Olde Timey Reenactors

As previously mentioned, historical reenactment is mash...  RenFaire, Civil War, Celtic Warriors, Frontiersmen -- yes, yes, yes and hell yes.

According to Wikipedia, reenactors divide themselves into three categories:

1. FARBs: "Far be it from authentic" (which is amazing, btw) or "Fast And Researchless Buying" (also ridiculous)

"Farbs" or "polyester soldiers" spend relatively little of their time or money maintaining authenticity with regard to uniforms, accessories, or even period behavior. See also "Good enough attitude." 

2. Mainstream: somewhere between "farb" and "authentic"

Make an effort at appearing authentic, but may come out of character in the absence of an audience. 

3. Progressive: "hard-core authentics," "authenticity nazis," or "progressives."

Hard-cores seek an "immersive" reenacting experience, including eating seasonally/regionally appropriate food, sewing inside seams and undergarments in a period-appropriate manner, and staying in character throughout an event. They also carry this to extremes for periods where archaeological or historical data is lacking; for example, refusing to accept items that are known to have been used in earlier and later periods but which have no known evidence for their specific period. Yeah, pretty damn mash.

Some photographic evidence, from Wikipedia's entry on the subject:

image via MamaGeek on wikipedia

image via Megatonman on wikipedia

image via wikipedia

Whilst googling "reenactor," I stumbled upon this archive of mash horror, www.reenactor.net, "the worldwide online home of reenacting."

Sometimes, mashness speaks for itself, oftentimes in Geocities-style web design:

My favorite part of this website is the incredibly intricate subcultures and subdivisions of reenactment and time periods.  When I clicked on "Frontier Period," I learned the following:

What does "Frontier Period" mean? Well, in reality, it covers quite a lot... In fact, the Frontier Period covers so much area, we just HAD to make a separate area for it--much like we are going to now try and do for the RenFaires...

These subdivisions include (but are not at all limited to):

-- Frontier Era Buckskinning and Muzzleloading Parent Organizations of American Mountain Men and Fur Trade (um, WHAT?)
-- Coalition of Historical Trekkers
-- Replica Percussion Revolver Association
-- National Rifle Association (shocker)

I can't wait to see the RenFaire breakdown.

And on another note: 
Check out this total Farb I saw in Paris over the weekend.