Via Community News Service, a University Vermont journalism internship
ESSEX JUNCTION — Fair maidens wrapped in delicate gowns, furries dressed head to toe in colorful pelts, and fairies adorned with pointed ears and shimmering wings strolled along the grounds of the Champlain Valley Exposition on Saturday.
Knights in polished armor stopped to take bites from oversized turkey legs, and wizards in pointed hats purchased spices from vendors. Such was the scene at the 10th annual Vermont Renaissance Faire, where dress-up is not reserved for children, and escapism is found in history and fantasy.
At the Vermont Renaissance Faire, elaborate costuming of all kinds is encouraged. Office workers and grocery store cashiers transform into trolls and giants, and peasants and queens interact as if they’re old friends. Serving as a fashionable reprieve from the structure of daily life, Renaissance fair outfits are a far cry from the restrictive nature of true Renaissance-era fashion.
“It’s just a place where people can kind of be what they want to be, and nobody really even bats an eye about it,” said fair vendor Nathaniel Higgs, whose Old Ways Leather shop sells sporrans, scabbards and other handcrafted goods.
During the Renaissance period, which spanned the 14th through 17th centuries, dress was used as a mechanism for control. Unspoken rules of dress called sartorial codes along with sumptuary laws — legislation that regulated what members of different social classes could wear or own — maintained a rigid hold on clothing’s ability to communicate gender, class and race.
Tight-fitting garments, such as corsets for women and jackets called doublets for men, were worn by upper-class people who didn’t use their bodies for labor. Lower-class people wore functional materials such as linen and wool, while the elite sported expensive dyed fabrics, silk and velvet garments adorned with gold thread.
Gender and sexuality were also policed through clothing. Women were expected to wear narrow-waisted, wide-skirted clothing while men wore broad-shouldered tops and narrow-legged bottoms.
Today at Renaissance fairs, clothes are a symbol for self-expression, not restriction. Attendees still don corsets and petticoats, but instead of upholding the social order, the fashion becomes an escape, and social conventions melt away.
Waiting for the gates of the fair to open, crowds of people were clothed in various textiles, silhouettes and colors. One woman was dressed in feathery blue wings, a teal tank top and skirt, and a pair of dark blue cowboy boots. The outfit seemed to be assembled from her own closet, with only the fantastical wings requiring an extra purchase.
Flanking the blue fairy stood women in ruby red and navy blue gowns, evoking a kind of medieval costume. A cone-shaped princess hat, with cascading white silk, sat atop one of the woman’s heads.
“It’s really cool how you can have these people in period-accurate clothing and people in these crazy outfits as well, like different characters. It’s such an interesting combination,” Higgs said.
The hardcore guests spend weeks planning their outfits, looking to local vintage stores to supply their Renaissance needs.
“I love dressing up. I love supplying things for people to dress up for special events or in ways that people maybe don’t normally dress,” said Melody Fair, owner of Milk Moth Vintage in Burlington’s Old North End.
In the weeks leading up to the event, Fair assembled a special Renaissance rack with flouncy blouses, medieval dresses and even knight costumes.
Fair considered historical accuracy when selecting the pieces for the rack, looking to cues such as hemlines, bust and necklines to determine the time period the pieces resembled, as authentic Renaissance clothing is incredibly rare.
“I’m a huge proponent of buying secondhand,” Fair said, continuing, “everything that you could possibly want already exists in my opinion, or you could make it out of something that already exists.”
Along with secondhand costuming, Renaissance fairs themselves are a hub for sustainability and self-expression. At the Essex fair, more than 70 small businesses and vendors lined the promenade hawking hand-dyed garments, woven baskets and leather masks that offered attendees an alternative to mass-produced products.
“There’s something special about that interaction you have with the customer at the markets,” said Carolyn Sommer, owner of Colors of Sommer, which specializes in naturally-dyed textiles.
Sommer brought her business to the fair for the first time this year. “It seemed really cool, and I felt like maybe my stuff could be a good fit for this type of scene,” she said. Her products fulfill some attendees’ desire for historical accuracy without the class distinctions of the past.
Higgs, of Old Ways Leather, said he strives to bring the dreamy quality of ren fairs into customers’ daily lives. He draws from some historical references but focuses on making leather items such as satchels and accessories that can be worn in many settings.
At another vendor’s stall, the faint sound of bagpipes was heard as shoppers perused fairy ears and troll horns.
Vendor John Wells was first introduced to ren fairs as a child. In 1999, he started his own business, Fairy Haven, and has been selling fantastical accessories like handcrafted horns and pointed ear cuffs at fairs ever since.
“It’s independent people who don’t want to necessarily work for a corporation. They’re creative, they want to do their own thing,” Wells said.
The first Renaissance fairs in 1960s Los Angeles prioritized historical accuracy for dress, but as the events grew in size and inspired other fairs across the U.S., fantasy elements began to fuse with historical costuming. Today, vendors like Fairy Haven provide attendees with accessories to become any mystical creature they might desire.
The popularity of fantasy franchises such as “The Lord of the Rings” and “Game of Thrones,” along with a toxic political climate, have positioned fairs as opportunities for escapism, Higgs said.
“As the world feels more stressful, I think ren fairs in particular are a place where people can just kind of go and be free of it,” he said.