[Artemisia] knight sump. law question

[Suzanne Semich]

Sir master Brian Barnum agrees with what Yumitori said very well on this 
question.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "yumitori" <yumitori at gmail.com>
To: "Kingdom of Artemisia mailing list" <artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org>
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Artemisia] knight sump. law question


On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Reuben and Arwen
<reuben_arwen at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hey all, I have a question about SCA sumptuary law.

> I'd like to make a new sash that is "un-white" because white-ish sashes 
> are the most commonly found in period and are the easiest to document 
> reliably. How off-white do I need to make the sash, so as not to appear 
> too knightly? Is off white or natural linen color too close? I've 
> experimented using coffee dye and it is still coming out pretty lightly 
> tinted. If the ends are decorated is that enough to differentiate it from 
> a knight belt, especially if I'm not wearing spurs and chain?
>
> I don't want to put work into something I can't wear, or get thumped over 
> the head by angry knights with large sticks. Should I just stick with 
> colors and forget anything remotely white-ish? Knights please advise!

> Lady Esther (who is NOT a knight!)

Short answer ... If it is even remotely white and worn around the
waist, folks will mistake it for a knight's belt.

Expanding on this somewhat ... The first and perhaps most important
thing to recall about participating in the Laurel Kingdoms is that you
are not, in fact, currently living in Europe or Asia or the Middle
East or wherever you are originally from. You came from one of those
places, but you are now in a kingdom in an otherwise undocumented area
of the world. Off the edges of any of the maps, as it were. Here Be
Dragons.

As such, these lands have their own sumptuary laws. And just as
merchants or other travelers would be expected to observe such laws in
the distant regions they visited, you should do so here. To your
credit, you are not attempting to argue that you should be allowed to
do whatever is acceptable 'back home'.

I would be hard-put to imagine that a tan/light brown/coffee-colored
sash would be confused with a white one, but I have not seen the
results of your efforts. My advice would be to speak with the nearest
knight, show them the dyed cloth, and see what they think. If they
feel it is brown/tan/coffee, etc. etc. then I would finish the sash
and wear it without concern. If after that you still get questions or
concerns regarding its 'whiteness', make your next effort darker. And
be comforted by the thought that there will always be a next effort,
another opportunity to expand upon your art.


-- 
Ron/yumitori
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