# Can someone explain Renaissance Faires? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565 "2006-07-15T01:17:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![shizaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@shizaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shizaru)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/81 "2006-07-17T19:42:55Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > A number of members here have mentioned they’re into Renaissance Faires, which of course got me thinking about the whole thing a bit more as I saw a _Family Guy_ episode revolving around one as well. > > Perhaps someone can explain the whole concept? From what I gather, they’re fairs themed around the late medieval/renaissance period, in which participants dress in renaissance clothing, eat roast pigs from spits, drink mead, and there are archery competitions and mock tourneys and lots of craft stalls etc. > > The interesting thing is, from what I understand, that the Renaissance Faire movement has a substantial female movement behind it. I don’t know how true that is, but it seems women are far more likely to stand up and say “I enjoy Renaissance Faires and being part of them” than guys are. > > There’s a Society for Creative Anachronism at my University, but the whole idea of a Renaissance Faire as a semi-mainstream thing hasn’t really caught on around here (there’s still a vague feeling those involved are taking _The Lord Of The Rings_ a bit too seriously). > > Anyway, in an effort to understand the whole thing, perhaps the Renaissance Faire people on the SDMB can explain to me what the whole thing is about, what goes on, and what got you interested in the first place? They are a lot of fun for the reasons already mentioned. My wife and I have a tradition to go to the faires near us since we’ve been married. We always get a pic taken. (when we are in the US…since we’re military, we have missed a few years.) But it is fun. Of course, we’re interested in the fantasy of medieval life so it has a special place for us in our hearts, and I miss going when I’m not in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/82 "2006-07-18T02:48:59Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Actually, it’s red that was derived from the cochineal beetle. Hugely labor-intensive and hugely expensive to find, collect and process the bugs. No, I’m thinking of the Phoenician city of Tyre, I believe. The extracted something from a critter they fished out of the water, and made purple dye out of it. Ah, here we go. And here’s a better explanation: > [@](#): > > But it was Tyre’s purple-dyed textiles, worn throughout the ancient world as a mark of royal rank, that brought fame and fortune to the city. One gram of pure purple dye was worth ten or twenty grams of gold, so it is not surprising that some of the beautiful sarcophagi of the necropolis belonged to wealthy purple dye manufactures of Tyre. > The ancient Tyrians extracted the dye from the Murex, a marine snail that still lives along Tyre’s shores deep among the rocks and sunken archeological remains. Dye extraction is no longer a viable commercial venture, but scientists have documented the process for historical purposes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/83 "2006-07-18T02:58:39Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > After hours. Watching people get more and more drunk and telling stories and making lewd comments. That seems to be a theme, doesn’t it? Ah, yes…after hours at a faire. If you can’t get laid there, shoot yourself. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/84 "2006-07-18T03:22:40Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > For me, the best part about being a grown-up is that I can play as much as I want to. I can go out and dance in the rain and jump in the puddles. I can dress up in a costume and speak in Shakespearian English. I can color for hours and make clay sculptures. (I guess I have moved on from Play-Doh in that regard.) I can make a snowman or fly a kite in the park. And no one tells me to eat my vegetables! Great Og, I’ve stumbled across the perfect description of adulthood. Lissa, may I please use it in a sig file? Pretty please? (says the woman who has been known, on rare non Halloween occasions, to dress as Cthulhu in public, and who now feels the sudden irresistable impulse to build a pillow fort, but is sad she would have no one in realspace willing to throw sock grenades at her). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/85 "2006-07-18T03:28:19Z")
Incoming! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/86 "2006-07-18T04:24:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Arizona Renaissance Festival, Feb. 10-Apr. 1, 2007, 6 miles east of Apache Junction on Hwy. 60 [Link](http://www.royalfaires.com/ARIZONA/) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/87 "2006-07-18T10:20:50Z")
Re: purple - Part of the confusion comes in because the historical “purple” … isn’t. It’s more of a deep crimson (whether murex or cochineal). This article [Tyrian Purple](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple) has a swatch that matches what I’ve seen in historic dyers’ swatches. Re-black - Black is an easy, cheap colour to get. Just raise black sheep (I’m not joking). Failing that, or for black “other stuff”, various gall dyes with iron, or overdyes of opposite colours, will do the job, but not be as lightfast or as “black”. For most period purposes (doublets, robes and the like), black wool would do the job. Or why do you think there were entire monastic orders that wore black robes? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/88 "2006-07-18T13:14:38Z")
We may be going to Bristol this Sunday. Anyone familiar with it able to give me any info? Better to go early or late? Any shows/performers/merchants to not miss? Any tips on what to bring/eat/drink? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/89 "2006-07-18T14:13:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > … > Re-black - > Black is an easy, cheap colour to get. Just raise black sheep (I’m not joking). > > Failing that, or for black “other stuff”, various gall dyes with iron, or overdyes of opposite colours, will do the job, but not be as lightfast or as “black”. For most period purposes (doublets, robes and the like), black wool would do the job. Or why do you think there were entire monastic orders that wore black robes? IIRC, it’s black leather that some take issue with. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/90 "2006-07-18T14:53:01Z")
Can someone tell me where to buy a bodice or something like that? This year I want to actually buy one. Or maybe make one! Where do I get a pattern? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/91 "2006-07-18T15:10:00Z")
> [@Selkie](#): > > Great Og, I’ve stumbled across the perfect description of adulthood. Lissa, may I please use it in a sig file? Pretty please? Take it, with my blessings. Don’t worry-- there’s the perfect sock-lobber waiting out there for you. It’s a great first date question: “Wanna build a pillow fort?” If they look at you like you’re a nut, move on, girl. Move on. If they say yes, and challenge you to a silverwear sword fight at the table, book a wedding chapel. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/92 "2006-07-18T16:16:03Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > We may be going to Bristol this Sunday. > Anyone familiar with it able to give me any info? > Better to go early or late? > Any shows/performers/merchants to not miss? > Any tips on what to bring/eat/drink? Bring yourselves. Leave all modern conveniences in the parking lot. A camera (what we call a Flemish Painter) is OK as long as you’re not using it excessively in that stereotyped Japanese tourist manner, but prepare to be mocked (or worse, called a witch) if you’re seen with a cell phone, pager or crackberry. If you can stand it, leave the sunglasses behind and see the shire as we see it, even if it is a bright day. Hats are good for keeping sun out of your eyes, so long as they’re not bright orange baseball caps. Actually, one of the fastest ways to be identified as a patron (or what some faires derisively call a turkey) is to not wear a hat, as hats are required of faire participants. Magic potion, aka sunblock, is a Very Good Idea. If you’re one of the unfortunate types that get deathly ill from a bee sting, bring your epi-pen. Bees just love to swarm around trash cans full of turkey bones and soda cups. I can’t speak as to what’s a must-see at Bristol as I’ve not been there since the pre-corporate days when it was called King Richard’s Faire. Early or late? Not much to say there other than that the day will only get warmer as it goes along. Please be sure to drop a buck or more into the hat of anyone who’s entertained you. We’re not cavorting around in the heat under all that wool for our health, and we’re certainly not doing it for the money either. Most performers only get what’s given by the patrons after a show, and are beyond thrilled if they’re able to break even and get enough to pay for gas to get to the faire. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/93 "2006-07-18T16:22:05Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > One reason is because idiot fundies have complained that the word “medieval” has the word “evil” in it. > > I’m not joking, unfortunately. You got a cite for that? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/94 "2006-07-18T16:22:35Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Bring yourselves. > Actually, one of the fastest ways to be identified as a patron (or what some faires derisively call a turkey) is to not wear a hat, as hats are required of faire participants. I’ve always distinguished between patrons and turkeys. Turkeys are the ones that try to dress up but fail miserably. The goths walking around in velvet dresses. The horrible mismatch of peasant and noble garb. The way-too-short kilts. One should always be nice to patrons - without them we couldn’t have faire. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/95 "2006-07-18T16:27:44Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > One should always be nice to patrons - without them we couldn’t have faire. I don’t know how accurate the last part of that is. There may not be as MANY renfaires, and they may not be as elaborate in staging and infrastructure as many are now, but I think that things like sci-fi conventions and Pennsic prove that there WOULD be faires even if no Mundanes attended. Any thriving hobby that works best in small-to-large groups will eventually attract enough of a crowd that some sort of convention/faire/wargame/tournament will be organized. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/96 "2006-07-18T16:30:15Z")
Should I recommend that my daughter, who is hugely into all things Arthurian, wear her druidic priestess/Mists of Avalon get-up? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/97 "2006-07-18T16:33:45Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > You got a cite for that? :dubious: I have heard this but not quite in that way. Not “It’s got evil in it so it is evil” but more like “it is already evil and even the word says it! Which is God’s way of telling us it is evil.” These are the same people who disapprove of D&d. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/98 "2006-07-18T16:49:28Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Either you’ve got a spooky ability to string words together by coincidence, or you really know our history. Many years ago, NCRF\* was produced under the auspices of a group called the Living History Center. To this day, a lot of our stuff has LHC stenciled on it somewhere… Kevin, is that you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/99 "2006-07-18T17:00:34Z")
I’ve skimmed through this thread, and I’ve seen references to bodices and cleavage, but there’s a particular feature that I think bears mentioning. Back when I was a wide-eyed young SCA geek and Ren Faire visitor, a frequent topic of agreement among the ladies was that the Renaissance costumes look great on women…but especially two sorts of women. Firstly, I heard repeatedly asserted, the bodice-style garments (Tudor?) were commonly believed to flatter larger women. Coupled with fancy jewelry to distract and flatter, many of our aging, perhaps-no-longer-slim female members felt they looked much better in such garb than in normal modern street clothes. Conversely, the late mediaeval/early renaissance garment called the [cotehardie](http://www.fashionsintime.com/html/cotehardie.html), allegedly the first tailored garment in European history, was believed to look really good on younger ladies with good figures. A slender girl looks demure and graceful; a bustier girl looks, um, amazing. I personally concur with both assessments…particularly the cotehardie, which was widely acknowledged to contribute to our group’s high rate of retention of younger males. 🙂 In summary, any time you have an event that is regarded as flattering to the older and possibly heavier females AND the younger, still-showing-off college-age girls, AND it’s romantic, AND the men wear tights, you’ve got a an almost self-sustaining force. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565/100 "2006-07-18T17:07:55Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > IIRC, it’s black leather that some take issue with. Even more wrong, though - the trick with tanned leather is to _stop_ it turning black whenever it’s in contact with iron. Turning veg-tan black is as easy is brushing it with a vinegar & iron filings solution. I know, it’s how I dye my SCA leather gear. Sometimes I think the people who come up with these supposed “they didn’t do it that way” rules have never seen a medieval portrait or illumination. Some of the things they come up with are just dumb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-renaissance-faires/364565.md?page=6)