And you know what? Maybe it WOULD be nice if everyone at a ren faire was REQUIRED to wear period-accurate clothing, like a Regency ball sort of thing, once in a while. I think it would be a cool, immersive experience.
But that will NEVER happen. The faires want to make MONEY. There will ALWAYS be people dressed in modern tee shirts, dragging fairy princesses and GOT soldiers behind them. There’s gonna be a wizard in a sparkly suit, and roman soldiers.
So if people are not REQUIRED to wear period accurate clothing, I think people need to STFU about “time travelers ruining the experience” you know?? Or furries, etc.
Like, their “medieval knight” costume doesn’t fit the prompt either. It’s a RENAISSANCE fair!!
I LOVE to see a Trekkie (myself included) at a ren faire. Or Marty McFly. I want to see people in costume having a good time.
(Side story: when I was 15 I went to a ren faire as Spock [im a woman] and my friend as Uhura. A grown, middle aged man, wearing a TEE SHIRT AND JEANS and pushing a MODERN STROLLER with a modern-dressed child in it, got MAD I mean mad to the point he confronted 2 teenage girls, about us wearing our ST costumes. Like,,,, bro,,, you’re not passing the vibe either. The hypocrisy!)
I think a time traveler is more realistic than a Roman soldier. Because why are you, a Roman soldier, in Renaissance times? Lt. Commander Data? He’s there because he’s there saving the fucking timeline. You should be THANKFUL
Why did you, a Roman soldier, walk here from your metal chariot? Where is it's horse? Why are all of these weapons blunt? How come the joust is mostly ting tricks and nobody is being fucking DESTROYED by a lance?
None of it is realistic, you're in the woods or a field near potable running water with people selling fried oreos.
Are you suggesting a centurion couldn’t be a time traveler? That he’s too stupid to cobble together enough water wheels and exotic alchemical ingredients to craft a low tech device? That’s kind of rude of you.
That’s what I read at first. It’s on brand for a fantasy setting so my brain was ready for the word.
Fun side note: there was a roving piano tuner who my parents hired a couple times. They had some random pictures of fairies in the house. The tuner noticed these and was excited to share information on a gathering/festival that reports human and spirit attendee numbers. Don’t ask me how they know how many spirits attend the thing.
Probably just some sort of hippy spiritual thing, but it was odd enough for my parents to decide to not hire him again.
Maybe it varies by location, but the one in Phoenix is overwhelmingly people in modern clothes, and the people who dress up are the minority. I think it’s definitely treated as more of a theme park experience than an immersive participatory one by most people here.
The one in Phoenix is also fucking PACKED like a can of sardines. It's like one of the five things people can do in this hell-state for entertainment, and the last few years it's been impossible to enjoy, let alone walk ten feet without having to push through a crowd of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder. This year's was just miserable.
I once had a guy at a Halloween party give me so much shit for my Athena costume I had made myself because my shield wasn't accurate to ancient Greece. Dude wasn't even wearing a costume.
If the faire implemented an "immersion" day it would happen only once ever. The place would be empty because hardly anyone has actually historically accurate clothes. The performers and vendors wouldn't make any money (actually they wouldn't be allowed either because they are also not historically accurate). Enforcing the dress code would be a giant pita, and the organizers would quickly realize this was a terrible idea and decide not to do it ever again.
Easy way to make money: Offer simple rentals at the gate. Blouses, skirts, tunics, etc. and tack on a very high non-return fee. Then, it make it more attractive to people to take part, offer a 10% discount at all food and booths in the faire if you're dressed up.
Yeah, someone posted recently whinging that our local ren faire had people dressed in non-period accurate costumes and stuff (strangely was more upset about that than the people in no costume at all) and I also pointed out that a ren faire really can't afford to restrict their audience like that, and also they do events for the whole week leading up to it that are more restrictive on costumes, it's just the actual 'faire' part that was open to everyone. And the person did actually go to all those too! But still felt they had to whinge at public being invited to the public-facing event that was designed in part on educating the general public :P
I think it’s important to remember not everyone had the money for an elaborate costume or the skills to make one. This alone would scare a lot of people away from a ren fair if costumes were required I think. It would be a rule that excludes a lot of people I’m afraid.
What exactly do they mean by that?
I’ve only ever seen pictures of American ren fairs, and it looks like there’s all kinds of fantastical wizards and witches and general “old timey” stuff going on without an actual theme.
I respect this perspective. I’m basically the opposite of you and hate dressing up in costume for any reason. But I like the fanfare and novelty of a renaissance fair. I’ve been to one ever and it was fun to watch some events, eat some food, and people watch. I just wanted to be in shorts and a sandals because it was hot as fuck.
I remember when King Richard's Faire in Massachusetts was new they gave discounted entry for dressing in costume. This was 40 years ago before they sold out to (whatever the name of the big nationwide ren-fair company is)
I was at a ren fair and there was an orange fox furry and some king guy kept having his herald ask for support in his upcoming hunt only to then have it be revealed that he was also wearing a prince costume and was under some beauty and the beast type stuff
I went with some friends because one of us was in one of the planned events. We got there, event friend went on to get ready, and the rest of us were firmly escorted back out of the whole fair by some obnoxious staffer because we "weren't in GARB". I saw no signs or flyers about this restriction. The fair was in some random campground far out of town, and event friend drove us there, so we just sat around the damned parking lot for several hours. No food, only had the campground water fountain to drink from. The staffer actually posted himself at the entrance to watch us, not that we made any attempt to get in. Late in the afternoon, one of the other staffers came out to talk to the obnoxious guy. The two of them kept looking at us like we were some sort of street gang, but the other staffer went back inside and came out a while later to tell us we could come in to get food if we paid for it, but we had to go back out to the parking lot to eat. It was highly irritating.
That sounds like it was an SCA event, not a ren faire. SCA is essentially a club that goes camping and practices historical crafts. Also drinking and partying.
If it were required for everyone at a renaissance faire to wear period-accurate clothing, then they also need to provide said clothing. I don't have the money to spend on an outfit I will wear maybe once every couple of years.
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u/TheyCallMeSuperboy 7d ago
I love ANY excuse to dress in costume.
And you know what? Maybe it WOULD be nice if everyone at a ren faire was REQUIRED to wear period-accurate clothing, like a Regency ball sort of thing, once in a while. I think it would be a cool, immersive experience.
But that will NEVER happen. The faires want to make MONEY. There will ALWAYS be people dressed in modern tee shirts, dragging fairy princesses and GOT soldiers behind them. There’s gonna be a wizard in a sparkly suit, and roman soldiers.
So if people are not REQUIRED to wear period accurate clothing, I think people need to STFU about “time travelers ruining the experience” you know?? Or furries, etc.
Like, their “medieval knight” costume doesn’t fit the prompt either. It’s a RENAISSANCE fair!!
I LOVE to see a Trekkie (myself included) at a ren faire. Or Marty McFly. I want to see people in costume having a good time.
(Side story: when I was 15 I went to a ren faire as Spock [im a woman] and my friend as Uhura. A grown, middle aged man, wearing a TEE SHIRT AND JEANS and pushing a MODERN STROLLER with a modern-dressed child in it, got MAD I mean mad to the point he confronted 2 teenage girls, about us wearing our ST costumes. Like,,,, bro,,, you’re not passing the vibe either. The hypocrisy!)