Roma/Gypsy - Bells? Footwear? Cloth?

[Dinobabe]

Harem pants are super easy to make.  I recommend Simplicity 5359.  Wait for it to go on sale, they are usually $2.  Be aware that the pants are HUGE!  I folded the center in about 8 inches and they were perfect.

[Scotty Hunter]

5359, thanks, wrote that down. I'm hitting a couple stores in town on Tuesday to do some pattern hunting and fabric oogling. Simplicity and McCalls I believe are the two pattern brands they have. But I'll definitely look for the 5359. I can usually spend an hour easy just lookiing through the pattern books.

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

About bloomers:  I'd stay away from dance tights or anything not made of natural fabrics, especially if you will be at faire in hot weather or you will swelter.

To do it cheap and quick, especially for the beginning, since no one will see them, get thee to Goodwill and for a buck or 2, buy a pair of cotton pajama bottoms and cut them off either just above or just below the knee.  Much cooler.  If you can sew, in the future you can make your own out of cute patterned material, but the pajama bottoms work just as well.

I leave most of my bloomer bottoms open so the air circulates, but I do have a pair of pirate bloomers that have elastic at the bottom with a ruffle.  I wear them with my skirt hiked up, so you can see them, and then I like the look of the ruffle on the bottom.  It's your choice, but the open ones are cooler.

[Tink]

Just as another general Romani resource, I would recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Vlax-Romani-Ian-Hancock/dp/0893572586/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3  I took a class at UT taught by the author, and it was very interesting and informative.

[Adriana Rose]

Bellydance scarves have lotsa pretty sounding bells and coins. Also there is Etsy that has endless things that can work for faire and Gypsy.

Like you said as well the thrift stores are PRIMO for random faireish stuff too

[isabelladangelo]

Hi, I'm going to try to reply a lot of your questions from various posts at once regarding the Roma.   

First, an actual source:
http://larsdatter.com/romani.htm

Please, take a second to look at the actual paintings from the 16th Century of the Roma.   What you will quickly discover is that what people at Renn Faires wear and what was really worn has little to no similarities.   What has happened is this: Most people seem to like to perpetuate ignorance and do "Disney" research; ie, they think Hunchback of Notre Dame is period and must be real rather than even giving the slightest hint to any period sources for inspiration.   This, unfortunately, is common in many other styles and not just the Roma.  I call it "Hollywood syndrome" because, as we all know, Hollywood always gets everything right.  *insert facepalm here*

Sorry if it sounds snarky but I'm rather tired of people declaring themselves as something they aren't even really attempting to be and perpetuating ignorance.   I'm much more for education and explaining to people what really happened.

What was really worn was not bells.   They wore a linen chemise -sometimes decorated with embroidery- and possibly a sleeveless "supportive" chemise plus bodice beneath that.   Over the chemise, they had a sash of some sort -again, sometimes decorated- going from the left shoulder to under the right arm across the body.  They always wore hats.   For footwear, you are typically talking sandals or the same footwear as everyone else.  Mary Janes are period. 

Use linens, wool, and even silk for fabric.  They had access to the same merchants as everyone else; they just cut the fabric differently. 

If you have further questions, please ask.  I know of several good webpages on what was worn but I think the first one I gave you will probably be the most helpful for right now. 

[Dinobabe]

Thread hijack, sort of...

Isabelladangelo, I am researching the Rom people for a SCA persona.  I plan on spending time at the library but if you could point me to some internet resources that would be great!  I have found some but sometimes it is hard to figure out the right search words!   Thanks!

[isabelladangelo]

Of course! 
http://buttery.org/marian/Gypsy_dress/drape_main.htm

This is another one I rather like.  I have a few more at home saved but I won't be able to get to them until this afternoon.  Try using "Roma Garb 16th Century -rome" as a search for bing/google.  It works a bit better than some of the other terms I've tried in the past.   

[Dinobabe]

Thanks!

[lys1022]

Isabella is correct in that if you are going for a COMPLETELY H/A Rom, you won't look too much different from the average peasant of the period.  However, taking a moment to assume privilege that I really don't have and speaking for the performing company members who play Rom, it is very important that they present a picture that is "foreign" and very different from the peasants.  Otherwise they are just going to be peasants with a different funny accent than the rest to the average patron.

The Scarborough Rom do their very best to balance respectfully portraying a culture that is very private with cultural information against the needs of theatre.  Rom in England probably wouldn't speak Khalderash for instance, that dialect is more local to other parts of the world.  However, it is the most common Rom dialect, and thus the one with the most sources, so that is the choice that /I/ made when I was the Lead Dialect Instructor for the Performing Company.  It allowed us to still respect the language as opposed to just using Russian instead (which had been the previous custom), as the Rom on performing company at Scarby all have a history that brings them to England from Russia and the Eastern European states.

I think that if you approach a portrayal from a point of respect and genuine interest as opposed to throwing out stereotypes at the drop of a hat, THAT is the important thing.  I think that performers who do so try to represent ALL of the cultures shown at faire in a positive light (because believe me, the village characters and Court characters are probably no more H/A in terms of every detail than the Rom characters. The only reason they may be a bit more accurate is that there is a LOT more source material available on them.)

*grin*  I think I got a little soap-boxish.  Sorry about that.  It's an important subject for me, being someone who has an avid interest in other cultures and in history as WELL as being a former instructor and a sometime performer.  I think that it is important for folks to realize how hard the folks at many faires (not all, but a lot) work to try and bring as much research and background into things while having to still be entertaining about it all.  Again, this is from a performer's point of view, which is different (not better, not worse, just different) from the point of view of the playtron or what is looked for in the SCA and other similar organizations.  No one who performs sets out to insult anyone (well, other than Christophe!  *snerk*), and many want to use their positions to help spark an interest in history and culture in the average patron.  That's one reason that a lot of us are out there.  We love to entertain AND we love to teach, and this is a good way to do both.

Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. *hops off soapbox*  I hope it made a LITTLE sense, anyway.

[isabelladangelo]

Isabella is correct in that if you are going for a COMPLETELY H/A Rom, you won't look too much different from the average peasant of the period.  However, taking a moment to assume privilege that I really don't have and speaking for the performing company members who play Rom, it is very important that they present a picture that is "foreign" and very different from the peasants.  Otherwise they are just going to be peasants with a different funny accent than the rest to the average patron.

Correction; the Roma did not wear what the peasants were wearing. (I looked and, although I mentioned the footwear was the same as everyone else, the dress itself was vastly different).  What they wore was distinctly different from any cultures the Roma interacted with.  Peasants tend to wear what is less "dressy" version of noble garb (similar cuts, just out of less expensive materials with less embroidery and other ornate decorations).  The Roma are wearing something different and it doesn't seem to change from area to area.   

[Scotty Hunter]

Thanks for the replies! Good info!

No worries about the soapbox thing. Hop on it whenever!