Prepping For Valhalla Renaissance Faire, 2011

I made this jacket last year, from a pattern in “The Tudor Tailor” (there’s also one in “Cut of Women’s Clothes I believe, and some other places).  The partlet is also from “The Tudor Tailor.”

There’s one little problem this year.  Beautiful Lake Tahoe isn’t going to be so cheery.  Instead we will be enjoying authentic “English Weather” with a side of rain, possibly snow, typical wind, and COLD.  Then there are those uniquely American bits to it, namely…bears.  I’m not kidding.

Anyway, bears aside, I’m of the opinion that a cold(er) faire is a good one, but a wet faire, not so much.  If it precips, I’m hoping for snow instead of rain, but it of course means more prep than usual…

The Lot of Items Upon or About My Body:

Underpinnings

• socks
• leggings or lil’ shorts (or both for cold)
• shirt
• payre of bodies (corset)
• petticoats
• red shoes

Footwear is always a problem with middle to upper class Elizabethan clothing.  Last year I wore my black rough Fugawee shoes but they were too small and uncomfortable.  I had to give them to a friend.  This year I’m going with the new Devonshire shoes – yes, these are 18th c., but with the latchets turned back like this, they are not entirely too far off from an approximation of Elizabethan shoes.  Low-heeled shoes were popular in the later 16th c.

Top Layers

• yellow skirt
• red jacket
• caul
• hat

A quick little project I like to call “The Elizabethan Ski Hat.”  It’s a pattern from “Tudor Tailor,” but I’ve done mine in red wool with a white linen lining.  My research showed that hats were worn over these, so I’m going with the brown velvet flat bonnet this year.

• black velvet shoulder partlet
• gray wool cloak
• Foxy Loxy cuddlefur

I bought FoxyLoxy at a costume sale up in Virginia City last year and haven’t had occasion to wear him, ‘cept for a vintage-inspired photo now and then.  It’s his first in-costume outing.

Accessories

• leather pursey-thing
• red gloves
• basket full o’ bitchin’ noms and eating thingies.

A small leather purse I bought at Casa de Renfaire a couple years ago.  No, nothing remotely Elizabethan about it, but pouches and pockets are majorly handy and I like this one muchly.

And then those anachronistic things … camera, cell phone, credit card, car keys, 2 thermoses of hot noms, and water bottles.

I think that covers it…