A Not So Pleasant Peasant

"Fair is not fair but that which pleases."

 --17th century Italian Proverb quoted in Morris Palmer Tilley's A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Another Scarlett and Mama adventure!!

This weekend I headed off with my mother to check out the San Jose Renaissance Faire.  We decided to don peasant styles after experiencing some very hot weather at home.  However, when we got down to San Jose it was cloudy and cool, what we like to call "historically accurate weather."  I had worn my brand new wool partlet and was afraid that it would be ridiculous to wear a garment designed for warmth in August, but it actually came in handy!!  While the weather was good and the sun came out eventually, we were very underwhelmed by the faire.  It was unfortunately small in both cast and attendance, many of the vendors sold obviously modern goods, and there were only a few acts I was interested in watching.  I hate to use such strong words against a faire, but it was certainly not worth the over 2 1/2 hour one-way drive.  It ended up that we drove twice as long as we were there, since we ran out of things to do in less than 3 hours. 

Already in regular clothes and headed home after 2 1/2 hours!!!

However, I was there long enough to remember to take a couple of pictures for the blog!  I would like to add a new feature to the blog: "Fashionable at Faire."  This will catalogue my fashion choices at faire and show how the items I make are actually used.  I hope everyone will find it as fun as I do!  Luckily, this weekend I got a chance to wear two new articles of clothing, my coif and my partlet.  I added them to my red petticoat, red doublet Mach I, orange sleeves, square-necked linen shift, and my straw hat from Wheat Goddess.  Very comfortable!!

 

A rather picturesque peasant

Mr. Aertsen, I'm ready for my closeup!

  I was inspired by the mid-century market genre paintings by Flemish artists like Aertsen and Beuckalaer and the Italian Campi, especially in my choice of accessories.  Check out some of these beautiful paintings here: http://www.lepg.org/gallery.htm. 

Market Woman with Vegetable Stall by Pieter Aertsen, 1567.

Hopefully next trip to faire is a lot more pleasant!