Pendragon Jerkin. To buy or not to buy...

[Eric the Ugly]

I'm considering the Pendragon Jerkin (seen on their New Products page HERE. The $135 job.).

What's keeping me from just plain grabbin' it, is that I live in GA, and GARF isn't exactly held during the coolest months here in the rather humid South, ya know.

Does anyone here own and wear a Pendragon jerkin or one of their leather doublets in like weather at their faires? Are they comfortable to wear in warm weather? I know for certain I wouldn't be able to in the last few weeks. Heck, by that point it's too hot to wear anything other than shorts and a tee anyway...
We've had rather comfortable and mild Springs before (the last one was rather comfortable, in fact), but I never travel to other faires, so outside of the weather being an exception rather than the rule, I'm loathe to buy it and never have a chance to wear it and be comfortable in it.

Is there a lining in the doublets (as I'm sure that would make them hotter to wear)? Do they seem to breathe well? Etc.

Yay? Nay?

EDIT : Whoa. Fixed that crazy linkage...

[Squire Mickey]

Which one are you looking at?

I have the new Celtic. I have worn it with out the sleeves at AZ, CO, and BARF. This year I have worn it with the sleeves at BArF and in the past at Sterling (which is in the summer).

They are VERY well made. Mine has a cotton liner. Since it uses laces on the side it breathes well. I usually button mine up, but I have seen others leave it open, Shakespeare in Love style.

I have seen other ones thus year selling just the vest portion for over $500. Makes the pendragon stuff seem a bargin.

[Eric the Ugly]

I'm considering the one simply called "Jerkin". It's on the page I linked to (fixed that by the way). Scroll down a bit and you'll see it. They show it in brown suede. The one without picadils, for $135. I'm thinking about it in green suede.

[Eric the Ugly]

I'm glad to know it's lined in cotton. That's a good thing. I'd actually forgotten they're laced at the side. That may indeed be of some help for remaining a bit cool.

[Squire Mickey]

That is a really great price for a leather jerkin from them. I think that you would be fine in this. I mean, 90 and humid is 90 and humid, but that won't add a ton to your heat factor. (IMO)

Here is the actual photo of it


One other note about Pendragon. 15 years from now if you have some kind of problem with that jerkin, they will take care of it for you. I have had my New Celtic now for about 12 years, and recently I wanted to get the tooled/embossed side fixed up. All I paid for was shipping.

[Eric the Ugly]

I've heard nothing but good things 'bout their stuff over the years, but that's really good to know. I certainly appreciate the insight and experience.
Obviously, if anyone else cares to share their experience, I welcome it, as I've not made up my mind quite yet.... though I know you people are 'garb enablers' and will more than likely tell me to buy it regardless, bless your hearts. 

[lys1022]

I can't speak for myself, as I (unfortunately) have not indulged in any Pendragon items yet.  However, I see a LARGE number of them being worn around Scarborough and TRF, both of which can have temperatures that go up into triple digits.  So that would make me lean toward believing that they don't add too significantly to the heat factor for most folks.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

If Bovine, the leather producers, pant and sweat  in hot weather, so will wearers of leather.

Perhaps a Jerkin made with Cotton Twill or  soft Denim, reversible with grommets, would work better in a Georgia climate.

[WaywardWench]

It is well worth the money. I'd spend the bit more and get the piccadills one, it helps hide the gap of shirt puffing out between pant and jerkin. Leather is warmer than a cotton, no doubt about that. I've worn my Pendragon bodice (a black suede with the tooled front, lined in a heavy cotton) though all sorts of summer faires. Lets face it, when the temperatures and humidity rise, hot is hot in multiple layers of garb derived from outfits worn in generally cooler temperatures.

[William Blackheath]

I have two Pendragons, the Celtic Dragon and the Marlowe.  Before that I wore a Moresca jerkin, which was made from a thin cotton corduroy.  Yes, the Moresca was cooler.  But Squire Mickey is right, the leather doesn't raise the heat factor by that much, due to its construction.  I bought the Celtic Dragon almost eleven years ago and, to be honest, I could take the heat much better then.  At my home faires of Bristol and Holly it can regularly get into the upper 90's.  But I still wear both with no problem; I just don't wear the sleeves anymore, and be sure to stay hydrated, and remain quite comfortable.

As others have said many times, Pendragon's products are extremely well made, and the people there are very good to deal with.  There is also a certain stylistic benefit to wear something of theirs.  Here's an anecdote:  I was born in St. Louis, where one neighborhood summer activity was to dare another kid to run barefoot across the street and see how much asphalt stuck to his soles.  It gets hot.  In 2002 I went to the St. Louis Faire wearing the Celtic Dragon.  A pretty young lady was taking tickets.  When I was about ten feet from the gate she looked up at me and said, "Is that a Pendragon?"  Pleasantly surprised, as I wasn't expecting anyone to notice, I replied, "Yes, I got it at Bristol."  She took my ticket, smiling appreciatively, and said, "Very nice!"  I was in a great mood the whole day.

Sorry to stray from the original topic.  The point is you can't do much better than Pendragon.  The question then becomes, how much heat can you take?  Living in Georgia, I daresay you can take a fair amount.  Even if you only wear it for half the faire's run, you'll have it for many years, making ti more cost effective.

Not that I'm trying to be an enabler. . . 

[Ken]

I will add my own two cents on this subject.

I own a maroon and black Spanish doublet from Pendragon.  I acquired it in 2000 and since then it has been the only thing I wear over my shirt at any given festival.  I got it at the Texas Renaissance Festival near Houston, which can see heat indexes into the upper 90's some years.  On the dangerously hot days I shed the sleeves and wear it open, but usually these days I wear it tied closed with the sleeves in place.  It has held up remarkably well over the years.  I was a participant at TRF in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2009.  I was a participant at Scarborough in 2008 and 2009, a partcipant at the Colorado Renaissance Festival in 2009 and a participant at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival for one weekend in 2009.  In between all of that were numerous visits to TRF and Scarby as a patron and a few days where I actually wore my Pendragon to work as a jacket.  It's been tossed, stuffed, folded, crammed, soaked with rain and spilt upon.  It's not as beautiful as the day I got it, certainly, but it looks WAY better than any other article of clothing that I've had for as long that I've worn so often and has seen as much abuse.

I'm now wanting to get another Pendragon.  Not because my old one needs replacing, but because I'd like to have something in a different color and a different style.  That I'm considering the expense of a Pendragon in the face of all other options should say something about their worthiness as an investment in garb.

~Ken

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

What makes Pendragon merchandise unique is the way the tooling is done on the leather.

That is a craft I did not learn.But some day, will.

[Squire Mickey]

What makes Pendragon merchandise unique is the way the tooling is done on the leather.

That is a craft I did not learn.But some day, will.

Well, actually they are Embossed on by a machine and then dyed.  Hand tooling would be VERY expensive to produce on the scale that they create those.

However, they do a great job with their embossing!

[BamaWoodsman]

Being a fellow Georgian/Alabamian, you may be surprised at just how comfortable leather can be even when its blazing hot. I don't have a Pendragon but do have several leather pieces from Crimson Chain that I wear no matter what the weather is like. It can get a little warm if you stand around in the sun all day, but I've never been so uncomfortable that I needed to take it off. I wear a leather jerkin/tunic that is similar to the one you are looking at but buttons all the way to the neck, and I am usually comfortable with just the top 2 buttons left undone. 



Also as a side note,  if it looks like enough R/Fers are going to be down for Opening Weekend of GARF we may try to plan a meet-n-greet on that Friday. As we get closer I will be posting in the GARF forum but figure I'll start to spread the word now.

[RumbaRue]

I like Pendragon clothing, however, their sizes run very small.
Their x-large bodice won't fit me at all and would be fine for someone of size 14/15.
They had one 1x bodice that was still too small more like a size 16, I'm a size 18.