Renaissance Faire

I blame my brother for my very first Renaissance Faire. Our mutual friend, Krista, Stephen and I all dressed up and drove out to the Irvine Park Faire. I had a lot of fun, even fencing in a medieval dress we rented! My brother dressed up as an archer and Krista and I were, of course, fair maidens. Tee hee! Unfortunately, I am unable to find the pictures of that day and so no proof exists of which I am aware. Still, we had fun, and I still have the dragon's tear and sword necklace that my brother bought for me that day.

Renaissance Pleasure Faire
DEVORE, CA

I first attended the "Southern" Faire when I was in college, when I was coerced with the UCI Fencing Club. I scrambled to come up with a costume, something that I had thrown together before for the Wayzgoose Festival in Aldrich Park. It was sort of a gypsy-like costume, without the bodice. (That's me on the far left!)

UCI Fencing Club at the Renn Faire

I kind of felt like a dork until I was in the faire, and boy was I ever glad to have some semblance of a costume! The people who came out of costume were heckled and badgered the entire day! Ha!

Of course, we let our resident PhD off with the story that he was a time traveler....

Monks

And even the most corrupt people look pious in a monk's robe....

It was quite amusing watching everyone, and I had SO much fun, I knew I had to go again! And again, and again, and again....

UCI Fencing Club actually FENCING

UCI FENCING CLUB

What was great about it was that I got to fence, listen to bad Shakespeare, drink good beer, and FLIRT!
WOW! Who thought up this wonderful idea?

I went the next year, dressed up in a peasant's outfit my mother made for me. It was a lot of work, and I didn't even do the sewing! But I enjoyed every minute of being a bonny wench!

(pictures coming soon unless the blackmail money comes in)

Then I discovered that just about anyone could get a job at the faire, especially working at the fencing booth! It was then that I knew my purpose in life. Or at least for six weeks. I joined St. Jude's Fencing School.
(For those who don't know, St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes- and we're not talking about our students!)

Of course, that dictated a costume. A REAL costume. And a character. As I was heavily into Irish music and history, only an Irish lass would do. Many hours of research later, and a lot of hard work by my friend, Jeanne, and Grace O'Malley the pirate was resurrected.

GRACE O'MALLEY
Grace O' Malley, if ye' please- but ye' can call me Grace *bows*

Grace O' Malley, if ye' please- but ye' can call me Grace *bows*

"But ye' can call me Grace."

A bad Irish accent, a sword, and a big hat later and people were squawking at me asking where my parrot was. I had so much fun that first year, though, fencing and making fun of people... ah, the memories.

Yup, that's me killing the poor innocents who don't know how to hold a weapon. But it's only fair, as I was marked up and down my chest where my bodice didn't protect me. The second year was great fun as well, and then I made my fatal error.

I became a noble.

Novato Faire

It would be untrue if I said I didn't like the attention. Well, it would actually since I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the attention!

LOVED.

Just in case you were wondering, however: YES, it is hot. And NO, I am not the queen.

Jeanne and I at the Novato Faire. Nobels to the end!

Jeanne and I at the Novato Faire. Nobels to the end!

I have to bow, again, to Jeanne *deeeeep bow*. She made her costume (of which she now has several. I mean SEVERAL) as well as mine, and mine is quite elaborate. The underskirt consists of individual panels sewn together and joined with gold-colered cloth. At every point where they join is a pearl. The outer skirt is lined in the front with gold and black thread and MINK (yes, mink- it was a second-hand coat she bought for pittance at an antique store. What they hey- it was already dead, ne?) Mink lines the bodic as well, and the same lace is used in stripes all along the bodice. The panels across the front and back are all made of mink. The entire dress is brown velvet.

To wear the dress, one has to BE DRESSED. I cannot get dressed by myself. First the shirt is put on, followed by the corset, which has metal strips throughout it. The corset is tightened until breathing is but a faint memory, and then the bloomers are put on. This is followed by the hoop skirt, then a bum roll to accentuate my bum... as if it needed it... then the first underskirt. This is to ensure that the hoops don't show through.

Then comes the good part. The second underskirt is put on, then the overskirt. Then the bodice. The bodice is laced on the sides, so one has to hold one's arms up for forever until all of the blood rushes out of the fingers, which isn't difficult since oxygen is no longer in sufficient supply. Finally, the sleeves are put on (I don't have any on in this picture- just the sleeves from the shirt) and finally the outersleeves. These are a royal pain (no pun intended) as they have specific parts on the bodice that they must tie to, and sometimes the left can be confused with the right.

BUT WAIT- THERE'S MORE!

It's at this point that I usually remember the shoes, and it's a bad idea to remember the shoes at this point, as they should have been put on the VERY FIRST THING because it is quite impossible to touch one's toes at this point, much less put on shoes. Luckily they're like slippers, so it's not quite so difficult. Now comes the hair net (it has an official name I've forgotten at present), then the hat (I have more of a top hat I wear now- see the pictures below). Be careful of the hat pins!

Now is time to attach jewelry if it hasn't been attached already. Broaches, rings, pendants, etc. should all be worn. Finally, fans, pewter or silver goblets and a bag for one's personal items (which has to match the underskirt, of course) are tied on.

Now you're done! Go out and enjoy the faire! *faint*

Any good noble's job is, of course, to shop. And shop we did.

To go with our costumes, of course, Jeanne and I now needed new identities. It took many hours and even more research, but we finally came up with a few. I was the daughter of a rich landowner who had relocated to Ireland, but was back in England to be presented to the queen and court. I don't remember at present the actual name I took as I ended up just being called "Lady Grace" by everyone since I wasn't responding to the the new identity I had created for myself, even if it was historically correct. Oops.

It was great fun moving about the faire slowly. All would bow when we walked by, only rising when we acknowledged them with a "Well met" or other such remark. Ah, people bowing before me at the mere sight of me... it was as it should be. *wink*

A closer up look at the costumes. That's me on the right. Yes, that is a fake smile (do you have any idea how hot it is?).

But all good things must come to an end, and so it was that my innermost pirate self came out again... ARRRH!
(That's me in the big hat!)

But it wasn't long before I yearned for the bowing and scraping again....

SAN DIEGO FAIRE

Lady Grace and Master Rontu

Jeanne and our friend Paul who also worked the fencing booth all went out to a fair south of me. I'm not positive, but I do believe it was somewhere about in San Diego county. Rontu went with me and the collar that's on him I made when I was recovering from a sprained neck. It matches the inner fabric of the outersleeves and the underskirt. It's laced in ivory and gold, complete with pearls.

It was a difficult day for both of us, Rontu because he's getting a bit older, and for me because I was still rather weak both physically and mentally from my injury. Wearing about 40 pounds of material is difficult for about 8 hours, especially as I had only stopped wearing my neck brace for a few weeks. Still, we braved it well and Jeanne and Paul were very patient with us. The weather cooperated, too, and it was a cool 50 degrees with a mild shower now and again. Ah, excellent English weather!

Another picture of "Lady Grace and Master Rontu."

It's been a number of years later and I still enjoy the Renn Faire, although not quite as much as when I first started attending. Not so much that I've burned out on it, but more so that there aren't enough characters about to make it as much fun. In my opinion, too much has been focused on SELL, SELL, SELL! and not enough on ENJOY! ENJOY! ENJOY! The people who were hired to merely go around the crowd and heckle are gone now, replaced by more vendors who want to sell fabric favors and leather favors and turkey legs. But the spirit is still there, even though somewhat diluted. As the captain of the fencing booth told me,
"We don't ask why we're here. That would only make us think about it. Just go with it and everything will be O.K. "

And so I do. I run about, yelling insults to people in t-shirts and shorts, flirt with men and women alike, and have fun.

Or, I walk about as if I expect everyone to bow and scrape before me.

Drinking, costumes, horses and swords... I mean, how much better can life get?

Other Renaissance Faire Links

Renaissance Pleasure Faire
The hottest place on earth where you can dress in velvet and seem "normal."

Renaissance Faire
This is a great jump-off site- lists all the faires I know of, and some I didn't.
Links to their individual web sites, etc.

More links coming soon (costumes, guilds, etc.)
STAY TUNED!