The Neckbrace Adds Ten Pounds

Something about Saturday was absolutely beautiful. I'm talking last Saturday afternoon, sitting at a stage at the Renaissance Festival, watching the sunlight stream through the breaks between the multi-colored leaves on the branches, the smell of turkey legs and dust and burning wood in the air and the feeling that I was in some sort of time outside of time. Being at the Ren Fest is not about historical accuracy, clearly. Everyone is dressed in... well, whatever. Some people come in street clothes, some, like [Львица] and myself, have costumes that shift somewhere between the Middle Ages and the Baroque period. Although last week - closing weekend - I did see someone dressed as Death and someone dressed as Jesus. Right next to each other. Win.

I've seen more confusing wardrobe choices - a manga-sort character. A man dressed as a 1950's funeral parlor zombie. A guy in a neckbrace in some sort of greenish plastic tube top and shorts (I think he was wearing shorts. Or maybe it was some sort of wrap skirt) complaining about how fat he was (he was stick-thin, but whatever) and the girl he was with telling him the neckbrace adds ten pounds. Next year, I'm on the look-out for someone dressed as a time lord (actually, it makes more sense to see the Doctor than it does to see Jesus. Sorry, it's the truth).

Case and point - the Ren Fest is not so much about the Renaissance sometimes. Sometimes it's an excuse to dress up - sometimes it goes to far that direction, I agree. But it's also a sort of escape - not in a depressing, "oh, my life is too much!" kind of way, but more of a way to get outside of what we're used to. We don't go around wearing corsets, trying to do without modern technology,  living under monarchs and that sort of things. It's a taste of fantasy, a bit of time travel mixed with fairy tales. It's not perfect - sometimes it's awkward. But it's usually a lot of fun.

And for those of you who think it's only for nerds, check out the pickle men and the belly dancers. You will be sadly mistaken.