Kuwaiti Liripipe - a modern tale of a medieval garment

One of my friends online, whom I know only as AW71, posted a story on the SCA group that I moderate on MySpace. It was so great that I asked if I could share it with you on this blog, so here it is.

Dateline, 31 January 2003, somewhere in the sands of Kuwait.

It is cold, the wind hasn't stopped blowing, and sand is everywhere. It's difficult to breathe, let alone see. The first chance I get, I think to myself, I'm calling home and having my lady send me a liripipe.

For those that don't know what a "liripipe" is, it's a 13th century English garment. It's a hood with a long cloth tail that can be used to wrap around your neck and face when it gets cold.

I call her and make my request. Not only does she send me a sand-camouflage-colored liripipe, she sends me five extra ones...just enough for the soldiers in my crew. All of us don them, and the liripipes did the trick. Next thing I know, I'm getting requests from everyone in our tent for one....including many of the officers, and higher-ranking NCO's. My wife sews 30 of them and sends them out.

I sell them for five bucks each, and they are quickly the rave of Camp Udairi. The batallion commander and batallion sergeant major then requested one, and after that, they gave out the instructions for proper wear of the liripipe; to be worn correctly or not at all....worn with head gear at all times, so as not to be taken for the enemy....tuck the outer portion inside the shirt so the rank is not covered.

Pretty cool that a garment over 800 years old made its way back to present day use!

Anachronisms ROCK! Thanks AW71, and thanks for playing in that big dangerous sandbox for us...

PS: Join MySpace, it's free and there's a ton of geeks just like you on there.