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Queen Alba in 1981 (this costume is no longer among the collection)
"ROYALTY: THE BACK LINE
Rooks/Castle: These generally have been Ladies of the Realm, dressed in court finery. They get comfortable stools or low chairs, and need to have something lady-like to do to occupy them, such as reading, sewing, embroidery, crewel work, cross-stitch, watercolor. As they occupy corners of the board, they will probably have audience behind them who can't see some action well, so it would be good if they shared observations of what is happening with the audience, and/or share what they are doing. All within their characters. The one who is reading could have pieces of of the books she reads to the audience.
Knights: Images of stalwart men, standing tall, ready for defense, offence or revenge. They can be dressed in a wide variety of costuming, from full court fashion to rag-tag scraps of battle. Skill at fencing, dance or martial art would be, well, marvelous, allowing for some skirmishes or demonstrations.
Bishops: These are the advisors to the royalty, and in Chess LIve over the years, have changed from peace invocation purveyors to the oily manipulative greedy mavens that are behind a major portion of the problems in the world. The word bishop comes from "overseer" in Greek, which fits the idea of an advisor who thinks he knows it all. Therefore, the Bishops will not have costumes with religious symbols.
King and Queen: On the black side, we have a queen, Queen Sharon. She has a rich red satin and black velvet dress, topped with a red velvet cape/train. On the white side, we have two White Queen costumes one small and one large. For the kings, we have a largish Black King costume, tunic and knickers, bring your own tights. (Ah yes, opportunity for Men In Tights.)
PAWNS: THE FRONT LINE
The pawns are characters and character types of modern day society. Among the possibilities are an artist, shopkeeper, kids with toys, surfer, fisherman, gardener, waitress, you name it. We've had a person dressed as a dog and space aliens. We'll consider anything, but reserve the right to say, wellll, how about (insert something different)." (also found under "Actors")
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We're collecting a bunch of black and white costume parts, mostly modern clothes that have a bit of Renaissance about them. Seamstresses can work on banners and Festival Flags, as described under "Artists" and get in touch with us about other elements.
We would love to hear from anyone who is a Ren Faire habituate or other group that already has Renaissance or pseudo- Renaissance costume in their closets. It's a mix and match world out here...
GETTING DOWN TO SPECIFICS AND POTENTIALS
| Lady Queen's Rook | Sir Queen's Knight | Count Queen's Advisor | Queen Sharon | King Aaron | Count King's Advisor | Sir King's Knight | Lady Queen's Rook |
| Surfer | Stand-up Comic | Gardner | Shopkeeper | Musician(s) |
Queen's Sharon's costume is black with a lot of red. The dress was made from a red satin party dress that has no back, with flounces added out of black velvet and checkerboard cotton. A red cape/train of red velvet adds to its regality.
For the King and the knights, we currently have a large tunic and knickers available. The King is probably a 2X, so a different costume is needed for him. The knights can be anything from rag-tag knight wannabes to gentlemen in full court regalia. Another possibility is a full fencing ensemble, complete with fencing demonstration. In the past, we have had a female knight, a beautiful Joan of Arc character.
The "Court Advisors," aka the chess piece bishop, will have ceremonial head pieces/hats/masks to mimic the shape of the chess piece as well as the accoutrements of advisors both temporal and spiritual. Potential props include as multi-scull handled sword embedded into a larger skull, very hip, very disconcerting. Robes, scepters, braided cords, mystical sculptures, word scrolls of unknown writing-- these are the potential elements for the "Advisors."
The Black Rooks, the Lady Castles, will need finery based in black, but not so black it appears they are in mourning. We have several black flouncy dresses, but are open to ideas and offerings.
| Fisherman | Artist | Gymnast | Collector | Asher, Kid w/ Toys | Musician | ||
Lady Queen's Rook Kalin Bree |
Sir Queen's Knight | Count Queen's Advisor | Queen Mary | King | Count King's Advisor | Sir King's Knight | Lady King's Rook, |
For the White side, we have a small to medium Renaissance ladies costume, and a medium to XL ladies costume, which will potentially clothe an adult rook as well as the Queen Mary. Alternatives are always welcome. One rook, Lady Kalin Bree, is a fourth grader from Paso Robles. We can probably pull together a pseudo-Renaissance from modern clothes but if someone has a child's Renaissance costume, we'd be delighted to see it.
For the white king and the knights, the story is sad: the mice got to the court costumes. Any large flouncy shirts/blouses, gold and spangled vests, white knickers, whatever might be pinned and stitched into a facsimile of Court costumes for the men on the white side would be very appreciated.
PAWNS:
As noted above, the pawns are modern day players, as in players in life. I've put the characterizations on the board, but that doesn't mean they will stay the same, or necessarily appear on those squares or even on the side currently designated.