First appearance of studded leather armor

[Argyle King]

At least according to the DMG, he got a lot of the armor descriptions out of this book, Armour & Weapons by Charles John Ffoulkes

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41676/41676-h/41676-h.htm
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Or in other words, studded leather.

Also ring mail is described, as is banded mail.

Did these armors actually exist? Perhaps not, but pictures depicting such armors did, or so people thought.

I'm in no way an expert on the topic, but I've dabbled in weapon and armor lore a bit. To the best of my knowledge...

Banded Mail existed. Though, the manner of making it caused the underlying mail to be less flexible. As a result, it was not often used to cover areas of the body which needed to be able to move a lot.

Ring Mail existed, but was mostly used outside of Europe.

Studded Leather that actually worked would be closest to being Brigandine. A lot of sketches and pictures show people wearing something that looks like Brigandine, but what it actually is is just a rivet pattern put onto leather (or cloth) because it looked fancy/fashionable. This started with actual brigandine studs being made into patterns, and the idea was then copied in civilian fashion. D&D's "studded leather" is something that I believe has roots in what would more accurately be called faux brigandine.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If the studs are close enough, it might stop a few slashes. Some padding would be needed for taking some force out of a pludgening attack...but a thrust would be pretty much unhindered.

But the idea behind it wasn't to stand up to extended melee, just something light enough to be worn for extended periods of time and protect someone until they could get someplace safer and/or some help.

I talked to a Secret Service Agent about his time on the presidential protection detail. According to him, everything you saw an agent carrying was functional, right down to a manila folder that contained a sheet of composite armor or the Kevlar-lined trenchcoat.

Like studded leather, the folder or trenchcoat wouldn't stop a whole hell of a lot but it was light enough to carry and could be placed in front of a vital organ while moving a target to a safer location.

 

[Argyle King]

The problem with studs by themselves -without being riveted to any plates or any kind of support structure (like how Brigandine is made) is that they'd potentially make bludgeoning attacks worse for you if the metal is nailed back into your skin/body.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The problem with studs by themselves -without being riveted to any plates or any kind of support structure (like how Brigandine is made) is that they'd potentially make bludgeoning attacks worse for you if the metal is nailed back into your skin/body.

Which is why I said:

Some padding would be needed for taking some force out of a pludgening attack...

EDIT: "pludgening" = "bludgeoning"