To re-iterate, these simply illustrate the methods I utilise most often - I am not limited to them - if you'd like a quote for
another method of padding, or another material (from paper to deer hide), just contact us.

In addition to this, most garments can be either machine sewn, hand finished (no visible machining - although be aware
that there is a limitation of this with some padding, as sometimes the only machining is the quilting), or hand sewn
(precisely what it sounds - completely sewn by hand).  
Again, contact us for a quote!
Unlike many producers, my padding is not limited to the medieval period.

Although I do make far more medieval padding than that for any other period, it's purely because there is a higher demand
for it.
I am perfectly comfortable working on reproductions of 'padding' from antiquity, or more recent times.

Nor is the scope of my padding limited to Europe - I am happy to produce 'soft' armour from the Near and Far East,
and from the Americas - although I draw the line at using (endangered) Chinese rhino hide, or the less savoury materials
used in South America!

I regularly use several construction methods (although I am by no means limited to these).

The methods of quilting I use most often are:

Layered - be it layers of wool, cotton batting, felt, linen, or 'shoddy'.

Stuffed (1) - tubes stitched into fabric then stuffed.

Layered stuffed - made as several surviving later medieval examples - an inner sandwich of linen / cotton padded with
raw wool or cotton, put together with a similar outer sandwich.  

Knotted - as with 'layered stuffed', but with the padding held in place by hundreds of knots instead of stitching.
As it is used my work is constantly being tested and improved - if I become aware of a problem, (however small), I will
find a solution.

(Here endeth the sales pitch !!!)
I make my padding to last.  The first pieces of padding that I made nearly 15 years ago are still going strong (albeit (for
some) with new owners!)

My point holes are all hand sewn, and reinforced with hidden metal rings.

I tend not to shout that much about the materials I use - although they are the best for whatever job they're doing - but
anybody can buy good fabrics etc - making padded armour takes a ton effort, lots of time, and real skill.  It can't be
learned in a couple of weeks.

When you place an order with me, you aren't just buying a piece of equipment, you're buying all the experience, research
and practise that has gone before, going back over more than a decade.

That said, all fastenings (hooks and eyes, points (the ties), buckles) are hand made, by some of the best craftsmen and
women in the British Isles.  
My padding is in use with some of the leading re-enactment groups in the UK, including Conquest, and The Company
Ecorcheur (Gloucester’s Household / Warwick Castle Garrison), and is regularly used at events such as Hastings,
Tewkesbury, and History in Action / The Festival of History.

It has also appeared on prime time television, on ITV1's 'Primeval'.
I make more historical cloth and leather armour than anyone else working in Britain today.

I don't have a set range, as such.  Although there are some garments, such as padded jacks or gambesons, or arming
doublets, that I make more often than any others, I can produce any item of padding - including the more unusual ones,
and the ones from outside Europe, or outside the medieval time frame.

That makes me the most flexible producer of padded armour around.
Anywhere.
In the world.
Full stop.
I can make various types of padding, covering a period of some 3,000 years.

Some of the garments I make, but by no means am restricted to  (deep breath!!):
Egyptian - New Kingdom groin and head protection
Greek - spolas and perizoma
Roman - thoracumachus / subarmilis
Dark age  - padding such as a gambeson / acheton
Medieval (incl Saxon, Viking, Norman, 14th Century, 15th Century, Wars of the Roses) - gambeson / acheton (aketon), gamboised cuisses,
jupon, pourpoint (perpunto), arming cap (arming coif), padded jack, coat armour, arming doublet (arming jack), coat of plates, ciroteca, arming
hose
Mesoamerican (Aztec, Mixtec, Toltec, etc) - padding such as ichahuipilli, and hahuiztli
Gambesons as worn by the men of Cortez in the Americas
Middle Eastern - padding like the jubbah, kazaghand, jazerant and ra'n
Chinese - padding in the style of the men'oche, as well as paper padded armour
Tudor / Elizabethan - fencing doublet, arming doublet, padded doublet, and coat of plates
17th century (incl English Civil War, thirty years war) - arming doublet, buff coat, armour liner
New world - coat of plates, padded doublet


(And I've heard it said that padded armour was a late medieval flash in the pan.......)
Our historical research is second to none, and our research library is unique.

Consequently, I produce some of the most historically accurate padding available anywhere.

Every piece of padding I create is made to be used, whatever the design, purpose or period.

My work is not simply made to look the part, (although it does that too, so if you just want to pose...!!), it is made to be
used as armour, or to support the metal armour worn over it.

I can make no guarantee you won’t get hurt (that’s entirely down to you!), but good padding should help.
All my work is made in England using, where possible, materials produced in the British Isles.
Every piece takes hours of careful work, and is backed by years of historical research, trial and error, and experience.

While the bulk of my customers simply want an appropriate garment for a particular date, setting, or purpose, and are
happy to leave the research and construction methods to us, I am more than happy to work in depth with every customer
to achieve the result they require.

Obviously, if the garment you want is entirely based in fantasy, I can do that too.