Ren Faire Kilted Wench

[Alan H]

When I joined a Guild...which was one of the larger mistakes I made in the past 4-5 years.... I actually put in a fair amount of time trying to figure out what would be a reasonable getup for a Scotsman of low-to-middle class during the reign of the famous and romantic, if impractical, Mary Queen of Scots. Upshot was, that nobody cared what was actually authentic, they dressed the same as Faire people "always dressed". That was what I was supposed to do.

Direct quote from my Guild Mistress...."the patrons expect to see the men in kilts".

I was obliged to go to Guild training sessions where people who'd been doing this for years told us "how it's done", but couldn't put an actual historical reference together to save their lives. 3/4 of what I had to listen to was utter garbage, and of what was left, they could document NONE of it. From clothes to weapons....all of it, utter junk. It was after about the third one of these that I realized that this was a show put on for the gratification of the Guild Mistress and her friends....not even for the patrons, though we must wear what the patrons "expect" us to wear.

Don't get me wrong, the Guild Mistress is a nice woman and I like all of her family and several members of the Guild, but I just couldn't stomach the utter BS of packaging all this as "historical education through role play" and then everything about it was utter nonsense.

I'm totally down with having fun with utter nonsense. I'm ALL about having fun! Just don't try to make me swallow nonsense and regurgitate it as "educating the public".

However, I now have a really cool, if utterly fanciful Highlander Costume much like Panache's, complete with a GREAT targe that Panache made for me. I'm totally outfitted for Halloween and any Ren Faire within 120 miles.

End Rant.

[Zardoz]

Pirates? I'm here to help!










According to the Girltourage, you can "pirate up" basic faire garb by adding a fancy hat and some boots. These photos would support that, most of the girls just added some boots, hats, and maybe a sabre and brace of pistols, to elements of faire outfits they wear for other themes.

Here's a link that might be usefull; http://www.museumreplicas.com/s-6-pirate.aspx
.

[Geoff Withnell]

Here's a fairly tame shot of my favorite wench.

[auld argonian]

Just remember James Mason's admonition to the pirates as they boarded the ship in the movie Yellowbeard:

"One pet per pirate; parrots preferred."

Best

AA

[Zardoz]

Not to hijack the thread, but Alan's posts got me to wondering; are these guilds with all the rules and such a big thing in California? That sort of thing is pretty much unheard of at Texas faires.

I am in fact a guild member, The International Brotherhood of Rogues, Scoundrels and Cads, but we don't really have many rules, more like guidlines....and I've never heard of a meeting either, unless we count running into other members at faire!

[Panache]

Not to hijack the thread, but Alan's posts got me to wondering; are these guilds with all the rules and such a big thing in California? That sort of thing is pretty much unheard of at Texas faires.

I am in fact a guild member, The International Brotherhood of Rogues, Scoundrels and Cads, but we don't really have many rules, more like guidlines....and I've never heard of a meeting either, unless we count running into other members at faire!

Guilds get to attend Ren Faires and have booth/camps set up for free. They add to the Renaissance Faire experience by basically being unpaid performers. In theory they follow strict costume guidelines like the actual employee and vendors.

However there is a lot of....well "Ren Faireness" in what these costume guidelines are. In truth the male nobles should be wearing very short pantaloons with slippers and a lot of leg showing clad with white tights. This is the actual look from the period. Instead they wear pantaloons that come to the knee and high riding boots (or these really odd yet cool boots with horn buttons up the side). It looks "better" to a modern audience than the real thing.

I'm certain male nobles did wear high riding boots...when they were riding! But not when attending the Queen.

As for highland attire...well I'm happy with being cool!

Cheers

Jamie

[Panache]

My lovely wife has corrected me and just said that:


"Not all Ren Faire guilds are full of BS! Most are. But a few and I mean few actually do research and try to accurately portray people of the period. Not many people belong to those guilds because frankly they are kinda of boring and not at all flashy. But the folks quietly spinning, weaving, knitting, and doing other mundane stuff in rather drab outfits...that's getting close to the reality"

Cheers

Jamie

[auld argonian]

I am in fact a guild member, The International Brotherhood of Rogues, Scoundrels and Cads, but we don't really have many rules, more like guidlines....and I've never heard of a meeting either, unless we count running into other members at faire!

...well, you're Rogues, Scoundrels and Cads...what kind of rules are Rogues, Scoundrels and Cads going to have?

Best

AA

[GoodGirlGonePlaid]

Wow, what great photos, guys! Thanks so much!!!
You guys have definietly given me some inspiration. I still have my pirate eye patch and long coat from my "Captain Hooker" Halloween costume, I didn't even think of using it. But now I'll reconsider.

Yeah, I'm not going to join a guild, I'm not really a follow the "guidlines" kind of gal. We are going for the ales, merriment and debauchery.
Also, costume design was part of my major in college, which means I'm so over historical accuracy if it isn't for a grade.

I've been eyeing some awesome and reasonable leather corsets and such on etsy.
This will be fun!
I think I'm adding some steampunk to Kilted Pirate Warrior Wench. May as well be subtle.

[Brock63]

we might need to see Captain Hooker to determine your best course of action...LOL