One of the first videos I posted on Instagram this year posed a question for the masses: Where should I wear my long fancy dresses, such as bridesmaid dresses? Most people said something vague, like, “Just dress up and wear it to dinner!” Yes, I know I can get overly fancy and go out to eat… but what I was really looking for was real reasons to get dressed up—specific fancy events, the opera or ballet, etc. The only comment that stood out to me said I should wear one of my bridesmaid dresses to a Renaissance faire—and so, I did.

Colorado has a large Ren faire every year in the small town of Larkspur, between Denver and Colorado Springs. It’s open every Saturday and Sunday from about mid-June to the first weekend in August. The festival is so big that the premises includes real buildings instead of just tents and is closed in the off-season. I messaged my friend in the spring to ask if she had any interest in going with my boyfriend and me, and she said her and her boyfriend had actually just been talking about wanting to go to a Renaissance festival themselves. It was perfect!

It’s been such a busy summer that I didn’t think much about the festival until the week of, and I realized I better figure out what I was wearing. I had known from the second that person commented on my Instagram post that I wanted to wear the dark green bridesmaid dress I wore to my friend’s November wedding a couple of years ago. The color, sweetheart neckline, and fluttery sleeves seemed perfect for a medieval vibe. I tried it on on Monday afternoon, filmed some content playing around with different accessories, and quickly realized what I had wasn’t going to work…

I don’t know what I was thinking! I LOVE costumes and I thought I could go to the Ren faire half-assing something?! I brainstormed a bit, looked on Pinterest, and went to Michael’s that night to shop for supplies for the very half-baked idea I had in my head. I was picturing some sort of forest nymph—ivy growing around me, green makeup, arm candy. I was disappointed with the fake greenery selection at Michael’s so I ordered some more leaves on Amazon for two-day shipping.

Which means… I didn’t start the project until Wednesday night, for the event on Saturday. Typical! Whenever I DIY a costume I try to do it right, in a way that will last (i.e., won’t fall apart while I’m wearing it). I kind of hate seeing people online hot gluing themselves into their outfits. However, I knew I didn’t want to permanently alter the dress, and because of my last-minuteness I didn’t really have time to construct the pieces how I would have liked. I have to admit there was hot glue involved… so I guess I can’t judge anymore.

I spent about $30 on materials, including safety pins, glitter, and a variety of fake leaves. I already had floral wire, floral tape, and glue. I knew I needed at least some sparkle, so I started the project by painting Elmer’s glue onto a couple of leaves and dumping on the glitter. It looked just like I had hoped, and that was the moment I knew my vision would come to life!

I made the arm pieces first, wrapping floral wire into a coiled shape up my arms and using it to secure the leaves. I found some green beads in my stash of craft supplies and made the arm “cuffs” attach via a green beaded ring around my middle finger. In an ideal world I think nude fishnet gloves or something like that would have held together better (and probably been more comfortable), but the wire worked well enough!

One of the sets of leaves I bought from Amazon were fake ivy vines, which I didn’t buy because they were all attached but rather because I liked the leaf shape. Thank goodness I did because the vine/garland structure made my life much easier when it came to adorning the dress itself. I used the existing vines, attached additional leaves with a combination of floral tape and hot glue, and used safety pins to affix the vines along the hem of my dress. You couldn’t tell they were safety pinned on at all, so it was the perfect way to sustainably make a costume that I would only wear once—while preserving the original dress.

After my initial testing, I saved the glitter-fying of the leaves for last because that was a feature that could be cut if I ran out of time. It took a long time to hand-paint each leaf in glue (and made a huge mess) but I was happy with the amount of sparkle when all was said and done. It’s been weeks and I’m still picking up little bits of glitter around the house!

I accessorized the outfit with a very cool beaded headband I already had, hand-me-down earrings from my mom, and a fanciful necklace I got for my birthday. For shoes I kept it comfy with beige boots, which blended into the ground nicely. Perhaps the most fun part of my outfit was the vines I drew around my eyes with (nearly dried up) green eyeliner. Makeup can do so much to pull together a costume!

When all was said and done, I would guess I spent between 12 and 15 hours on this project—which is possibly one of the quickest looks I’ve thrown together. I’m so glad I decided to invest the time and effort (and money) because everyone at the Ren faire looked incredible. I would have had major FOMO if I hadn’t tried very hard! And, to my surprise, I received several compliments on my dress, which felt extra meaningful considering it was my first time and I didn’t know what to expect.

The festival itself was a blast. There was so much to do and see, including a joust, lots of cool shops to explore, thematic food (the turkey legs were shockingly delicious!!), and activities such as archery. It was very hot (and very crowded) but thankfully we got cloud coverage in the afternoon that kept me from getting too overstimulated. While I was tempted to buy many things, the only non-edible item I purchased was the green beaded “extension” in my hair, which cost $20. I bought it in the morning and got to enjoy how perfectly it matched my outfit for the rest of the day!

All in all, I will absolutely be going to the Ren faire again next year. I’m already brainstorming which bridesmaid dress I can wear next!

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace

 

Dress: Baltic Born, $72 ($36 per wear) | Boots: Shop LC, $80 ($1.70 per wear), last worn here