Post
by Ronan the Librarian » Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:07 am
Very nice.
Just a couple of small points that you can ignore or not, as the fancy takes you. When monteros - the caps you have painted off-white - were issued to the Royalist army in 1643 and 1644, they were part of the uniform and hence the same colour (red or blue) as the coats and, I think uniquely for English troops, the breeches (men were usually expected to provide their own legwear; the King's Army at Oxford and the Scots Covenanter armies were pretty much the only exceptions).
As regards headgear specifically, monteros appear to have been worn by all but pikemen issued helmets (very few at Oxford, it seems) and the wealthiest officers (although Rupert famously wore a red one). The "Guy Fawkes" style wide-brimmed hats were very rare among the rank-and-file, due to cost; the woollen "monmouth" cap was much more common among troops from the west and south-west in particular, and the English bonnet among northerners.
Lastly, the individual items in the uniform "suits" issued at Oxford were sometimes made by different contractors; thus you might get a cap, coat, and breeches that were officially all red (or all blue), but which might each be in a different shade of that colour.
Hope that helps (and doesn't seem too "fashion fascist").
Ssshhhhh!!!!!
