Notes About Games

With more and more people deciding to get involved in living out history it can be difficult to find the right reenactment clothing to wear. Without a doubt the history buff will want to do everything he or she can to be authentic in their reenactment attire.

Many times when we prepare our gear we get carried away with too much bling. Usually the more plain or common your reenactment attire is the more authentic it is. For example, during the Civil War the fancy brass emblems worn by the Union soldiers were not standard issue they were purchased by the individual soldier. Most did not wear them.

When you are living out history make sure that you wear your gear in the right style for the day. Cowboys and Civil war soldiers did not really wear the pants on their hips and in fact wore them really high up. Even though all the gunslinger movies have the top guns hanging down lowere than the hips it was not common.

Just like the bling do not overload yourself with the gear. Having a few missing pieces will be more original since no one had all the gear they could carry. Especially during the Civil War but also in other time periods. Lets face it we do not have all the stuff we want today either. My son is in the Marines and even he does not carry all the gear that is available even if he thinks he is overloaded.

Another thing to watch out for is the manufacturing of the reenactment clothing you buy and wear. All stitching and seams that you can see need to look authentic. Any obvious modern day stitching needs to be hidden and only time period seams should be noticeable. And don’t forget that members of the Royal Navy dressed a whole lot slicker than the pirates of the day.

Perhaps the most expensive part of your reenactment clothing or attire will be your weapon. Whether it is a swashbuckling sword or a three-band rifle from Mississippi do your best to make it appear to be authentic. Yes you can find good replicas of older pieces so you do not need to spend an enormous amount for an original unless you want too.

When you get as bunch of soldiers living in tents and sleeping on the ground all the time in close quarters like they did during the Civil War lice and other problems with long hair were prevalent. Therefore most of the standard ranked men wore their hair very short to combat the problems. And of course the Confederate soldiers would be more rag tagged than the Union soldiers. Personal appearance and care was certainly different.

You should try to match up your reenactment clothing or costume as clsoe as you can to the time period you are a re-enactor in. Make a trip to your local library and search throgh some old documents looking for picture from the day. An old painting or photograph of a Rebel camp could give some great insight on how they dressed.