Tulare County (Visalia) Renaissance Festival
This was a great weekend! I had such a great time, I was sad and surprised it had ended so soon.
Friday I had burnt my ruff, so I was in a sad, but determine mood as I finished up my costume. I did my packing of costume stuffs right before I went to bed. It thankfully all fit inside our largest luggage piece, so I was happy and slept pretty well.
Saturday morning I was up early, and was packing the rest of the stuff I needed, mostly foodstuffs I had bought on Friday, my sewing box, my bead boxes (for my pearl hair decorations), jewelry bag, the shoes and other stuffs and got it in the car. Then out into the cold air (thank God for the natural A/C as temps were in the high 60s or low 70s that weekend - perfect for our court garb) for breakfast at McDs and down the freeway to Visalia's Plaza Park, for the faire. Arrived early, made check-in, parked the car, and found Rick, one of our GMs with his truck heading onto site, so I caught a short ride with all my stuff (else it would have been two trips). Then it was notes, the start of faire, and it took me a good while to get myself dressed.
I really like being able to lace myself into my corset, and managed to get it close to the spacing it was on the dress form... close enough that the whole outfit closed pretty much as predicted (and what little gap there was in the overskirt, was hidden by the picadill). I sadly took no photos of myself or of anyone else, as my day was too busy to do so. But I am hoping that the many photos people took, that maybe one might show up of me.
Garment wise for me, there are a few tweaks I need to do to make it near perfect, including moving my oversleeves forward, and making up a new proper ruff (which will never get near an oven). But the gown was a hit, and I received many positive comments, lots of questions and may, along with salemkat who also wore a 1590s gown that was GORGEOUS in blues and an open ruff, may start a trend for this style of Elizabethan fashion in our area. Especially since we tend to do very late Elizabethan faires.
Pat, who portrays our QEI, was in a fluffy confection of off-white silk (we called it a wedding-cake-topper dress), covered in self-fabric bows and tons of jewels. You can see it here (I am behind the chair to her left), and closer here. You can see part of my skirt material and my head in the procession here (3rd person behind her on her left, behind the Garter Knight in black). She's walking with Lord Derby, played by her husband, and he is also wearing a new outfit in rust orange, using Margo's Gentleman's pattern. More photos of the faire starting here. Pat was unable to finish her wings, or her standing collar and large ruff, so we both wore the small ruffs and went on with faire.
Saturday night was special, as this was the 20th Anniversary of the faire. I've been participating or visiting most years since year 2 (couldn't make year 1), and know its history pretty decently. So it was with honor I watched Hud and Jonna Kent both get "knighted" by Pat as an expression of love and honor to all they did to create the faire (using her credit card as needed), and to keep it going when it may not have. Then they in turn, and the current faire board leaders also gave thanks to various people, including both Pat and Michael, her for being Queen so many years (with lovely gift of a necklace and earring set), and Michael for being a great Tudor history resource that helped them to start their fair (he got a tapestry of the wives of Henry VIII, since he was our long running King Henry at Hanford RoK). They then went on to thank a whole variety of people for their hard work over the years, and then surprisingly they thanked those who they sometimes disagreed with, starting with me! I was rather surprised, as I knew we didn't get along all the time, but didn't realize I had any input into their decisions, good or bad. Chris and Raelynn I could understand, since they are other faire promoters who has valuable insight and experience.
Faire this year was also a time to remember all those who are no longer with us. We remembered them with sprigs of rosemary. For me, that means Jay, aka Captain Morgan (yeah, I know) from St. Gregs, who I had brought into fair myself in the early 90s as we both went to COS together. Also there was Bunny, a leading member of St. Augustine's who is reflected in her daughter (one of the GMs) and grand-daughter. There are others, but those two were strong in my memories this weekend.
Both days were quite filled with a variety of improv activities. We were not allowed a formal repast, so we had to eat as we could. This was an issue on Saturday (hard to eat when my "table" is on my backside), but on Sunday we did an informal "picnic", and St. Maries (aka the French guild) did a great job of putting together the food with a night's notice! And they did most of their food prep in a hotel room, using what they had available. Court was also required to travel around the "shire" (yes, I know that isn't the right term, but... I have no idea if the area we were set in was a village, a town, or a city! I didn't even know the year!!!) and visit with the various guilds, which we did. We had a grand time, and it was nice to be able to visit and play with the various guilds at a faire. I want to do that again!
I got to see that Bill Watter's group (the Italians, aka Santa Maria guild) had outfitted all his household characters, including himself, entirely in grey livery! I was stunned, as I haven't seen livery in years (since Pat's IoM Bluebells over a decade ago), and that was about a dozen women more or less in the same grey with black trim all lined up for inspection by the Queen. Bill was in a surprisingly chipper mood when I complimented him on Sunday about it, and said he had been spending the day cleaning various things, and needed more boot black to shine up everyone's boots. Talk about getting into character!
There was jousting and a battle pageant both days, which the Queen attended in one manner or another. On Saturday there was also a real wedding on the Dauntless (a privateering ship recreation - sorta, but very well done considering it isn't a whole ship) that the Queen also attended, since Pat had known the Bride since before she was born (I think I overheard that the bride was 18). Before the wedding, I spent a little time talking with Jenna of St. Dismas catching up on her life (she got married in September) and on various guild members I've known for a long time.
Spent time chatting with St. Augustine about costuming, including showing "little Pat" my new underthings Sunday morning before faire started. She says she is inspired to make a 1590s outfit for Pirate festival in a few weeks when she is Queen, so I hope she does so. dmetrixavier also is trying to encourage his guild to go to this style, so we and some of his ladies chatted about it as well. And also spoke with madwomansattic and salemkat about a variety of things, including costume (man, salemkat's dress is beautiful!).
The Queen also spent some time with a relatively new guild, St. Swindon's (Lord Rutland and his family & household), whose GM's wife (I think that's the real relation) is someone I met on Tribe (Kat). They offered Pat's favorite treat, white chocolate, as a gift (their ginger snaps were delicious too), and played Nine Pin and Bocce Ball on Sunday afternoon, which drew a nice little crowd. They were all dressed very nicely, too (better than a few of my guild members). That Lord Derby won Nine Pin in the last shot, coming from behind, made me wonder if he was holding back, tho' he denied it. I then found out that they will be doing support court for King Henry VIII at Fair Oaks (confirmed by several people), just rather blew me away. Producers get to choose who they want, but this came from left field for me. Raelynn asked me to come up for Fair Oaks, and I am pondering it, although if it is really hot that weekend, I will decline as high heat is not something I can deal with very well anymore. But it may be a good thing for other reasons.
Children's Storytime, a reading of a portion of Taming of the Shrew, and Shakespearean sonnets Mad Lib style ended the day on Sunday. I got about 10 minutes at the merchants area to buy some new soaps (scents I don't have to try out) before the cannon shot announced faire was over, and tear-down commenced. It was sad for me to see my faire friends heading off, as some I won't see again until much later this year, and Pat & Author I won't see until next April.
I haven't been to a faire related even since Hanford last year, and I realize that I missed it a lot. Faire is a part of who I am, a big part of my history, and while I enjoy the SCA, faire is not something I can give up anytime soon. Especially when the weather was perfect for the faire!
And Pat has ideas for next year, which will again be late reign, so I can improve on my dress. I am going to make her the "wings" thing that QEI was seen in portraits wearing, as Pat can't stuff that into a suitcase. And I have other ideas for encampment improvements that I hope to get done. Further thoughts on this later in my other journal (kimikosews).
Friday I had burnt my ruff, so I was in a sad, but determine mood as I finished up my costume. I did my packing of costume stuffs right before I went to bed. It thankfully all fit inside our largest luggage piece, so I was happy and slept pretty well.
Saturday morning I was up early, and was packing the rest of the stuff I needed, mostly foodstuffs I had bought on Friday, my sewing box, my bead boxes (for my pearl hair decorations), jewelry bag, the shoes and other stuffs and got it in the car. Then out into the cold air (thank God for the natural A/C as temps were in the high 60s or low 70s that weekend - perfect for our court garb) for breakfast at McDs and down the freeway to Visalia's Plaza Park, for the faire. Arrived early, made check-in, parked the car, and found Rick, one of our GMs with his truck heading onto site, so I caught a short ride with all my stuff (else it would have been two trips). Then it was notes, the start of faire, and it took me a good while to get myself dressed.
I really like being able to lace myself into my corset, and managed to get it close to the spacing it was on the dress form... close enough that the whole outfit closed pretty much as predicted (and what little gap there was in the overskirt, was hidden by the picadill). I sadly took no photos of myself or of anyone else, as my day was too busy to do so. But I am hoping that the many photos people took, that maybe one might show up of me.
Garment wise for me, there are a few tweaks I need to do to make it near perfect, including moving my oversleeves forward, and making up a new proper ruff (which will never get near an oven). But the gown was a hit, and I received many positive comments, lots of questions and may, along with salemkat who also wore a 1590s gown that was GORGEOUS in blues and an open ruff, may start a trend for this style of Elizabethan fashion in our area. Especially since we tend to do very late Elizabethan faires.
Pat, who portrays our QEI, was in a fluffy confection of off-white silk (we called it a wedding-cake-topper dress), covered in self-fabric bows and tons of jewels. You can see it here (I am behind the chair to her left), and closer here. You can see part of my skirt material and my head in the procession here (3rd person behind her on her left, behind the Garter Knight in black). She's walking with Lord Derby, played by her husband, and he is also wearing a new outfit in rust orange, using Margo's Gentleman's pattern. More photos of the faire starting here. Pat was unable to finish her wings, or her standing collar and large ruff, so we both wore the small ruffs and went on with faire.
Saturday night was special, as this was the 20th Anniversary of the faire. I've been participating or visiting most years since year 2 (couldn't make year 1), and know its history pretty decently. So it was with honor I watched Hud and Jonna Kent both get "knighted" by Pat as an expression of love and honor to all they did to create the faire (using her credit card as needed), and to keep it going when it may not have. Then they in turn, and the current faire board leaders also gave thanks to various people, including both Pat and Michael, her for being Queen so many years (with lovely gift of a necklace and earring set), and Michael for being a great Tudor history resource that helped them to start their fair (he got a tapestry of the wives of Henry VIII, since he was our long running King Henry at Hanford RoK). They then went on to thank a whole variety of people for their hard work over the years, and then surprisingly they thanked those who they sometimes disagreed with, starting with me! I was rather surprised, as I knew we didn't get along all the time, but didn't realize I had any input into their decisions, good or bad. Chris and Raelynn I could understand, since they are other faire promoters who has valuable insight and experience.
Faire this year was also a time to remember all those who are no longer with us. We remembered them with sprigs of rosemary. For me, that means Jay, aka Captain Morgan (yeah, I know) from St. Gregs, who I had brought into fair myself in the early 90s as we both went to COS together. Also there was Bunny, a leading member of St. Augustine's who is reflected in her daughter (one of the GMs) and grand-daughter. There are others, but those two were strong in my memories this weekend.
Both days were quite filled with a variety of improv activities. We were not allowed a formal repast, so we had to eat as we could. This was an issue on Saturday (hard to eat when my "table" is on my backside), but on Sunday we did an informal "picnic", and St. Maries (aka the French guild) did a great job of putting together the food with a night's notice! And they did most of their food prep in a hotel room, using what they had available. Court was also required to travel around the "shire" (yes, I know that isn't the right term, but... I have no idea if the area we were set in was a village, a town, or a city! I didn't even know the year!!!) and visit with the various guilds, which we did. We had a grand time, and it was nice to be able to visit and play with the various guilds at a faire. I want to do that again!
I got to see that Bill Watter's group (the Italians, aka Santa Maria guild) had outfitted all his household characters, including himself, entirely in grey livery! I was stunned, as I haven't seen livery in years (since Pat's IoM Bluebells over a decade ago), and that was about a dozen women more or less in the same grey with black trim all lined up for inspection by the Queen. Bill was in a surprisingly chipper mood when I complimented him on Sunday about it, and said he had been spending the day cleaning various things, and needed more boot black to shine up everyone's boots. Talk about getting into character!
There was jousting and a battle pageant both days, which the Queen attended in one manner or another. On Saturday there was also a real wedding on the Dauntless (a privateering ship recreation - sorta, but very well done considering it isn't a whole ship) that the Queen also attended, since Pat had known the Bride since before she was born (I think I overheard that the bride was 18). Before the wedding, I spent a little time talking with Jenna of St. Dismas catching up on her life (she got married in September) and on various guild members I've known for a long time.
Spent time chatting with St. Augustine about costuming, including showing "little Pat" my new underthings Sunday morning before faire started. She says she is inspired to make a 1590s outfit for Pirate festival in a few weeks when she is Queen, so I hope she does so. dmetrixavier also is trying to encourage his guild to go to this style, so we and some of his ladies chatted about it as well. And also spoke with madwomansattic and salemkat about a variety of things, including costume (man, salemkat's dress is beautiful!).
The Queen also spent some time with a relatively new guild, St. Swindon's (Lord Rutland and his family & household), whose GM's wife (I think that's the real relation) is someone I met on Tribe (Kat). They offered Pat's favorite treat, white chocolate, as a gift (their ginger snaps were delicious too), and played Nine Pin and Bocce Ball on Sunday afternoon, which drew a nice little crowd. They were all dressed very nicely, too (better than a few of my guild members). That Lord Derby won Nine Pin in the last shot, coming from behind, made me wonder if he was holding back, tho' he denied it. I then found out that they will be doing support court for King Henry VIII at Fair Oaks (confirmed by several people), just rather blew me away. Producers get to choose who they want, but this came from left field for me. Raelynn asked me to come up for Fair Oaks, and I am pondering it, although if it is really hot that weekend, I will decline as high heat is not something I can deal with very well anymore. But it may be a good thing for other reasons.
Children's Storytime, a reading of a portion of Taming of the Shrew, and Shakespearean sonnets Mad Lib style ended the day on Sunday. I got about 10 minutes at the merchants area to buy some new soaps (scents I don't have to try out) before the cannon shot announced faire was over, and tear-down commenced. It was sad for me to see my faire friends heading off, as some I won't see again until much later this year, and Pat & Author I won't see until next April.
I haven't been to a faire related even since Hanford last year, and I realize that I missed it a lot. Faire is a part of who I am, a big part of my history, and while I enjoy the SCA, faire is not something I can give up anytime soon. Especially when the weather was perfect for the faire!
And Pat has ideas for next year, which will again be late reign, so I can improve on my dress. I am going to make her the "wings" thing that QEI was seen in portraits wearing, as Pat can't stuff that into a suitcase. And I have other ideas for encampment improvements that I hope to get done. Further thoughts on this later in my other journal (kimikosews).