Hello,

I found out about the SCA about a year ago and attended a few meetings but then

I moved out of state for a while and just moved back and would like to get

involved with the SCA again. I live in the Barony of Northkeep. I noticed on the

website that the schedule has changed from what it was last year.

So my questions are-

when is Archery practice and Rapier practice?

Besides the archery and rapier lessons, what meetings would be good for newcomer

to attend? The schedule was a bit confusing.

Also who can I talk to about choosing my name?

and lastly-I love costumes and own a ton but none of them are accurate and i

know that that is a pretty big deal within the SCA. Is it ok to wear inaccurate

costumes? Also is there someone I can talk to to help me research accurate

costumes and it would be wonderful if there is someone who could make me a

couple of costumes? (Id pay for them of course)

Thanks so much for all the help and sorry to bombard you all with so many

questions!!

you can private email me at chimericalgirl@...

Greetings Stephanie!



You may want to get in touch with that barony directly.  This list is

society-wide, so many folks here can respond to help out, although the local

group there can get more specific with you on the meeting and practice times,

etc. I think you should be able to locate their specific website by looking up

your zip on here:

http://sca.org/geography/kingdom_lookup.html



In general, unless you are trying to enter that costume/garb in an A&S

competition, accuracy is not required!  As long as you are making the best

attempt that you can to not look modern, and to look medieval, this is generally

accepted. :) So do not worry. Later as you make some more period-accurate items

you can certainly swap over to those as you can. Some nice basic T-tunics are an

easy start which spans a great deal of time which makes them appropriate for a

wide range of our history. If you don't find any costume sewers in your local

group, there are sure to be some folks on here or on one of the SCA Costuming

lists who can get you started. If you do even any simple sewing at all, you can

put together some accurate articles yourself without a great deal of effort,

with a little knowledge! :)



The group's Herald should be able to help you get started with name and (when

you're ready) device registration. You can think about what you want to have

registered on your own and start to look up some info to help the process. Some

people end up going through their namesake or country of origin; for example, I

was curious where my roots were from. I discovered Wales and ended up selecting

a Welsh name that I liked. Heralds helped me find the spelling version

appropriate for the right medieval era I found interesting. Or you can just look

at other names for inspiration. :)



I was going to type more, but the end of the day snuck up on me at work..

~Aranwen, who at least had a few thoughts to add to the answer.





--- In scanewcomers@yahoogroups.com, "stephanie" <chimericalgirl@...> wrote:

>

> Hello,

> I found out about the SCA about a year ago and attended a few meetings but

then I moved out of state for a while and just moved back and would like to get

involved with the SCA again. I live in the Barony of Northkeep. I noticed on the

website that the schedule has changed from what it was last year.

> So my questions are-

> when is Archery practice and Rapier practice?

> Besides the archery and rapier lessons, what meetings would be good for

newcomer to attend? The schedule was a bit confusing.

> Also who can I talk to about choosing my name?

> and lastly-I love costumes and own a ton but none of them are accurate and i

know that that is a pretty big deal within the SCA. Is it ok to wear inaccurate

costumes? Also is there someone I can talk to to help me research accurate

costumes and it would be wonderful if there is someone who could make me a

couple of costumes? (Id pay for them of course)

> Thanks so much for all the help and sorry to bombard you all with so many

questions!!

> you can private email me at chimericalgirl@...

>

Stephanie asked:

<<< when is Archery practice and Rapier practice?

Besides the archery and rapier lessons, what meetings would be good for newcomer

to attend? The schedule was a bit confusing. >>>



These are questions better asked of the people in your home group, Northkeep.

I'm in your home kingdom of Ansteorra, but I'm not familiar with the local

situation, much less the other folks on this list from all over the Known World,

which includes large expanses of the real world.



<<< Also who can I talk to about choosing my name? >>>



Really, it would help first to decide which region and/or time era you are most

interested in, since that could affect which names you have to choose from. I do

recommend that you come up with at least a first name as soon as you have this

pinned down some. Otherwise the folks in the SCA may well make up a name for

you. And you may or may not like that name. It also saves folks from learning

your regular name and then shortly after having to learn a new name for you, all

over again.



Some names do span a large time span or area, and if you can't narrow it down,

that is a possible solution. And nothing is set in stone. You can always change

your name later. For some people it is easy to get people to use their new name.

For others not so much.



Perhaps these files in the NEWCOMERS section of the Florilegium might be of

interest:

Choose-a-Name-art (12K) 10/ 3/09 "Choosing a Society Name: Hints for Newcomers"

by Dietmar Reinhart von Straubing and Malachias von Morgenstern.

http://www.florilegium.org/files/NEWCOMERS/Choose-a-Name-art.html



names-FAQ (14K) 5/ 8/96 Choosing and registering names in the SCA.

http://www.florilegium.org/files/NEWCOMERS/names-FAQ.html



There are other files in that same section which might also be of interest.



There are some files on personas and names in the PERSONAS section.



<<< and lastly-I love costumes and own a ton but none of them are accurate and i

know that that is a pretty big deal within the SCA. Is it ok to wear inaccurate

costumes? >>>



The only requirement is to wear an "attempt at medieval clothing". Particularly

for newcomers usually you are given a fair amount of slack.



It is also often possible to borrow an outfit from someone already in the SCA

and many groups also have chests of clothes to loan to newcomers until they can

get their own.



If you are interested in clothing and sewing, you can certainly learn to sew

very elaborate, complex clothing.



<<< Also is there someone I can talk to to help me research accurate costumes

and it would be wonderful if there is someone who could make me a couple of

costumes? (Id pay for them of course) >>>



There are plenty of folks in the SCA that will be willing to help you for free.

We all learn from each other and we stand on each other's shoulders to

continuously improve our art.



You might wish to look at some of the files in the CLOTHING section of the

Florilegium.



There are also a number of people who do take on sewing commissions in the SCA.

You might check this Florilegium file:

merch-cloth-lst (25K) 8/19/10 Lists of clothes and pattern merchants.

http://www.florilegium.org/files/CLOTHING/merch-cloth-lst.html



merch-shoes-msg (32K) 5/18/11 Lists and reviews of period-style shoe makers.

http://www.florilegium.org/files/CLOTHING/merch-shoes-msg.html



<<< Thanks so much for all the help and sorry to bombard you all with so many

questions!! >>>



Feel free to. That is one of the main purposes of this list. I am also happy to

help you as I may by email.



I have sent this to the list and to you, since it may be of interest to others

here as well.



One thing to keep in mind is that this week there is a big SCA event called Gulf

Wars going on near Haddiesburg, Mississippi. Much of my local group, and I

assume in Namron as well is already on the way to this event or will be.  So you

may not be able to reach many of your local folks until next week.



Stefan

--------

THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra

    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous@...

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris

**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****