Learning from the Little Things


Often with re-enactors, we are overwhelmed somewhat by what we are doing.

We concentrate on the big picture – armour, clothing, and lots of visible things.

However, it has recently been brought home to me that sometimes it’s the little things that can profoundly increase our understanding of what we are doing.

And I’m not talking about wearing correct shoes, or making sure our underwear is 100% correct.

I’m talking about even smaller things – that may have no bearing whatsoever on your persona, but an understanding of which may help you to realise why something developed as it did.

This comes about because of a young man in South Australia who is making and selling bone needles.

As an embroiderer, this appealed to me – even though the period I re-enact did not use bone needles.

However, by using a bone needle to stitch, I would learn how the stitches differed in size, texture and look from those made with a metal needle. I would learn more about how embroidery developed as the tools developed.

The same could be said for many other aspects of re-enactment. As an exercise – look at what you are doing as the major part of your re-enactment.

Ask yourself why was it done like that? Track back your materials and techniques, and have a go at using something that was used before your time.

You will learn much.

The copyright of the article Learning from the Little Things in Historical Re-Enactment is owned by Megan McConnell. Permission to republish Learning from the Little Things in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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