Of Wondrous Waistcoats and Wacky Wordsmiths

THE BLUE WAISTCOAT IS FINISHED!!!!

And just in time for this year's San Jose Renaissance Faire. Ok, ok, so last year I completely swore off this faire. No way was I driving all that way for so little reward. But then Sound & Fury announced that they would be performing at the San Jose faire, and that it would be their only California performances all year. I couldn't miss a chance to see Hamlet & Juliet!!! Plus Goody McMannis had never had a chance to see these incredible thespians. So off we went!

The guys were even more hilarious than usual. Hamlet & Juliet is always fantastic, but it really hit extra hard that performance. There were definitely some improvements at the faire since last year, a little less modern merchandise and a few more good historical merchants. The court was great as always and the encampment area was nice. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement (for one, the layout is like a maze with a dozen dead ends!), and I don't plan on going back next year, but we still had a good time.

I was up pretty late the night before getting the waistcoat to a wearable state, but I took the last 15 minutes before I went to bed to wetset my bangs for the frissed/fryssed/frizzed 1590s hairstyle. It was really easy and looked awesome! I will definitely be doing it quite a bit during the NorCal run. Ok, here's step-by-step instructions in case someone wants to try it out for herself:

1. Part bangs down the center.

2. Dampen bangs with diluted Lottabody setting lotion.

3. Roll one half of the bangs, then the other, with as many small sponge rollers as possible. Maintain the center divide by rolling the hair closest to the center away from the part. I made a point of rolling the rest of the bangs in as many different directions and orientations as I could so that the curls would be as individual and crazy as possible. 

4. Go to sleep! Zzzzzzz....

5. Style the rest of your hair, then take out the curlers, and don't panic!

6. Comb out the curls using your fingers, separating and fluffing the curls. Sculpt them into two approximately equal piles by teasing and smoothing the shape with your fingers. Check out portraits to get an idea of the variations on the shape and size. Don't be afraid to be bold!! It will look much better if you go all in.

7. Once you're happy with them, HAIRSPRAY!!! I'm a big fan of Aqua Net, it's strong enough to really hold the shape against the elements, plus it's so cheap that you can use as much as you need without feeling guilty. Now put on your coif (if you're wearing one); the point of the coif should fit neatly between the two frissed mounds.

Before:

After:

I had so much fun with this look, I'm so glad that my guild mistress has approved me to wear it this way at Northern!!! Becky and I also tried hair taping for the first time. I used two yards of 1/2" linen tape apiece, and it was more than plenty. I used a yarn needle to "sew" with the linen tape (traditionally they used a bodkin, but I've only found them in bone and horn, which I'm not comfortable with as a vegetarian). Not only was this more historically accurate than a regular bun, it was sooooo comfortable!!!!!! Definitely worth the extra time because it will feel great all day long. The linen tape was really "grippy," which meant it held really well all day without slipping but took some carefully maneuvering to get back out. I did mine first and, while it doesn't look super pretty, worked just fine:

I did Becky's for her, and unsurprisingly it turned out much prettier!!

It was so comfortable and looked so cute that we left our hair up when we went to a production of Othello that night at Solano Community College. What an excellent production that was, too!!! It was a fantastic end to our day! 

Oh, and yes, I do have some full body shots of the day's style!! I felt fantastic in my new waistcoat, and I am so glad that I get to move on and start some other projects guilt free. I am really happy with how my waistcoat turned out, I really feel like my sewing has improved by leaps and bounds--and hopefully it will continue to!! Lots more projects on the horizion as we head closer and closer to the 2014 Northern California Renaissance Faire!

 

Ruff-ling my Plumage

Ok, last post to get things up to speed!

No doubt about it...I'm one fancy gal. Ostentatious may as well be my middle name. Nowhere is that more apparent than in my faire projects. Evidence below, naturally.

Goody McMannis and I stepped out in style at the Sonora Celtic Festival to start the faire season out right! My giant ruff made its debut, paired with my first attempt at rolled hair. It's basically symmetrical victory rolls, which is no problem for a vintage gal. I originally intended to wetset it the night before to try the popular 1590s fryssed hair, but I didn't end up having the time. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test that style out at some point this year, and of course I'll be sure to document it here when I do. I really dug this whole look!!! In front of ye olde 19th century Blacksmith, of course.

However, I must confess that I am getting rather sick of the tan waistcoat + gray petticoat combo. I suppose it's because it is currently my only option. More incentive to get the blue waistcoat done and get a move on to my green kirtle. I definitely don't want to be stuck wearing this same outfit the entire run of Northern!!

I hadn't been to this faire since it was in its previous incarnation in Calaveras! The drive was great in my new Impala (Baby was made for road trips--town to town, two lane roads). The faire itself was really nice and we enjoyed ourselves. Definitely bring cash though if you go, even the ticket booth was cash only! Even though it's technically a Celtic festival, at least 2/3rds of the faire was historically-minded. Next year Becky and I hope to return--but this time as vendors!

Also, March features my favorite holiday--MY BIRTHDAY!! I managed to pick up a couple of Elizabethan books as gifts, Sleepless Souls: Suicide in Early Modern England by Michael MacDonald and Terence R. Murphy and Janet Arnold's posthumous Patterns of Fashion 4. As can be expected, PoF 4 is incredible, and the multitude of colored images take the cake. AND THEN ANOTHER MANIA STRUCK!!! Smock! An embroidered one, with a high neck and carnation-pink silk embroidery! Who could say no to that?? Since my name may as well be J. Thaddeus Toad, I am following my latest mania and have started researching, accumulating, and preparing to make my very own smock, while simultaneously continuing to work on my waistcoat. I ordered (and laundered) some beautiful linen from Wm. Booth Draper (WLG 105 ~4oz White Linen). I also ordered some really lovely silk thread for the embroidery, Soie Gobelins #2914. Of course I had to fall in love with a color that is inactive, and I've only tracked down two spools so far. Crossing my fingers that it will be enough!! The design is also pretty much finished, but it's still awaiting approval from my Guild Mistress, so no sense listing it yet. The base of it is the "Eglantine" pattern from Practical Blackwork (http://liadain.fatcow.com/id3.html). Although I have a lot on my costuming plate this year, someday my smock will come! (And hopefully before the end of Northern!)

Smock, 1630, Victoria & Albert Museum, T.2-1956

Smock, 1600-1618, Museum of London, A21968 

If you thought I was snooty before, I assure you that my snobbery will soon be taken to whole new heights. You have been warned. I am signing up for the Cabinet of Curiosities course (http://www.thistle-threads.com/teaching/projects/onlineclasses/casket/casket_registration.html) as a present to myself for finishing graduate school. Be prepared for jealousy-inducing knowledge and embroidery goodies. Speaking of grad school, I successfully defended and submitted my thesis. Hardcore awesome!!! Umm, I mean, insooth, 'tis a glorious daye!! Yeah, that.

While I will not be surprised if others want to follow me down the path of historical snootiness, be wary that it comes with a price, and I don't mean just the price of silk and wool!

Folsom, Interrupted

I visited the Folsom Renaissance Faire with my little cousin Brooklynn the weekend after Northern ended. So, I've had a draft of a post for the Folsom Ren Faire done for a couple of months now waiting to post. However, then I started thinking about internet safety and identity control and decided not to post her pictures after all (this was really hard because they are SOOOOO CUTE). So here is an abridged version of the post to record what I wore and to encourage others to visit this lovely little faire.

The Folsom Renaissance Faire is a great small faire, lots of fun with nice booths and good atmosphere, and close to home to boot. It is also situated right next to the fantastic Folsom Zoo. It's definitely amusing to pop over to the zoo and wander around in your Elizabethan finery. Don't miss this bonus activity--make sure to take a break and see the animals!

I took my plain waistcoat up a few notches with my red tall hat and snazzy jewelry for a change. I think it's a pretty good look, though in truth the hat should be worn with finer clothing than I have. Oh well, it was more about having a good time and being together, rather than worrying about the highest level of accuracy. Can't beat myself up too badly for not having my wardrobe up to par--just need to keep sewing!!

Much Ado About Cardigans

Me, Becky, and Brigett strike a pose!

Me and my crew made our first trip to Much Ado About Sebastopol a couple of weeks ago.  Goody McMannis, my friend Brigett, and my mom Tammy accompanied me to check out this faire that is also a fundraiser for the local schools.  The faire had a few high points, since there were some dedicated rennies there who tried to add a historic bent to the event, but overall it is more a school fundraiser than an actual commercial Renaissance faire.  I will continue to watch this fledgling event, but it is certainly not quite a legitimate faire right now.

However, the idea of faire as fundraiser is very familiar to me.  Twelve years ago, I was student body president at my K-8th grade elementary school (a tiny thing of about 60 kids).  Of course, with great power came great responsiblity: I needed to fundraise, and I was determined to blow my small-time school away!  So, as a Renaissance faire enthusiast, there was no better option than putting on my own Renaissance faire.  My mother was my assistant, sous chef, and all-around best friend, and without her my faire never would have had a sliver of a chance.  We spent nearly every day for months prepping for the fundraiser, from crafting flower crowns to making peanut brittle.  It was a rousing success, making an unheard-of $1000 for the school.  The problem with MAAS, unfortunately, is that it is only somewhat above my long-ago pet project.  I will never forget the fun and empowerment that came from putting on my own Renaissance faire.  But as an Elizabethan hobbyist and not a community member or school parent, Sebastopol is not the faire for me.

My faithful helper, my mom!  Looking scandalous in our undies!

That doesn't mean that we had a bad time, however!!  The four of us had a great time hanging out, watching the court, and meeting and talking with other faire lovers.  Without further delay, here are some pictures of our day at MAAS:

The secret?  My black & white waistcoat is a cardigan from Target!!!!  I got so many compliments all day!

Turn to the left!  Check out that bumroll!

I paired my cheater waistcoat with my gray linen petticoat, high-necked shirt, coif, and straw hat.  If you look closely you can see my Elizabethan Costume favor!

Next up: our annual trip to the Northern California Renaissance Faire, the faire of all faires, my first love!  We will be going the whole weekend and I can't wait to celebrate Oktoberfest in the 16th century.  Farewell until this weekend! 

Working girls, Goody McMannis and I!  Waistcoats and petticoats are always a good combo.

Unfortunately, our post-faire meal was mediocre too!

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!