What to Wear for Renaissance Festival?

Have you ever heard of the Renaissance Festival? Maybe you have only learned about the Renaissance in history class, but don't know what the Renaissance Festival is. However, if you are from Texas, then you must be familiar with this festival!

If you are traveling to Texas this October or November, keep reading and learn more about Renaissance Festival! It would be a pity if you don’t attend the 51st Renaissance Festival! Below, we will introduce what the Renaissance Festival is, what clothes you can wear and what accessories you can bring when you participate in this festival.

What Is Renaissance Festival?

Never heard of the Renaissance Festival? No problem, at least you know what the Renaissance is. As the name suggests, the theme of the Renaissance Festival is “Return to the Renaissance”. The Renaissance played an obvious and important role in the historical process and cultural development of Europe. It lasted for three centuries and had a significant impact on all aspects of people's lives, and these impacts may still exist today. To speak more Specifically, the Renaissance Festival allows visitors to have an immersive experience by playing the role of historical figures of the time and recreating life scenes. Of course, clothing is also a part of the restoration.

The Texas Renaissance Festival began in 1974 and is now in its 51st year. This event is not held for just one day each year, but will last for ten weeks from the second weekend of October, with different themed activities each week. You can get a lot of new experiences when you participate in this activity. The main contents of the activity are:

🎈Role play: When you attend an event, there will be many cast and crew members dressed as characters from 500 years ago waving and cheering at you. Just like the staff at Disneyland dress up as Winnie the Pooh and Lingna Belle, many people at the Renaissance Festival will dress up as different characters such as the king, queen during the Renaissance, pirate, Celtic, etc. according to the different themes of each weekend. It is very fresh and interesting. If you have similar hobbies, why not try it!

🎈Performance: How can medieval knights have no special skills! During the event, you will have the opportunity to enjoy various interesting performances such as fire whip show, archery, axe throwing, etc. If you are interested, you might also experience it yourself, but remember to pay attention to safety!

🎈Camping. Camping is also very suitable for the whole family to experience during the event. Not surprisingly, the event location, a park in northeast Houston, will offer more than two hundred camping sites. And the surrounding facilities are also very complete. You don’t even need to bring too much luggage, because you can go to the surrounding stores to buy food, drinks and daily necessities at any time.

🎈Wedding. Yes, you read that right. If you are planning to get married at the end of this year, you can also consider holding a romantic fairy-tale wedding at the Texas Renaissance Festival with your partner! Even the “King” and “Queen” will send you their blessings to you!

Dressing Codes for Renaissance Festival

First of all, since almost all activities are held outdoors, it is better not to wear too revealing clothes. Although the activities are relatively tolerant about clothing, overly revealing clothes can really make you cold, especially in the morning and evening. After all, October and November are the transition period from autumn to winter.

Second, don't bring accessories that take up too much space. Because every year, more than 500,000 people are attracted to participate in the Renaissance Festival. Although the average number of participants per week is less than 70,000, the population density of in the park is still quite terrifying. Therefore, accessories that take up a large space will encroach on other people's space and even cause certain harm to others.

Also remember to wear comfortable flat shoes! Maybe in your mind, high heels go better with the luxurious dresses of medieval noblewomen. But don’t forget that you’ll be walking around outdoors all day long and those ladies hundreds of years ago didn’t. So even if you want to wear heels for your photo shoot, bring a pair of flat shoes with you!

Finally, if you also want to cosplay as a Renaissance character, don't go all in with all the corsets, layered maxi skirts, and bustles. After all, we all know that the tight corsets women wore in the Middle Ages were harmful. Layed maxi skirts will also make it difficult to move outdoors, especially if the weather changes. Bustles will make it very difficult to go to the bathroom. Remember, you want to cosplay to better fit in the atmosphere, not to make everything difficult for yourself. You are a tourist, not an archaeologist.

Styles You Can Choose for Renaissance Festival

Maybe you don't have a hobby for role-playing, and you don't want to go shopping for a costume you'll only wear once. So, is it okay to wear your normal clothes? Of course you can! The official website of the Texas Renaissance Festival also emphasizes this point: whether you want to dress up as a historical figure or wear an ordinary shirt and jeans to the event, you will be equally welcomed! So actually you have many clothing styles to choose from:

🎈Role playing. The first thing to say is role-playing, after all, this will make you feel more involved. And you also have countless roles to play. You can dress up as a noblewoman wearing luxurious and beautiful dresses. Of course, you can also choose to play a peasant woman, a monk, or a bishop. However, different characters must have different dressing models. If you want to play a peasant woman, give up those gorgeous dresses.

🎈Daily wear: Since everyday clothes are also allowed, you can dress according to your usual style. For example, in autumn and winter, you can choose to wear a sweater over a shirt, and then match them with a pair of jeans. This outfit is both warm and fashionable.

🎈Retro style. Even if you don't dress like the Renaissance, retro style may be more appropriate for the festival atmosphere than everyday clothing. Fabrics such as corduroy and velvet, styles such as lantern sleeves and slit skirts, and patterns such as polka dots and stripes are all great retro style options.

🎈Pastoral style. The venue of the Renaissance Festival is a park in northeast Houston with green grass and a pastoral beauty. Therefore, pastoral-style clothing will also be particularly suitable for the environment. Choosing a top or a dress made of natural fabrics will highlight the rustic temperament. The colors may also be mainly natural colors, such as light green, light yellow, light blue, white, etc., providing people with a fresh and comfortable visual experience. You can wear a straw hat on your head to create an atmosphere of pastoral life.

Accessories That Highlight Your Outfits

The choice of accessories needs to suit your clothing style.

If you choose to dress up as a medieval noblewoman, you can wear the most luxurious jewelry. Pearls, gemstones, gold and silver necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, etc. can make your overall radiate with dazzling colors. However, if you choose to dress up as a peasant woman, then you basically have no chance to wear these gorgeous accessories. However, you can still choose a linen headscarf, a string of shell necklaces and other simple accessories to add points to the overall look.

As for shoes, as we mentioned above, it is best to choose comfortable flat shoes. Don't think that flat shoes are not gorgeous. You can choose flat shoes with embroidery, jewels or metal buckles to add sophistication and sense of fashion to your look. If you choose clothes in the pastoral style, you can just choose a pair of simple cloth shoes.

Of course, there are many other creative accessories that can be considered. For example, if you are playing a noble lady, you can put on a woolen shawl, which is both warm and shows an elegant style. Long lace gloves can also play a similar role. In order to make yourself smell fragrant, you can also buy a sachet, and the exquisite embroidery pattern on the sachet can also add points to your visual outfit. If you are playing a peasant woman, you can take a cotton handkerchief and a woven basket with you. These are the tools that peasant women often use when working in the fields or going to the market, and they are also important accessories that show the identity of peasant women. If you have musical talent, you can also bring small musical instruments such as harmonica, flute, etc., which can not only be used as decorations, but also can be played during activities to increase the festive atmosphere.