In costuming, there are many types. But you can count on someone fitting in one of the three main categories.
The Farby Costumer. These guys are the ones that will show up with modern shoes, modern glasses, drink from modern containers, and will cobble together ill-fitting costumes from thrift-store finds. These are people who may or may not have the financial wherewithal to have something accurate, or who don't really care, they just are interested in the period and want to participate on some level. They are much-maligned by those with a stronger commitment to accuracy. They are often referred to as Halloween costumers.
The Middler: Someone whose costume looks the part, who uses largely good fabrics and materials, but who will machine sew, or use grommets where grommets aren't correct, or who finds thrift store items that are actually pretty correct. They may wear modern glasses, and hide bad fabrics in linings. They aren't perfect, but do a good job creating the desired appearance.
The Accurate Costumer - someone that takes their costuming so seriously, it is impossible for them to understand others who do not. These people are known to decorate their homes in their preferred period, and they direct a lot of energy into making their costume as close to period as humanly possible with modern resources. As commendable as this is, these people are often obnoxiously snotty to others who do not meet their costuming standard under the guise of being helpful and informative.
The quality of a costumer's personality is often directly connected to the quality of their costume.
As it works out, in most reenactment and costuming groups, there is a polarization. Here is a group-dynamics study that exemplifies what typically occurs in such groups where there is a blend of various categories of costumer:
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| Groups begin with a rather even blend of the various category of participant. |
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| Polarization occurs rather quickly. |
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| The Historically Accurate are often left to their own devices. |
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The Accurate costumers typically end up doing things on their own,
and resent it, even though it was caused by their own snobbery. |
Somehow, after insulting every person they possibly can, the Accurate costumer will then spend all their time crying foul and blaming the others for treating them badly and for shunning them. They burn through groups and switch periods because they leave miles of scorched bridges behind them..
Somehow, the mindset is, that one must meet what for some could be impossible standards in order to qualify for participation. Those that do not have the time or resources should not, even in any rudimentary way, as it could offend the sensibilities of those that commit to accuracy at all times. So, ultimately, it's all about them. Blinded entirely by their righteousness, they cannot even recognize that they are being mean and obnoxious to others, and call it education instead.
This is the conclusion of the study. A large thank you to my friend <FQ> for the inspiration and help with the graphics. - FK
