Back before I decided to go with a fancy brocade doublet in the style of Charles de Bloise, I wanted a cotehardie. Really, I still do want one, for dress down occasions, but there’s lots of armor I also want to buy first. However, I am terrible with color in my head, and I really need to see it to be able to get a good idea of both what it actually looks like, and what colors look like in combination with each other. Which is why I made the Cotehardie Roll Call, as a guide for myself. However, I suspect it could be useful for others too.
This entire chart is based off of Historic Enterprises wool swatches only. I use Photoshop to try to preserve not just the color, but the texture of the fabric too. You can tell better up close. It doesn’t include their linen, or the fabrics and color options from any other manufacturer. I have the ability to do it for others if there’s demand; but I rarely shop elsewhere and so haven’t seen the need for my own purposes. They are reputable for only sourcing historically acceptable colors, so I still consider it a handy tool for comparing fabrics you’re purchasing to make your own clothes, or to judge the colors of other clothiers against. I hope you get as much value from it as I have.
Click on the image below to go to a big version of it. I went with their three primary hosen color in a stack so I could compare what the entire ensemble would look like. I hear they have updated their color palette since I made this last year, but a brief perusal shows that the colors are fairly consistent. I may do another one someday, maybe.
Where on their website is the fabric for sale? I can’t locate it. Thanks!
I’m not sure that they actually sell wool, but they post color swatches of all their materials on their Facebook Page. That’s what I used to make my color chart. They may sell the wool to you, because I think they work directly with a mill to make wool that’s period appropriate… but they may not. Their primary business is to sell clothing and not as wool merchants; so I make no promises. However, Gwen is very responsive to emails if you have questions.