With the current popularity of Renaissance fairs, it’s no wonder that traditional Renaissance costumes are equally popular. Not only reserved for the fair workers and those who attend them, Renaissance costumes also make charming additions to Halloween and costume parties.

So, what are the basics that encompass the Renaissance period? Well, it all depends. The era spanned over a long period of time and the costumes largely depended on the specific year, social standing, and the country.

So it is one thing to decide that you want to dress in traditional Renaissance costumes and another to understand exactly which type of costume you would like. In addition, you have a few options in obtaining a costume.

If your main purpose is to attend a Renaissance fair, you may want to contact the fair itself to see where they suggest you get the costumes. Some have a booth where they sell the costumes or if you want to rent, you may be able to do it at the fair or they can suggest a shop nearby that will accommodate. If you are a frequent attendee of the fair, you may want to consider obtaining your own Renaissance costumes.

If you want to wear your Renaissance costumes to a costume party or for Halloween, you may not need to worry so much about authenticity. At the fairs, more people will probably scrutinize your outfit. At a costume party, you are probably just looking for something that is fun and will look great. In this case, you can take dressing up in a Renaissance costume as far as you want it.

You can find Renaissance costumes at Renaissance fairs, and at costume shops. You can also find them at online auction sites or at online costume stores. Of course, there is also the possibility of making your own from a pattern you design or purchase.

Keep in mind that if you do decide to purchase your own costume they can get expensive. Some people specialize in making authentic, home sewn Renaissance costumes. If you choose to purchase one of these, you will certainly end up with a striking outfit. The only drawback is that it may cost a lot more than you were expecting to pay.

Many people unfortunately choose not to participate in this fun holiday simply because of the somewhat strange, evil, and even unhealthy activities and traditions associated with this holiday. Truthfully, they have every right to think this way, because let’s be honest – Halloween is just weird! At the same time, like everything in life, we have a choice to be dictated by circumstance or to create it ourselves. In other words, we can choose to focus on the negative aspects of this holiday and thus not participate; or, we can simply choose to focus on the fact that this holiday also provides a wonderful opportunity to have some good clean fun, spend time with family and friends, take opportunities to serve others, and justify the excessive eating of candy and sugar. Why would anyone complain about that?

Below I have listed just 15 of the many ideas that individuals and families everywhere can implement to make this holiday fun, meaningful, and memorable:

1) Make October 1st ‘Pumpkin Carving’ day. Each family member gets their own pumpkin to carve (or decorate).

2) ‘Halloween Give’ – The day after Halloween, have your kids pick out a few candies and go give them to: kids at the hospital or orphanage, new kids in the neighborhood, children at a homeless shelter, etc.

3) ‘Phantom Halloween’ – Choose a local family who is in need and collect clothes, toys, books, and especially lots of candy – and leave it on their doorstep secretly with a note. Or just choose a friend or neighbor and leave a treat for them from the ‘phantom ghost.’

4) Dress up in a costume and act as a prop, or hide in dark clothes – and scare the older ‘trick or treaters’ as they come to your house.

5) ‘Donuts and Hot Chocolate’ – sit out on the porch every year and have donuts and hot chocolate as you pass out candy.

6) ‘Costume Party’ – Invite friends, family, or neighbors over and have a dress-up costume party.

7) Take a picture of the kids in their costume each year.

Each year, visit a local pumpkin patch, haunted house, or corn maze together as a family.

9) Just have fun! Dress up as you pass out candy, try to scare kids, or ask kids to do a ‘trick’ before getting a treat (and then when they place their bag down to do the ‘trick’ – take it and run inside).

10) Do a neighborhood ‘trunk or treat’ for the smaller children. Go to the local school, church, or parking lot and everyone will park their car in a circle and decorate their trunks. The smaller kids then walk around the circle of cars and collect candy.

11) Make some pumpkin pies or cookies (with orange frosting) and deliver them to neighbors, family, friends, or those in need.

12) Watch a scary movie or read a scary story together.

13) Take a drive as a family one night before Halloween to just look at houses that are decorated around town.

14) The day after Halloween, go as a family and spend an hour or two cleaning up smashed pumpkins from the streets in your neighborhood.

15) Family Game Night – after all the kids come back from ‘trick or treating,’ just spend time together as a family playing games, watching a scary movie, and just having fun eating candy and being together.

As is obvious, the fun of Halloween is actually not in the ‘trick-or-treating’, the candy, or the scary costumes and parties; Halloween is fun and is meaningful because we spend time with friends, neighbors, and family. And although the media, movies, and even businesses focus on the shock value (evil) aspects of Halloween – ironically this holiday can actually become extremely meaningful if we take the opportunity to serve others, have clean and wholesome fun, and most importantly – spend time with family.