Few in academia seem to want to use costume anymore, but they are stuck with both organizations in the UK and US that use the name. Last year, the audience endured a 5 minute rant from a historian about how much she hated the use of "costume" -- it had to be apparel. And frankly, if they changed it to "The Apparel Society of America" it would sound like a retail group. So it really just depends.
On 10/12/10 1:29 PM, "Beteena Paradise" <bete...@mostlymedieval.com> wrote: In the UK, you hear the term "kit" a lot. When doing my Victorian stuff, we usually say we are going in kit instead of in garb or in costume. :) ________________________________ From: Chris Laning <clan...@igc.org> To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> Sent: Tue, October 12, 2010 4:35:50 PM Subject: [h-cost] Words for clothes (WAS: Re: I found my way back!) On Oct 12, 2010, at 6:02 AM, annbw...@aol.com wrote: > Now here is another interesting use of a word for one's clothing and >accouterments. Had to look up exactly what "regalia" means--I have of course >seen it to mean one's trappings, outfit, etc. Its origin, though, which makes >sense if one thinks about it, is the rights and privileges belong to a monarch >or ruler. > > I referred to myself as a costume historian to a War of 1812 reenactor, and he >insisted his outfit is clothing, not costume. Yet, among square dancers, the >preferred term for the matching outfits worn by everyone on the committee of a >national square dance convention is "costume." > > Clothing, apparel, attire, costume, regalia--I guess it is like one's own >personal name--one should use the term the individual (or group) prefers. >However, one shouldn't be offended if a poor soul uses the wrong term because >one doesn't know what that group prefers! And in the Society for Creative Anachronism it's "garb." When people are talking about their medieval clothes, they are sometimes garb, sometimes simply clothes -- very few people call them a "costume" (at least in my hearing), although someone who makes such medieval clothes is usually a "costumer." I prefer "clothes," as do many of the people I hang out with, but "garb" is handy as a one-word term for "the clothes I wear to SCA events, as opposed to the clothes I wear on other days." ____________________________________________________________ O Chris Laning <clan...@igc.org> - Davis, California + http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
