[MR] garb, events and newcomers

[Kirsten Niemann]

How about just offering a newcomer a surcoate to wear over their own  
clothing? It solves the fit issue since  one size fits virtually  
everyone, it gives a newcomer, especially one still investigating the  
SCA, something to wear without the weirdness of having to wear  
someone else's clothing  - which is what loaner garb is. Not everyone  
is comfortable wearing "funny cloths" right away but a surcoate over  
their own clothes makes their modern clothing less obvious and gives  
them a feeling being part of the activities.  Also, surcoates are  
fairly easy to make, take up less storage/transport space and are  
more of a one size fits many, than most loaner garb.

-Thjora


Mistress Thjora Arnkitelsdottir
kniemann at mac.com

On Jan 22, 2008, at 7:56 PM, egeorges at cox.net wrote:

> Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Kingdom Chatelaine!
>
> I want to underscore some points that have been made here...
>
> Like a good many things in this life, the requirement that someone  
> wear garb at an event is not as black and white as it would  
> appear.  People have a good many reasons for not wearing garb at  
> one point or another during an event, or even (in rare instances)  
> refusing to wear it entirely.  My hope is that each and every one  
> of us, upon encountering someone who is without garb, would offer  
> assistance rather than judgment, and make inquiries rather than  
> jump to conclusions.  Anything less than such courtesy is beneath  
> us, or should be.
>
> Loaner garb is something that ideally, a local chatelaine should  
> maintain on behalf of the group.  Loaner garb is a courtesy we  
> offer to individuals who are new to the society and therefore may  
> not have had time to make garb of their own.  It's helpful for a  
> local chatelaine to keep a good assortment of loaner garb in a tub  
> that he or she can bring to events.  I recommend keeping the tub at  
> troll, so that when folks check in, they may be offered garb if  
> they need it.
>
> Members need to remember that the loaner garb is not in endless  
> supply.  Most groups don't have 25 outfits in assorted sizes in  
> good repair, so if you are bringing five people with you to an  
> event, don't expect the chatelaine to clothe them all for you  
> without advance notice.  That is a courtesy you should give to the  
> local chatelaine, who has been kind enough to maintain this loaner  
> garb on behalf of the group.  You have a closet, and you hopefully  
> have friends -- attempt to clothe your guests yourself, and if you  
> can't, call the chatelaine and make sure he or she has enough garb  
> on hand to assist you.
>
> Which brings me to the subject of loaner garb maintenance more  
> generally.  When I took my first job as a local chatelaine, I  
> inherited 5 gigantic rubbermaid tubs of "loaner garb."  Well,  
> actually, it was 5 tubs containing mostly group members' ill- 
> fitting cast offs, many of which were in poor shape.  After casting  
> out the clothes that were too tattered, too complicated and  
> otherwise impossible to wear, I had maybe 2 tubs.  Most of the  
> stuff was unusable.
>
> My point is this -- what you offer to a newcomer to wear should be  
> point of pride for your group.  A group should be able to offer a  
> newcomer at an event a clean, decent outfit to wear that doesn't  
> make him feel embarassed.  A few generic outfits in basic sizes  
> (kids, small, medium and large) should be sufficient for most local  
> groups.  You get greater success in getting newcomers to wear  
> loaner garb when what you offer them is not ugly, dirty, ill- 
> fitting, or full of holes.  Even then, there will still be  
> newcomers who will want to play the part of observer initially, and  
> not wear garb -- they should be encouraged, but not forced or  
> berated or embarassed.  We are a society of courtesy (I like to  
> think, anyway) so a generous-minded approach should be second  
> nature to us.
>
> If you really care about making sure people wear garb at events so  
> that the mood isn't spoiled, my suggestion to you would be to offer  
> some assistance to your local chatelaine with the loaner garb.   
> Offer to go through your group's supply and make sure it is worthy  
> of offering to a guest.  If there isn't enough garb in enough  
> variety, offer to help stock the chest -- either by making it or  
> taking up a collection.  Offer to be a Silver Key deputy who  
> handles loaner garb for the local chatelaine at events.
>
> The argument for wearing garb is that the SCA is about  
> participation, not sitting on the sidelines.  That being the case,  
> those who want to foster that attitude should lead the way with  
> their own action and participate in the solution.
>
> BTW, if groups have questions about how to put together a good  
> loaner closet, please feel free to contact me, I'm happy to provide  
> any assistance I can.
>
> In Service,
> Luce Antony Venus
> Chatelaine, Atlantia
>
>
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