Bill McCall of Utopia Armoury has turned his childhood hobby of working with chainmail into a job. Incredibly, when he was just 17 he built his own shop at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire and dived feet first into chainmail commerce.
You don’t need to travel all the way to Pennsylvania to buy Bill or Utopia Armoury’s designs, though, as since 2009 he’s been on Etsy. It looks like Utopia is a good company to work with. Etsy’ public stats confirm he’s sold more than 2,700 chainmail items and after 1,000 reviews he has a five-star rating.
A typical chainmail bikini top sells for about £150 and ships worldwide. The site lists the materials as anodized aluminum, neoprene rubber and grosgrain ribbon. A typical dragonscale top is slightly cheaper, at £120 or so, and materials add jump rings and satin to the alumium.
It’s noted that a typical custom order takes about 4 to 6 weeks but it does depend on the length of the order queue.
In the video McCall describes his work with armour as art. Sure enough he has an accompanying Deviant Art page that showcases a collection of the designs and the custom orders he’s made. The profile photograph, from HiJinx, shows Bill standing with a rainbow of chainmail clad warriors.
Want something for yourself? Pop over to Utopia Armoury on Etsy today and browse the metal work.
