Lets do the time warp...
2011-Dec-06, Tuesday 14:48![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
texxgadgetIt was entertaining to bid my co workers farewell for the weekend on Friday night.
"Yeah, Andrew just leave it on my desk when you are done with it.
Ive got to go. I have an appointment with a time machine..."
The return look went far beyond the usual "You are SO weird" that Im used to.
Im suddenly reminded of the copy of the "Encyclopaedia Galactica" that fell through a reverse wormhole showing us that indeed the Marketing Dept of the Sirius Cybernetics Corp WILL INDEED be 1st up against the wall when the revolution comes!
On the bent of time machines, lets go back a bit and see how I got to this point.
"Sherman! Set the way back machine a few months back!"
Im known for wearing my Utilikilt (Utilikilts.com) to ham radio functions.
"Why do you WEAR that thing?" "Because I have the legs for it and YOU DONT!"
The real reason is that I can carry more radio gear on a Utilikilt than I can with trousers.
I know Lodema & her BF Fred through radio. (lodemathepotter.com) She is a professional potter. We tease her about being our pot connection. She is a witch and her parents were hippies and she is very close to the earth.
Shes been trying to get me to come to the Scottish Games in Pleasanton for a few years and this year, she made me an offer I cant refuse. I worked in her booth in return for free admission, and had a blast. See earlier post on here about that.
After it was over, she started talking me into doing Dickens Faire. Now this was quite another kettle of fish. Tshirt & Utilikilt was NOT going to work in this situation.
Ive known "Faire Folk" since the 1970s but never went. $25 ticket pricing has kept me away since.
Well...
I made the plunge. I ordered a solid black kilt in traditional "waisted kilt" style.
Mid 1800s London, the wearing of highland attire was no longer a hanging offense.
After Alberts death, HRH Queen Victoria became close to a servant John Brown whom she preferred to have attired in highland regalia. Shortly after the repeal of the Dress Act in the 1780s, groups started up trying to promote a return to highland dress, but in the mean time people had moved on to more modern dress. John Brown made solid color kilts popular.
Im only wearing black until I can find a darker color.
So the hunt was on!
I found a black kilt in the right size "off the peg".
Same with the vest or "westcot", although they were from different vendors because the kiltmaker I went with required more time than i had for the vest & jacket.
I went out on the net and finally found reasonable priced "kilt hose" "flashes", a sporran, sgian dhu, a bow tie, and a hat. Baseball caps & "doo wraps" were SO NOT going to make it.
Apparently, any time a gentleman is outside the shoppe, he should be in hat.
But Im NOT a gentleman, Im a scot! My argument fell on deaf ears.
I opted for the "Glengarrie" as opposed for the "Balmoral" that looks like an overgrown beret.
T-minus 2 days and the kilt, sporran & flashes (flags on the socks) arrived.
I actually ordered several colors of flashes for future occaisions.
My backup plan was to mix this brow herringbone vest of my grandfathers with the black kilt.
Friday arrived and nothing else. I was past panic.
Id been going bananas trying to find a wing collar shirt that did NOT have a pleated front for less than $60. On the way home, I popped by Kohls and found a plain white shirt and a pair of "over the calf length" black socks. These were far thinner that I should be wearing, but it beat gym socks.
I cobbled it all together and it wasnt bad, although I was kind of pushing things from a period perspective. I grabbed a plain grey wide tie I had that looked like silk.
All my red ties are far too modern.
Ive been hearing about Faires & their "Costume Police" for years and I was nervous.
Lodema presented me and the look on the ladys face in costuming was interesting to say the least. There arent curse words to describe the look on her face. I told her
"I can tell by the look on your face that Ive flunked inspection, how do I fix this?"
We untied the Full Windsor and folded it & used a hat pin. It wasnt great, but I BARELY passed. The actual performers are rigorously checked. They let the people who work for the merchants a lot more slack and of course the public, its almost anything goes.
The London of Dickens is recreated in the shed area of the Cow Palace.
There are heaters but they arent used. It was cold at 1st. (This will be important later) After doors opened and throngs of people came in, the temperature rose.
I got a chance to visit more of the shoppes, but not all the shows, but thats OK.
My character is not well planned, and I dont have the accent right.
The more i try for scot the more irish I get.
Here I am in mid 1800s London, dressed as a scot and talking like a bloody yank from the west coast 200 years later.
Looking up sporrans on the net, mine is a bit too modern.
I think of horsehair sporrans as military sporrans, but back then, it seems all sporrans had horsehair tassels. The cantle is a bit too modern too, but they let me slide.
I was hoping this sporran is good enough for future "black tie" events.
I do need to get a casual leather day sporran, but that cab wait until after the faire is over.
A contemporary note on the economy:
Everything she planned to sell on the 1st 2 weekends was sold in the 1st 2 days (thanksgiving weekend) Shes been working like mad for the last week so shed have SOMETHING to sell this PAST weekend, and we sold most of that on Saturday. Speaking with other merchants, the economy is slightly up, people are sick of scrimping and willing to spend anyway, and as soon as they find out her products are all made by her, here in the bay area, no "Made in China" out come the credit cards. We raised prices on Sunday and STILL people spent.
The "Buy American" thing was VERY visible.
2 other pottery vendors (they sell imported stuff) popped by to check our prices, under cut us and we STILL outsold them. I arranged pairs of left & right handled mugs (still warm from the kiln) and those went FAST!
I was expecting to see more people I knew there.
All the ham radio operators exchanged call signs at Lodemas shoppe, which was fun.
I would encounter someone i knew was a ham and Id tell them to go visit Lodema and tell her their callsign. It was pretty fun.
I encountered Julie & her street organ. She actually built it herself.
She used some modern materials inside it, but the punched the paper roll by hand!
She was in character.
I know shes into re enactment, and as soon as I saw the organ I knew it had to be her.
I was particularly thrilled to see Zee Bang again for the 1st time in years.
Hes stage mgr for "French Postcards", which Fred & I got to go to on Sunday Night.
Back at Lodemas on Saturday night, she handed me a balmoral hat and that solved that problem.
Sunday morning, a red plaid band of flannel was handed me and it worked out to be a bulky but rather apropriate bow tie for the time. It turns out the bow tie that I ordered and still hasnt arrived is a bit too modern.
The costuming dept handles the event performers and sometimes can lend a few things to
shoppe people when they need help. When we returned the hat pin to costuming her and she saw the plaid improvised bow tie (It looked suspiciously like a bathrobe belt) her reaction was "THANK GOD!"
I originally didnt care for the Balmoral style hat. I preferred the military style that folds flat. On the head its kind of like a pup tent. The Balmoral kept me quite warm and Ive rethought my preferences.
I also took a fencing lesson. It turns out my instructor coaches fencing at UC Berkeley.
Monday morning, Dad presented me with a card from the post office saying I needed to pick something up. (Too late!) On the way to work, Monday, I picked up the package.
Ive now got a "Safety Sgian Dhu" and the Glengarrie arrived. The Sgian Dhu is the dagger work in the sock. A safety Sgian Dhu is one thats solid and cant be drawn. Its for situations where a real knife could get one in trouble.
It seems I screwed up and ordered a "Black Watch" Glengarrie instead of a "Solid Black" Glengarrie. Ill have to arrange an exchange (All the way back to UK) and for the run of Dickens, Ill be preferring the Balmoral anyway.
Today, the black vest arrived. I hope its not too modern for the era.
Ill be bringing both vests on Saturday. The black one might be a bit modern for the era, but I prefer to have it matching. On the other hand a mismatched kilt & westcot might be right for the era.
After halloween, I usually go into a "winter funk" that lasts till March.
The added stress & everything else in my life made this year worse than usual, but the Faire seems to have temporarily taken the edge off the funk.
Shes already talking about taking me out to other historical re enactments.
STOP ME BEFORE I VOLUNTEER AGAIN !
So it looks like I have a couple more trips through the time machine.
After all, It's just a jump to the left, And then a step to the right,
With your hands on your hips, You bring your knees in tight....
"Yeah, Andrew just leave it on my desk when you are done with it.
Ive got to go. I have an appointment with a time machine..."
The return look went far beyond the usual "You are SO weird" that Im used to.
Im suddenly reminded of the copy of the "Encyclopaedia Galactica" that fell through a reverse wormhole showing us that indeed the Marketing Dept of the Sirius Cybernetics Corp WILL INDEED be 1st up against the wall when the revolution comes!
On the bent of time machines, lets go back a bit and see how I got to this point.
"Sherman! Set the way back machine a few months back!"
Im known for wearing my Utilikilt (Utilikilts.com) to ham radio functions.
"Why do you WEAR that thing?" "Because I have the legs for it and YOU DONT!"
The real reason is that I can carry more radio gear on a Utilikilt than I can with trousers.
I know Lodema & her BF Fred through radio. (lodemathepotter.com) She is a professional potter. We tease her about being our pot connection. She is a witch and her parents were hippies and she is very close to the earth.
Shes been trying to get me to come to the Scottish Games in Pleasanton for a few years and this year, she made me an offer I cant refuse. I worked in her booth in return for free admission, and had a blast. See earlier post on here about that.
After it was over, she started talking me into doing Dickens Faire. Now this was quite another kettle of fish. Tshirt & Utilikilt was NOT going to work in this situation.
Ive known "Faire Folk" since the 1970s but never went. $25 ticket pricing has kept me away since.
Well...
I made the plunge. I ordered a solid black kilt in traditional "waisted kilt" style.
Mid 1800s London, the wearing of highland attire was no longer a hanging offense.
After Alberts death, HRH Queen Victoria became close to a servant John Brown whom she preferred to have attired in highland regalia. Shortly after the repeal of the Dress Act in the 1780s, groups started up trying to promote a return to highland dress, but in the mean time people had moved on to more modern dress. John Brown made solid color kilts popular.
Im only wearing black until I can find a darker color.
So the hunt was on!
I found a black kilt in the right size "off the peg".
Same with the vest or "westcot", although they were from different vendors because the kiltmaker I went with required more time than i had for the vest & jacket.
I went out on the net and finally found reasonable priced "kilt hose" "flashes", a sporran, sgian dhu, a bow tie, and a hat. Baseball caps & "doo wraps" were SO NOT going to make it.
Apparently, any time a gentleman is outside the shoppe, he should be in hat.
But Im NOT a gentleman, Im a scot! My argument fell on deaf ears.
I opted for the "Glengarrie" as opposed for the "Balmoral" that looks like an overgrown beret.
T-minus 2 days and the kilt, sporran & flashes (flags on the socks) arrived.
I actually ordered several colors of flashes for future occaisions.
My backup plan was to mix this brow herringbone vest of my grandfathers with the black kilt.
Friday arrived and nothing else. I was past panic.
Id been going bananas trying to find a wing collar shirt that did NOT have a pleated front for less than $60. On the way home, I popped by Kohls and found a plain white shirt and a pair of "over the calf length" black socks. These were far thinner that I should be wearing, but it beat gym socks.
I cobbled it all together and it wasnt bad, although I was kind of pushing things from a period perspective. I grabbed a plain grey wide tie I had that looked like silk.
All my red ties are far too modern.
Ive been hearing about Faires & their "Costume Police" for years and I was nervous.
Lodema presented me and the look on the ladys face in costuming was interesting to say the least. There arent curse words to describe the look on her face. I told her
"I can tell by the look on your face that Ive flunked inspection, how do I fix this?"
We untied the Full Windsor and folded it & used a hat pin. It wasnt great, but I BARELY passed. The actual performers are rigorously checked. They let the people who work for the merchants a lot more slack and of course the public, its almost anything goes.
The London of Dickens is recreated in the shed area of the Cow Palace.
There are heaters but they arent used. It was cold at 1st. (This will be important later) After doors opened and throngs of people came in, the temperature rose.
I got a chance to visit more of the shoppes, but not all the shows, but thats OK.
My character is not well planned, and I dont have the accent right.
The more i try for scot the more irish I get.
Here I am in mid 1800s London, dressed as a scot and talking like a bloody yank from the west coast 200 years later.
Looking up sporrans on the net, mine is a bit too modern.
I think of horsehair sporrans as military sporrans, but back then, it seems all sporrans had horsehair tassels. The cantle is a bit too modern too, but they let me slide.
I was hoping this sporran is good enough for future "black tie" events.
I do need to get a casual leather day sporran, but that cab wait until after the faire is over.
A contemporary note on the economy:
Everything she planned to sell on the 1st 2 weekends was sold in the 1st 2 days (thanksgiving weekend) Shes been working like mad for the last week so shed have SOMETHING to sell this PAST weekend, and we sold most of that on Saturday. Speaking with other merchants, the economy is slightly up, people are sick of scrimping and willing to spend anyway, and as soon as they find out her products are all made by her, here in the bay area, no "Made in China" out come the credit cards. We raised prices on Sunday and STILL people spent.
The "Buy American" thing was VERY visible.
2 other pottery vendors (they sell imported stuff) popped by to check our prices, under cut us and we STILL outsold them. I arranged pairs of left & right handled mugs (still warm from the kiln) and those went FAST!
I was expecting to see more people I knew there.
All the ham radio operators exchanged call signs at Lodemas shoppe, which was fun.
I would encounter someone i knew was a ham and Id tell them to go visit Lodema and tell her their callsign. It was pretty fun.
I encountered Julie & her street organ. She actually built it herself.
She used some modern materials inside it, but the punched the paper roll by hand!
She was in character.
I know shes into re enactment, and as soon as I saw the organ I knew it had to be her.
I was particularly thrilled to see Zee Bang again for the 1st time in years.
Hes stage mgr for "French Postcards", which Fred & I got to go to on Sunday Night.
Back at Lodemas on Saturday night, she handed me a balmoral hat and that solved that problem.
Sunday morning, a red plaid band of flannel was handed me and it worked out to be a bulky but rather apropriate bow tie for the time. It turns out the bow tie that I ordered and still hasnt arrived is a bit too modern.
The costuming dept handles the event performers and sometimes can lend a few things to
shoppe people when they need help. When we returned the hat pin to costuming her and she saw the plaid improvised bow tie (It looked suspiciously like a bathrobe belt) her reaction was "THANK GOD!"
I originally didnt care for the Balmoral style hat. I preferred the military style that folds flat. On the head its kind of like a pup tent. The Balmoral kept me quite warm and Ive rethought my preferences.
I also took a fencing lesson. It turns out my instructor coaches fencing at UC Berkeley.
Monday morning, Dad presented me with a card from the post office saying I needed to pick something up. (Too late!) On the way to work, Monday, I picked up the package.
Ive now got a "Safety Sgian Dhu" and the Glengarrie arrived. The Sgian Dhu is the dagger work in the sock. A safety Sgian Dhu is one thats solid and cant be drawn. Its for situations where a real knife could get one in trouble.
It seems I screwed up and ordered a "Black Watch" Glengarrie instead of a "Solid Black" Glengarrie. Ill have to arrange an exchange (All the way back to UK) and for the run of Dickens, Ill be preferring the Balmoral anyway.
Today, the black vest arrived. I hope its not too modern for the era.
Ill be bringing both vests on Saturday. The black one might be a bit modern for the era, but I prefer to have it matching. On the other hand a mismatched kilt & westcot might be right for the era.
After halloween, I usually go into a "winter funk" that lasts till March.
The added stress & everything else in my life made this year worse than usual, but the Faire seems to have temporarily taken the edge off the funk.
Shes already talking about taking me out to other historical re enactments.
STOP ME BEFORE I VOLUNTEER AGAIN !
So it looks like I have a couple more trips through the time machine.
After all, It's just a jump to the left, And then a step to the right,
With your hands on your hips, You bring your knees in tight....
