About

About Reenactment Historical Costumes and Clothing

My real name is Lori Fox, but if you find me in reenactment circles, I’m either Hellen Yrth (Hell on Earth?), or Hellen Clotterbuck depending on how historically accurate I have to be.

The name Hellen Clotterbuck comes from a name I found in Shakespeare’s London (which is apparently now out of print and very hard to find, though I suspect Elizabeth’s London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London would be similar information wise, though less about The Bard)- Ferdinando Clutterbook. I had a herald in the SCA search out the last name for me, and while Clutterbook is supposedly the name that is in the Parish records, the herald was only able to find the name Clotterbuck as a period name. Close enough, however, and spelling wasn’t really their forte. Besides, when you sound it out with a German pronunciation, you can see how it would have easily been spelled as Clutterbook in an English town. But, I digress.

As you’ve probably gathered, I have been a participant in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism- a medieval reenactment group that accepts historical… anything, up through Queen Elizabeth I’s reign). I’m also a Renaissance Faire geek. Since I live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, my local renaissance festival is the PA Renaissance Faire (PARF). However, I think the Maryland Renaissance Festival (MDRF) is more fun, has better shopping, less expensive but better quality food, and an all around better atmosphere. Too bad it’s also a long drive from home.

I started going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire somewhere around 1997, though I can’t remember the exact year. The very following year, a friend and I made our first set of garb (aka: Renaissance Faire costumes). They were made from . Since my friend’s mother is an exceptional seamstress, and we were smart enough to not use the suggested materials, our costumes turned out much, much better than most of the other people who use the exact same pattern. However, we quickly learned that no matter how pretty our reenactment costumes were, they weren’t actually historically accurate costumes.

I’ve since lost touch with her, so whether she has better garb or not, I don’t know. However, I’ve since made a dozen or more costumes for myself and others, and while I generally start out with a Simplicity pattern for my renaissance fair costumes, they don’t remain the same as what’s printed on the pattern paper. My medieval reenactment costumes generally are made without an actual pattern, since I’ve basically stuck to T-tunics since the beginning. Perhaps some day I’ll tackle a sideless surcoat, but since there aren’t many events in my area, it just doesn’t seem worth the effort.

A few years ago, I started a small garb site. I put together quite a few how-to’s for making costumes without a pattern, how to dress for a renaissance festival, and some other articles. I didn’t really know what I was doing, and, quite frankly, the site was ugly. A few months ago I was thinking about that site and how to make it better and what kind of garb I should make next , and so on. Eventually I decided that since my historical costume interest goes beyond just Ren faire and SCA garb, I should just start over and do it right! So, here I am, and here the site is.

Welcome to my historical reenactment costume site!