Actually Dogface, the books I mentioned are considered leading books on the topic by experts in historical costume research, which is why I use them. I agree whole-heartedly that SCA research(or any research) should be verified by historical sources, and the more the merrier. As far as your comments on what the bulges "could be"... if you would like... I can provide more pictures and more documentation. I just happened to grab whatever was handy at the time. Also, what you need to keep in mind is this: Styles varied from country to country and from geographic region to region. ENGLAND was never considered the height of fashion during most of the medieval/ren. period. Most of the pictures I have showed you so far depict FRENCH fashions, which were different from English, Spanish, Turkish and other fashions during that time period. There was really a variety of costumes at any given time, depending on what country and what part of the country you were in at the time. As far as Renfaires go... I won't argue that a good portion of the SCA and renfaires goers are influenced from hollywood... but don't discount the minority of us who try to be a little less fashionable... but a little more accurate. Oh... and keep one thing in mind about the Trayned Bandes... they are by FAR concentrated on ENGLISH historical accuracy and do not neccessarily reflect the influences and fashions of other countries. If you don't think so... look at their list of sources... the VAST majority of them are on ENGLISH historical reference... and in addition were written in the 20th century.