OF AUTHENTICITY REGS

Authenticity Regs—what members of your society is allowed to make kit from–vary from society to society. Some are stringent, and some are very lax…some might say non-existent, and they might vary—usually in details for societies interested in extreme authenticity—but they help to coordinate the appearance of participants. For an example of what Authenticity Regs might contain, see Regia’s Authenticity Regulationsm which were originally written down by Gary Golding as society Authenticity Officer and then revised by his successor, Gavin Archer. Gavin has added a second document which delineates a Authenticity Kit Guides which is mainly for the appearance of military items.

This being said, the is no need to critically examine anything worn by someone in another society—especially if they beg for egoboo on how swell they look—and then tell them what they have to do to bring it up to your standards or the standards of your society That is dangerously close—and perhaps in fact is—what I commonly refer to as an Authenticity Nazi.

What another society—or an individual—chooses as its authenticity regs is its concern. Members of that society have chosen to adopt and to live by them; as a friend says, what is permitted is promoted, and they do not want to be “bettered.” Smile if necessary, do not answer their questions if at all possible and, especially, do not criticize! Save the criticisms for members of your society, since they more than anything, represent you; and any farb they wear reflects back on what you do and wear. (You can use the farby wear as I do to warn members of your society to never ever never wear anything like that!)

A final note. I generally use the term “accuracy” instead of “authenticity” for most replicas and reproductions, and for a very simple matter. Years ago, at a display, a young girl came up and looked at the hardware, including a helmet. Finally she said, “Is this authentic?”

I assured her it was.

“Wowzer,” she said. “So someone back then wore this…”

My face fell, and I have used the term “accurate,” especially when dealing with MoPs, ever since!