Last summer, 2021, I and Remy had no plans on spending week 32 on Medieval week. Well, we had decided to go down during the day, however, we haphazardly got involved with the media-team. This meant, that we had not packed for a medieval week at all. All I had was some summer dresses, belts I use for archery and some fur. Remy had his woollen shirt and hood, but no medieval bottoms or shoes at all. So how did we blend in? Well, I went 100% medieval-inspired on a budget. I was rather young when I got into cosplay and historical sewing, and being 14 years old and, luckily, unemployed and in school, I never had a lot of cash for correct textiles or clothes. So I had to get creative. And thanks to that fine-tuned skill, this is one of the outfits I came up with last summer.
Dress: Linen blended dress from Uniqlo (link).
The shape of the neck does is not historical at all, but the colour was the most neutral I had with me.
Blouse: White linen/cotton blended blouse, straight from my mum’s wardrobe.
To cover the neck somewhat, and continue on my fantasy-vibe, I added a mink-scarf. The mouth has a hook that can cling onto the body. The blouse served as an illusion of an underdress under the Uniqlo dress.
Belt: Viking-inspired belt, decorated with tails (which can be bought on the market of Medieval week), and handmade ropes thrifted on the island.
Pouch: Super old, super-loved pouch I once bought at Medieval Week.
For shoes I went with the most neutral leather shoes I had, which were either leather sandals or Dr Martens, depending on how far I had to walk (hint: I walked a lot).
I also added some "fitting" jewellery for the overall feel. The charm on the right I made in elementary school, so it must be at least 10-15 years old.
Overall I am pleased with the wardrobe outfit I created. It is far from accurate or historically reasonable, I personally think it gives off Skyrim-vibes and qualifies as historically inspired, or blending in more than the average tourist. All the pieces can be found in most thrift stores (excluding the fur and leather). During the week I switched between this, an outfit with a red linen dress and black blouse (which was even more Skyrim-vib-y), and layering linen pieces with wool pieces. If you are going to your first medieval-inspired festival, and you don’t want to make your own historically reasonable clothes, I would definitely recommend heading to the thrift stores. There is a lot that can be paired, for a look that makes you blend in a bit more than in jeans and a t-shirt. I also had 2 wool capes with me, which I used at night, which made me blend in even more. And yes, carrying an extra cape in the car is always handy. 😉
