HA V : Mistress! Your smock, it has gone astray! Ren wench V : My smock? Oh no, it’s supposed
to be like this. But my lady, won’t you be too hot in such a high collar?
HA V : . . . “lady?” I think you are mistaken. “Goodwife” will do just fine for me. But will you
not get burned with your smock so low? Ren wench V : I’d be hotter if
I was all covered up like you are! HA V : And why is your hair unbound? What
will people think of you out in public like this? Ren wench V : Well no one can even see your hair—
I’m gonna cut in here before things get ugly. We’re here to talk about Ren Faires,
not fight over eachothers’ costumes, and specficially we are here to talk
about why we should not fight over eachothers’ Ren Faire costumes! Hi,
I’m V : Costume historian who recognizes that not everything is about history! Renaissance
Faires exist in this really interesting space where they are lots of things at the same time,
and I see that reflected so much in how people costume for them. I don’t think this genre,
if you will, gets nearly enough recognition for what it is. Instead, I’ve heard and seen a lot
of Historical Costumers talking about outfits like this as though the wearer is trying to look
historically accurate and doing it badly, and that’s the only possible explanation . . . No.
Guys. Just no. We don’t insult other people’s outfits. We don’t do that here.
By the way, all these gorgeous photos are from audience members like you. Click the subscribe
button, because in a day or two I’m gonna put out a Short with a full gallery! Ren Wench V :
Aren’t you forgetting something? Oh right! We’re also doing a
really big giveaway, so make sure you watch the whole video for more info.
I’ve spent a bunch of this month traveling, including to my local Renaissance faire— two
of my friends and I split a hotel room so we could go both days without the two-hour drive.
Before that I was in LA for the Jewish Writer’s Initiative fellowship conference and before that
I was in San Diego doing research with my uncle and his corgi. All this to say that despite the
cute dog and cushy hotel, I cannot tell you how happy I am to be sleeping in my own bed
again. Back in July Birch Living sent me one of their non-toxic mattresses, and when I say sent,
know that they literally delivered it to my door for free rolled up in a box, which saved me having
to borrow a car and load the thing into the car and haul it out of the car . . . Birch makes
comfortable and environmentally conscious sleep products using organic and natural materials.
I don’t condone snobbery about natural fibers, but they do have their uses. The wool layers in
my Birch Luxe mattress are hypoallergenic and resistant to allergens and mildew without any
extra harmful processes. All their mattresses are Greenguard Gold certified, and the Luxe mattress
has an extra-long list of certifications. Many many years from now when this mattress reaches the
end of its life, that wool is going to biodegrade, where synthetic materials would not. Birch works
with ethical partners that adhere to strict social, environmental, and economic standards,
so my conscience finds this mattress as comfortable as the rest of me, that being VERY.
I’ve had this mattress for two months now and it’s the most comfortable thing I’ve ever slept on,
including the cushy hotel beds in LA. Normally traveling messes with my sleep, even if I’m not
jetlagged. The morning after getting back, though, I woke up feeling as well-rested as I ever have!
I wouldn’t say “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” because, well . . . I have fibromyalgia. Morning
grogginess is one of the hallmark symptoms. But I wasn’t exhausted, or in pain, or feeling like
I needed eight more hours of sleep. The quilted pillow top on the Luxe mattress is extra nice for
those of us with pressure-sensitive muscles, it’s the perfect balance of support and softness. But
everyone’s body is different, so just in case it doesn’t work out for you Birch offers a 100 night
sleep trial and will even collect the mattress to spare you the trouble. If you do love it as much
as I do, you can look forward to many years of comfy sleep thanks to the 25 year warranty. Visit
BirchLiving.com/SnappyDragon or click the link in the description to get $400 off a new mattress and
two free pillows! Thanks to Birch for sponsoring this video and for sparing me my usual post-travel
crash. Now, back to the Ren Faire! . . . Ren Wench V : Wait, we’re going back?
V : I wish. But unless you’ve learned to drive, no.
Ren Wench V : hrmph! V : ANYWAYS.
In Faire Verona, where we lay our scene : sure, we’ve got me and my handsewn kirtle
and smock . . . and we’ve also got people walking around in elf ears and mushroom hats and fairy
wings. Ren Faires are a very different space from a lot of other historical costumed events,
so why don’t we briefly define our terms. A Ren Faire, short for “Renaissance Faire” is an event
that combines living history, local fair, craft fair, and theatrical production. It’s like a very
long, very immersive, very improvized play that’s based on a historical setting, with the “audience”
being the customers walking around. There are vendors, stage performances, and “cast members” or
“participants” who play various real and invented historical characters and either perform for or
interact with the faire-goers, often referred to as “patrons”. These events generally are in
an outdoor space and run for several consecutive weekends in the spring, summer, or fall. The first
Ren Faires took place amidst the traditional music and hippie movements of the 1960s,
and this appears to have had some influence on their aesthetics. I asked my amazing audience
members to send in messages about their Faire experiences, and I was fortunate enough to get a
long and super-detailed message from someone who’s a costume director at her local Ren Faire (thank
you Amy!). She said that 20 to 30 years ago, the standards for participant costumes were much more
relaxed, so you’d see a lot more of things like underbust corsets and tiered ruffly skirts and
tights a la “Robin Hood Men In Tights”— stuff that we would consider historically-influenced
fantasy costuming today. At that time the Ren Faire in question didn’t have castmember
costume guidelines beyond “something vaguely historical”, which led to plenty of issues.
Issues like severe thigh chafing and someone going upside down in a skirt, which is why they
now have all skirt-wearers in bloomers underneath regardless of accuracy. Amy told me the Faire in
question has since put together much more solid guidelines and support for cast members making
their costumes, which has the triple benefit of being fairer, safer, and more accurate to the
event’s vision. Another person who messaged me told me that their Faire provides costumes for
castmembers who don’t have their own, which can be a great way to prevent the money and
time needed to make garb from being barriers to people joining. The castmembers then only have to
provide their own shoes and some accessories. I also had the privilege of meeting some
incredibly kind castmembers when I visited my local Ren Faire. If you were one of those people,
thank you so much for chatting with me and I’m sorry if I seemed flustered, I spent all of
Saturday with a very uncomfortable piece of dust in my eye. A couple of these folks told me about a
specific book that’s had an extensive influence on Ren Faire costuming, inaccuracies and all :
“Elizabethan Costuming for the years 1550-1580”, commonly referred to as the “brown book” or “brown
bible”. I wasn’t able to get a hold of the book in time to film this, but one of the ladies in
question saw my call for info on Instagram and sent me photos of the book! It refers to the
wearing of separate bodices and skirts, something that current dress history research believes to
be incorrect. According to Nicole, the idea of separate skirts and bodices was probably
a misinterpretation of “bodiced petticoats” : a skirt sewn to a supportive underbodice, often
made of different, plainer, and stiffer material because it wasn’t meant to be seen. For more on
the evidence around bodiced petticoats, there’s a great blog post by the Couture Courtesan linked in
the description. Thanks to this book’s popularity and the prevailing research at the time, separate
bodices and layered skirts became quintessential elements of Ren Faire cast costuming, and strong
visual inspiration for participant costumes too. Realistically, though, whether you’re a castmember
or a patron, there are certain aspects of historically accurate 16th century European dress
that are much less likely to work out for a Ren Faire. 16th century Europe, especially England,
was on average cooler and cloudier than present-day North America during the height
of summer. Wool may be breathable, but felted broadcloth when it’s 95 degrees fahrenheit and
the UV index is 9 or 10 is not a good idea— save that for a cold weekend in Minnesota if you can.
Modern Ren Faires have to strike a balance between accuracy and safety and accessibility : How to
present the degree of authenticity they’re aiming for, without the castmembers getting heatstroke,
and without setting unachievable standards for new and marginalized participants.
Although, please do let it be said that some Faires [cough] Dickens [cough] could do with a
deal of improvement on the second and especially third points there. Amy, the costume director who
contacted me works at a Faire in an extremely hot climate, and told me they’ve had to insist that no
castmember wear synthetic fibers as their inner layer. Not because of historical accuracy, but
because synthetic fibers don’t breathe well and they had people fainting from heat exhaustion if
they wore polyester. However, the fibers accurate to 16th century Europe were mostly limited to
wool, linen, and silk for the fancy folks. These can get expensive, and being restricted to these
materials shuts out people who could otherwise take part in the community. Cotton and rayon
are widely available at a more affordable price point, and can mimic historically accurate fabrics
well enough to pass the 10-foot rule. Since they’re cellulose fibers, they don’t have the
breathability issues that synthetics do, and you can wear the layers you need without risking heat
exhaustion. Amy said she recommends Kona brand cottons for her cast because they’re low-priced,
easy to find, and not sheer. The frequently hot summer temperatures are also why you see a
lot of folks in sleeveless bodices or doublets. Historical accuracy would call for detatchable
sleeves in most cases, but sticking with shirt- or shift-sleeves lets the wearer stay cooler while
still keeping their skin covered and out of the sun. The perk of historically accurate sleeves
being detatchable is that you can skip them on hot days, but easily add them for colder ones to avoid
needing a totally different outfit. Likewise, we see more folks with bare heads and low necklines
on account of modern people being less likely to swoon at the sight of the human hair or upper
chest. As a very pale sort I personally like a high neckline for sun protection,
but in this modern age we have sunscreen, which means folks can cover up or not depending on what
will keep them cooler and more comfortable. There’s been more of a trend towards clear
guidelines and historical accuracy over the past decade or so, tracking the improvements
in dress history research. Some Ren Faires place a high value on historical accuracy and lean into
the living history side of things, while others maintain more of the Faire fantasy elements like
off-the-shoulder chemises and ruffly skirts and castmembers actually playing fairies. Historical
accuracy does have its value, especially when you are portraying a certain historical setting
to the general public. But that shift means a greater distinction between “accurate”
costuming or castmember dress codes and, well . . . everything else. And because of the unique and
theatrical nature of Ren Faires, that is a pretty broad “everything else”! My favorite elements of
“Ren Faire” style are the enthusiastic inclusions of historically-inspired fantasy elements that the
“historical costuming” world holds little space for. Shiny fashion corsets? Go for it. Underbust?
Yup, those too. Off the shoulder-chemises? Whatever makes you happy. Same goes for
free-flowing hair and flower crowns and dramatic makeup. When these things show up in historical
dramas, we’re often highly critical of the lack of accuracy, and I think this makes it all the more
important to have a space where historical fantasy costumes are not only acceptable but form a core
part of the style’s focus and identity. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is about this
outfit that makes it so characteristically Ren Faire, but I know it when I see it.
As for the outright fantasy and cosplay elements of Ren Faire patron costuming,
these are just as important! The messages and e-mails I got mentioned everything from High
Fantasy elements to mermaid tank performers swimming around with tails, fairies who will
throw glitter on you if you ask, and both new and experienced cosplayers dressed as fandom
characters or in Star Trek uniforms. Mainstream society really only gives us one opportunity a
year to wear costumes, on Halloween, which is nowhere near enough. Why do you think costume
balls were so popular in the Victorian era? Several people also mentioned seeing “trends”
for different fantasy and cosplay elements come and go during their years at Ren Faires. A viewer
called Sarah told me that Maryland Rennaisance Festival has a tradition called the “Day of Wrong”
that began as a castmember in-joke but spread to the customers too, of wearing historical clothing
from a completely different period on the event’s final weekend. Another person mentioned dudes in
athletic shorts and t-shirts with random bits of plate armor on over them. Apparently mushrooms
are the current thing, because in addition to this viewer’s beautiful mushroom hat I saw one
at my local Faire too, and lost count of all the other mushroom-themed accessories. I’m reminded of
a Facebook post that circulated at the beginning of 2020— you know, before 2020 actually HAPPENED—
talking about how the release of the Witcher was going to lead to loads of folks going
to their local Faires in hastily-made Witcher cosplay. So instead of groaning and grumbling
about how the Witcher is a fantasy series and Ren Faires are not fan conventions,
we should include them by affectionately tossing coins to our Witchers. I personally would go for
foil-covered chocolate coins instead of plastic ones, but the point stands. To quote the OP,
“by including them in a positive way, we turn them from people who show up once or
twice . . . into people who come back over and over and [are] part of the community.”
This is EXACTLY my point. The beauty of Ren Faires is that they’re NOT all about historical accuracy,
they’re about having fun. They’re about stepping into a world that has room for fantasy and
self-expression and things that don’t happen in everyday life. They’re about providing space
for members of the public to get costumed up and share in the experience— about including them in
a positive way.This is what makes them so popular! So it’s completely right for this to be reflected
in the costuming, especially for the patrons, who are literally just there to play. The expansive,
just-for-fun nature of Ren Faires can be particularly welcoming to new, casual,
or under-resourced costumers. It makes room for costumers from a variety of other genres to play
with historical elements without being held to any standard of accuracy but their own. For so many
of us, me included, visiting Ren Faires was our gateway experience to the world of costuming. Just
think how many of us might have turned away if our first outfits that we felt so great in were looked
down on for not being accurate enough. So instead of criticizing Ren Faire costuming for what it’s
not, let’s celebrate it for what it is. It is so special that we have these events where people can
wear elf ears and mushroom hats and fairy wings and glitter right alongside hand-sewn historical
pieces and anything else that brings them joy. Because at its heart that’s what costuming is all
about! I’ve said it before and will say it again : We’re all just here to play dress-up, and yucking
other people’s yums ruins the fun for everyone. Please know that I am over here in my handsewn
kirtle cheering for all of you fantastic folks, because you look GREAT. Every single one of you.
Speaking of the handsewn kirtle : Now that I’ve made new Renaissance kit, it’s time for me to
clear out my closet a bit. So I am giving away my previous Ren Faire outfit! The giveaway is
being run through Instagram because it isn’t really possible to run them through Youtube;
click the link in the description and the pinned comment to see the full details and
how to enter. This outfit definitely has some Ren Faire-core elements : there’s
a cotton chemise with full gathered sleeves, two cartridge-pleated skirts, and a reversible bodice,
which is the only piece I didn’t sew myself. Even if this outfit won’t fit you, you can still help
it find a new home with a costumer who needs it by sharing this video and the giveaway post
on your socials. Leave me a comment with your favorite Ren Faire story, or historical event
story if you’re in a place that doesn’t do Ren Faires. I’ve got a lot of exciting stuff going
on behind the scenes during the next month, so don’t forget to subscribe here for updates,
click the like button so Youtube knows you liked what you saw. You can follow me over on
Instagram @missSnappyDragon and on Patreon for the extra special secret updates. See you next time!
I am not sunburned, so I will not need to sit in a corner and cry “Hey-ho for a husband!”.