how to describe fantasy clothing how to describe fantasy clothing

If there is one thing I hope you take from all of this, its that none of this is about describing what a character looks like. Its hard to really appreciate just how sickeningly awful medieval warfare would have been. I never thought of there being a uniform for Midwestern ladyness. Of course there are more ways to alter historic designs and the middle ages aren't the only period to draw inspiration from. Whether its a beekeeping suit, climbing helmet, knee pads, or sun-protective fabric, what your character wears provides a clue about whats at stake in the coming scene. Whenever other races or species are involved, like elves and trolls, it's often best to give them clothing that differs from whatever humans (and other races) wear, even if those differences are subtle. In the historical fiction books Ive read, none of the heroes took off their helmets unless they were knocked off, or bashed in. From lowly serfs to great warriors, all could wear and fight effectively in chainmail. I love to wear baggy trousers in summer. One very important aspect of describing attire well is understanding why youre describing it in the first place. Do your characters care deeply about looking respectable, or are they more afraid of putting on airs? This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. Read these tips on how (and why) to describe clothes with examples from well-known novels: 1: Use clothing to show status and position 2: Build (or thwart) character expectations with clothing descriptions 3: Describe clothing to contrast characters' personalities 4: Show clothing to avoid over-relying on telling Instead of a nobleman being described as wearing red silk slippers, parachute pants, a bejeweled cloth belt, a flowing blouse and an ascot; you can simply describe him as wear very fancy and extravagant clothing befitting his high status in society. The time period of your story. Ive always wondered that too! Well come to this below. Like Marquez, compare and contrast characters clothes to reveal important details about their social status or position. Otherwise they wont take you seriously as an artist.. He took off his helmet and a Norman archer made a lucky shot that put out Harolds eye and ended the battle.It should be noted that, with the helmets of the time, it wasnt necessary for Harold to take off his helmet, either to be seen or to get his eye shot out. Or are you writing a spy character who dons Lululemon to infiltrate an upscale yoga studio? Fashionably elegant and sophisticated. Black and white usually does the trick as well. They can tell us what era they live in, and even a persons current state of mind or intent. I'll make a separate point for sci-fi/futuristic clothing and fantasy/historic clothing. Every time we got separated in a public space, I discovered myself in a sea of mature women with the same haircut and pastel tops. Clothes that are suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions. Sweaters or jumpers? These shallow details help us go pretty deep on character. Like all forms of exposition, your goal is to deliver this information without pulling the reader out of the story. But it makes a good story. Think noble King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable. Blend in? What is the prevailing value in the society of your story? Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to Castles and Keeps: part one Richie Billing. Sneak around? Below, well take a look at the armor found in the fantasy genre, covering everything from chain mail to helmets. Affordable . In some cases because they simply didn't have the technology for it, in others because it was too expensive and/or time consuming for the average person. So here are some more ways to alter a design while sticking with familiarity and a more historic feel: Think armor, bulletproof vests, and bandoliers. Note that with the camouflage patterns it's best to use this style, but make them less randomized to avoid the military look, unless that's what you're going for of course. Mail was lightweight and flexible. The fact Gem goes with jeans and a tee could suggest that she trusts her aunts advice. 04. A band t-shirt. If done right you could even use these elements alone with clothing of today to sell a futuristic look. How does their attire reflect what they want, what they fear, or where theyre going? Both can lose clout simply by the way their peers respond to their wardrobe choices. For example, headphones aren't really a piece of clothing, but they definitely affect our style. 28 First of all, beautiful dress and mask! Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. Knights werent as immobile as people assum, though I can imagine in a quagmire itd be tricky to get up. Lets take a look at how clothing description indicates your characters identity, goals, and culture. Using this site means trees will be planted. For more information, please see our As far as guidelines go this is the first to be broken though, consider this one more of a starting point rather than something to necessarily end on. Youre working essential details into the narrative at the moment when they are most relevant. It was pretty easy to make, though laborious, and easy to repair. The rope belt is solely decorative and a status symbol. You really can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, or what they dont wear. The tragedy of Azincourt, for example, occurred because of a poorly-chosen battleground that had flooded. Let it hang diagonally across their chest and over their shoulder instead. I'm talking about the jagged, triangular shapes you find on some stealth planes or the digital camouflage patterns. Whats the respected uniform, and does your character wear it? As knights became fully armored, so did their mounts. So we've covered ways to make clothing look both futuristic and historic, but these are all just guidelines and mostly based on what's been done before. You can continue to alter it to add cultural elements, like the previously mentioned elvish elements or you could stick with this and keep it simple. Or at least they know what century theyre in. What backstory or character motivations could combinations of appearance and reality suggest? Im writing a little in the Epic Fantasy genre and there were quite a few useful notes I wasnt aware of here. Separate and enlarge it, turn down the Opacity of the layer . Stockings, long gloves, scarves or separate layers of clothing make a huge difference. The answer to this question gives you a ton of clarity. That fancy Ming dynasty dress looks completely different with exposed shoulders and that medieval set of pants look completely different if you turn them into shorts with exposed legs. If your protagonist is donning a tri-cornered hat, loosening a corset, or strutting through town in a new toga, your reader has a good sense of time period. Adding these other bits of lesser-known fantasy armor to your stories can really add extra depth to your worldbuilding. Before I delve into the more detailed aspects of creating clothing there's one final thing to keep in mind and that is that fashion repeats itself. He's had over a dozen short stories published in various magazines and journals, with one adapted for BBC radio. This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex. At a quarter to six, Gem pulled off the low-cut top Emma had wolf-whistled and clappedat when theyd met for their usual weekend catch-up. Why this arguably works better is the details of getting dressed tell us multiple details about Gem. A scarlet pantsuit. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. Borrowed armor wouldnt fit as well as a suit made for the wearer and wouldnt be as well balanced, so someone in borrowed armor would be more likely to have problems moving in his armor. Privacy Policy. The clothing itself can be just standard medieval gear, but with these elements they immediately look (wood) elvish. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. That was the theory. See more ideas about fantasy clothing, anime outfits, character outfits. The aim was not to cause any impediment to movement. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. Not really. Who is your character at the beginning of the story, and how can you dress them to establish their normal? Character description may change over the course of a story to emphasize a characters arc. Designing fantasy armor for your characters can be an awful lot of fun. Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. Not a Dabble user? I used to be under the mindset that describing attire was boring and it was better to let the reader fill in those details but especially with the novel Im working on now, I have used clothing to portray more about their character. When heated, steel turns from yellow, to brown, to blue, to red. We have all sorts of headphone designs to reflect our clothing styles and just wearing or not wearing a headphone will completely change how a character is often perceived. Cookie Notice The appearance of armor was a big deal for knights. Slog through another meaningless day in a world where nothing matters? Some materials are used more than others, some colors are more desirable than others and some accessories are more desirable than others and these all changed throughout time. Its not an aspect of character design that bubbles up naturally from the depths of my creative soul. Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. Richard the Lionheart, for instance, was celebrated amongst his peers for his ability to chop his enemys skulls down to the teeth. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done. Helpful links to blog posts, articles, videos and guides are shared every day. For example, the corset wasn't popular until the 16th century and while earlier versions can be found incredibly early they weren't common place. Also, don't feel like you have to include every point I've made. Now add a thick, layered scarf or attach a hood to this tunic and you're already well on your way to a customized look. It was my understanding that they quenched in oil, not water. But let's take a step back and look at what kind of clothing is usually associated with futuristic settings. In a book, none of that is true. - Christine, on How to describe clothing in a story (with examples), 8 story hook examples (how to grab attention), Story structure examples: How to create payoffs for readers, How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide), How to write deep POV: 8 tips and examples, 9 exposition examples: How to write clear introductions, How to make a plot captivating: 7 strategies, Writing great characters: 5 lessons from modern novels. Its okay if Todds checks his designer watch three pages after you mention his silk tie. The details create an authentic sense of a prominentcardinals dressin the 1500s. Using the work of Alexander McQueen, this unit guides students through the analysis of a fashion collection, introducing them to the critical language and methodologies needed to evaluate fashion design and runway presentation. Hello, I am attempting to write my first fantasy novel (and my first novel), and I'm having difficulty visualizing what kind of clothes my characters should be wearing. If its 1st person you'll describe things from the POV of your character, and I find that that's different than if you're in, for example, 3rd person. Not to pile on, but dont forget to make sure you know which materials wereand werentavailable in the world of your novel. And ninety-nine percent of the clothing descriptions in your first draft are just jeans. I get it. A scarf for example might be too hot for some areas, but it's obviously easy to leave those out. Leather could be stitched into coats, or added to mail to provide added protection. They work, they're safe and in many cases have become a standard. )Secrets might not be something youve specifically thought about when youre drafting a story. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. But I find looking back in time to the likes of the medieval period can provide some wonderful and unique ideas. And if you dont write historical fiction? A simple t-shirt could be cut diagonally in the front, give both shoulder parts a different style from the arms, elongate one side and so on. Join Kickstart your Novel and get professional feedback on your first three chapters and story synopsis, plus workbooks and videos. Heres how to describe clothing in writing to show your readers the world to which your character belongs. Really like your article. stylish, expensive clothing, yet not specific to a certain time or place. What the description shows is that many of the inviteesplay at status through fancy dress. Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. Another quick way of making standard clothing fantasy themed is by converting clothes form the relative future to one that could be created in whichever time period your universe falls under. Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a persons position in the hierarchy. So as a way of trying to control them and their behaviour, the code of chivalry and honour was introduced. I can only imagine the pain of the chafing! This usually involves dresses from some time pre-renaissance and a tunic or shirt paired with trousers for men and women who are doing warrior stuff. This description generator will create a mostly random description of either a dress or a suit, fit for formal occasions and other fancy needs. Think the previously mentioned Fifth Element and Hunger Games clothing versus Star Trek, Star Wars and so on clothing. In this section, Ive included some more guides on creating fantasy armor designs that you may find useful. That cloth ribbon tied around their waist? All this to say: there is substantial storytelling power in a coral Life is Good t-shirt. Or theyll be living off soda crackers and peanut butter for the next week because they drained their checking account for a suit to impress at their job interview. Scarves as we know them today weren't really a thing in the middle ages (they were way different) and hoods pretty much came in the form of chaperons and liripipes (Google for reference if needed), not as part of a piece of clothing. But your reader is going to picture something whether you guide them or not. There is simply more characterization, not only of Gem but the other characters, too. No problem! The geographical setting might suggest that your characters are expected to abide by strict rules for modesty or are celebrated for being wild and free. You dont need it to sign up. Another might claim power by striding in wearing torn jeans and a tank top. However, you can tell your reader interesting things through a mismatch: A wealthy character might show off their expensive clothing. In this scene, Gradgrind returns home to find his children playing outside: A space of stunted grass and dry rubbish being between him and the young rabble, he took his eyeglass out of his waistcoat to look for any child he knew by name, and might order off. To add to the previous mosaic part stealth technology can provide great patterns. This is a heavy generalization of course and entirely based on Western culture of today, but these rules may not apply at all in a fictional universe, no matter if it's futuristic or based on a historic setting. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. All cultures have dress codes to some degree, some more so than others and some more stricter than others, but every culture has a range of styles that would be considered normal, 'out there' and unacceptable to most. Mail was one of the first types of metal armor developed, arguably by the Celts, though other sources say its origins came from Eastern Europe. If youre trying to learn how to describe clothing in writing, youre probably like me: Youve only pretended to know what organza is. This can be a very effective way if your universe is based on an existing culture. We already have spray on clothing technology. Your main character just put on some makeup and changed into a fancy dress, complete with heels and a tiny handbag. Am I trying to blow the interview? A common (wood) elvish theme is to have lots of green tints, flowery elements and intricate embroidery. This article has compiled 100 different words you can use to describe clothes, and below the main list of 100 words we've explained our reasoning for a lot of the top picks from that very list, for your personal enjoyment. What exactly are you trying to communicate about the character, setting, or situation? In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones.