What to Wear to Your First Renaissance Faire

February 26, 2020

If the fantasy bug has bitten you, especially after watching a plethora of fantasy shows, then going to a Renaissance Faire might just scratch that itch. However, you might be facing the age old question, what do I wear? If you have no idea where to start, then this guide will help you figure it out!

Historical Accuracy

If you want to wear something that’s a bit more historically accurate, you have a few choices. You could make something using a pattern like this:

A woman wearing a pink and cream renaissance style dress. The dress is a photo of what the sewing pattern will look like.

McCall's Pattern by Angela Clayton

Or, if you’re not sewing inclined, you can get some basics from sites like Medieval Collectibles, Pendragon Costumes, and Museum Replicas. Mostly, you want to figure out what “status” you’re going as. Personally, I’m a fan of going as a peasant because you get a bit more leeway in what you wear. But you can also go as a merchant, or someone who may be in a royal court.

A woman wearing a renaissance style brown skirt, white shirt, and sleeveless, bodiced overdress.

Leandra Medieval Maiden Outfit - Medieval Collectibles

Many faires have guidelines, so check those out if you’re unsure. Just a warning though, this is a rabbit hole, so if you get overwhelmed easily, start out simple.

Themed Days

Another great option is checking out if your local faire has themed days/weekends. For example, a faire I attend has a pirate weekend, a viking weekend, etc. These weekends are a great way to have some guidelines, but also have some fun with your look. Again, you can either make your own, or pieces together some looks from the sites above.

A man and woman smiling while wearing steam punk outfits at a renaissance faire.

Renaissance Pleasure Faire - Irwindale, CA

Cosplay

OK, so we’ve all seen a show where someone time travels back to the medieval times, right? Well why not try wearing a costume from that series? A few I can think off the top of my head are, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. This can also overlap with themed weekends.

A group of people dressed as characters from the tv show Doctor Who. They are posing in front of a blue police box at a renaissance faire.

Ohio Renaissance Festival

Or even better, why not use a non-fantasy show to put together a Renaissance inspired look? This version of The Mandolorian is fantastic and accurate!

A man wearing a knight's helmet that looks like the helmet work by the Mandalorian. He is wearing matching armor in red and holding a crossbow with his right hand. In his left arm he's holding a bay that's wearing a green hood and tan robe similar to Baby Yoda. The baby is holding a cup.

Costume by fellandfair - Photo by Nicolas Bruno

Fantasy

Ok, so lets be serious here, one of the reasons we’re interested in going to a Renaissance Faire is the fantasy appeal, so let’s go all in! Why not take inspiration from your D&D character, or maybe one of your favorite fantasy characters from a novel or film? The best part of fantasy is you can just make it up! Here are some great patterns to start with:

A woman wearing a leather tunic with her hands on her hips. She is also wearing an asymmetrical fur cape over top of the tunic. This is an example of the garment you can make with this sewing pattern.

A group of three women wearing various fantasy inspired outfits. One is a tunic length dress with slashed sleeves. The top right is the same style dress with slashed sleeves in a longer length. And the third bottom right is a long sleeves gown with squared neckline. These are examples of the dresses you can make with this sewing pattern.

A woman wearing a corseted gown with a long over skirt. She is also wearing a one armed corseted bolero. There is also hip armor and paldron armor. The photo depicts the result of the sewing pattern.

Modern Fantasy

If you want that sweet spot of dressing up, but also the comfort of modern clothing, then consider a modern fantasy look. I also call this the Guild Party aesthetic! The Longsword Dress is a great example of a garment you could dress us and accessorize to get that Ren Faire feel. Here's a video of me doing just that!

I've also written a helpful guide on how you can incorporate more modern fantasy looks into your wardrobe.

Plain Clothes

This might seem obvious, but you can just go wearing what you normally wear! I love dressing up in costume, but realize that it’s not for everyone. I also get that you may be overwhelmed the first time you go. So just go and have fun!

If you do feel like you want to dress up later, there are plenty of merchants at these faires that would love to sell you something. That’s actually what I did for the outfit below!