Firstly, let me point out that t-tunic do not necessarily have to be your oldest scungiest piece of garb, or just something you made when you were starting out because it was easy. While I am most certainly in possession of an OST (old scungy t-tunic), I also have t-tunics that garbing gods/goddesses have drooled over. Tunics are perfectly legitimate garb and you do not have to be "dredging the bottom of the barrel" to wear a tunic to an event. They are damn comfortable for starters, and one of the best ways to keep warm at camping events, since you can make a nice long tunic out of wool blanket and have a nice warm fuzzy woolly jumper that comes down to your knees. They are also period garb for many early period personnas such as Viking or Saxon and the like. Viking garb in particular consists mostly of layers of tunics or t-tunic dresses. This was largely to keep warm in the <expletive> freezing climes of the Northern winters, but can be used in the SCA to great effect to make your tunic combinations look stunning. Which brings us to Plan 1.
Plan 1 - Layers of good colour combinations.
It is amazing the difference you can make to a tunic set just by choosing good colours. A dark red tunic with a black overtunic will stand out and looks far better than say, brown and greyish-brown. While the second is a more likely estimate of what a Viking would have worn, well, we are the Society for Creative Anachronisms. I have never been one to sacrifice good dress sense for accuracy.
If you are planning on wearing a lot of tunics (as I do) then think about the sort of colours you like first, and you can build up a mix and match tunic wardrobe quite easily. For example, if you are a red person, buy lots of reds in various shades to use with each other and contrast these with blacks or greys. Bear in mind that if you fall in love with some nice green fabric, you aren't going to be able to wear this with many of your existing tunics without having people around you singing "Deck the Halls" constantly.
If, however, you like to change the colours you wear lots, then pick a colour that matches everything, like black or white, and make your overtunic out of this. That way, you can change the colour of your undertunic without any problems.A bit of decoration can go a long way towards making your tunic pretty damn speccy instead of just another tunic. This can range from being slightly insane and spending hours and hours embroidering a design for your cuffs (hey, what else am I going to do on the train?), or can be as simple as sewing some ribbon around the hems.
Plan 2 - ribbons and braid
For example - a blue tunic = Boring. A blue tunic with gold ribbon sewn around the cuffs and hemline = much more interesting. Putting a bit of ribbon on your tunic is both simple and easy but can make a world of difference. Also, commercially bought braids can be easily found in most fabric and craft stores and sewn on to your tunic. Many commercial braids are very similar to the things that were used in period and so commonly used in the SCA that no-one is going to say "hmmm, bought braid I see", and if they do, just tell them to sod off and get a life.Plan 3 - Embroidery
If you want to get a bit more enthused about decorating your tunic, embroidering is the way to go. Before you say "oh, but I could never do that, its too hard", let me show you what my first ever piece of embroidery looked like.
X X X X X X X X X
Ooh, looks difficult doesn't it? I recall someone raving about a t-tunic dress they saw that was covered in tiny little crosses and how effective it was. While there is no need to get quite this exited on your first try, a simple line of stylised flowers or leaves around tunic cuff is relatively easy, yet adds so much to your tunic. There are many books available which offer stencils you can use for embroidering, or you can draw your own.Plan 4 - Tablet weaving
Tablet weaving (which would need a whole article to explain) is a form of weaving which produces flat braids from about 2-10cm wide, usually in some variation of a diamond pattern. This is not too hard to do, and can look pretty snazzy on a tunic, with the added benefit of the "I made it myself" ego booster.Well, there you have it. Now you have no excuse for wearing a grotty old t-tunic anymore.
Laufey, mka Ruth