Women:
*Two skirts both of which come down over the shins at least. The top one is worn tucked up to show the under one.
*A full, long sleeved chemise.
*A bodice, with or without sleeves, which is form fitting and flattens you in front.

Men:
*Some kind of full pants, which can be as short as modern shorts (or shorter! Hmmm…) or as long as modern pants. If they’re worn long, they should be cross-gartered below the knee. If they're short, it's time for tights.
*A full, long sleeved shirt.
*Some kind of jerkin or vest, with or without sleeves.

Both:
* Something on your head. Could be a rag, a straw hat, felt hat, biggins (especially silly), a flat cap or muffin cap.
* A belt. Hang nifty stuff from it, so you’ll be interesting even if you’re just standing there.
* Sturdy, comfortable shoes or boots.

Here’s why, if you’re interested:
Women of the lower classes wore multiple skirts to imitate the fashionable silhouette of the upper classes. Big, childbearing hips were hot, and skirts were supposed to stand out at the hem. Multiple skirts are also handy for keeping the maximum amount of straw and itch mites out of your bum. The longer your skirts, the less of your flesh is exposed to faire. (Must be why men at faire ignore boobs, but are hot for legs…) An apron is also handy for wiping your perpetually grimy fingers on. The full long sleeved chemise was handy ‘cause the more fabric you had on the warmer you were in chilly old England. They're good at faire for the opposite reason: they keep some of the sun off your lilly white skin. They’re also cool when wet (think wet chemise contest!) The popular shape for the upper body was tubular, don’t ask me why. A bodice, much like an exoskeleton, is a bra on the outside. Cleavage is a nice side effect, same as a good bra.

Men’s pants were either short or tight at the calves, ‘cause men’s calves are sexy. They were then and they are now. Men actually wore fake calves when their real ones were wimpy! Shirts, probably the same as above. Jerkins were another layer of clothing, but I’ll bet that if it got hot in England, they took theirs off, too.

For your head: head coverings kept out lice and dirt then, and they do today. They kept the sun from frying you, and the wind from freezing you, and they do today. They are also decidedly not modern, since people don’t wear them much anymore. Different is good. A belt is a necessity at faire, since ya gotta keep your stuff somewhere. Sailors had pockets, so we should do that when we can. Landlubbers will need a belt pouch and a place to attach tools. I know I’m gonna get grief about the shoes and socks issue. I hate them too, but I hate dirty, bloody, sticker-filled toes even more. I have stepped on everything nasty faires have to offer, and I believe firmly in stout boots that come up to at least the ankle, and at least one pair of wool hiking socks for cushioning. Rusty rebar leaves a nasty infection, and I’ve gotten thorns in my feet that I couldn’t get out by myself even if I was a talented yogi. I am also of the opinion that legs should be covered, but more for comfort than anything else.

Fabrics: If you want to be period correct and comfortable, you will wear wool and linen. If you want to be realistic and still have money for food, you’ll wear cotton. If you’re a complete idiot, you’ll wear man-made fibers. Wait a minute! Wool? Comfortable? I can hear you sputtering from here. I like to spin wool and knit with it, so I have a definite bias. For years (like, the last ten) my bodices have all been made out of wool, as have many of my skirts and hats. Wool can be washed by machine in cold water. You can also drench it on a hot day, and stay cool for longer than with cotton. It wears well, and is possible to find in a decent weight in fabric stores. It looks good and period, ‘cause, well, it is. Wool can be found in a variety of textures and colors. A wool hat on Sundays is not just a good idea, it’s the law. In order to improve England’s wool industry, our Queen has made it so. Linen, though I love it, I have found to be prohibitively expensive. My experience with it is limited. I know I don’t like spinning it. I have a fabric I like, and a new skirt out of it that wears well. Raw silk is what it’s commonly called, although waste silk is a better term. It’s the fiber that’s left over from the production of fine silks. It’s inexpensive, washable, lightweight, and has some texture. It comes in pretty colors, too. Please try and find fabrics with texture. Way too many of us wear nice, smooth woven fabric for everything. Homespun, hand woven, inexpensive fabric would have been bumpy. Socks and hats would have been knit, and also bumpy. We should strive for bumpiness!

Colors: Yeah, I know, earth tones are boring. But they’re what come from the plants around us. Colors that don’t come easily are purple, black, and red. Purple comes from a mollusk in the Mediterranean. Who knows, maybe if you’ve been there, you have an excuse. I doubt it though, since it was expensive there, too. Black just doesn’t stay black without constant maintenance. You’d also have to be a little unbalanced to want to wear black in the heat. Don’t tell any nobles I said that. Red comes from a beetle in South America. It’s called cochineal, but I’m sure I’ve misspelled it. They stink when you grind them up, I’ve discovered. Don’t wear pastels. People wouldn’t have worn faded clothes if they could help it, and no one dyed cloth in a pastel on purpose. It’s what happens when the dyer doesn’t know what they’re doing. Brown, green, rust, blue, and yellow are all good. Colors were fairly drab until aniline dyes were developed in the 1800’s.

Please be imaginative and do your own research.
Don’t be cookie-cutter wenches and lads.
Make your costumes fun, comfortable, and expressive of yourselves.

And don’t take my word for it!

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