Faire Ladies, Faire Lords

Quality, American-Made Renaissance Costumes

Renaissance Pleasure Faire

Over the knee OTK socks for faire are restocked!

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Heads up everyone, over the knee OTK socks for faire are restocked! I got a big double box from my pal Jimmy and its full of solid Navy, Solid Brown, and Solid Cream OTK socks in that lovely cotton they use. And, YES I GOT A LOT IN MAGNUM SIZE TOO!

Click here to buy regular size OTK renfaire socks

Click here to buy Magnum Plus Size OTK socks

Over the knee socks are a must-have part of your renaissance costume or reenactor kit, and ours are made for years of wear with proper care. This means wash cool and dry gently. Don’t wear them more than once before cleaning. Be good to your renfaire socks and they will be good to you.

Good quality over the knee OTK socks for faire are not easy to find, I know. Made in the USA of 100% recycled cotton with a tad of lycra at the top to keep them from tumbling down. I buy these in bulk from my pal Jimmy in North Carolina. Its a family business with his son. He and I have been working together for over a decade, and I have checked out other suppliers. Nobody is as consistent and trustworthy. The. Best. Period.

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cotton renaissance socks by faire ladies, faire lordsFaire is in full swing all over, I hope you all take advantage of this timely drop! Use the coupon code PICKUP if you are at a faire where I’m vending and I can bring them to the show for pickup. That’s at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in spring and Northern CA Renaissance Faire in the fall.

Please share this with your friends and family, your guild mates, your cosplay people. And as always if you need help or just want to get in touch, I’m on Facebook and you can email me here.

That One Time I Was on You Tube!

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Its Story Time! This post is about That One Time I Was on You Tube. The summer is moving along and I’m turning my thoughts towards the upcoming faire season. I’m getting excited, antici-pation is building, and I’m reminiscing about good times in the booth.

This past Spring of 2024 I was emailed about giving an interview about my shop at Faire. As some of you know, I never pass an opportunity to talk and promote my passion, my life’s work in costume design. I’ve done a few over the years; recently I did a PodCast for Dan McLaughlin. It was a bit silly, but I  think everyone liked it. Anyhow, it was a yes, please! We emailed back and forth a few times getting familiar with the project.

The day rolls around, the booth is hopping, customers aplenty, and finally late afternoon comes with the interviewer, Lanchen Milhalic and her production help. She was so nice!  And who knew, she really loves historic costume and it just so happens that the Renaissance Pleasure Faire (where we were) is known for its historical elements. And, surprise surprise my shop is heavily historic in my design and fabrics. Ta Da! I’d like to take credit for also letting her know (off camera) that we were at the Original faire, and my booth help and I gave her a few clues on when it started and by whom. Which she does cover in her video and I think its brilliant! Her video is definitely from a customer’s POV, so its not just a ‘fan piece’, and of course its about more than just my shop. So here is the video, I hope you like it. Visiting the World’s First Renaissance Faire 

+++Closing weekend at Koroneburg Festival is here. Celebrating the Baron, his beer and chocolate.…

Now that I’m a big important Internet Star, its still my pleasure to share these fun things with you. Please share this with your friends and family, your guild mates, your cosplay people. And as always if you need help or just want to get in touch, I’m on Facebook and you can email me here. My next event is the Northern California Renaissance Faire and I’d love to see you there!!!

Faire Season is Upon Us!

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Like the title says, Faire season is upon us! Out here on the west coast, The Renaissance Pleasure Faire is about what, 5 weeks away? Build starts in about 2 weeks. Here online its time for sneak peeks and teasers. This year like every year, is a mix of new styles and everyone’s ‘favorites for a reason’. I think we can all agree there is never too much of a good thing.

Favorites for a Reason

First up, those amazing linen shirts are back in offwhite, stone, black 100% linen, and red. PLUS there is a selection of them loaded on the website already. Because showing up to faire already looking fine is awesome. Mens doublets, YES. I’ve changed sewing teams and I am really pleased with the quality of these doublet vests. Likewise the buttonfly Venetian Breeches are back too – I made a few tweaks to the pattern and I’m sure everyone will be thrilled.

a child's renfaire dress on a hanger

Ladies, this year is about more bodices, more gowns! I’ve got a small selection of bodices already online, and more coming. If you haven’t seen the plaid Irish Dress online yet,check this out!  Also, plans for closed front gown are underway, in a bold blue and the infamous Goose Turd Green. March is going to be busy for sewing! I’ve got new colors of Bloomers one of which is a black 100% linen, and a stash just for the website.

Bringing forgotten styles back to the booth:

martina in the studio Styles from years past that come and go, and are back in the booth inventory! Flat caps! Because you’ve been asking me to bring this back and I finally was able to make time and get them cut in LINEN. I’ve even got childrens sizes. Which leads me to CHILDREN’S RENFAIRE COSTUMES. Its been a while since I had a large selection, so I brought a few pieces back to the booth inventory last year. Things went well. This year I’m doing much more. These are not on my website – yet. Little Irish dresses, skirts, pants and shirts, biggins and hats!

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And so, if you have questions about the faire or any of the items in my online shop, please reach out and get in touch. I’m here to help, so use this link and shoot me an email. I can also be found on Facebook. I’m slogging it out in the studio cut cut cutting. Though, I will respond to you within 1 business day usually. Better yet, drop in to say HI at the booth this coming April and May. I will post updates about my precise location after stakeout/build weekend.

 

The June List

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Hello everyone! Its been a while since I posted, I know. Let’s catch up, then talk about The June List! I hope everyone had a great spring. I did, and my shop at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire did as well. The best part? Seeing so many returning patrons from seasons past and from online interactions here too. Seriously, faire is my happy place. I also met some wonderful new patrons, made new friends and can’t wait to do it again next season.

So, you may have heard about the June List for special orders at Faire Ladies, Faire Lords shop this season. Every year it seems I’ve got more special orders incoming. I can’t help it, I really enjoy the work and knowing that my customers are getting something they want specifically makes me happy. What I’m doing is corralling all the work into a set block of time to keep me from derailing my studio production schedule. And, one of those blocks of time is the June List. There is also a December list, but that’s another whole blog post. 🙂

Another bit of news is that I’m working this summer with apprentices! I finally figured out how to use social media to recruit apprentice helpers that are super motivated about learning design skills and how to run a studio. These eager young folks are helping with cutting, stitching, and basic work duties to build their skills AND give me a helping hand fulfilling the orders on the June List. Win win. Be still my heart! I am being cautiously optimistic.

Last bit of news, if you’ve placed an order with me since end of March 2023 and it was a backorder or special order item – I’ve got you! We are cutting, we are sewing, we are making all the things. You probably already know who you are, but feel free to contact me to clarify info if you need it. I’m always happy to hear from you.

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Its the beginning of my ‘summer break’ aka inventory build for Northern Faire coming in September. I am lurking here at home with my smoking hot husband, fuzzy doggo and the floofcat.  Weekends I tend to my garden and hope for warmer weather.  You can find me here via email, on Facebook, and more blog posts too.

Ciao!

Pre season sale at Southern Faire

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Greetings to all my friends and patrons! I’m having a pre season sale at Southern Faire. Its finally feasible, I have a great new booth, and have been working like a mad woman for the past 4 months to make inventory for the new season. I’ve revamped a few patterns, and added 2 new styles to the line. I promise, there will be a good amount of stuff for you to see and purchase for the season.

I plan to bring as much of my faire costuming inventory as possible. Some items just aren’t ready yet, but I’ve got a lot of good stuff. Additionally, I will be bringing non-approved items like my fabulous socks and brocade fabric pockets. And, as an extra fun thing, I am bringing my clothing line inventory. Its fabulous, and you should check out the website at the least.

This pre season sale is for all the participants at RPFS and is not open to the public. It will be held the Saturday and Sunday prior to Opening Weekend. The dates are April 2nd and 3rd. The booth is located on Costumers Row, on the southeast side of the event. Look for that red and yellow roof. The sketch here is from 2020 season.

All pre season sales are discounted 10% for cash, and the clothing items, socks and non-approved items are available only on this weekend. They go home on Sunday and cannot be purchased from the booth during faire.

So please, stop by during your Dress Rehearsal weekend and say HI. I’ll be there working on making fixtures and dressing the booth. I’m planning to have a new booth helper there too, Darren. We’ll be keeping things casual, since it is a build weekend.

Sneak Peeks

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Hello everyone! This blog post is to give you a bit of a costuming sneak peek to pique your interest (haha did you see what I did there?) in the coming spring faire season. Lets talk about new fabrics and new designs for 2022 at Faire Ladies, Faire Lords.

First are the lovely lilac stripes you see in the picture. This sneak peek is all about bloomers. Yes, the linen bloomers are back I am planning them in 3 colors – grape, lilac and ivory stripe, and ivory. That stripe fabric is so sweet, its a linen/cotton blend and a nice lightweight too. Imagine wearing those lovely bloomers with a lilac or ivory color half chemise.

Next sneak peek is a new dark grey in my mid-weight linen blend, pictured below. I’m planning its first style for the menfolks and Venetian Breeches is a nice choice. I envision color blocking with an offwhite shirt, the dark grey breeches. It is a neutral palette which gives a lot of leeway for adding other colors to a man’s costume. Also a bonus, the dark grey is easy to keep looking nice and cleans easily in case of misadventure. LOL

Third sneak peek is a Pirate Jerkin for the menfolks. It is a deep scarlet color and features a Vneck with no collar. This is an experimental style, and like everything I create is about the line and cut of the garment, not so much about trims and fussy details. I’m hoping it catches on. If so, there will be other colors in future seasons. Sorry, no photos yet.

Recap

4 bolts of fabricThis spring season will see a lot of neutral colors and spring colors for women and men’s costume. I’m building inventory in new-ish styles like short Chemises, and the new Jerkin. There are plans for more styles, stripes, and surprises. Like all plans I make they are not certain until everything comes together; time, fabric, sewing and the million other details that are part of the development process.

Finally, for those who are fans of the over the knee socks I carry – at this time they are now available only online. I am not juried to carry them at Southern so be sure to get them in my online costume store early. I don’t want you to be without.

Yes –  Faire Ladies, Faire Lords will be at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, CA. You should be there too. New booth, new staff, new designs, and as always lots of fun. I’m hoping for Sunday Lunch With Friends to become a tradition.

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Thank you for reading my Blog. I appreciate your reading and your patronage so very much! Did you also know its pretty easy to keep up with my writing if you Get the Insider’s Newsletter? Anybody who reads so thoroughly deserves a nice reward, like a discount coupon for my website. Hint, Hint. You can also find me on Facebook. And as always, I will see you at faire!