Historical re-enactment fan who has never had a beach holiday says ‘consuming’ hobby builds her self-confidence

A woman who has never been on a beach holiday because her life has been “consumed” by her hobby as a historical re-enactor, where she makes her own costumes, cooks 18th century dinners, and participates in battle re-enactments and balls, has said “keeping history alive” gives her self-confidence.

Pia Gerbaulet, 37, from Finland, said she was “lured” into the world of historical re-enacting by accident – and it all started when she attended a Wild West festival as a teenager, where she rode a mechanical bull while wearing a corset, and later became the “Saloon Madame”.

“I took care of the musicians and danced on the table for one night and it was so much fun; you could definitely say it started from the Wild West,” Pia told PA Real Life.

In her teenage years, she struggled with her body image and “never felt pretty”, but after attending Wild West festivals and discovering historical costumes, she said she felt “free”.

“I started to feel self-confident and pretty in the historical clothing and not just an ugly duckling – that’s what sparked my interest even more,” Pia explained.

She had always loved learning about history and performing and, after meeting other re-enactors, she started to attend and organise events across the globe, including 18th century balls, harvest feasts, and battle re-enactments, with her favourite being the 1627 Battle of Grolle last year.

Pia performed the role of water carrier and said her “glory moment” involved helping injured soldiers while horses and hundreds of soldiers charged across the staged battlefield.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had such an adrenaline rush,” Pia said.

“People were chanting and screaming because the water was splashing everywhere and I was running very close to the audience, and I just knelt down and said, ‘Hello, I’ve come to save you. Do you want some water? We need to get you out of here, horses are coming’.”

Pia learns about history and “the stories of real people” through reading, watching films, and attending museums, and she has a wardrobe specifically for her costumes, which range from the 17th century to the early 1900s.

She also loans uniforms and accessories when needed, such as a cannon boy costume.

While it is an expensive and time-consuming hobby and “there is no luxury in it” for her, she said she loves meeting like-minded people, broadening her knowledge, and most importantly, highlighting through different roles that “women have never been absent from history”.

“Many people think that women were only there to cook for men, clean for them, and serve them, and that would not be historically correct, so that is not what I do,” Pia said.

“So, whenever there’s an opportunity to do something that women actually did, like carry water or save the injured, I’m in.”

She added: “I don’t take myself too seriously when I’m dressed up in costumes, but for me, the most important part is keeping history alive and recreating things that we’ve forgotten.”

Pia said she has always had a fascination for stories, but when it came to learning about history at school, she “thought it was politics and war and that’s it – nothing else”.

Over time, Pia “got more drawn to it” and started to attend events with historical re-enactors, including battle re-enactments and balls in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Estonia.

The largest re-enactments have been the Battle of Leipzig in Germany, the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium, and the Battle of Grolle in the Netherlands.

She said the battle re-enactments have “opened her eyes to the complexity and tragedy” of wars and given her a “greater understanding of past events” through a 3D experience – but most importantly, for Pia, playing women’s roles have allowed her to “bring women’s history alive”.

She said: “Of course, firing a cannon at the Battle of Waterloo was great, I absolutely loved it, but I find it more important to re-enact active women in history.

“The organisers of Grolle wanted us to go and save the men who were lying in the ditch – they were told to be injured and corpses, so they couldn’t move and break the illusion.

“I started running and people were like, ‘Is Pia going to attack the entire army alone?’

“Picking them up and trying to look like we were helping the injured – I think that was my glory moment.”

Pia explained that she has approximately 20 to 40 costumes, garments, and unfinished projects in total, which are kept in a specific wardrobe in her apartment.

The costumes are made by Pia herself or her friends using new or recycled materials and, depending on the fabrics and design, they can cost thousands.

Pia enjoys “being goofy in historical clothing” and showing that corsets are not “torture devices” to her thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok, and she even cooks meals using traditional recipes – this has included a “macabre dinner” for a French Revolution-themed ball.

She is a member of several historical re-enactment societies and frequently works with museums to organise events, such as balls, harvest feasts, and festivals, throughout the year in Finland and elsewhere, as she hopes to make the hobby as accessible as possible and continue educating others.

“You don’t have to be perfect to do these things, this hobby, as it’s supposed to be fun and help spread awareness,” she said.

“We have events that are open for the public, and then we have events that aren’t, that are private, and most re-enactors prefer the private ones because one of the most important aspects of re-enactment is to be able to immerse yourself in the time period.”

Pia’s hobby is expensive, “life-consuming”, and requires “lots of work”, but she said she loves “bringing the stories of real people to life”, reviving forgotten moments, meeting people from different cultural backgrounds, and going to “special places that are not open for everybody”.

While “all of (her) money has gone to re-enactment” and she has “never been on a beach holiday anywhere”, she said there is never a dull moment in her life, she is never bored, and she always has unfinished projects or costumes and accessories to make.

“With re-enactment, you get to see what goes on behind the curtains, behind closed doors, and working with total strangers to achieve a common goal is fun and interesting,” she said.

“It’s a lovely hobby, and I would recommend anyone who’s interested to try it out; you will never get bored or lonely again.”

You can find out more about Pia and her hobby via her Instagram or TikTok at @stepsbackintothepast