SeeCalifornia.com

This weekend there are wonderful Renaissance Faires in Hollister (Northern California Renaissance Faire) and Sebastopol. These “Ren” faires are extremely popular throughout the state, mostly because  women and men love to play dress up and act out parts of another era. Modern ladies and men like to think historical clothing prior to the early 1900s was very conservative and buttoned up. But when they prepare for their first Ren faire they discover that we’re probably a bit more prudish today than our pre-20th Century counterparts. Here’s why….

In late the 1600s a young English woman of station around the age of 15, began wearing adult garments that exposed her breasts. It would be an insult to her family to NOT expose her breasts whenever wearing anything formal or at a formal occasion. It would have been a statement that she was impure , having suckled children.

Low cut bodices were very much in fashion throughout the 16th to 19th Centuries, yet exposing other parts of the body such as shoulders was considered risque’. Fashionable women even went so far as to expose one or both nipples on occasion; or their bodice was cut so low that with the slightest movement a nipple might make a surprise appearance. Of course, the girls and women wearing the outfits acted slightly shocked at the occurrence, but it was well known that by wearing gowns of that “cut” it was bound to happen.

At Renaissance Faires California girls tend to be more conservative about letting their bosoms get air. However, the costumes do showcase their assets.