Last weekend I went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Bristol, Wisconsin. Every year, people attend the faire in spooky outfits and I try to get photos of them. There weren't too many spooky people this year, but the ones I did see did not disappoint! I don't know what the lady above was supposed to be, but she was loud. She was ranting and raving next to the people waiting in a long food line. I had to get in that line just to get this picture!
There are always some people in Steampunk outfits each year. I know these outfits have nothing to do with the Renaissance, but they're still cool. I love the bustle on this woman's skirt. Here's a closer look at her:
I just love when people pretend they don't see me taking a picture while they pose for it. :)
This one is of me trying on tiny hats. This photo can technically make it into this post, because there are little skulls on the hat. Also, I look like one of Dr. Frankenfurter's party guests with the hat and sunglasses combo!
Of course I had to share this witch! If you look closely at her, you can see some fun costume details. Note the bird skull on her hat as well as her metal finger accessory. Also, if you look behind her you'll see a woman with some kind of animal tail. There were a lot of people walking around with tails stuck to their butts!
This couple cracks me up! I love how the goth chick is sunning herself on that bench. Be sure to enlarge the pictures of this guy because there are so many details to his outfit. Note the very real knife tucked along his boot. Our Ren Faire does state that no concealed weapons are allowed, but I guess semi-concealed ones are ok? There are so many swords, and axes there that it is amazing there aren't any injuries. I take that back. I was accidentally jabbed with two different swords in the crowd! One of them was made from wood, but those things are still sharp. Ouch.
Oh, there's one more thing I love about the above picture: the man in the Hawaiian shirt who is standing in the background.
Next I got a close up of just the guy. He was turning towards me, and I caught such a great expression! I had to crop in closer so you can see more of his face:
I hadn't realized that he had these contacts in as I started to take the picture. The reason he's smirking is because I jumped as he turned to make eye contact with me! I was referring to him as the "Evil Seth Green" for the rest of the day. :) Isn't that an awesome bat on his shoulder? Even his furry accessory has evil, red eyes!
This is just a standard pile of bones. I think that's a foot at the bottom? Or a really funky hand. Anyway, since I didn't have this blog in 2010, you wouldn't have seen my photos from last year. So, here are a few favorite spooky shots from last year's Ren Faire:
I think these two were brothers? One was definitely more friendly as I recall...
A drummer and a Plague Doctor! Those who are familiar with Venetian masks will recognize this:
He may be weird looking, but he sure is friendly!
More Steampunk goodness! How awesome is this skeletal bat hat? There are lots of Steampunk and Pirate accessories available at Ren Faire. Even if none of this is true to the time period, everyone loves Steampunk and pirates!
The perfect model for this creepy armor!
I hope you enjoyed these photos. It's always fun to go to Ren Faire and do lots of people watching!
If you would like to explore some real frightening English history, visit The Tower of London. I was there about 10 years ago and still remember the scary stories and giant Ravens walking around! Here's a virtual tour for you:
Great photos! I wish there was something half this interesting where I live.
ReplyDeleteJessica ~ Thanks! I had lots of fun taking these pictures. Haha! Maybe there is a Renaissance Faire in your state? I think these are going on in a lot of places now!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots! I love the bustles on the Steampunk girls, too! And it's hilarious that she's attempting to look so nonchalant: "La, la, la... I have no idea that my picture is being taken... chest out, stomach in... la, la, la!"
ReplyDeleteThe girl in the first photo looks scary! And not in the good way!!
The spooky contact lenses on that guy look fantastic!
Looks like it was fun . Like your tiny hat.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes were immediately drawn to her circus/steam punk bustle - gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI think the first woman must have been some kind of crazy village hag/doomsayer haha!
Ahh the plague doctor mask! I love them.. so creepy. I loved learning about the plague and the witch hunts during history at school - history was my favourite subject!
I'd say the people with the tails are probably Furries! It's some weird fad where people wear tails and ears.. I have no idea why.. probably something to do with anime.
The witches hat is so cool - bird skulls are stangely in fashion now!
I don't know about 'Evil Seth Green' he looks more like a ginger Mr.Bean to me LMAO!
This ren faire of yours looks so fun! xxx
Great photos! How fun!! I love attending Ren Faires! So much to see and do.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos. It looked like a blast.
ReplyDeleteYou took me back. I used to live in Chicago and went to the Bristol Fair at least 5 times. It was a good time. I always wondered about the people that showed up in non ren fair costumes.
ReplyDeletethis is a great entry! Now i really want to head to the fair! Yes, I'll make it happen!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! Looks like you had a fun time with the Renny's! No full princess garb for you?
ReplyDeleteLittle Gothic Horrors ~ Haha! That's true, she was kind of bending her body around for that picture! Luckily, I take photos quickly, so she could let out a breath. :) Looking at her outfit made me want to get some Steampunk clothes! I love anything Victorian, but this is super cool. Check out her glasses!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the first lady pictured was goofy. She looked pretty sickly with that red eye shadow and purple lipstick. Yeah, spooky contact lenses really make an impression! I think that it is actually scarier to look somewhat normal with those eyes than it is to look full blown scary. This way, you can sneak up on people a little.
Max Evel ~ Thanks! Yeah, that might have been a children's hat, because the chin strap was awfully tight. Although, it does seem to be a style for women to wear fascinators or tiny hats now. They also had a tiny pirate hat for sale!
VainGlorySinner ~ Yes, her bustle did have kind of a circus flair to it! I loved the stripes she had going. Haha! Yeah, that first one was the crazy village something or other...I've never seen a hat quite like hers!
See, this is another cool thing about growing up in Europe! You guys get to learn about the plague and all kinds of older things! Yeah, history was one of my favorite subjects too. I'm not surprised that it was your favorite subject, because you have so much fun with antiques!
Furries. Oh boy. The only things I've heard about Furries were sexual in nature, so let's just leave it at that! I swear, some people are into weird things. God, I hope those weren't all Furries at the faire, because it seemed like half the people there were wearing tails...
Bird skulls are in fashion now? Hmmm...I'd probably feel weird with any kind of real skull stuck to my hat. Still, it does give a cool look. I might have to add some accessories to my hat this Halloween! I thought that witch did a lot of cool things with her outfit.
A Ginger Mr. Bean!!! Wow - you don't get a more British comment than that one. :) I love it. OK, so I just googled pics of Seth Green to compare and I'm sticking with my earlier comment! Then I googled pics of Mr. Bean. You have a point there too! I see some similarities in his nose and eyebrows. Weird!
Jeanne ~ Thank you! :) Yeah, it was lots of fun. I would love to check out some other Ren Faires sometime to compare.
Adsila ~ Thanks! Yes, it was a total blast. Every year it's a little different, but always fun.
Gone Feral ~ Oh, I didn't know you lived in Chicago! That's cool. Yeah, it would have been about as far for you as it is for me to get there, since it's on the Wisconsin/Illinois border. If you have any Ren Faire pictures, I'd like to see them! I'd probably recognize a few people. Yeah, some of the people who dress up are awesome and some make me wonder. :) A girl actually came to this in a skimpy, Sailor Moon outfit!
Stacey ~ Thanks! Yeah, I think the Faire runs through Labor Day. So you have a little time to get down there! Have you gone the past few years?
Copyboy ~ I did have a fun time! The Renny's, eh? ;) No, I didn't go in full princess garb, but every year I say I'm going to dress up! It doesn't ever seem to happen, even though I've been going for over a decade! Sometimes it doesn't seem practical, because long sleeved dresses are a little much on a hot, Summer day. I guess I could always go as a fairy or something. There were lots of fairies running around!
Wow!!! That is so awesome! Thanks for sharing your pics of everyone's lovely costumes! :)
ReplyDeleteCountess ~ I'm so glad you enjoyed the photos! Yes, some of the outfits were really lovely. So much attention was paid to the details. Looking at these photos again is inspiring me to add some parts to my witch costume this Halloween!
ReplyDeleteYou are on It's on random today!!!!
ReplyDeleteby the way, awesome photos of the Ren Faire, I never think to bring a camera when I go
Random Girl ~ Yay! My interview made it up! I'll have to send out a tweet about that. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Oh, I'd be kicking myself if I forgot my camera for Ren Faire! Taking photos is half the fun for me. Which Ren Faire do you go to?
Also! I like your small hat, you look so cute. ^_^
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty sick, I wish I had something like this near me -_- And yeah the one steam punk chick is so posing lol, if not then that's a really awkward stance to talk to your friends. I like the witch costume also. I love it when people go all out and think about the little things. I'm probably never going to go out as witch again (as I must've been one six times when I was little) but this would be the perfect necklace for it >http://www.bedebug.com/rat_skull_necklace.jpg
ReplyDeleteMan, I wish we got better costumes at the conventions in my city. People are usually pretty lazy and just slap things together.
ReplyDeleteReal Queen of Horror ~ Thank you! :) That hat was fun. If it had been a full sized top hat, I would have really wanted it!
ReplyDeleteHiyoko ~ There aren't any Ren Faires in Canada? Aww... Yeah, we're all on to that Steampunk girl's tricks. :) Haha, Yeah can you imagine bending like that to have a conversation? I'd actually feel uncomfortable if I was trying to have a conversation with someone who was contorting themselves!
Yes, the details of a costume can be what makes it great! I pretty much do the witch thing every year, but that's for the party. The trick-or-treaters get to see me as a pirate each year. Although on the actual Halloween night, I do something different each year.
That web site you sent was crazy! I saw a big bug in a necklace on there that is actually going to be featured in an upcoming blog entry...
DWei ~ What kind of conventions have you been going to? Well, I didn't include photos of the people who slapped partial costumes together. There are a few lazy/confusing costumes at Ren Faire too! Sometimes the guys will have on a little chain maille and be carrying a sword, while wearing jeans and sneakers. :)
Mmm love the outfits! I'd feel right at home there. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd love to wear the Steampunk dress! Do you dress up for Ren Faires or conventions?
ReplyDeleteMost times. It really depends on my mood when I go and if I am there for business or pleasure. Even if I doing my writing networking I tend to do a little dress up, because heck, it's fun!
ReplyDeleteCool! So the business you're doing has to do with your writing? I actually didn't know you were a writer, but then I'm a pretty new follower to your blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree that dressing up is fun. Usually, I'll take any excuse to dress up in costume. So, it's weird that I don't dress up for Ren Faire. I suppose I'm just waiting to find that perfect outfit!
You have such beautiful hair, I think tiny hats were meant for you! We go to 2 local Renfaires here in SoCal, and we go dressed up. We wear black and dark green, and Dennis is a highway man (thief) and I'm his thieving assistant. Girls wear the fox tails out here, too; I'm guessing it's meant to be sexy?? One girl wore a 8" turtle shell on her butt, and I vaguely recall her boyfriend explaining that it was to prevent other men from pinching her. Other than pirate-types, no one dresses scarily. I'd love to see some witches- that was a really good one at your faire.
ReplyDeleteOh- there was one couple dressed as Puritans- they looked like pilgrims- and they preached loudly. That was the scariest at our faire ;)
trick or treat ~ Thank you! :) It's cool to hear about someone else's Ren Faire experience. I'd love to see some pictures of your costumes!
ReplyDeleteI got such a laugh from the story about the turtle shell lady. Yeah, I guess that would keep her safe from pinching, but I doubt it was a good look! I wonder how she kept that attached to herself?
We used to have a pilgrim too! He came to the faire alone for years. He would stand on a big rock near the exit and yell at people as they left. He'd yell things about women showing too much skin, etc. He was really good at being a grump! It may sound weird, but I almost miss seeing the pilgrim...
I saw this while on google and while i know this was posted a few years ago felt the need to comment about the girl in the first photo. She was one of three witches that the faire had employed. I know this because she was my roommate at the time. XD
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I bet you were surprised to see a picture of her pop up online. Were you acting in the faire too?
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