Day of Wrong?

[Merlin the Elder]

I only seek fun and high adventure!!

Hard to find cool people in Texas, SQiRL, unless it's early in the season. By the end of May, all the cool people are baked! 

[SirRichardBear]

I only seek fun and high adventure!!

Hard to find cool people in Texas, SQiRL, unless it's early in the season. By the end of May, all the cool people are baked! 

This is Texas please we're slow roasted like good Texas BBQ should be. 

[Merlin the Elder]

I only seek fun and high adventure!!

Hard to find cool people in Texas, SQiRL, unless it's early in the season. By the end of May, all the cool people are baked! 

This is Texas please we're slow roasted like good Texas BBQ should be. 

If you don't mind, I think I'll skip the BBQ'd Bear... 

[Lady Mac]

I said this before somewhere on here about DOW, most hilarious costume I have seen is at Bristol
in Wisconsin. A complete, period, ladys' outfit made from either draperies or the bed linens of the Green
Bay Packers, topped with a cheesehead mini-hat. Picture that in your mind and don't laugh.

[Trigger]

I participate in DOW whenever I get the chance. I am not HA in any sense anyways as I dress pirate.
Once upon a time us pirate types were the ones frowned on because we didn't "belong" at a renaissance faire.
Worrying about what someone else is wearing is kind of petty to me. If it is that much of a distraction then every mundane out there should be a distraction for you as well. Along with the pubs, the majority of the foods and the bungee jumping.
Have your own fun folks! Ignore what isn't a part of what you want to do and let them have there own fun too.
Relax! It's Faire!

*rum isn't HA and I am not giving that up either*

amen to this. my garb isn't HA and if people look at me funny, so be it. i come to faire to have fun with my friends, a number of which are on cast and have no problem interacting with me. granted, i'm not the Predator or anything remotely close.. but i don't understand all the judgment on what people choose to wear. no one is forcing you to dress steampunk or sci-fi or anime. if seeing one or two or even a handful of people dressed like that really ruins the whole faire experience for you.. that is truly sad. i saw a whole Doctor Who invasion a few years back and i'm sure there were some people who disliked it, but they were there for ONE DAY, had a great time, and i saw many people who loved it. it's not like they're taking over. if you are that worried about them (possibly maybe eventually but probably not) outnumbering people who dress HA or close to it, then start getting more of your mundane friends into faire.. or talk to these sci-fi/steampunk people and see what their motivation for their costume is. maybe they don't really know what they would wear to a ren faire under normal circumstances but they want to wear SOMETHING and just need some help figuring it out. the person in that Predator costume or steampunk costume could potentially be a great asset to the playtron group if we, rather than judge them, try to include them. who knows, i'm just rambling and speculating here and i'm gonna hop off my soapbox after one last thought.. if we are so worried about what people think on DoW, do we really want them to think we (playtrons) are judgmental snobs who refuse to associate with mundanes or people dressed un-HA because of what they wear? i think we are better than that. at least i really hope we are.

[Gauwyn of Bracknell]

I think DOW is OK, since it is usually a 'play' on the garb we wear.  I think Predator is a bit over the top, and when people see it they may then get the idea that anything costume is OK. 

[cowgrrl]

I don't even try to be HA although I do wear mostly items from Ren Faire vendors. My pirate fairy garb is most assuredly not HA but the majority of it was purchased at Morescas or Boss Wench.

AFA the Time Travellers themed weekend last year, I know a lot of people didn't like it but IMO it seemed to keep 'that stuff' on that weekend. If you didn't like it at least you were only annoyed one weekend. 

[DonaCatalina]

Just because some of prefer to dress in as close to period accurate clothing as we can doesn't mean we are judgemental towards the person who isn't. Having said that, it has been my experience that most of the people who wear alien costumes, Star Trek or Storm Troopers costumes to a Renaissance Faire are doing it for the shock and abrasiveness.
They are not interested in being included they just want to be the negative center of attention. After years of trying I finally gave up on most of them and I now group them with the shrubbery and the mundanes.
Sorry if that makes some think bad of me, but I will not allow them to ruin my faire experience.
DOW used to be funny when you did things like made a period accurate Tudor out Halloween Fabric.
But the last several years it has become more like something out of a Parisian peepshow frankenfurter nightmare.

[Gauwyn of Bracknell]

Just because some of prefer to dress in as close to period accurate clothing as we can doesn't mean we are judgemental towards the person who isn't. Having said that, it has been my experience that most of the people who wear alien costumes, Star Trek or Storm Troopers costumes to a Renaissance Faire are doing it for the shock and abrasiveness.
They are not interested in being included they just want to be the negative center of attention. After years of trying I finally gave up on most of them and I now group them with the shrubbery and the mundanes.
Sorry if that makes some think bad of me, but I will not allow them to ruin my faire experience.
DOW used to be funny when you did things like made a period accurate Tudor out Halloween Fabric.
But the last several years it has become more like something out of a Parisian peepshow frankenfurter nightmare.

where's the like button ?

[Trigger]

please don't take what i'm saying as an attack to anyone here, it's not. i'm not saying that everyone is judgmental, faaaaaaaaaar from it, just that everyone deserves their fair shake. if they are doing it for shock value then no, there is no reason to include them in your faire experience and it's perfectly okay to pretend they're not there. even though i don't know most of you personally (despite the fact that i've been doing scarby near religiously for years) i know rennies are some of the most accepting people in the world, but just like we are not all the same, neither are the people who may come dressed in what some of us may view as inappropriate. i also know some rennies (while it may not be the case) can come off as snobby and unaccepting, even to their own 'kind.' i'm simply trying to play devil's advocate here. what if someone came to faire in steampunk stuff because it was the closest they had and they still wanted to participate in SOME manner, possibly while checking out their options to actually purchase ren faire garb (had personal friends do this)? there are many, many possibilities as to their motivation and i respect the people who HAVE gone out of their way to speak to or try and include the people who wear these costumes. we just have to be careful to not paint them all with the same brush. DoW is about having fun. yes. hell, that's what the entire renfaire experience is about. if you choose not to participate, then so be it. the furthest i've ever gone has been steampunk. but DoW is one day out of many, and not everyone participates anyways so chances are anyone who comes on DoW is not going to assume that scarby is a giant fenced-in anything goes type of place.

we were all patrons once, some of us not too long ago. if faire speaks to you, it speaks to you. it tugs at your heart to be 'one of us' and to exist where there is magic. in my experience, it doesn't matter what everyone else is wearing. you know when you find your 'home.' i may not know you all personally, but can bet you all felt that same calling. i don't think any of us come to faire ONLY to play dress-up in heavy, silly clothing in the middle of texas summer.

[Otwell Throckmorton]

so chances are anyone who comes on DoW is not going to assume that scarby is a giant fenced-in anything goes type of place.

I think some people's main concern here is for the people who have never been to renfest, or have moved to the area after casually, not participatorily, attending a different ren fest.  If they were to come on DoW, and had NO idea that DoW even existed, and just happened to come on the day of DoW, and had NO idea that it was going on...  conceivably, yes, they could think that about scarby...   I think that is, probably, the major concern here.

[Merlin the Elder]

I understand what you're saying, Trigger.  If it were to be held to DoW, I wouldn't really have an issue with it. As you say, it's a all about fun.

It may be that I'm missing something on the other days.  I'm not advocating for strict HA, because quite frankly, a lot of us don't have the money, or the time, or the ability to buy or create different costumes for different faires, but at least we are attempting to fit into the spirit of the faire, be it Medieval or Renaissance. Star Wars isn't in the same millennium, much less the same galaxy.

I'm not being judgmental, but I am trying to understand the reasoning behind it (outside of DoW).

[Merlin the Elder]

PS: Gauwyn, here you go:

[Otwell Throckmorton]

I am trying to understand the reasoning behind it (outside of DoW).

From a Sociological perspective, in large groups that carry one theme, if you deviate slightly...  IE:  In our world, dressing as a wizard, a pirate, Mermaid, walking tree, etc would be merely attempting to show one's personality without deviating too far from the established social norm (IE 1533 period dress).  These people, typically, aren't trying to rock the boat, but merely fit in with the established social norm, whilst still being able to hold on to, and display their own uniqueness and personality (usually a personality type that pushes social norms, but not shatter them).

In the same large group setting, those who deviate greatly... IE: Predator, Star Trek, anime cos-play, etc  Are, typically, just wanting attention.  Negative attention, positive attention, this doesn't matter (which is one reason they may show up to a ren faire in this dress).

Now, as always, we're dealing with humans here, so no one analysis can possibly analyze all variables.  Thus, there are exceptions to every rule.  However, the exceptions are usually a statistical anomaly, and will most likely fall into the 5% or less range of the total (but more likely around 3% or less).

[Trigger]

outside of DoW, i dunno someone's motivation other than what Dona Catalina said.. shock value. i was speaking more directly towards DoW, or more in the realm of steampunk outside of DoW (since steampunk can still sometimes look somewhat similar to what people wear to faire.. my steampunk stuff, outside of accessories, came from the same places i get my garb). i think my synapses got all tangled in the process. Predator, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc don't really belong at a faire nor would they really come to mind if i was a patron and thought "hmm.. i want to dress up and go to the ren faire.. what should i wear?"

anyways, if people insist on participating on DoW, then maybe those of us who don't should go out of our way (especially around patrons), to point out NICELY or jokingly that a person IS participating. even if you are just loudly commenting to your friends. as for the rest of the season, the best bet is to ignore them i suppose if they're dressed so far out of the realm of possibility of trying to blend in.

unfortunately we can really only police ourselves as to what we wear. Predator paid his money to get in and, while we may not agree with what he wears, as long as it doesn't harm anyone there's nothing to be done other than trying to educate them. :/ if i had it my way, EVERYONE would be a playtron and dress at least somewhat HA.. but sadly there will always be jean shorts and flipflops in scarby.