Rowany Festival Costume Competition
The Rules - Capsule Wardrobe Theme
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You must have items that meet our criteria below. These criteria are set out as a sliding scale depending on your experience
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Your ‘wardrobe’ must be from a single time and place. You decide what time and what place and you tell us why that "time" is a single time (i.e. in some eras 50 years is a "time" whilst in others 10 years is a "time").
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At least two items must have been made since the previous Festival
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You must be wearing one of the outfits as part of the demonstration
Criteria. Choose your experience level
Beginner
for someone who's attending their second Festival with 1-3 years sewing experience
You can dress for 2 days of Festival portraying your chosen time and place.
2 items of clothing must be in both outfits.
No restrictions on fabric or technique (Although you can do this, of course)
Intermediate
for someone who's attending their third - sixth Festival, with 3-5 years sewing experience
You can dress for 3 days of Festival, portraying your chosen time and place, one of the options must be your "Sunday best"/"going to court" clothes.
You also need a keeping warm option.
Period appropriate fabrics are required (see mythbusting for use of brocades & velvets).
3 items of clothing must be re-used in other outfits
Advanced
for people who've been Festival attending for quite a while, and want to push themselves
All of the intermediate requirements.
Also correct shoes & hose, and period techniques must be applied to all visible seams and finishes.
Judging
The winner in each category will be determined based on:
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Overall completeness of outfit - including underwear, headwear, layers, shoes. Level of experience as per rule one will be taken into account
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Explanation of time and place and social class
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Looking "right", including colour choices
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Documentation provided - Only primary sources are required, e.g. pictures, lists of inventory items. Secondary sources (such as someone else's research) are also fine, but should be complemented by some pictures you have found. There is no need to write a research paper (unless you want to).
MYTHBUSTING
You don’t need to make the items yourself. You can buy/commission them, but please give credit if you do this.
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Documentation requirements are light on, but we will expect you to talk to the crowd about what you are wearing and your choices, as well as answer (nice, interested) questions - you won't be grilled. The purpose of this form and level of documentation is to share information and enthusiasm.
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You can ask someone to be your spokesperson if you are nervous speaking in front of a crowd. They can explain your outfits and choices.
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You can dress someone else (e.g. your child, a friend, family member) and have them as your model while the outfits are explained.
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Brocades and velvets can be synthetic or cotton. In period these fabrics were made from silk, but that can be prohibitively expensive to work with. Just make sure that your choice of synthetic or cotton looks and behaves similarly to the period equivalent (hint: don't go for panne velvet)