The Wear at the Faire!

When I got to the faire I was honestly a little nervous and unsure about what to expect. I knew what it was and what to look for because well, its all we have been reading, watching, and learning about the entire quarter. After walking in for five minutes though, I could not stop looking around at everyone and everything. Almost everyone there was dressed in costume! I specifically chose to wait and go on May 9^th to the faire because the theme of the weekend was fairies. I am so glad that I went on that day because there were so many unique and beautiful costumes that I could just not stop staring at. My specific favorite was a young girl who had sewn a fairy costume and incorporated flowers into it. I love flowers and I couldn’t stop staring at her costume, I just think I might make myself a similar one. It was also fun to see lots of people dressed as the character Link, we were having a blast trying to count how many we saw.

May 9, 2015

May 9, 2015

My personal favorite moment of the faire was running into Gandolf! As you can see in the photo, I was very happy. I ran to him and like a young child and asked for a photo with Middle Earths greatest Wizard ever. Definitely was the highlight of my time spent at the faire (I’m sort of a huge Lord of the Rings fan).

It was during the English Renaissance that fashion trends came from different countries in Europe. For example, many trends came from Holland, Germany, or Italy and specific features came from the French or the Dutch (Mortimer, page 137). During the era, clothing was specifically tailored in style by social class, it was fun to see all the guests of faire styled in all classes, yet mainly those of middle class. The faire made it available for guests to rent or buy costumes there, truly taking the look as real as possible in fabric, color and style. As purple was a color of royalty  and red and orange were rare as they were hard to obtain.

May 9, 2015

May 9, 2015

May 9, 2015

May 9, 2015

It was very traditional for women to wear smocks, stockings and hose, socks, waistcoats, bodies and farthingale. They would also wear petticoats, foreparts, kirtles, and gowns and more. Each of these clothing items had specific colors, lengths and kinds that went along with them. The Elizabethan women had a number of different footwear to choose from like slippers, shoes, pumps and boots. The hair and headwear were often expensive and a status of upper class along with accessories like a fan were considered to be a wonderful gift and treasure (Mortimer, pages 139-150). The men wore shirts, hosen, drawers, waistcoats, doublets, ruffs, gowns cloaks, hats, shoes and boots (Mortimer, pages 153-159).