I was told once that when the Order of the Fleur was discussing me, there was some consternation by some members, because no one knew who I was. I’m rather quiet, the work I do doesn’t tend to be super visible to Orders, and although everyone knows I spin fine, well, I make thread.. that’s not exactly new or novel work, and I’m a good spinner, but not award winning. A friend referred to me as “the girl in the spectacles” and all of a sudden lightbulbs clicked. People may not know what I do, but they know what I look like. (I was granted admittance to the Fleur (my thanks to Their Grace’s Tindal & Etain for that elevation) and was the third inducted into the Order of the Golden Mirror for looking like I stepped out of a manuscript, for which I thank Their Grace’s Gareth & Juliana), so do not take the above comment as any complaint about the order or it’s processes, I make my own choices).

Since about the time I moved to Aethelmearc in the early 2000s, pushing for an authentic look has always been my driving desire, but I also do not sew, or at least do not sew well… This is a complicated position for a woman to be in. So over time, I learned to balance a skill for research and a love of shopping… Now, lots of people are good at shopping, but the research has always been the part people ask questions about, knowing what I was looking for is the key goal. This post will walk through how I built Muirenn’s look, and there will be a future post about finding trustworthy sources for authentic clothing and accessories. (I was going to include the shopping in this, but it got LONG).

• Key Decisions you have to make first.
  • Where?
    • There was never a question of where my persona would be from. I come from a fairly typical Irish-American family on the East Coast, but in a less typical way, I worked 3 jobs in high school to fund my first trip over at 17 (a tour of the archaeological sites of Western Ireland), and then went back, to spend my junior year in undergrad at University College Cork studying Early Medieval Irish Archaeology, Literature & History. This decision was super easy.
  • When?
    • I won’t lie, I always wanted to do Tudor, but my first husband wanted to do classic “14th Century Mafia” and as a result we sort of found a middle ground a little further into the 14th and 15th century cusp to allow me some of the shapes I wanted, but give him the freedom to do his era as well. For my ease of mental math, I decided that Muirenn and I were born 600 years apart – so I always know what year it is in her timeline, because I’m a nerd.
      • As an aside – I will have that late period some day.. I have an alternate 16th century Italian persona under construction, but her kit is nowhere near complete, so she hasn’t really made an appearance.. (note to self – future post about doing this process with Domenica!) She’s inspired by
  • What class?
    • I have no desire to play a noble generally, my family were dairy farmers, or they were soldiers (often both in the same life). So I am fascinated by finding what I can about working and the emerging merchant class women of the 15th century. Nobles are great (and easier, and some of them are personal heroes) but, they are not the women whose lives fascinate me, generally. I do like having the ability to Dress Up, but in general, Muirenn is a merchant’s daughter and widow.