
Building the buckler next and will worry about the design later.
I concur with my colleage @Laura that’s an excellent Basilisk, it’ll look lush on a Buckler or Shield :).
I am a bit confused by the yeofolk look and feel. Can they look like this, or is that 100% marcher’s territory?
Personally I feel a longer jacket (mid-thigh at least) and a hood instead of a hat would steer it away from Marcher and towards yeofolk. The hat is definitely your main problem though, as the brief specifies headgear rather than hats.
That piccie is very marcher. For an illustration of what I think Merkis means, here’s a piccie of my yeofolk…(it was a kind of sloppy look, but note the longer tunic and hood)
…hang on, here’s a better one. Yeoman and son, on left 
Great picture with your son. I will bring mine along when I am more familiar with Empire.
I will keep that “marcher” kit option for a backup character then.
Huzzah, moving forward with the soft kit! Starting with the linen lining of the hose. I had to create a whole pair out of an old flowery tablecloth to problem solve some fitting issues, but it was worth it. Hopefully the le linen version will be finished tomorrow.
Still having some problems with the fit. Need to modify the crotch seam again.
And got started with the outer layer in green wool.
So the hose headache is put aside for now. I have put together a slightly more decorated belt. It was fun learning how to use brass rivets. Only added 3 brass flowers for the moment. Might add some more later.
Pretty!
