Hey, Julie, you been holding out on me? Are you SCA too? Anybody else got armor hiding in the closet (or, like us, in the corners, all over the floor, etc..)

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Answers

I'm not SCA. But I go to one or the other of two Ren Faires each year (sometimes BOTH). The one at Bristol, WI, is doable as a daytrip. The one over at Shakopee, MN takes longer to get there, so we (whoever goes with me) stay for the weekend. One particular friend and I often go "in garb". We're thinking about creating garb for her S.O. too, so we can all get dressed up.

What Ren Faire do you go to? If you go to Shakopee, did you ever see The Flaming Idiots perform? They're the funniest act I've ever seen! Unfortunately, they are doing the Ren Faire's any more, as far as I know.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

No, I'm just a Renn faire oddball. My friends are in SCA, so I sort of get in the backdoor on some of it, and keep up with the happenings in the local shire. If I had more time and they were closer, I'd probably be donning some armour and falling off my horse along with 'em. I even bought some more cloth today shopping for more garb....

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

One of my son's is SCA.....they sure had a lot of fun when they lived here. I don't know if he still participates (he moved to southern florida) but there was a really awesome gathering about 20 miles from here every year. I had actually forgotten all about that....years pass and times change.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

I have been wanting to join SCA, but the local group meets the same night that we play Dungeons & Dragons. (Hey, a girl's got to have priorities in life!) We go to the Ohio Ren Fair at least twice during the season and usually hit the Michigan one as well. I've sewn garb for myself, Keith, my friend Karen, and this year I'm making an outfit for Karen's 5-year old daughter Jessica. I just bought a pattern to make a Kinsale cloak but I haven't got up the guts to try it yet.

Last year I was on-call for work one weekend when we went to Ohio and my pager went off when we were about half way there. I sure got a lot of strange looks standing at a pay phone at a truck stop in garb! A little boy asked me if I was going to the Ren faire and I told him that I always dress this way! :-)

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

I just posted a photo of Keith and I in our garb to the photo album. I made the Irish dress that I'm wearing. I was going to post a photo of my with my friend Karen since I made her dress too, but it's on my desk at work and I forgot to bring it home. D'oh! Let me add the disclaimer that I make no real attempts at historical accuracy, I just like to have fun! :-)

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Sherri et al,

You'll find the picture in the album titled: Member's Pics 2. Here's a link to the photo:

Link

BTW, great pic!

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Hey Joy,

Are you planning on going to the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee Minnesota this year?

I haven't been to it in years (I don't do crowds real well) but maybe we could meet somewhere for coffee or lunch if you're in the area this year?

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Really nice picture Sherri, I love your dress!!! And Sharon, I see yours is there also............just showed your garden to Gary and said "I want one of those!!!!" so beautiful.

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

Okay, so someone clue me in on this SCA stuff. First, what does SCA stand for? And what "ages" are included in the Ren Faire? I stitched up some dresses one time for a couple of ladies who did a historical re-enactment thing at a local park - Abe Linclon time period. I had to sew them by hand so they would be authentic. Blechh!! Seemed like it took forever! I would have a LOT less clothes if I had to put in every stich by hand! Do you have to stich your costumes by hand? And how do you decide what time period and place to emulate? And (last ?, I promise!) can one go to a Ren fair in current garb, just to see what there is to see? They sound interesting!

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

SCA stands for Society for Creative Anachronism (did I spell that right?) I'm not a member so I don't have the specific details, but basically it's just a bunch of folks who like to get together and pretend they live in the Renaissance. They have knights and other fighters, and clubs for needlework, dancing, cooking, and other stuff.

The Ren Faire (short for Renaissance Faire) that we go to is set in 16th century England. You don't need to dress up to go to them, in fact most visitors don't. All of the people that work there dress up and talk in accents so you feel like you're back in time. Queen Elizabeth I is there and the knights have tournaments and there's lots of shopping. We just started dressing up for the fun of it. There aren't any stichery police at the door examining your seams for hand sewing. (Although there is a guard at the door to make sure that any swords are properly tied into their scabbards, although they ususally don't check my bodice dagger!) My dress was made entirely on my trusty Bernina, all the way down to the embroidery on the cuffs and hem of the chemise. The patterns come from a regular fabric store, just check the back of the books where they have the Halloween costumes. If you want to dress up and can't sew, there are plenty of vendors selling ready-made clothes, as well as websites that sell clothes. Here's the website for the one we go to in Ohio. www.renfestival.com

-- Anonymous, June 20, 2001

The Ren Faire at Shakopee is in the realm of Henry VIII of England (mostly the mid-sixteenth century, i.e. middle of the 1500's), while the Bristol Faire is in the realm of Elizabeth I (daughter of Henry VIII), so is later in the 1500's. I have costume sites bookmarked, if anyone wants to see them. I've seen costumes that are too early and ones that are too late for the period to be portrayed. If they're on Faire goers (rather than employees), no one cares.

Sherri answered the sewing part, for the Faire's anyway. I believe SCA is stricter about authenticity. Most people attending the Faires go in mundane garb (everyday modern clothing), but some of us like to dress up. Some people are incredibly authentic, others are incredibly unauthentic. No one cares. The "performers" (which includes members of the court and villagers) and the shopkeepers strive to be more authentic. I've noticed a slackening in standards in recent years compared to a decade ago (when I first started going), including in speech patterns and accents.

If someone is checking your bodice closely, it could be someone envious trying see how you made it. Or it could be someone checking out your, um, decolletage! ;-)

Websites for the Minnesota (Shakopee) Ren Faire:

http://www.renaissance-faire.com/Renfaires/Minnesota-Renaissance- Festival.htm

http://www.renaissancefest.com/minnesota-main.htm

Bristol: http://www.renfair.com/Bristol/index.htm

Directory of Faires: http://www.faires.com/

Jim, I don't know if I'll make it to Shakopee this year or not, but I WANT to. Did you mean meet at the Faire, or elsewhere? I'll keep you posted -- if we get over that way, I'd like to meet you! Ruth, too, if you can persuade her to meet one of the forum loonies. ;-)

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001

Jim, I don't know if I'll make it to Shakopee this year or not, but I WANT to. Did you mean meet at the Faire, or elsewhere? I'll keep you posted -- if we get over that way, I'd like to meet you! Ruth, too, if you can persuade her to meet one of the forum loonies. ;-)

I'm not sure if we'll attend the festival or not - I like that sort of thing but I have problems with the crowds. But that wouldn't stop me from driving up to the area to meet you at a near-by restaurant or something like that.

Also, depending on which way you drive up for the event, you'd be more than welcome to make a stop at my home, too. If it does look like you'll be making the trip this year we can always discuss it in more detail via email.

And yes, I'm almost positive that Ruth would like to meet you seeing as I've made mention of you enough times. :-)

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001

And my ears weren't even burning! LOL! Okay, I'll keep you posted via email. We usually come into MN on I-94.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001

SCA time is more "Middle Ages" than Renaissance. Anything within 600- 1600 is considered "period" for us--which may explain the earlier period garb at Ren Faires that was mentioned. While Ren Faires are open to the public, most SCA events are technically not, though anyone interested can show up and there are always many helpful folks who will loan out garb so you can observe and not feel so "mundane."

About the garb--yes, we do have "period nazis" who think anything not strictly within period is bad. Most are just there to have fun and we try to look as period as possible but I'm not going to throw a fit if I see someone wearing sweatpants with their tunic. And I'm not authentic enough that I'm going to sew seams by hand, although I do hand embroidery and beadwork on some things. Most of those patterns by Simplicity or McCalls are "costumes" and a mishmash of period details and not authentic to any specific time period or location.

About what you decide to be, or what time period, it's personal choice. My hubby is early period Viking (about 1000--Scandinavian) and acts the part with braided hair, beard, etc. My "persona" is 15th century Spanish-Moorish, and I wear both Spanish garb and Middle Eastern garb, whichever the mood takes me.

I'll refrain from any more looong answers =). If anybody has any questions feel free to email me. If I can't answer 'em I'll direct you to a site that can.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001