Mail (also maille, often given as chain mail or chain maille or chainmaille) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.
The word chainmail is of relatively recent coinage, having been in use only since the 1700s; prior to this it was referred to simply as mail-Wikipedia
Chain mail is one of those oddities that you see at Ren Faires, often worn by people who should know better than to wear chain maille, but still wear it anyway. To me chainmail seems to the anti-perfect clothing, cold in the winter and hot in the summer. But hey, chainmail armor looks good, right?
Well, I do like the look of the chainmail bikini and there is nothing wrong with a chainmail bracelet. Chainmail costumes are great when you want to pretend that your King Arthur or some other Knight ready to do battle with long sword and long bow. Or maybe not.
Chainmail jewelry is a little more subtle and looks less like battle gear and more like, well, jewelry. Chainmail patterns by the Japanese are very pretty, and I like all the colors that chainmail comes in these days. There are even pretty nice chainmail rings, though I’m not sure if these things really count as jewelry.
I think the use of a chainmail shirt or a chainmail top as a fashion statement is bold, and it takes a strong person to walk around with a full suit made of chainmaille. While the sexy chainmail tops might catch on, I don’t think anyone wants to bring back full plate armor. But hey, I could be wrong.
I’ve never been that interested in chainmail, not enough to make chainmail, but someone has to whip up this medieval item for the fashion designer who loves his women wrapped in metal.
I’m sure the techniques have changed just a bit from the making of medieval armor and medieval chainmail-but hey, little rings of metal are little rings of metal, right?
I’ve had a few students who made mail for hire–jewelry, whole mail shirts (which were often 20-30 lbs. when finished), etc. One speech student brought in a shirt of mail for a speech, showing how it was made link by link.
No wonder those things are expensive–they took forever to make!
Of course, I am guessing that they will pretty much last forever as well. Or at least it will feel like forever while your wearing that 30 pounds of metal as a bold fashion statement.