For my costume I'm wearing some plate armour (under arm, gorget and pauldrons), but a gambeson isn't part of the outfit. However, I've heard gambesons being recommended to protect your shoulders. Is there another way to make the pauldrons easier on my shoulder? Maybe something like foam?

Would love to hear your advice and/or experiences.

I'm still waiting for the pauldrons to arrive, but the ones I've ordered are the 'Mina' pauldrons from Mytholon (I'm a small woman so I was really happy to see they have women-sized plate armour!!)

Hi, my friends and I are wearing different kind of mushroom costumes for Renaissance faire, my husband wanted to do a super Mario for his costume, is that okay? Thank you.

I’m making my own fairy wings for the renfaire we’re attending in November and I’m so excited 🤓 here’s the template I drew up and cut. We’re going to just mirror it when I go to do the wire work

Hey everyone,

I’m getting back into the ren fair life after several years and about 2,500 miles move. So my new persona is going to be introduced at the Minnesota REN Fair. Picture if you will a classic friar with canvas and wood wings. You’re now picturing the humble air friar.

I need help coming up with a fitting pun costume for my fiancé. She hasn’t ever been to a ren fair but has a long history of rpgs and is committed to building her persona when she finds one that fits. She’s also on board with being a complimentary or stand alone pun. She’s really into Harry Potter so bonus points for related or thematic puns.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

I’m looking for some recommendations for a first timer! I’ve never been to a faire and I’ll more than likely be going solo! Any advice or recommendations would be great appreciated! I’m located in South Carolina.

Long time vendor here who has been seeing a lot of posts asking if its okay to wear one thing or another.

Of course you should be checking and following a faire's actual rules and dress code, but here's a list of things I would find inappropriate if I saw a patron wearing them.

-armor made from depleted uranium.

-robes actually impregnated with the bubonic plague.

-underwear made from dark matter

-shoes that hurt (bad idea in general)

-47 live weasels

Seriously though. Faires are some of the most accepting places. If you feel confident wearing something and can wear it around for a day in the weather conditions, do it. If anyone says something thats on them, not you

Yesterday multi-day tickets went up and within hours completely sold out. On August 1 they should start selling single day tickets. Last year a lot of dates sold out. Set a reminder in your calendars and make sure everyone you’re going with knows when to buy their tickets! There is no reliable way to buy second hand tickets to MDRF! Good luck!

I want to dress up a little for the faire, but I don’t own anything period accurate. I love history but don’t know how to sew and don’t have $$$ to drop on an accurate costume. Would an inexpensive, mass manufactured corset or bodice over a modern dress just be silly? 🥲.

I bought this Viking style short sword at my first Ren faire. It’s a pretty cheap sword, nothing to write home about but it’s a cool memento and the first step toward me really getting into a hobby I’ve always wanted to do.

Anyways, I bought it and now I have realized that despite having quite a bit of knowledge about weapons and medieval stuff, I have no idea at all on how I’m supposed to wear it. I know that belts are often tied around it and attached to another belt around your waist, but it’s also got that little metal piece and I’m not sure if this is a sword designed for a sword frog (which I didn’t know existed until a few days ago) or a tied belt. I’m just not sure where to even start, especially because there are so so many online stores all selling very similar looking leather belts and sword frogs.

Please, can anyone help? I have no clue where to start when it comes to buying accessories for my first ren faire outfit. I like buying real leather and don’t like buying from Amazon. But specifically I just need guidance on buying a belt/frog for my tunic and sword.

Hello! So I plan on going to the PA ren faire. I want to save some money by using a rave fit that I have but I’m scared it might be too revealing… I was planning on renaissancing it by making my character a fairy or a dark being of some type. I’ve thought about adding an underskirt too. The photo above is to give an idea of the rave fit.

Despite my sincere desire to sew something amazing, my current illness is not allowing me that kind of energy. Would I look like I’m not trying if I buy a costume online and make some minimal adjustments?

Edit: thanks everyone. I’ve made the decision not to fret or spend any of my energy envelope on costume. I’d rather have energy for fun when we arrive.

Any one have any Japanese inspired outfits for a renfaire looking for some inspiration to come up with something to make. Any suggestions or input would be appreciated thanks!

Looking for a cross between fantasy, Japanese and renaissance faire that will fit in unlike a full historically, accurate samurai or armor set.

9 out of 10 in round one was enough to secure the win.

I'm going to the Minnesota Ren Faire for the first time in a long while. I main Bard in D&D, and I just want to ask ig. Is this a dumb idea? I have a bunch of these wooden tokens, these are test designs. I think it would be fun to have these to hand out or exchange, but I'm hesitant. Please give thoughts!

I am getting ready and dressing up for a ren faire, and I found this absolutely gorgeous bodice that I want to try to incorporate into an outfit, but I’m worried that it would it be weird for me to wear it. I’m male, and I feel a little awkward about it…

I am super new to renfaire. Ive been to one, and I did not dress up. I fell absolutely in love with it and now I'm trying to get into cosplaying a lot of medieval time period things and dark souls armors and things like that. I'm on a pretty tight budget, but I can get crafty with some things. I can sew a little and am always yearning learn new skills, so any versatile DIY advice would be great. Thank you!!

Hey! My lady asked me to pick some stuff out for her that would complement my outfit. I haven’t purchased anything yet, just in case we should go dressed with different stuff. Basically I’ve looked at, and i’m super interested in purchasing like “traditional” nordic clothing. (Linen tunic, trousers, legs wraps, etc.) Im shopping on Grimfrost, and they have womens clothing too! I just wanted to reach out and see if there are any designers that have ideas? I’ve seen so many outfits that are brilliant and this is her first renn fest, so I really wanna make it a special time for her :) thank you guys ahead of time!!

Any ideas for male ren faire outfits that involve masks/helmets?

Why not be waldo at the Bristol Ren Faire

I have a pair of the Son of Sandlar Captain Teach boots, and I love them, but they have this tendency to slouch more than I'd really like, and the separate cuffs have this tendency to kind of roll themselves down from where I set them, as well. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

To clarify, the cuffs stick into the top of the boots, and then get folded over. They're rolling themselves down along the fold line, so while they stay folded, and they stay at the same height inside the boot, the outside gets longer and the fold line ends up lower on my leg than where I'd set it. This tends to happen more on one leg than the other, so after walking around for a while, the tops of my boots are uneven.

I had the idea to put a bit of velcro on either side of where I want the fold to be, but I don't know how I'd attach it reliably in a way that would also be invisible while wearing the boots

Hey everyone! I've been to many Renfaires over my life but I've come into possession of a very cool witch costume. It's a silicone mask of a witch (nothing gory or overly scary) and a cool outfit as well as contacts. I wanted to wear it to the Maryland Renfaire this year, however I've seen this specific faire says "Please, no posing to encourage photo ops." On their website. I'm not saying everyone in the world will want a photo with me, I just know I like taking photos with people when I go and I'd feel bad saying no if I was asked. They also discourage interacting with patrons which seems kinda unfun as I couldn't be "in character". I guess it's to separate people from staff/hired employees which I understand completely. Maybe I save this idea for a con? I'm very oblivious to this kinda thing and would love some advice please.

I scored a heavy, full length renaissance noble dress at an estate sale and now I have to figure out how to wear it and not die from heat exhaustion.

For those of you that wear heavy armor or long dresses or other heavier, hotter costumes, how do you survive the heat? I’m talking 85F+

I'm going with a group of people to the Sterling Renaissance festival next weekend for the first time! Has anyone been there and if so any suggestions for shows or food?