Gorget

A gorget is a plate neck protection that covers the top of the spine, the whole of the neck and hollow of the throat.

There is some indication that many say gorgets sat under breastplates to take spread the weight of the shoulder pieces of a back and breast and they continued to be worn even after other pieces of armour were abandoned. eg in the mid 17th century.

Even much later many armies still had them in symbolic forms for officers.

In the 15th century a mail standard or standart forms a similar function.

Gorgets in the SCA

In the SCA, it is normally a required part of armour for both light and heavy combat and are typically made of leather or metal.