who the heck is Daniella Noir?

Do a quick Facebook search and you'll find that Daniella Noir is a stripper... perhaps a porn star... even a ghetto fabulous fashion model. But this Daniella Noir I speak of is the director of the Texarkana Renaissance Faire and now officially, the Queen of the Gypsies.
She's me. Er, well kind of.

Even though I am the director of a renaissance faire, I'm not what you would call a "rennie". A rennie is person who is obsessed with faires and all things renaissance. They visit every faire they possibly can, spend thousands of dollars on costuming, accessories and weaponry every year. They listen to renaissance music, play themed RPGs, themed video games, study the history, read thy novels, attempt to speak the lingo, they learn to play the instruments... they're soaked in it!
Good people though. Good folks, I say.

People say to me, "Um, Hollie. You direct a faire. You're like, the ultimate rennie."

And I say to them:

"Nay. I just like dressing up and throwing massive parties that attract hundreds of people and earn thousands of dollars (none of which I actually get to take home after bills and stuff)."

With all that being said, during the planning of last year's faire, I began to get a lot of friend requests from faire participants, merchants, entertainers and the likes. But I only like to be friends with  people I actually know (that includes bloggers I regularly follow).

So I did what all rennies do, (I'm not a rennie)... I created a character and a name.

Thus, Daniella Noir was born!
Daniella from my middle name Danielle and Noir from my maiden name, Black.

Daniella got her own Facebook profile and by doing this, I was able to befriend 886 folks in the industry without flooding my personal profile feed with the latest book about Anne Boleyn, Tudor tailoring and pics of hot guys in kilts (I don't mind that last one so much though).
My 886 "friends" includes about a dozen Jack Sparrow impersonators, even a female Johnny Depp impersonator. About twenty mermaids, well over two hundred pirates, dozens of professional belly dancers, some faire kings and queens and even a few Hollywood pros.

So what about the Gypsy Queen thing?

Yeah, I made the announcement a few weeks ago that I am joining my own cast as the Gypsy Queen.

That was actually supposed to happen last year and it was going to be a big fun surprise but I was unable to finish my costume due to financial issues.

The headdress wasn't finished, the bodice wasn't bejeweled and I couldn't afford the skirts. No biggie really, it felt good to be hoop and crinoline free.

So here's what's to be added to the costume:

This 25 yard silk skirt...

.

Over this 25 yard dyed skirt tucked in at the hips...

Over this massive 6-bone hoop...

With lovely Indian and Turkoman and other tribal doodads on the bodice and headdress (the one with the flowers and feathers at the top).

At the faire, I will have a pavilion, really just a decorated popup canopy like below and even a throne! 

Maybe one day I'll have my husband build me a pimped out vardo complete with wi-fi and an espresso maker. Well, I don't think gypsies had wagons like this in the 16th century (or espresso makers for that matter), but it's my faire and I'll do what I want.

Ok, well now that I've bored you all to death with talks of becoming a gypsy queen, I'm going to go have a drink. A wasp landed in my hair earlier and thinking it was a harmless grasshopper a grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He stung my hand and now I'm grumpy, with a headache and a achy hand.

If you'd like to befriend Daniella Noir on Facebook you can find her HERE.

To like the Gypsy Queen's page click HERE.

See ya!!