Thanks for checking us out. Why call the site Renaissance Rats? Well, we are not only interested in the Renaissance Period, we are pet rat owners and rats had a large piece of the Renaissance history and have come an awfully long way since. Fancy Pet Rats make great pets....and you can dress them in cute little Renaissance Costumes and take them to Fairs with you if you like. Fancy Rats, or Ratties, make affectionate, trainable pets. I started making "garb" for animals, mostly ratties, long before making any for Deron and I....unless of course the 70's Peasant Shirts qualify???

But this site is not only about Ratties. While Deron and I enjoy the fun, the feasts and costumes of the Renaissance times, we are most interested in training our horses for the War Games, see our page here at this site (well two really). We are "spotting out" an area to set up a Ring Jousting Track as well as making our equipment for the games.

But what is not to love about the Renaissance Era? We romanticize, it recreate it, but who would really have liked to live then? How many of us could have lived as long as we have during that time?

I think the garb that folks wear to the Fairs may be what brings many of the people "in". Other people don't "get it". "Why do you dress up and pretend?",
"What's so fun about that?" ....well tell me???? What is the difference in dressing in Renaissance garb for a Fair and have a bit of fun or dressing up in fancy clothes and going to a New Years eve party? Or what about a wedding? Garb worn one day.

So why dress up.....IT'S FUN!!

If you sew, you can easily make a fun skirt and peasant shirt. Men are a little harder to dress for the fair, but not too hard. A white shirt, tuck the collar, and black pants with a vest or a tabor over it, with a belt and pouch and your ready.

The Thrift Store, Garage Sales and Flea Markets are also a great place to find items that will be fine for Renaissance Fairs (watch out for the Costume Police). Not only have I found floor length full, and I mean full, 100% silk skirt for $1, but also shirts and even costume patterns for sewing. I also found 14K gold set pearl earrings for .50. I also bought the earrings in the photo for .50 at a Thrift Store. So be sure to look over the jewelry too, there will be lots of finds there. You just have to look and use your imagination.

After you start going to fairs and meeting new friends you will want to add onto your garb closet. You can buy at the fairs, make items yourself, look at Renaissance Websites and again, Thrift Stores.

Once in a while you can really find fun old type stuff for good prices. I found these delightful wooden crochet hooks in a Thrift Store for $1.50, not each, for the four of them.

On the same day I bought a really nice wooden serving sized bowl for .25, in mint condition and a really long black leather (men's) belt for .50, that I will use for hanging even more KOOOL "stuff" around my waist.

The best way I can tell you to learn the Renaissance "speak" is to find a King James Bible and read it.

You might find you really enjoy the book itself. It is full of God vs Evil, sex, sex scandles, and violence and sword fights, blood scarifies, gods, Super Heroes, God, and of miracles and magic, war horses, armor and weapons, war booty, pillaging and dragons, unicorns, armies and more.....in the end chapter the King of Kings will come on a White War Horse with a sword in hand.

So pick it up and read a copy, I am doing just that. Luckily my husband and I are Bible reading Christians and knew most of the stories and had an idea of what was happening, as well as other, modern, versions to "compare" with. So when I did not understand the JKV, I had comparisons. I did find, <grin>, that when reading the KJV (King James Version), if I read it in my mind in the voice of Calypso from Pirates of the Caribbean, it made more sense to me. Sounds odd, I know, but it sure worked for me.

The entertainment was live, many times War Games on Horseback.
more to come....

Horses, Mules and Donkeys were the main transportation before the 1900's. (not the greatest photo for this site, but the only one I could find to use right now)

more to come.....

That's the movies with Renaissance Rats that is...

We all love/loved the Rats in Cinderella, Desparato, and I am sure there are other movies where the rats are set into the Renaissance's era. One I can think of is remember the shipmate that took bets on biting the rats? He had quite a rat bitten face....who could blame the rats for that one?

I have always enjoyed Movies and TV Shows with the Renaissance Costumes in them. Even as a kid I would sit and look at the costumes as well as enjoy the time period life styles. The series Tutors has really been fun to watch, and rewatch. The costs that they went to with this series, the sets, the costumes, the jewelry, the horses.....man, it is fun to watch and dream!

As with all of our sites, this site is a work in progress. We do sell Renaissance and Pirate outfits for pet rats, guinea pig and other small animals on our sister sites. We also sell Pirate Hats for small dogs and will be adding some of larger sizes and more variety, as well as Pirate Outfits for dogs, soon.