Lagertha's Battledress: Blue Leather

Today I was able to get a lot done on the leather dress worn underneath the chainmaille tunic.
Last night I made a muslin mockup using the below pattern as a guide for the seams, omitting the bust dart and shaping the curve a little tighter. Today I got so far along that I have all my pieces cut out of the blue leather hide.

 I got rid of the built up neckline and left it a plain round neckline with a straight opening all the way down the front. I can shape this later once the dress itself is constructed. The neckline on Lagertha's leather dress can't be seen, and I have very little to go on as to any specific shape. So, I may use my imagination and find something that works for me.

'Gee, I wonder if I'll have enough leather' I said to myself in the weeks leading up to this...oh yes, there was plenty. There is a ton hiding under those folds to the right of the photo, and I already have other plans for the remaining scraps. I want to use every last bit.

I briefly pinned the back piece to my form (only on the seam allowance edges) to get an idea of how the leather behaves. it's a heavy garment weight and also intended as a super soft upholstery leather, which makes it the perfect Viking weight.

 Some of these shots might show up as *holy frack that's blue!*, but this leather is a really nice muted lapis blue.

Also, joy of joys, the correct size boot arrived yesterday! I had to exchange sizes after I received the wrong one, but it was easy. Thanks DSW!
They also happen to match the vintage brown suede pants I found on Etsy perfectly.

OMG Shoes! A Lesson On Viking Footwear

Well...boots, actually.
I just found the perfect boots for my Lagertha battledress reproduction, all thanks to DSW.
Who else would have a giant selection of boots in the dead of summer? They do.

These are sure to be comfy for stomping my way through DragonCon, too. Made by Crown Vintage, this is a brand I'm familiar with, as I sold many styles to customers with sensitive feet. When I worked in shoe sales, this was a favorite of both mine and my customers. It still is, and I got a super deal on these babies.
These are called "Rugged", and I ordered them in Brown to go with the dark brown suede pants worn under the Lagertha ensemble.

One amusing thing I noticed about the boots Lagertha wears, is how modern they are compared to actual Viking footwear.

 http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/life-in-viking-york/viking-boot

This extant boot found in York is an amazing example of a basic "bootie" worn by the Vikings, complete with the toggle clasp we still see on traditional Scandinavian (and Scandinavian-inspired) clothing and accessories.

Above is a pair of absolutely stunning modern reproduction Viking tall boots, made after an original pair found at a Viking excavation in Belgium. Made by hand at:
 www.np-historicalshoes.com

Lagertha's season 1 footwear on the left, and season 2 on the right

Season 1 has an interesting wrapped leather strap detail on the lower pant leg, over what looks like the exact same boot as season 2.
So I'm ending up with a combo of the two styles.
I'm sure the modern footwear was done for comfort levels, and the fact that it's television. Yet some of the other characters, like Floki, have some interestingly accurate historical boots.
Going against my historical leanings, I'm going to stay true to the styles seen on the TV character.

In television, there are going to be very few if any large close up shots of anyone's feet. At least not any shots that are showing any level of detail regarding footwear. If it were a film being released on the big screen, there might have been more care taken with utilizing slightly more historical footwear.
Either way, I'm not paying attention to what's on their feet most of the time because the rest of the wardrobe, lacation and overall show is so stunning.