# What to wear to a Renaissance wedding if not a rennie costume **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656 "2011-09-26T15:01:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/1 "2011-09-26T15:01:08Z")
Long story short, I’m going to a rennie wedding on Saturday, and an unexpected $3K in bills has wiped out what I would have used for a costume, so that’s out of the question. So what the hell does one wear when most of the rest of the place is in period garb? It’s an early afternoon wedding and it’s in a normal banquet hall, if that makes any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/2 "2011-09-26T15:05:13Z")
Sandals, loose cotton trousers and a flowing shirt (Pirate sleeves!) ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/3 "2011-09-26T15:31:56Z")
Talk to the Faire geeks who are hosting the wedding and borrow an outfit. They’ll have several. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/4 "2011-09-26T15:51:44Z")
Could you rent a costume instead of buying one? Failing that, check out your local Goodwill, and see if there’s anything that would work. It’s nearly Halloween, so lots of places will be trying to sell old costumes and such. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/5 "2011-09-26T16:55:16Z")
**Scuba\_Ben** has your best bet. If you want to sew up something easy, google t-tunic or t-tunic pattern. Add a leather belt, loose pants, and either sandals or boots. Well, it would have to be the right kind of boots. [And don’t forget a hat](http://www.costumes.org/HISTORY/100pages/RENHAT.HTM). No one went out without a hat. Alternatively, you could get yourself a loin cloth and some mud and go as a leper or beggar. Threatening to may make it easier to borrow a costume. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/6 "2011-09-26T20:19:53Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Threatening to may make it easier to borrow a costume. Brad the _what?_ Um, yeah. sure, you can borrow this. Oh, no, it’s no problem. Um, just keep it as long as you want. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/7 "2011-09-26T20:34:48Z")
I guess I should add a caveat here. If you ask to borrow a Ren Faire outfit on the grounds of threatening to show up as a beggar, be very careful how you phrase your request for a costume. Otherwise you’ll get put into something humorously inappropriate for you. (For guys this frequently involves a bodice.) Ren Faire folk have a twisted sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/8 "2011-09-27T10:36:24Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. Renting one is out of the question at the moment, but I can definitely ask around. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/9 "2011-09-27T11:51:52Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > I guess I should add a caveat here. If you ask to borrow a Ren Faire outfit on the grounds of threatening to show up as a beggar, be very careful how you phrase your request for a costume. Otherwise you’ll get put into something humorously inappropriate for you. (For guys this frequently involves a bodice.) Ren Faire folk have a twisted sense of humor. Not to derail a thread, but some guys absolutely rock a bodice. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/10 "2011-09-27T14:18:12Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Not to derail a thread, but some guys absolutely rock a bodice. That’s not necessarily a derail. Some guys do look good in a bodice, they just need to be convinced to give it a try. FWIW, “looks good in a bodice” does not always translate to “feels comfortable being seen wearing a bodice”. Even for girls. I can think of a few current and former Dopers who would look good wearing bodices. The other popular attempt is to talk a guy into wearing a [del]skirt[/del] kilt. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-wear-to-a-renaissance-wedding-if-not-a-rennie-costume/597656/11 "2011-09-27T18:57:17Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > That’s not necessarily a derail. Some guys do look good in a bodice, they just need to be convinced to give it a try. > > FWIW, “looks good in a bodice” does not always translate to “feels comfortable being seen wearing a bodice”. Even for girls. > > I can think of a few current and former Dopers who would look good wearing bodices. > > The other popular attempt is to talk a guy into wearing a [del]skirt[/del] kilt. IIRC, the current Scottish kilt isn’t that old (1700’s?). But the garment that it’s based on, the Great Kilt, could be easy to pull off, since it’s basically just a rectangular blanket that’s folded and wrapped around, kind of like a toga or sari but different. You really need wool tartan for this, but you could probably make do with something else that looks similar. Ask a rennie.