looking for accories for monk outfit

[Brother Gregory]

I'm looking for a good place that I can find a small dagger that a monk would carry as well as a good place to find crosses for my robe belt and one to go around my neck. I've herd a good place to find crosses is Hobby Lobby but I looked there and didn't find any I liked.

[isabelladangelo]

Unless you are a real Monk, I would never dress as anyone of any holy office. It's highly offense to a lot of people.   There have been discussion regarding this on an email list I belong to and it's just far better to go as a peasant or other character that is not of the cloth.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

As far as I know (and I don't claim to know everything, but just what I picked up working in a weapons booth for two years), it would be very unlikely (possibly forbidden) for a monk to carry a dagger, or any other edged weapon. You'd need a mace, flail (invented by monks, I think), morningstar, something like that.

Good places to find crosses are craft stores and large retail stores near the holidays. It won't help just yet, but when Wal-mart puts out their Christmas stuff, they usually have some really good looking fabric crosses in the ornaments selection.

[Friar Rohn the Chronicler]

Basically, I have a nice wooden cross attached to a long set of wooden beads. Nothing fancy that I found on eBay by searching under the terms of "Catholic" or "rosary". I believe it was found by searching under "rosary". I also have a wooden tankard. We're supposed to be representative of the poor (so I guess my huge digital camera doesn't count as being in costume). Maybe if you get some type of Catholic reliquary or triptych to carry. Don't go for the public whipping yourself with cat-o-nine tails (that's jus' wrong in front of the kids). If you big-n-fat like me, you could pass for a Friar Tuck type of character.

Friar Rohn

[robert of armstrong]

You could always make yourself some crosses.  Go to a building supply store or hobby store near you, and get a length of half inch by half inch trim.  Cut it into lengths, the upright should be about one and a half times as long as the cross piece.  Join the middle of the cross piece about a third of the way down from the top of the upright using a trenched joint (below) and wood glue.



Put a very small islet in the top to pass your rough twine through to go around your neck, or through your belt.

You can get different types of wood, or use different stains for the ones on you belt for variety.

[escherblacksmith]

Unless you are a real Monk, I would never dress as anyone of any holy office. It's highly offense to a lot of people.   There have been discussion regarding this on an email list I belong to and it's just far better to go as a peasant or other character that is not of the cloth.

I would disagree with this, if you dressed as a modern monk, sure, but I have talked to monks who had no issue since it was a psuedo-historical presentation.  Quite fitting given we also have a bad bishop floating around.

However, back to the topic at hand, I'd agree that unless you are doing a knight dressed as a monk sort of thing, the dagger would not be what you'd carry.  Maybe a stout walking stick, but that would be about it.  Otherwise it just doesn't fit, and, as you said, there aren't really any places to carry it.  I'd also agree with the homemade cross thing, although you could also get two reasonably straight pieces of wood and lash them together.  I did that some time ago.

[LadyStitch]

My friend who does a monk just makes his the day of the faire.  He goes around and finds two sticks from the camp site, uses some cotton twine/rope and makes a cross.  It makes him look more humble.  He carry's a quarter staff, and rope belt with a wooden tankard and a loose weave pouch for his mundane things.  He also wears basic leather sandals.  He found somewhere a hand made woven wicker hat with a leather strap. 

Works for him.

[Brother Gregory]

Thanks for the help you are correct a monk would carry a mace. Now I just need to know what type of a mace an monk carried is it one with chains and a ball or just the type of one with a club handle and spikes in the end? The reason I was asking about a dagger is that I was told by someone at one time that monks carried a small throwing type dagger. But after more research I think a walking stick and possibly a mace would be a better idea for my monk type character.

[AnyuBoo]

Having your monk be proficient in the use of a quarterstaff would eliminate the need to carry additional weapons, since that would just double as a walking staff. 

[Lady L]

We have a cardinal, at least one nun/Mother Superior, the Protestant Reformer and last year, another character, don't recall his name, at MNRF.
I made a monk robe for a friend of mine, out of linen. Then there's a guy known as DB...

[jcbanner]

the thing with a ball and chain is a flail, and I would try and avoid the mace with spikes in it, because the point of not having a knife was because they are not allowed to draw blood.  a stought walking staff I think is the best representation for a monk.

other accessories, a heavy white cord to belt your robe with. the tail ends of it should hang down your right thigh. its more then just a belt, it was a symbolic item that (still) represents a vow of celibacy when worn over the robes.

then since your on the road, a second cord that acts as a functional belt that you can hang from items like a coin purse, prair bead, possibly a carrying case for scrolls or documents.

note about rosaries and prair beads, don't wear them around your neck.  A cross can be worn around your neck, but not the prair beads.  if you want something else other then just a cross, then look up Scapulars.

I don't think people should take offence aslong as you portray the character properly, or with a bit of research to back up what your doing.

[isabelladangelo]

I'll try and dig up the discussion that happened over on another forum regarding "religious office" characters.  The problem is that you are not in persona 100% of the time.  There is also the problem with people thinking you really are of a holy office.  I've seen places that have started to shy away from characters that say they have a holy office (priest, nun, monk) because of many issues involved with drunken people and mistaken identity.  There have also been far too many incidents of personas "making fun" of the church by there "portrayals" of their character.  At best, those have been distasteful to downright offensive.

I'm not saying anyone on this board would act in an uncouth manner but you cannot control the people around you, especially if they are drunk...unless you are going to start a drunken mob.  But that's a different story.   The portrayal of religious offices brings up too many issues that simply cannot be worked out easily.

Are there faires that have professional actors going around saying they are cardinals and the like?  Yes.  However, those are greatly decreasing and the big difference is in training.  Personas are for fun, the actor gets paid.  The actors also tend to be very (safely) flamboyant about the personas making it obvious that they are not of a religious office.  The same is not true for most playtrons.   

I've heard many stories and I'll try to dig some of them up tonight but, for the most part, I am very against anyone dressing in a religious office that they do not hold or even, in some cases, believe in.

[Lady_Glorianna]

pretty much everyone would carry an eating dagger which you would use only for that purpose, hence the name

[Brother Gregory]

isabelladangelo if you have the feeling that anyone dressing in a religious office that they do not hold or even, in some cases believe in. I believe very much in religion. If you feel this way about people being drunken trouble makers then why should a person dresss up as a King or others who were real people? I've been to our faire and we have a friar, and cardinal and both have made the charcter act the way they should. But any person playing any character who wants to drink and cause trouble can make any person in History look bad.

[jcbanner]

Isabella, are you personally offended by people wearing outfits that represent holy orders, or just afraid of offending others?

most people at fair realize that someone in a costume are just that, someone in a costume. for many, the presona is for having fun with, and for many others, its about teaching others about the time or a way to show reverance of the people.

what makes this any diffrent from someone dressed in a Templars robe? or garb representing any number of historical groups?  is it that they are still around?  then how is it diffrent from a character of a tradesmen?  I portray difrent members of teh guilds as they were in the 1500's and have met people who still belong to those guilds. despite them being more cerimony then anything else, they have no issue with it.