Coarse Calico Women’s Arming Belt

Lendenier for the female body

Leg harness suspension has been a topic on the minds of historians and fighters for decades. When you commit to purchasing a new leg harness, you can get caught up in the excitement of wearing a shiny new piece of armor, and forget to consider the practical side of actually wearing it. A leg harness will not stay on the wearer's legs without something to hold it up, and traditional hose belts are not usually strong enough to support the weight. Not only will an incorrectly suspended leg harness not function as well for you and impede movement, but a badly supported harness can cause injury and leave you with lasting pain. This problem becomes even more difficult to solve as a woman, as the female body type is often not catered to when it comes to arming garments and other armour accessories. This is exactly why we have developed a women’s arming belt with the creation of our new “Dark Star” collection of female armor.

We had two main options when designing this belt: to base it off of an arming doublet, or a lendenier. An arming doublet is similar to what we commonly call a gambeson, but is much tighter around the waist to take the weight from the leg harness and distribute it over the hips. A lendenier does basically the same thing, but takes the top half of the doublet out of the equation, presenting itself as a tight fabric belt (sometimes padded with a few layers of wool or batting inside). It fits incredibly close over the hips, not completely closing at the middle to make sure it has the tightest fit possible. We chose the lendenier as inspiration because it reduces the risk of the garment shape being incorrect and the weight being incorrectly distributed - the goal is to have absolutely none of the weight on your shoulders at all, with all of it held on your core, the strongest part of your body. By keeping the strain off of your shoulders, you are less likely to develop back problems or fatigue as easily. With any leg harness, we recommend engaging your core, maintaining excellent posture, and keeping your tail bone tucked under to ensure you are protecting your lower back from undue strain.

We have kept the general look and shape of this belt similar to its historical source, but have altered the pattern to make sure it fits the shape of the female waist and hips. From the centre it dips down towards the hips - the lowest part is where the leg harness is secured with arming ties. From there it wraps around to become level again at the back of the waist. We have included lacing at both the front and the back to make sure you can get the closest fit possible - we have intended for the back lacing to be closed completely with the front lacing adjustable, but it comes down to how you choose to wear this garment and what you find comfortable, as everyone has different preferences when it comes to how their armor sits. This arming belt is made from robust coarse calico which is rigid enough to hold its shape, but will soften to your body shape with time and become comfortable. While this is all historically inspired, we have used modern comforts, including tailoring techniques to ensure it is strong and well finished such as metal eyelets and binding tape. This whole piece is a beautifully simple piece of design that will not only work well to hold up your plate legs, but also enhance your costume.

To check how to measure yourself please click here.

Please contact us if you have any additional questions.