Coco Chanel Said to Take One Thing Off: Accessories

Let's talk hats and shoes for the Golden Age Mongol man.

There's a generally held belief that there's not a whole lot of information about what Mongols wore in period.  It's sort of true and sort of false.

The truth is that not many folks outside the Ivory Towers of behind-the-paywall academia have committed a decent amount to tips and tails for Mongols.  This is a two-pronged problem.

First, most people researching the Mongols and are public about it tend to research the military aspect of the culture.  It's an insanely valid way of researching the culture, as it was remarkably modern in how it approached organization and communication.  Not since the Romans has a culture had such dominance and such a uniquely well-organized military force spanning the size of land the respective empires spanned.

Second, the reliance on second person resources requires much more cross-referencing than is typical for a literate culture. (I know I talk about that a lot, but it's seriously the biggest hurdle I face.)  The pace of conclusion is, by necessity, much much slower than with the SCA's other cultures, who mainly focus in Europe.

Additionally, much of the research is self-referential.  SCAdian A finds a resource by SCAdian B.  SCAdian B's resource is sent all around, but few add to what's out there.  The pattern continues until we're passing around Geocities and Tripod sites that haven't been updated in 15 years.

I think we can do better and I strive to do better.

So let's talk about those accessories, shall we?

Hats, man.  Hats.

From what I've seen, Mongols had a few different styles of hats and, since I'm not a milliner, I am going to name them in a way that makes sense to me.

       

     

              http://karakalpak.com/images/sawboghtaq01.jpg

You have, in order, the feather hat, the brimmed hat and the fur hat.  Everything else I've seen has been variations on these three themes.

The demon hat of Slinky dog is a mix between the fur hat and the brimmed hat.  The feather hat shows nobility.  The brimmed hat is also a working hat and can be seen as more of a cowboy-style hat at times.

They evolve over time and I plan on making a fleshed out timeline of each hat and when they seem to rise and fall in popularity, as well as where.  But, for now, know that they blend and blur into each other because history and fashion are both not straight forward at all.  Honestly, it's a good class idea for an event, as an introduction to Mongol men's fashion.

Regardless, though, there's some common themes on how Mongols wore hats that are worth pointing out now.

The biggest common theme is that the ears are usually uncovered. Parts of the ear will be covered, usually the frostbite and sunburn prone tips of the ears (See Ogodei above), but the majority of the ear will be uncovered.

Another theme is that the hats do not sit close to the scalp.  There's volume above the head.  It's not quite the Burgundian hennin craziness, but there is absolutely gap between the scalp and the crown of the head.  It makes the hats look like they sit funny to the modern eye, but it's consistent.

I've only seen one example in art where the hat appears to sit on the scalp and the subject was not of the Mongol tribes, but of another, related ethnic group.

Shoes are much more straightforward.

The shoes I've seen depicted have all basically been the same.  They're mid-calf boots without a pointed toe.

I made mention to the slippers I've worn here, but I want to flesh out the ideas a little bit more.

As best as I've been able to tell, the designs on the slipper and the curled toe are both post-period enhancements on the basic shoe design.

The gutal (boots) I've found depictions of have the same basic layout as the slipper, believe it or not.  The difference really comes down to toe construction and the boot.

In the examples above, the boots have pretty decent looking heels, even being a little raised.  As odd as it sounds, Ugg boots come pretty close to the construction I've seen in extents. 

I'm loathe to by Uggs just for events, but I have foot problems (hell yeah high arches! Plantar's Fasciaitis for the win!) so I need a shoe I can put my arch supports in.  I may break down and buy (or ask someone to gift me) a pair of man-Uggs.  Until then, my lace-up, steel toe combats will have to do.