Going Above & Beyond
I’m by no means an expert, but I do watch far too many historical fashion videos, and I’m pretty good at doing research on the internet. If you are an expert, call me, we can edit this together. That being said, here’s some info for if you want to strive for as much period accuracy as possible. Not a lot of people are going to go this hard, and that’s fine. This document covers Western Europe where the game is set. Any other regions would need further individual research.
~ Nicole Grant
Clothing
Materials
Peasants and nobles alike wore mostly linen and wool. Woven fabrics. A loose weave of any of these materials can be cool in warmer weather. Linen can start out a bit stiff, but softens as it gets washed multiple times. Wool as an outer layer was essential for staying warm in cold weather. It also has moisture wicking properties.
Cotton would not be very common.
Silk would be next to impossible to come by because it had to come from Byzantium.
Nalbinding was a type of yarn craft that existed at this time all over Europe and the Middle East, and it was done with wool. Any type of natural animal fiber where the ends of the yarn could be felted together. Knitting as a trade didn't come to Europe from the Middle East until around the late middle ages or early renaissance in Spain. Before that, knitting is thought to be older than the 12th century, but that is when the earliest finds we have are from. Crochet was likely invented in the 19th century.
Lace didn’t exist until the 1500’s.
Leather would be common, but being covered in leather wasn't unless it was items made for a specific trade.
Furs would be used as trim for the wealthy, but would be used as warmth for just about anyone else in a forest setting. Fur is more of a rich person thing in the cities where they’re expensive.
Status was usually shown not with style of clothing, but with quality of materials and accessories. Sometimes status could also be shown by wearing cuts of clothing that required more fabric waste when you cut out the panels, or garments that just used lots of expensive fabric.
Color
Clothing was very colorful. Even peasant clothing. Natural dyes could be quite vibrant, especially blues, greens, yellows and oranges.
Black was an extremely difficult color to achieve on fabric (especially wool), but super easy for leather.
Deep, rich, purple was still usually an extremely expensive color. It had to be made from tiny snail shells from a specific region in the Mediterranean. It was called Tyrian Purple.
You can bleach fabric quite nicely with just the sun, and they had other bleaching agents as well. Stark white is period.
Example: Here’s an entire color wheel of colors or fabric that could be achieved entirely with natural dyes. (insert picture here)
Accessories
Belt pouches could be made from leather or cloth.
Shoulder bags were probably made from cloth, but could be made from leather depending on what you were carrying.
Shoes were probably leather turn shoes. Maybe some shorter or mid calf boots. Usually fastened with toggles and/or leather ties.
Trim was usually tablet woven.
Brooches and necklaces were common for everyone.
Embroidery was common for everyone.
There were no hiberno-norse patterns and knotwork in this area, those are up north.
Jewelry for common people was usually pretty simple, but attractive. Glass beads, wood, brass, iron, maybe silver.
Upper classes might wear more complex designs, and may add gold and gems
Outerwear
Cloaks and mantles were more common than coats, and usually fastened with brooches.
Any coats likely would've been toggle fastened.
Belts could be tablet woven, cloth, or leather. Usually tied with a knot with fabric, or with a metal ring for either fabric or leather.
Gloves were probably cloth or leather. Mittens may have been cloth or made with nalbinding.
Hats are discussed in What To Expect. Please see that entry.
Head coverings were worn by women of marrying age and older (which is everyone present at the game). It could cover the hair and neck entirely, there could be some hair peeking out, or the veil could be loose. Hair was often braided and tied up. The objective was often not just modesty, but also a protective style.
Skirts, Dresses, Tunics & Pants
Necklines were fairly high for all genders. It usually only goes as low as about the collar bone, not including a decorative slit in the middle.
Sleeves for everyone usually reached the wrists, but outer layers could have sleeves with various lengths.
Skirts came down to the ankles or the ground. Skirts may have been hiked up for labor or physical activity.
Outer clothing for women was often an unfitted, either boxy or voluminous dress synched at the waist with a belt. Outer sleeves could be short, long, flared, or close to the wrist. A decorative slit in the collar was common. Side or front lacing for a more fitted kirtle dress could've been worn too. An overdress over a kirtle could also have been worn and cinched with a belt. Apron dresses likely came down with Viking raiders and could also be appropriate, but not overly common.
Hose were worn on the feet and legs, and made from bias cut fabric for moderate stretch, usually wool. They were relatively thick, not thin like tights. They usually only came to the knees when worn with a skirt, but would come all the way up the legs, near the crotch if worn as pants. In that case, they would normally be tied in place with strings so they didn’t fall down, and the crotch and butt was covered by underwear called braies.
Bodices and stays didn't exist until the 1400’s.
Pants were either baggy with leg wraps that reached up to the knees, or close fitting hose. Hose style pants could have attached feet, have a strap for the arch of the foot, or be cut off at the ankle. Straight legged pants didn't exist, except perhaps if you wore leg armor.
Tunics were cut pretty square, but could angle out a bit. Tunic bottom hems for lower and middle classes were from around mid-thigh to the knees. For upper class people, it could reach to mid calf. A decorative slit in the top was common. Under tunics were common as well, but not strictly always worn.
Everything was usually cinched at the waist with a belt.
Underwear
Underwear for men consisted of braies, and perhaps an undershirt. Both made of linen. Braies were shaped somewhat like loose boxers, slightly longer on the leg, and used a drawstring at the waist. There could also be drawstrings or ties at the leg openings. There was a slit in the front with overlapping fabric for relieving oneself.
The only underwear for women (aside from scant odd finds) were their chemise or shift. These were made from linen. Shifts were often worn with the intent for parts of them to be visible. Bust support most often came from the shaping and lacing in a dress or kirtle. No boning.
Hair & Makeup
Hair for men could be short, or longer until around shoulder length. Perhaps longer at times.
Hair for women was long, and usually braided and pinned onto the head. It could be braided with strips of linen in them to either help with styling or oil absorption. Sometimes hair could be sewn into certain styles using hair close to the scalp as an anchor point.
Makeup was limited to rouge, charcoal eyeliner (usually from other cultures such as Spanish lands and the Rus), lip balm, and lip stain. Skin whitening powder was sometimes used.
Armor
Plate armor and articulated armor did not exist yet.
Chain mail was mainly present in northern Europe, in Scandinavia.
Riveted ring mail was available in this area.
Scale armor with 1-2 inch plates was prevalent. The plates were sewn onto gambeson.
Lorica Segmentata was still fairly common.
Heavily padded gambeson was the most common type of armor available.
Leather armor was historically never used, except for bracers for archers. This is because cut leather cannot be repaired.
Food & Drink
The mid-section of the Rhine river has been a wine growing region since at least Roman times. This region is to the northwest of the Black Forest, but wine would've been easily transported down the river. It likely would've been available to all but the very poorest serfs. Spicing wine was common among upper classes.
Beer would've been common, and likely flavored and somewhat preserved with dried herb mixtures called gruit.
Spelt was a commonly grown grain in the surrounding area.
Spaetzle is a small dumpling pasta from the region. Literary evidence for the dish dates back to the 18th century, but there are paintings of medieval knights using spaetzle boards. Modern recipes are easily found online.
Maultaschen is a pocket of pasta with ground meat and herbs inside similar to ravioli. It's difficult to know when these originated, but they are famous in this area. They're usually served in broth.
Meat would be available at this time, more so than in other regions of Europe. Sausage would be prevalent.
By the 12th century, the pretzel was used as a symbol of bakers guilds, so it would not be a stretch to assume the origins of pretzels date earlier than that.
Bread has been present in all of Europe for thousands of years in many different shapes and varieties. Generally though, the more processed the flour was, the richer you had to be to afford the bread made from it.