Garb

Garb Rules

From the Book of War

5. Garb

5.1. Garb is defined as the clothing to be worn on the Belegarth battlefield.
5.2. Minimum garb is the basic requirements for all participants. Minimum garb is defined as:
- 5.2.1. A tunic or tabard covering the torso.
- 5.2.1.1. Neutral colored t-shirts, with no visible printing, may be worn underneath a tunic or tabard.
- 5.2.1.2. Wearing nothing on the torso is acceptable for men.
- 5.2.1.3. Wearing a neutral colored sports bra with no visible logos or modern prints is acceptable for women.
- 5.2.2. Baggy pants or trousers covering the legs.
- 5.2.3. Skirts, Kilts, and Dresses are acceptable substitutes.
- 5.2.4. Footwear should be muted colors of a dark or natural color. Boots are preferred. Athletic shoes should be of a dark or natural color. Bare feet or Sandals are acceptable.
5.3. Modern clothing should be disguised, modified, or otherwise blend in with and be unobtrusive to the medieval or generally accepted Belegarth aesthetic.
5.4. Any piece of modern equipment or clothing required out of medical necessity overrules the minimum garb requirements. It should be covered when possible by clothing that does meet the minimum garb requirements or the item should be superficially altered accordingly.
5.5. Forbidden items:
- 5.5.1. T-shirts that are brightly colored, with visible logos, with visible collars, and or visible pockets.
- 5.5.2. Camouflage, cargo pants, or modern shorts.
- 5.5.3. Modern jeans of any color.
- 5.5.4. Modern hats.
- 5.5.5. Any fabrics with modern prints.
- 5.5.6. Any realistic weapons.
- 5.5.7. Cleats and spikes.

Basic Garb

For a much more detailed guide guide to garb check out the Garb Compendium

Garb Requirements

Tradition has established certain expectations of what is and is not acceptable for garb. Minimal garb expectations include a tunic of crotch length or longer and medieval style(baggy) pants. Otherwise, non-humanoid characters are expected to maintain garb that is not blatantly mundane and is fitting to their character. Footwear is preferably period boots or earth tone shoes, however is not considered of great importance.

Certain things are particularly forbidden: Blue jeans, camo outfits, and live steel(sheathed or not) are not allowed on the field. Anything blatantly mundane and modern should be avoided.

In our sport, you will be judged to some extent by your garb, so dress to impress and look like your character, not mundane Joe Blow.

Tips for cheap but acceptable garb

Tunics. Good Will is your friend. Rowan of Nan Belegorn pioneered the "polo shirt tunic" which is, perhaps, the simplest garb fix I know. Get a polo shirt from Goodwill ($2), cut off the collar, buttons, and any noticably hemmed edges. Poke some holes where the buttons used to be, and thread some leather lacing through the old button holes. Voila, insta medieval look.

Pants

Lots of people get away with black sweatpants, cut off the bottom elastic if you like. Another cheap solution is martial arts pants. You can get them in white or black from Century Martial Arts. They're loose, will take a lot of abuse, and look period. Also, many people use hakama pants, which can also be found at Century Martial Arts.

Skirts

A common trend among monsteresque personas nowadays is big baggy colorful skirts. Often you can find something colorful and perhaps a bit flashy, then shred it to rags--the long tatters create nice visual effects when you see goblins whipping off mad ninja spin moves and twirling around with flailentine. For a hordish look, scrapped up earthtone clothes work real well. Once again you can find suitable stuff cheap at Goodwill-- sweaters, skirts, shirts you can rip up, etc. all for under $3 an item.

Footwear

A lot of monster and oriental personas tend to go barefoot. For more European humanesque personas earthtone boots or mocassins aren't hard to find at a typical department or shoe store.

Feasting Garb

For when you want to dress shnazzy for feasts, its probably cheapest to design your own formal garb. Its possible to find fancy capes, cloaks, and the like through online merchants, however they're usually very expensive. Visit your local fabric store for cool fabric and patterns. You may find something in costumes/renaissance sections of pattern books. Feasting garb is usually something people don't acquire until after they've been in the community a while so don't sweat not having any.

Examples

Medieval commoner: Here's Mandragon (below, left) sporting cheap but acceptable garb. The top is all Good Will, all under $10: long sleeve shirt, cut-off polo tunic, and leather belt. The pants are black martial arts pants, tied off.
Monsterous personas: This is Eyrtk (below, right) the swarthy goblin. Ratty, earth tones, and lots of accessories. Notice the belly-shirt style; also a present day foam fighting fashion trend. Once again, all Goodwill.

Mandragon
Eyrtk

Resources

Listed below are three classes that were created by Antoinette of Thunder Guard for use at 'Fest 2012. They have since been updated and more information has added to them. Please use them to help put your realm or share them with people you know need help with garb.

Garb 101: Basic Garb For All!
Garb 102: So You Want to Be Fancy Pants Do You? Fancy and Feast Garb
Garb 103: Accessories: The Finishing Touch COMING SOON