I have to ask..

[angusmacinnes]

thanks VIII

[renfairephotog]

I justr watched the Simpson ToMacco episode. They are watching a movie. Zorro is fighting the musketeers and the Man in the Iron Mask.
Zorro: I have come to return King Arthur to the Throne.

Bart: It's a history lesson come alive.

Lisa: It's totally inaccurate.

Bart: Quite! Here comes the Ninjas.

[Zardoz]

Just from last year at TRF....


What looks worse here, the teletubby or the mulleteer in jeans?


Frederick's of Hollywood Lady Pirates...I'm OK with them.


Doctor Who, he is a time traveler..


Spock


A Sith Lord, his ol'lady, and a clone, from "a long time ago"

I thought I had a picture of a Ninja, but they know the art of invisibility!

But really, these folks are all having fun and paying to get in, why make them feel unwelcome at faire?

[renfairephotog]

Psst That's his wife. 

[Zardoz]

Psst That's his wife. 

Fixed, Man, I gotta put down the pipe!

[NoBill Lurker]

Last year at BARF...

[Keno]

I guess I have no problem with the girls wearing almost nothing because back then there were whores, and I guess that what I would expect them to wear.  But as I said ninjas should blend in not stand out.  I don't care what people that pay to get in wear, cause they are paying to get in.  But people that work there should at least look close to the age.  I know these kids have been there for some time so I would think they would have enough time to make something. 

[Kate]

I guess I have no problem with the girls wearing almost nothing because back then there were whores, and I guess that what I would expect them to wear.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH

ROFLMAO

[Count Adolfo]

well... you do have quite a few people who merely think Faire is a costume party

Anime to Zombies and everything from Slavegirls to Starfleet to Steampunk to Stormtroopers to Superheroes in between



I'm sure this season we'll possibly see the Avatar creatures.

There are Jack Sparrows and Aragorns
Back in the day, I saw more than my share of Connor MacLeods... kilt and katana

In my experience, there are two sorts of folk who do this...
There are the sort that want to participate... so they dress in what they have...
these folks are rennies waiting to happen.

Then there are the sort that are really just wanting to disrupt and shock.
I avoid these folks.  Best to do so.  Giving them attention fuels that attitude.



But, I have a question for all of us.
We're all much more tolerant of some flights of fantasy than others... no?
I mean, fairies are an expected sight at Faire.
Trolls... treemen...
and no one gets too upset at the Jack Sparrows or the Aragorns...
even if Jack Sparrow is Elizabethan era and the Faire isn't.

So my question is this:
Why do you think certain elements are more acceptable... or grate on us less, at least... than others?
Is it ok if it's "Medieval Fantasy" in essence but not otherwise?
Once you step into more "Space Opera" like Star Trek or Star Wars, it's suddenly not?

I agree about the Ninja thing, by the way.  I think it'd be HILARIOUS to do a deadpan skit with a ninja and a nobleman ... I can think of a few very funny concepts right off the bat.

Oh, and by the way
I wear my garb to Sci Fi Conventions.
When they ask "who are you supposed to be?"
I tell them... a character from a book that isn't OUT yet.  I believe in being a trendsetter, not a trend follower.

[Welsh Wench]

I think you are right on this, Count.
MEDIEVAL FANTASY.

To quote from Steve Martin's Theodoric of York--

'Why just 50 years ago we would've thought your daughter's illness was caused by demonic posession or witch craft. But now adays, we know that Isabelle is suffering from an inbalance of bodily humors. Perhaps caused by a toad or a small dwarf living in her stomach.'

People were more superstitious then, I do believe. Well, while they are superstitious today, they know the reasons for their superstitions.
For example, the Cornish believed in what is called 'pisky-mazed'. That pixies had a way of confusing travelers so they were lost and needed help getting to where they were going.
If this were true, then most men would be pisky-mazed. Hence most men are reluctant to ask for directions due to some medieval man getting directions from a pisky.....but I digress!

What I am trying to say is that pixies and fairies and trolls had their place in legend and lore in medieval thinking.

Star Trek and Stormtroopers?
Ummmm......no.

But live and let live.

[Zardoz]

I think the ninja emerged in the 14th-15th century, so they are at least period ...

[Keno]

I think its ok for fairies, troll, and other mistical creatures cause they were in the stories back then, if they weren't it wouldn't be period.  But I never heard in the old days how storm troopers would walk the paths, posing for the girls.  I took a study on ninjas and they were there back in the day but unless it was night or a very dark place would wear black.  But they would dress to blend in so no one would know what they are there to do.  Now I have heard of raising the dead but most of the time there was a witch or demon involved..

[Betty Munro]

As long as there was the toss in about Jack Sparrow not being period ...
Did kilts back then have sewn in pleats?

Well, I'd chat more, but I have a costume festival coming up to prepare for ...

[Anna Iram]

I know of a wonderful couple who were checked at the gates last year because someone got a bug up their butt about chainmaille not being worn in a family friendly way. Hers was not revealing, and I certainly saw much more revealed throughout the day from wenches and others in "acceptable" garb, but maille was the days target. Needless to say they were upset and left. A shame, for they are good patrons of the faire and there's a good chance they won't return.

So consider the fallout if you decide to speak out against someone elses garb. Take a good look at yourselves in the mirror and wonder if there is someone else who thinks you are disrupting their view. Perhaps rather than try to run someone out, get to know them. It might be they'll catch the tone of what the faire is meant to be about and become a villager next season. Not everyone makes it to cannon for the preshow or reads the program, so they may not even know there is a timeline and story and God knows I've shown up to medieval faires in elizabethan hoops etc etc and even my pirate garb one year as I was returning from a pirtate fest and wanted to stop by. I can't imagine how I'd have felt if I had been shunned, or turned away at the gate because of something so trivial. Not until later did I do a "duh" and realise how out of period I'd looked, but for that day the cast treated me as though I fit right in. Why can't we, as a group, be just as gracious?

[Zardoz]

As long as there was the toss in about Jack Sparrow not being period ...
Did kilts back then have sewn in pleats?

Nope, tailored kilts didn't happen till about after 1790 or so.

http://www.albanach.org/generations.html