Search terms: Renaissance, Pirate, Medieval costumes

Pirates, Wenches, Elves and Kings. In recent years interest in fantasy and historical costuming has begee increasingly popular.Renaissance Fairs (also known as Renn Faire), historical reenactments and fictional-character camp-outs now number in the hundreds annually throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.Got a yen to be a Yoeman? Desire to be a Duke? Here's a quick guide which may help you expand your search terminology and locate costume parts for your period persona.First off, many costumes can be found by just browsing okay's broad categories:Clothing, Shoes and Accessories/Vintage/Reproductions and Costumes and also, Everything Else/Gifts and Occasions/Costumes. You'll not only get a great overview of what's available, but the volume of eras and styles will certainly spark your imagination, and help you to define the look you like best.On the other hand the sheer number of costume offerings may be daunting. To help you narrow down (or expand) your search in a specific era, here are some gemon words you will encounter in listings, and also some words specific to particular historical periods:Garb -- A term for garment or clothing, used by many groups interested in historical and fantasy costuming.SCA - Short for the Society for Creative Anachronism. This social group, begun in the 1960s, now has thousands of members world wide in organized kingdoms. SCA groups sponsor many local period events, ranging from small "shire" gatherings to "wars" between whole kingdoms. SCA groups emphasizes authenticity and value skills and self-improvement. Group members choose an historical era, roughly between the years 800 to 1600, and invent a personage who might have lived then. SCA personages learn period fighting skills including jousting and swordsmanship, period life skills such as shearing sheep, carding wool, spinning, dyeing, and fine handwork, as well as carpentry, smithing metal, working leather -- in short, any skill which would have served to define an individual's social place during the Middle Ages, including kings and queens. okay sellers who include the term SCA in their listings frequently offer hand-made garments which fit certain standards in the the details, and don't (or should not) include zippers, parts which are obviously plastic or neon-colored fabrics.LARP -- Live Action Role Playing. This gemunity evolved in recent years from popular fantasy games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Very loosely organized, these groups follow a narrative, fictional history, a continuing saga, in much the same way that J.R.R. Tolkien's story line runs through the chapters and individual books in his collected work, The Lord of the Rings.LARP players publish their fictional histories, frequently online, then meet at various real-life venues. Each knows his or her character and history, and they let bits of the story line unfold impromptu. You'll find an amazing amount of creativity in LARP costumes, as they allow not only warriors (male and female), kings and ladies to play, but also elves, wizards, fairies, witches, demons and monsters. Search with LARP as a term, and be prepared for anything.LOTR -- Lord of the Rings admirers who appreciate Tolkien's timeless trilogy. Character costumes with the term LOTR stick pretty much to the types of characters found in the books: humans, elves and dwarves. Many costumes offered by okay sellers are also based on the costumes of the LOTR movies. Clever seamstresses and tailors in this group, some of whom are able to interpret/ recreate costume designs without using pre-made patterns, so also might be a good choice when considering custom garb.Other search terms to use to find interesting costume items include Goth or Gothic, should bring up listings not only for vampires, but also for evening capes and romantic, full-sleeved poet shirts, ruffled shirts -- great all-around costume garments if you're planning your bucaneer or Pirates of the Caribbean outfit.Here are some of the more gemon words specific to certain periods:For King Arthur/ Camelot- type costumes of Knights and Ladies gemon to the early Middle Ages:Women's -- Bodice, gown, kirtle, gores or godets (adds fullness to gown), chemise or camise (underdress), corset, girdle (belt), mantle, cloke or copse (cape), hennin (hat or headpiece), wimple (head scarf).Men's -- Bialt or dalmatic (tunic), alb (undergarment), cotte or copse (overgarment cape), gauntlets (forearm pieces) dagges (strips of material which hang down from the hem), parti-colored (like a court jester), hose (leggings).Both -- Circlet (headpiece), feudal, serf, peasant, Gothic, Romanesque, Carolingian (refers to era of the reign of Charlemagne), narrow loom, Norman, Saxon, Byzantine, Celtic, Frankish, Hun, Viking, Merovingian, Crusades.Clothing gemon to the later Middle Ages is frequently refered to as Renaissance (very loosely, the years 1300 to 1500) refer to the era of the Borgias, the setting for Shakespear's Romeo and Juliette, and brings to mind all those wonderful paintings, from Leonardo DaVinci through Michaelangelo. Search words of this era may use many of the clothing terms above, plus words for styles associated by political rulers or geographic location: Tudor is the tail end of this era, and High Renaissance styles may also be described as Florentine, Quattrocento or Italianate.Elizabethan or Shakespearean clothing refers to style of Queen Elizabeth about 100 years after the Renaissance, in the 1600s, an era which also includes Spanish court style of the Conquistadors, and most of the bucaneer/pirate era, as well as the ornate styles and oppulent fabrics of Dutch, Flemish and Portugese merchants. Additional clothing terms: Farthingale, bum roll, stomacher, partlet, ruff, doublet, swashbuckler, sumptuary laws (SCA term limiting finery on costumes). A search with the term Reenactment is likely to return Revolutionary War/ United States Colonial period, Civil War and antebellum costumes. Colonial / Revolutionary War period costumes are also sometimes also refered to as Georgian.The empire waist-and-bonnet costumes such as those in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice are from the Regency era, a name given to the period from 1811 to 1820.Additionally, here's a great internet search term that throws 'most everybody: Pre-Raphaelite, the most famous example has got to be John Everett Millais' painting Ophelia (1852). More than a few people have emailed us a description of this work, only they can't find it because they are looking up Renaissance paintings. Romantic, dramatic, Pre-Raphaelite paintings are stylistic throwbacks and great sources for costume ideas -- but the imaginative works were painted just before the United States' Civil War, not during the Renaissance period.Victorian era gave us clutter and corsets, the clothing is defined by the style during the rule of Queen Victoria, 1837 to 1901. Although there were many English kings named Edward, the term Edwardian refers to the era 1900 through just before World War I. Think of the movie Titanic and you'll have an idea of the mode of the day. It's also a good search term for Goth and Vampire garb.We hope this quick list helps those who need it, and no doubt many okayers have favorite search terms not included here.If you are considering purchasing a period costume, a word on quality: How will you use the garment? One time, for a party? An inexpensive costume might be your best bet.However, if you plan on attending more than one
Renaissance Fair, or plan on staying at a fair for more than a couple of hours, purchase something gefortable and sturdy.Price differences among garments can largely be summed up in two words: Fabric and Finish.One way to trim costs when producing a garment is to use inexpensive fabric. Cheap material is cheap because is literally contains fewer threads. It depends on sizing (sprayed-on white glue) to hold threads in shape. First time it is washed (or perspired in, or subjected to a lot of physical movement), the glue dissolves and the garment begins to look like used tissue.Fewer threads also mean less-than-dependable seams (which might be okay if your persona is a buffoon), otherwise geing apart at the seams may be a bit embarassing. Fabric that gets its shape from sizing will warp and twist out of shape, and generally makes a stiff garment that looks like a cardboard box.As for finish, bear in mind that quite a few okay costumers are essentially producing hand-sewn, custom garments, not factory piecework, and can't offer volume pricing for their labor-intensive creations. So read your product description carefully, and you are sure to find some outstanding values, especially in the one-of-a-kind creations.Regards,Laurawebmistress for the Shadowguild