Muhler
Imperial Majesty
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
- Messages
- 17,432
- City
- Eastern Jutland
- Country
- Denmark
I asked this on the Trooping thread, but it is far more likely for me to get help on this thread, maybe? As more male royals are likely to wear the object of my interest.
Anne's bicorne in the last two years had started to show wear. That's so un Anne-like. This year at Trooping it was polished and shiny. How do they do that and (underlying question) of what are those hats made?
I did search on bicorne and UK military dress uniforms. What I found out about bicornes is that they are made of wool - but I know of no way to polish wool so that it shines.
Does anyone have suggestions for search strings/sites so that I can figure this out? Or does anyone know what these seemingly hard military toppers are made of? Thanks in advance.
Leather. - They used to be made of boiled leather, that should make it easier to polish them and form them into the right shape. Not sure about the process nowadays.
But it's basically the same way you made the leather helmets for heavy dragoons and indeed the helmets worn by infantry of the line in Austria-Hungary during the Napoleonic wars, and that also about the same time the bicorn hats went into use.
Tricorn hats and the bicorns were indeed also made from wool or felt, but sometimes also leather. But leather tricorns were expensive, so wool was more common. The helmets I mentioned above used by the Austrian-Hungarian army were indeed discontinued during the Napoleonic wars, partly due to costs but also because they were heavy and uncomfortable for soldiers who had suffered head injuries. But first and foremost they were expensive. So they were replaced with chakos.
Last edited: