What Goes into Making Your Own Renaissance/Elizabethan Era Costume?

An Elizabethan or Renaissance Faire is a country fair with an historical theme. The people who host the fairs are like actors, who take on the role of residents who "live" in the village that has organized a celebration. Because Renaissance Faires are, in part, living history exhibits, the costumes, tools, buildings, speech patterns, and customs the "residents" employ must be authentically detailed and accurate to the period being re-created. However, the focus of these fairs is really to evoke the romance of those times, rather than the harsh realities. So one can say that Renaissance and Elizabethan faires recreate history as it SHOULD have been.

Just as a country fair in olden days would have attracted visitors from places outside the village, so modern fairs attract travellers. Vendors come to sell their wares in new markets, performers put on shows and play music to entertain the public, and still others come to buy goods not available in their area, and to BE entertained. That is where you, dear reader, and I play our parts. We round out the life of the village, and make it complete. So, paying customers visiting the fairs, which I call Travelers, are encouraged to come in costumes as well, to enhance the interactive "Faire Experience." Developing a character you can portray, like an actor, is part of this experience, also. But finding the right costume for your character can often be a puzzlement. You can buy one at a Faire, but that is very expensive for most people. This Web site was developed to help get newcomers, quickly and inexpensively, into character. Even if you have little experience in sewing, you can still use the directions and suggestions found here to make fantastic garments. Details about authentic sewing techniques are presented, but for the most part I outline modern methods and shortcuts. If you desire to be as strictly authentic as possible, there are resource links, listed on my Sewing Porjects page, that will take you to excellent sites. Because Ye Auld Garb Monger is a man, the hints and suggestions you will find here are oriented toward manly garb. However, Ye Auld Garb Monger has made note of those things women can use as well. To create simple garments for women, I recommend Julie Raybon's excellent site, The Garb Bag. She has the frugal, rogue costumer in mind, as do I.

Also on the Sewing Projects page, Ye Auld Garb Monger makes available illustrated projects that will take you step-by-step through making two costume pieces from scratch. You will also find a list of links to Web sites that cover other areas of costume-making not considered here. Now, onward to a consideration of the elements of the Renaissance that will influence your choice of character and costume.

When was the Elizabethan Era?

The Renaissance as the period marking the transition from the Middle Ages into the Modern World, beginning in the 14th century in Italy and lasting into the 17th century. The 'RenFair' The Auld Garb Monger attends is the Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California, which is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558 - 1603.) So properly, it is an Elizabethan Era fair. Pictured to the right is one of the actresses who have played the role of Queen Elizabeth over many years. William Shakespeare (Billy Wigglestick?:-> ) lived and wrote during this portion of the Renaissance era. Queen Elizabeth was romancing all of England, and Sir Walter Raleigh was throwing cloaks across mud puddles to keep her feet clean. Sir Francis Drake was the Queen's Privateer, and in the RPFS milieu, the Lord Mayor of Chipping Under Oak Wood. There was a rebirth of the arts and literacy in these times.

Noble, Middle Class, or Peasant?

What kind of manly-man will you be? Just like the modern world, there were classes of society in the Renaissance. Peasants were the common people. They were poor, usually farmers and servants, and their clothing reflected their means of living. Homespun fabrics were made into rough work clothes, but which certainly allowed festive frills and decorations for occassions like the Faire, though there were limits on what people of each class were allowed to wear. So clever decorations, that fit one's class, were a visible measure of a person's imagination and intelligence.

Middle Class people were craftsmen and women, like merchants, carpenters, weavers, etc. They could afford a few of the finer things in life, but they still had to work for a living, so their garb could not be too fragile and fine. Perhaps they owned a few outfits of finer fashion for special occasions. They were not Nobles so they could not wear royal garb.

Nobles, of course, were the ruling gentry, and they dressed like it. They did no rough labor for themselves, so they could wear rare and expensive clothing. They dressed in richly accessorized clothes, also, to represent the wealth of their nation to foreigners.

These divisions in apparel made it easy for people of one class to recognize people in other classes and behave accordingly. After all, people who treated a noble like a peasant would be punished, though the reverse was not the case.

There is a another class, found throughout all periods of time, that has its own special dress code: the military. By themselves, Unattached men-at-arms or mercenaries were poor materially, and would serve any noble man or woman that could afford the price. But when part of a standing army soldiers were supported by taxes.

All three social classes were found inside the ranks of military men as well. Conscripts (people drafted into service by force of law) could come from just about any lower class, the middle class were represented by regular soldiers, and nobility by the knights and generals of an army.

Because of the unique needs of the military, their garb changed very little between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Very few warriors actually employed full-plate armor. Sturdy wool or leather stood them in good stead, with selected pieces of armour or chainmaille for better protection. And unless one were in a standing army or in the service of a noble, one was forbidden to carry swords or bows out in the open, much less in a village or city. Of course, if you are a customer at a faire, you can wear just about anything.

So, who will you be? Bear in mind that the cost of your costume in modern times has a direct correlation to the Renaissance. Noble fabrics still command a noble price. Since the purpose of this site is to show you practical and frugal costumes you can make yourself, you will mostly find ideas for middle and lower class costumes here. Also, since our goal is to get you into costume quickly, there are hints in these pages for adapting clothes you might already have to match the "flavour" of the period.

"Be Ye Merry!"

So, forward then to the Jerkins page and look at the hints I present there. Or, browse the site at your pleasure. Just click on the page you want and have at it! These pages were designed for people with limited sewing experience. If you can sew, or are on good terms with someone who can, then this sight will be a breeze. Please, remember to add this page to your Bookmarks, Hot List, or Favorite Places, so you can come back here quickly, and tell me what you think of the site. I will try to update these pages as better suggestions come in, so stay in touch.