The Wood Beyond The World Forum World Building: Fashion, cloth..

With the massive rewrite of Tangled Threads, I have noticed one thing I am really lacking: fashion sense. And it is not because I'm a guy. Like, hello, I'm gay so I'm supposed to know all about fashion, colour and the right accessories (sounds of a hand swishing about).

So I'm asking the denizen of the Wood, is there sites, books, stuff, etc. you use to give you inspiration for the attire and other things people wear in your world? My people are getting a little boring and I would like to spice it up a little. Have a bit more than robes, breeches, etc.

Loekie, I've seen your website, the photos of yourself, and you're living testimony to the inadequacies of stereotypes.  Fashion nerds come in both genders and all inclinations. (You are cute though -- better as you get older, in my opinion.)

The styles in Ravella and Vaaseli are definitely predominately European Reniassance, though there's some drift toward later periods, whenever convenient.  Climate and culture must be taken into consideration. My young Ravellans, though from prosperous families, are accustomed to simple attire -- tunics and leggings for both sexes -- much as most Americans live their lives almost exclusively in blue jeans.  It's the egalitarian influence of advanced Alidorism.  When they enter the Vaaselian court they have to become more fashion-conscious -- I spend a fair amount of time with Wythe's wardrobe -- which is extensive, thanks to her mother, but not something she's entirely comfortable with.  She wears all the dresses, but has to rely on her Vaaselian maid-servant to inform her as to what's appropriate for different occasions.  She's more comfortable in her riding costume of trousers and long, full-skirted coat, worn for the entire last half of the True Minds (except when she has occasion to replace it with a muslin nightdress, or nothing.)  Dovan, the Ravellan mage, wears a decidedly monkish robe.

At court Timu's a dandy, with a penchant for black velvet and white lace.  But at heart he's a woodsman, and dons simple attire at the first opportunity.  Vaaselian mages dress in puritanically sober versions of court fashion -- plain long coats and trousers for men, simple dresses for women.

The Telmi herdsmen wear a mix of woolen cloth (acquired by trade with Vaaselians) and supple deerskin -- trousers and shirts for the men, simple dresses for the women.  Their winter coats and boots are deer-hide with the fur still on it -- highly insulating.

Albraharan men wear mostly loose cotton tunics and trousers -- and, of course, turbans. Women would normally be swathed in ankle-length tunics and coats and even veils, but the young female member of the Albraharan diplomatic delegation dresses like a boy, except for state occasions, when she becomes quite resplendent in colorful, though modest, silk gowns of figure-enhancing cut.

Xanthian costume ranges from monkish robes for mages, fancy embroidered coats for imperial dignitaries, down to silk shirts and trousers for common folks, with kimono like attire for the middle classes.

Having a multi-cultural world leaves lots of room for different costumes and other physical details.

Thanks for another tasty topic, Loekie.

Yep, another good one Loekie.



I usually decide on clothing, fashion and accessories based on the kind of land the characters live on - warm, cold, rocky, plain, forest, airborne, wet, dry etc how they live - hunt, scavenge, migrate etc and class/status in the society they are apart of.



I think when you create a world and its inhabitants, how you 'see' them will usually include what they wear as well as how they behave and interact. But a particular character can also initiate how you see fashion placed in your world.



I'm keeping it quite simple so the quality of the materials for clothes get better the higher you go in society. The quality of the material is key really because the poor generally have no way of acquiring good quality garments. I have (probably unnecessarily) created a garment called a Jerj, which is really an all in one tunic. It�s quite popular with all classes because of its simplicity. All magiens wear white robes and priests have a stripe along the rim and hood to identify which sect they are based within, Law Priests (Law) - blue, Earth Priests (Elements) - green etc. Scholars wear grey. No one is allowed to wear purple as it is the Sovereign�s colour but pretty much anything else is ok. Jewellery is another thing that is admired greatly, especially if it is well-made and using not-so-common stones or metals. The fact that my main character is a good craft maker means she is able to sell her jewellery well.



Different cultures around the world and also in our history are a great way learning about different or unusual fashion. Some take the dressing of their bodies very seriously and have different rituals for male and female.



I think I have some sites I can suggest but I�ll need to wait till I get home so I can look at my Favourites

Only had one and its quite brief.

 

You know, this is an interesting question for me, because my universe isn't the standard fantasy universe. It could easily be attributed as High Fantasy meets Space Opera, in that the technology of the world can easily be described as MagicPunk.

Let me put it in these types of terms: they have space travel. They can enter other dimensions, thanks to portals. They can enter the planes of the elements (there's more than 4, in case you were wondering), as well as that of the Heavens.

It's not your standard universe. Think Planescape meets Ebberon meets Star Wars...without the Jedi.

I've been thinking of just going the regular fantasy route...but would that work? A full set of armor just seems weird to me, now that I think about it.

Matt, from what you say, you should be able to do any damn thing you please with costuming.

 

I recommend you consider the essential characteristics of culture as relates to climate, relations between the sexes, means of sustenance (agriculture, industry, fishin' an' huntin'?) and so on.  But spice it up any way you wish

 

Not every writer thinks terribly visually, and that becomes apparent when we consider this subject.  My brain was awash with physical cultural details as soon as I began to put the story and setting together, including clothing, food, architecture, transportation, etc.  I see all the places and people readily at will. I try not to overindulge in description, though -- just sneak it in when appropriate. I've been critcized for not describing setting enough -- but I figure the characters are likely to take such things for granted, so I don't want to dwell on them too much.  In True Minds I dwell on Wythe's clothes at court, because she's not used to wearing any sort of finery, though she owns quite a lot, thanks to her mother.  But she and I are both relieved when I can get her into a simple riding habit and keep her in it for the rest of the novel.

I'm one who does not think visually. I tend to feel the characters not see them. Once I have the feel of the story I have to make a great effort to go back and look at everything. I tend to see something in real life and go 'Yes the clothes would have looked like that and the buildings would have looked like that.' It all means  I have a lot more revisions to do than if I could write it all at the same time.

 

I have a question you could help me with. I would like one of my characters to have dreadlocks (Like the guy down the road who walks his dog every morning.)

Do I call them dreadlocks or is that a cultural name? If it is what can I call them?

Gayna

First up, Matt, you have to be careful when melding science fiction and fantasy. This goes with one of the other threads I started: science in a fantasy world.

You mention you have space travel. Is it with ships or the portals you mention? If it is done without mechanical assistance, like a rocket ship, you can weave this easily into a fantasy world. These are artifacts that allow people to see different realms and you don't need to explain them.

As to armour, you don't have to do to that extreme. Be it studded leather, simple chain mail, you can have a sturdy protector without getting clunky.

Now to Gayna. I think you should use a term that your people in your world would use. Be it long, knotted hair and then give a brief description so the reader gets the drift. I know, for me, when I introduce dreads, the character is looking at the person in horror. He has long, matted hair making streams of clots about his head. Is that hair ever washed?

I actually hope that when I describe the goatherd's hair as long and matted in the first chapter of The Brothers Karoli readers will think "dreadlocks."

I had a long-haired cat once who had dreadlocks. She refused to be brushed. When she shed, it was in clots.

I know what you are talking about, Leah. One of my babies (cats) years ago had massive knot problems. I tried to play with her diet, etc. etc. In the end, it was easier for me just to get the scissors and trim them. Sigh, how I miss them!

And now you have done it, Leah. An idea for a new thread. Hee-hee!

 

That's a link to a current article on contemporary women's fashion, that also happens to have a fair dose of fashion history in it, going back to the middle ages.  I love that kind of stuff, feel it informs details in my fiction, even if I don't make any specific reference to the particular cut of anyone's sleeve.  Just background to hold in my mind, so the realism doesn't slip.

 

Art websites are good resources for general impressions of fashion and architecture, of course.  This is a good one for European art:

 

Whoa, Darken (Cats is back)

So I see this post upon the ideas of fashion and I'm drinking Hard Cider in Ireland as I do so, but here's what goes on.

The Kalasii the people of the Duchy of Kalas wear simple woolens and underclothes. Women a shift under a stout woolen dress and stockings with leather boots. The men if their villages like women would wear something similar tunics with trousers or leggings. Even Daria, my main character perfers trousers to skirts.

Knights tend to wear their armor, during and out of combat. Only in certain circumstances does a knight go without armor. Their a complete military formation and constantly being assigned to deal with various topics. A Rune knight will generally prefer their homelands dress style. Miran for instance is a Gena Faelerin. His people are a pale skinned highlander breed of the Gracekind that live in the mistfilled mountain forests of the northern empire. They prefer fur edged items and generally also wear thicker under clothes.

The Kievashites actually wear kilts for the upper castes and simple leather bits for the lower casted. The peasants wear robes and tunics generally. The material is a lighter wool more like that of the alpaca rather than sheep.