Renaissance, Medieval, and other historic costuming

Between the Renaissance Faires, the SCA (Society for Creative
Anachronism), LARP (Live Action Role Playing), various Civil War
re-enactments, and the costume cons, the demand for historical clothing
is on the rise. The question most people ask when looking for
"garb" or historical clothing is what will be right for me.

First, are you doing a "historical" re-creation or are you into
"fantastical" role playing? The differences can easily be blurred
depending on how much time and effort you want to put into your
character or persona.

For fantastical role playing, almost anything goes depending on your
group. Lord of the Rings outfits are very popular right now and
work well for various characters. Most people tend towards using
what I call historical materials with modern cuts. Live Action
groups tend to have the ideal clothing as being medieval or
renaissancish. They aren't exactly what was worn during those
time periods, but have the "feel" of those time periods.

For ladies, Fantastical characters can go from looking like Arwen from
Lord of the Rings to Gwenavier from King Arthur to wearing a bodice
with 3/4 sleeved puffy shirt and a circle skirt with a lacy handkerchief
skirt over it. It's really what ever you want!

For gentlemen, Fantastical characters can look like any of the male
characters from Lord of the Rings to a Roman Soldier to wearing nothing
more than a tunic and a belt. Again, it's whatever you want.

For the historical recreations or re-enactments, it really depends on
how strict the group is. Some groups want everything done exactly
as in their specific period, down to hand sewing the clothing!
This tends to only be true for the hard core American Civil War and Rev
War re-enactors.

SCA: The SCA is a bit
more strict than your local renn faire or LARP. You cannot go
walking around like Xena for the most part. Most people
either attempt to buy or make their own historical clothing.
According to the SCA website, the time period they are re-creating is
between 900-1600. This is a HUGE amount of time and gives you a
lot of leeway in what you can wear. There is a somewhat unspoken
"10 foot" rule in the SCA; if you can't tell it's not period from 10
feet, it's okay.

900-1200: Early Middle Ages. This tends to be the "layers"
period. Ladies wore long tunics with shorter over tunics.
Men tend to wear the shorter tunics. This of course varies
by geographic area and by specific time. There are plenty of
other types of garb that can be worn from this period, like the Viking
Apron dress.

1200-1400: Late Middle Ages and start of the Gothic period. The
cotehardi and hoppeland both show up in this time. The flamboyant
hats that most people associate with the middles ages and the surcoats
(gates of hell) show up around this time as well. Basically, when
you think "medieval" this is typically what most people picture.

1400-1500: Renaissance. Although some may argue with the dates
(these are just approximent!) this was about the time of the start of
the Italian Renaissance. Towards the end of this time is when the
underbust dresses made popular by the movie Ever After appear.
The farthengale(hoop skirt) makes it's first appearance in the 1480's in
Spain which makes the skirts "puff" out. The gowns themselves
tend to have more shape to them and fashion changes quickly.
Men's outfits get shorter during this period. This is about the
time that the velvet doublets start to make their appearance.

1550-1550: Tudor. Think Henry the VIII and Anne
Boylen. You have the fur coats, the jerkins and doublets (tight
fitting vests), tons of embroidery, velvet gowns and wonderful jewelry.


1550-1600: Elizabethan. Ruffs, lace, and amazing amounts of
silks. The fatheringale goes from a conical shape to the wheel
shape towards the end. Partlets are popular towards the start and
end of the period. Starch is discovered! Men wore peascod
bellys which were, essentially, fake beer bellies and codpieces.

Revolutionary War Reenactments:
Rev War Reenactments tend to be more strict in their dress code than
the SCA. Whereas the SCA has the "10 feet" rule, the Rev War
doesn't. There is some leeway still however. I have yet to
hear of anyone getting upset about the use of metal or cable ties as
boning in a corset or gown. I have heard of some scary stories
about the buttonholes looking a certain way, but I'm not sure about
those.

1770-1790: Again, approximate dates for the clothing. This
was a HUGE transition period in clothing. You can get away with
anything from the full Panniers to the more simple later Empire
styles. For men, you'll most likely be required to wear a
uniform of some sort. The pants tend to be mid calf with
buttons. The shirts are simple with buttons at the wrist most of
the time. For more formal occasions, men might add a waistcoat
and a frock coat.

Civil War Reenactments:
These are by far the most well known reenactments. Some groups
within this era are strict. Very very strict. However, not
all are. Most just want "close enough" to the period
clothing. There have been many confirmed reports of "stitch
counters". Stitch counters are people who will actually count the
amount of stitches in a buttonhole and demand it be corrected if the
stitches are off by even one. Oh yes, these people exist.
I've seen them lurking and ready to pounce their poor victims.
They are the fashion police of the reenactment world.

Ladies: Gone with the wind is fine but more "humble" clothing is
probably better. Plaids are great and calicos are normally pretty
safe for patterned fabrics in gowns.

Gentlemen: Uniforms! Wool coats! Scarves! Pants
were very tailored and yes, like that episode in CSI:, men did
sometimes wear corsets.

I hope that helps some people. I do mainly the renn faire and the
SCA but have been to other events. My period tends to be from
1480-1530. I love the Italian fashions and the early Tudor.