Historic Replicas

Medieval Europe and Ancient Japan were a world apart.  From the early days of its culture, Japan was a closed society that shunned contact with other civilizations.  The earliest recorded contact with Europe was in 1543, when a Portuguese trading vessel brought the first guns to the Japanese weapons arsenal.  In fact, it’s entirely possible that Europe and Japan were unaware of each other’s existence until that time.  Amazingly, both cultures developed a similar class of professional warriors:  Europe had knights, and Japan its samurai.  We talked about the knights a while back, and if you read that one, you’ll recall that they were specially trained, highly respected fighters, sworn to obey a king.  Land ownership meant power, and was the ultimate sign of status; to be a landowner was to gain entrance to a special ruling class, the nobility.  In return for their services, they were granted small landholdings of their own to rule over.  From the 8th century onward, Japanese culture was much the same. (to be continued…)

Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20, so it’s hard to believe that the Union and Confederate troops originally predicted a quick, neat end to the American Civil War. For their part, the rebels assumed that if they showed enough willingness and determination to break away from the United States, the North would accept that choice. The Union underestimated the South’s steely resolve and well-disciplined fighting force.

Any pretenses about the war ending early came to a screeching halt during the First Battle of Bull Run – known in the South as the Battle of Manassas – which took place in summer of 1861. Just a few months after the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter, the Union was feeling overconfident. Several generals decided to march on Richmond and secure a quick victory. When the smoke from the cannons and Civil War guns cleared, several thousand troops on each side had been killed. The prospect of a short, tidy war vanished with that smoke.

Have you ever taken the time to pinpoint the attributes that your favorite movies have in common? It’s rather vague to say that I like “comedies” or “dramas,” even if both those statements are technically true. After some serious consideration, I’d have to choose period pieces and war movies as my favorites – but only if they’re realistic and believable. And that means scrupulously authentic costumes.

When done right, a movie should make me forget that I’m in the theater and actually watching a film. Anything that draws me out of that engrossing experience is to be criticized. Movie costumes don’t have to be flashy; in fact, they should just look and feel right for a particular time and place. Subtlety and accuracy should be the two foremost goals for any historical costume designer.

Pirates have been romanticized in Hollywood movies and popular culture to the point that their images softened somewhat over time. That’s why the recent trend of high-seas hijackings off the Somalian coast was so jarring to the Western world. Films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” portray these seafaring bandits as little more than colorful characters in search of a little plunder.

Historians and hobbyists know the truth, however. Pirates have always been vigilantes – indiscriminant criminals who had no qualms about breaking international law just to get rich. With that said, pirate replicas such as guns, sword hangers and hats only serve to prove that the pirates of old were a fascinating bunch. Part of their appeal lies in the fact that they could conquer and pillage mighty naval vessels with little more than some extensive nautical knowledge and a few rudimentary weapons.