It could, though, when worn properly, chainmail was always worn over padding. The chain mail blocks piercing attacks, while the padding dealt with concussive forces. An arrow, or sword, has significant amounts of both. Blocking 1 alone wasn’t enough.
Basically, it shouldn’t be an issue, other than getting hot in the padding. If you’re going for a stylish look, use flexible material. Loose weave metallic fabrics give a similar (superficial) look, but don’t pinch.
It still provides good protection, as breaking links isn’t easy. Most materials protect against slices; even a single layer of cloth helps. Slices suck against armor in comparison to other attacks. Weapons that slice also often hack well(heavier along the width and curved) or pierce well(narrower towards the pointy tip and straight).
Mine would be especially bad against piercing attacks I think, due to being butted rings rather than riveted (see one of my comments above for images of what that means.)
This person is very right, the padding would be essential for this when used as armour. Especially as more significant than pinching was the temperature of the metal — it was a long Summer night where I wore it first and it was very cold by the end. There was a bonfire to help people stay warm and I needed to be mindful to not go too close. A similar but less intense temperature issue happened due to the sun on a hot day. It wasn’t too bad, but definitely highlighted the usefulness of padding if wearing it as armour.
Small note on practicality - the maille itself wasn’t shaped for my figure, it was just generic and sized to my (fairly broad) shoulders. As well as padding, belting it well is also essential, because it helps to distribute the weight. In the pic, I did that with an under bust corset (which worked way better than it had any right to), but I want to highlight the functional purpose of the corset - without that or a belt, it was way too heavy on my shoulders
Sometimes, especially because I made chainmail, rather than the much higher quality (and more authentic?) (images not mine, randomly from Google images). I don’t particularly remember pinching being a problem though, especially given I was wearing just my underwear beneath it most times.
Both variants are fully authentic. Riveted chain mail takes more material and time to produce, so was more expensive. However, it works a lot better at stopping thrusting attacks, meaning mostly arrows and bolts.
As this was the main threat on many battlefields, war chain mail was mostly riveted.
When expecting to fight mostly bladed enemies, such as in tourney or parade settings, butted mail was not uncommon.
And once guns started to appear on the battlefield, it quickly became apparent that chain mail would not stop bullets, so the butted style got more popular again, as it served to still protect in melee combat.
As for pinching: chain mail was never supposed to be worn on bare skin anyway. At least a tunic, but usually heavier, densely padded wool clothes ( often called gambesons ) were worn underneath. This not only prevents any chafing or pinching, but more importantly it helped soften the impact of any blow a bit.
Is there any way I can ask what settings you found that just chainmail and underwear was the chic thing, without sounding creepy/horny/ect? You don’t have to answer, I just can’t not ask.
That photo was taken at Wacken Open Air, a metal festival. My style generally oscillates between punk and goth, so wearing a strappy bralette with some sort of lace or mesh swooshy garment over the top is fairly usual
Oh yeah Wacken that makes perfect sense. I have always wanted to get the chance to go. Seems like one of the best festivals in the world. Hope you had all the fun there.
Oh yeah, it was great, especially compared to music festivals in the UK. (UK drug/party culture is pretty toxic and there’s a lot of people who go to festivals just to get fucked up. Drugs weren’t uncommon at Wacken, but it felt way more chill. I also felt way less “upsold” on things at Wacken, the baseline provision of facilities was just better.)
I’ve not been to many festivals, so I don’t have a basis for comparison, but it did seem like one of the good ones.
Sadly being in the States, it is a bit longer of a drive for me, but maybe some day. It’s great to hear that it is chill, I love a lot of hardcore genres of music, but I hate most of the fans.
I would love to just chill, listen, and have a few beers out of the pipeline. Maybe I need to start seeing if I can make it a reality. I might even have to get myself a chainmail dress and bralette. And honestly I would bet an American guy walking around in a chainmail dress and women’s underwear is probably not the weirdest thing there 😂🤣
Do you find it pinches your skin? I’ve always wanted to make one for Ren faires.
It could, though, when worn properly, chainmail was always worn over padding. The chain mail blocks piercing attacks, while the padding dealt with concussive forces. An arrow, or sword, has significant amounts of both. Blocking 1 alone wasn’t enough.
Basically, it shouldn’t be an issue, other than getting hot in the padding. If you’re going for a stylish look, use flexible material. Loose weave metallic fabrics give a similar (superficial) look, but don’t pinch.
Chainmail blocks slicing attacks. It’s not that great protection against piercing attacks right?
That is correct. Piercing attacks is how you break chainmail to expose weak spots.
It still provides good protection, as breaking links isn’t easy. Most materials protect against slices; even a single layer of cloth helps. Slices suck against armor in comparison to other attacks. Weapons that slice also often hack well(heavier along the width and curved) or pierce well(narrower towards the pointy tip and straight).
Mine would be especially bad against piercing attacks I think, due to being butted rings rather than riveted (see one of my comments above for images of what that means.)
This person is very right, the padding would be essential for this when used as armour. Especially as more significant than pinching was the temperature of the metal — it was a long Summer night where I wore it first and it was very cold by the end. There was a bonfire to help people stay warm and I needed to be mindful to not go too close. A similar but less intense temperature issue happened due to the sun on a hot day. It wasn’t too bad, but definitely highlighted the usefulness of padding if wearing it as armour.
Small note on practicality - the maille itself wasn’t shaped for my figure, it was just generic and sized to my (fairly broad) shoulders. As well as padding, belting it well is also essential, because it helps to distribute the weight. In the pic, I did that with an under bust corset (which worked way better than it had any right to), but I want to highlight the functional purpose of the corset - without that or a belt, it was way too heavy on my shoulders
This Lemmy chainmails
Sometimes, especially because I made
chainmail, rather than the much higher quality (and more authentic?) 
(images not mine, randomly from Google images). I don’t particularly remember pinching being a problem though, especially given I was wearing just my underwear beneath it most times.
Both variants are fully authentic. Riveted chain mail takes more material and time to produce, so was more expensive. However, it works a lot better at stopping thrusting attacks, meaning mostly arrows and bolts. As this was the main threat on many battlefields, war chain mail was mostly riveted. When expecting to fight mostly bladed enemies, such as in tourney or parade settings, butted mail was not uncommon. And once guns started to appear on the battlefield, it quickly became apparent that chain mail would not stop bullets, so the butted style got more popular again, as it served to still protect in melee combat.
As for pinching: chain mail was never supposed to be worn on bare skin anyway. At least a tunic, but usually heavier, densely padded wool clothes ( often called gambesons ) were worn underneath. This not only prevents any chafing or pinching, but more importantly it helped soften the impact of any blow a bit.
Is there any way I can ask what settings you found that just chainmail and underwear was the chic thing, without sounding creepy/horny/ect? You don’t have to answer, I just can’t not ask.
That photo was taken at Wacken Open Air, a metal festival. My style generally oscillates between punk and goth, so wearing a strappy bralette with some sort of lace or mesh swooshy garment over the top is fairly usual
Oh yeah Wacken that makes perfect sense. I have always wanted to get the chance to go. Seems like one of the best festivals in the world. Hope you had all the fun there.
Oh yeah, it was great, especially compared to music festivals in the UK. (UK drug/party culture is pretty toxic and there’s a lot of people who go to festivals just to get fucked up. Drugs weren’t uncommon at Wacken, but it felt way more chill. I also felt way less “upsold” on things at Wacken, the baseline provision of facilities was just better.)
I’ve not been to many festivals, so I don’t have a basis for comparison, but it did seem like one of the good ones.
Sadly being in the States, it is a bit longer of a drive for me, but maybe some day. It’s great to hear that it is chill, I love a lot of hardcore genres of music, but I hate most of the fans.
I would love to just chill, listen, and have a few beers out of the pipeline. Maybe I need to start seeing if I can make it a reality. I might even have to get myself a chainmail dress and bralette. And honestly I would bet an American guy walking around in a chainmail dress and women’s underwear is probably not the weirdest thing there 😂🤣