Getting by with a Tabard

Why Garb?
Foam fighting, whether Amtgard or Dagorhir, is about more than beating your opponent into submission. It is also about creating a shared fantasy world in which players interact.* One of the best ways to make this fantasy world come alive is to look the part, and that means dressing in medieval/fantasy clothing (garb). You don’t need to do a lot to meet this goal.

* Some fighters may deny this goal of a shared fantasy world. If they were correct, however, the rules of both Dagorhir and Amtgard would not mandate wearing garb!

Starter Garb - The Tabard
A tabard is the easiest way to start with medieval garb (more specifically European medieval garb for men, although women can also use these ideas, especially for fighting garb). A tabard is simply a large rectangle of cloth with a hole in the middle. Put your head through the hole and you're ready for fighting!

A tabard (laying flat)

There's not much to making one, In its simplest form, just cut out a hole in the cloth. As shown above, it works better if the hole is slightly off center. You may want to hem the edges and facing. This tutorial provides more information about making a tabard.

What to Wear under Your Tabard
A tabard alone won't make you look medieval if you are wearing it over modern, mundane clothing. For example, a tabard over cargo pants looks out of place. Fortunately, you can create a decent look by pairing your tabard with regular clothing that is not too modern. The key is to find modern clothing that approximates medieval styles.

Some examples of medieval clothing

One thing you may notice in the picture above is that the men typically wear long sleeves. You want to emulate that if you want to look more appropriate. In contrast, wearing your tabard over a short-sleeved t-shirt will look like a mish-mash of modern and medieval.

Here is an example of some garb I quickly threw together

The tabard is made from a bedsheet and thrown over a long-sleeve shirt. I find it surprisingly effective!

There are ways to make your tabard-shirt combination look more medieval. Here are some tips:

• Cover the shirt’s modern cuffs and collar. In the picture above, the gloves and mask hide the cuffs and collar. You can also hide the collar with a hood (see the Accessorize section below).
• Make the tabard long enough – knee-length is good. Yes, it will look like a dress; get over it. We already look silly running around with foam weapons; might as well go all out.
• Create a more medieval look by flaring out the bottom, like so:

• Convert the tabard to a surcoat by joining the sides on the bottom half of the garment. It will look like a sleeveless shirt. You can either sew (which will be sturdier) or use fabric glue.

Appropriate Pants
To complete the look, you want pants that don’t appear modern. Cargo pants or athletic shorts just won’t cut it.

If you look at the examples of medieval garb above, you'll notice that the men are wearing legwear that fits tight to their body. They are wearing the most common form of medieval men's legwear known as hosen or chausses. It is very easy to replicate this look using modern clothing; just get a pair of tights. If you are scared of wearing tights you can call them compression pants.

There are a few of things to look for:

• Stick with plain, basic colors (like black) - even though medieval people liked bright clothing they would not have had access to vivid fluorescent colors or wild patterns.
• Avoid or hide logos - again, we want to be basic. However, logos on the waistband are OK because those will be hidden by our tabard
• Try to find material that is not too shiny - natural fibers don't have a sheen like modern synthetics do.

Accessorize

Another way to dress up your medieval garb is to add accessories to your outfit. Here are some ideas.

• A leather belt - belting your tabard will prevent it from flying around, exposing your mundania. It also creates the common medieval silhouette. You want a long belt so you can follow medieval fashion and leave the end hanging down
• A hood or other headwear - medieval men typically wore some kind of headwear. One of the most convenient is a hood, It hides our modern collar and it just screams medieval, You can buy one or find a pattern online (here is one example). You don't have to go with a hood, however. Any medieval-style headwear, even a simple leather circlet, will evoke the proper mood.
• Shoes - medieval footwear is a tall order for beginners so it's fine to wear modern shoes. The key is to avoid something too modern. Stay away from white sneakers! Instead, find plain back or brown footwear (boots are fine).

Upgrade Over Time
The ideas above will get you started with medieval garb. From here you can upgrade over time, adding new and better pieces as you go.