So, please enlighten me:
Why are Gypsies so indicative of the Renaissance?
I get it, I do… I see pirates and princess, bustles, corsets, and chain mail.
But… why SO MANY stereotyped and incorrect Gypsies?
I thought that people tried to be historically accurate when making their costumes for Ren Faire?
Most Renaissance fairs are set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Some are set earlier, during the reign of Henry VIII, or in other countries, such as France, and some include broader definitions of the Renaissance which include earlier periods, such as the Vikings, or later, such as 18th Century pirates, and some engage in deliberate “time travel” by encouraging participants to wear costumes representing several eras in a broad time period. Renaissance fairs encourage visitors to enter into the spirit of things with costumes and audience participation. Most tolerate, and many welcome, fantasy elements such as wizards and elves.
The above is taken from Wikipedia.
A typical Ren Faire Gypsy looks like this:
And an actual real life Rromani woman from the mid-1900s would look like this:
That’s my aunt, Lemija. This was taken in Southern England sometime in the mid-1900s.
Now, if we take a Ren Faire that is supposedly set during the reign of Elizabeth I of England, then unfortunately, she didn’t really care for Gypsies (nor did the rest of Europe)