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Not really. (Would people living in this area have access to leather goods? If youre good at talking clothes, you can sit this one out. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. Clothing description also presents an opportunity to play with different points of view. 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. They were warriors first and foremost. Fully geared up, you were a walking fortress. Those warriors came from the people who lived on the lands under the watch of the knights. 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. Its fun to play with power in clothing, because it's a relative concept. I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. One very important aspect of describing attire well is understanding why youre describing it in the first place. What is the prevailing value in the society of your story? Your main character just put on some makeup and changed into a fancy dress, complete with heels and a tiny handbag. This pride, though justifiable, displeased Katerina Ivanovna for some reason. The train hums and throbs in place as people rush to pile in.. Think noble King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable. Well also take a look at female fantasy armor and those used by knights, potential designs, and ways to help you find inspiration for creating your own. This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex. Help your readers feel the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and theyll feel your characters priorities deep in their own souls. Make it look very clean and smooth and it immediately feels more modern. Creating new clothing styles for fictional worlds can be a daunting task, there's just so much out there already and so many elements to play around with to create a fun and unique style, no matter whether the art form is visual or not. Nov 1, 2019 - Explore Arisa Nightingale's board "Male Fantasy Outfit Concepts & Designs", followed by 456 people on Pinterest. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. It can be as simple as making a dress shorter, a jacket longer or sleeves wider and longer. Achieving glory in battle was one way of earning a knighthood. (Cough-cough-cough.) Maybe a bracelet represents a character's relationship to her mother. Is your central conflict a life-or-death situation? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. I sincerely hope youve found some inspiration for your fantasy medieval armor. Leonidas in 300, for instance, almost certainly wore a helmet in the battle with the Persians! Delighted to hear youre finding this useful. Besides knowing who we design for we also have to know what the rules for designing are within the universe of our characters. Someone jumps down from a boundary wall wearing dark clothes and clutching a bag, that's enough of a clue they're a burglar, and if the protagonist now has to chase them then a description of the form those clothes take down to the buckles on the shoes is going to break the flow. Now, for the feedbackit depends what POV you're writing in. Of course there are more ways to alter historic designs and the middle ages aren't the only period to draw inspiration from. Coats of plated armor soon came about, which consisted of a series of plates linked on top of one another. So its unsurprising to see soldiers wielding swords and axes and shooting bows. One thing Ive always wondered is if someone wearing plate could fall down just right in a muddy battlefield, and get stuck there in the same way a large flat rock gets stuck laying in mud. If you look at popular works of fiction you'll find two trends, one is the simplistic and often tight-fit look and the other is the more over the top and extravagant look. ^.^ It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it. In visual mediums like TV or comics, cool outfits are on-screen the whole time, and they're the first and most obvious impression you'll get of the character, so they have a big impact on how the character is perceived. Maybe their goal is to entice a mate. This is further influenced/confirmed by the show Forged in Fire where the judges were a half step from putting their heads in their hands when a smith put his hot blade in water instead of oil to cool it down. All of these advancements will become more and more common as time goes on, so it'd make sense for them to be part of our clothing in the future. - 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. Youre working essential details into the narrative at the moment when they are most relevant. These are usually a little trickier to do well as they can look familiar quickly, but it's a usually a good element to have at your disposal. 2012 - Great article. Finally there's all the little things that can make an outfit look more futuristic. In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. and our 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. Smart: Neat and tidy clothes but not necessarily formal. Follow edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:43. Love this topic!! That was the theory. 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. They should be doing that. They could withstand high-velocity strikes from a javelin or lance, driven home by somebody charging forwards on horseback. Fashionable: Clothes representing a current style in fashion. Slog through another meaningless day in a world where nothing matters? Any suggestions on how to properly do this? ), The geographical location of your story. And its in designs that you can really go wild with your own fantasy armor. This description generator will create a mostly random description of either a dress or a suit, fit for formal occasions and other fancy needs. Armor, therefore, wasnt that heavya full suit weighed approximately 50 pounds, which is around 3 to 4 stone. It makes for a more entertaining read. 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. Each suit was tailored to the individual. - 'Stealth'. See how Dickens contrasts the fact-obsessed, overbearingteacher Thomas Gradgrind and his wifes personalities through (among other details) their clothing description. My story feels like its set more in medieval times, but I don't want my characters running around in full out tunics and. This is a fun one. Clothing reflects the resources available in a specific time and place. You can quickly convey a number of things about your characters based on the clothing they wear. That would depend on a few things. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts 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. Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? The answer can guide you towards certain fashion trends to inspire your characters wardrobe. What also worries me is that in Chapter 3 I used a lot of descriptions of the house, like the main characters room and then I had him go to various other rooms, looked at pictures of his family he has yet to meet so chapter 3 had the least story development or social scenes but the ones it had were good ones and I ended it with a scene that creates more development and story hype. His pants are simple and narrow and reach down to his hard leather shoes. Military service was always well-rewarded and violence applauded. To add to the previous mosaic part stealth technology can provide great patterns. Not quite. You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. What does your character wear to feel safer in their world or in their own skin? If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. That also will help readers really experience things through their eyes. We naturally link clothing and identity, which is why wardrobe is such an effective tool for building a vivid character. Not to pile on, but dont forget to make sure you know which materials wereand werentavailable in the world of your novel. Chapters 1 and 2 were pretty decent and I started chapter 4 with him dressing for the party. Cookie Notice Theyre just too important defensively. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. Perhaps its because the genre was born out of stories that emerged from the Middle Ages like Beowulf and King Arthur (around the 10th-11th century). Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Sweaters or jumpers? How to Give Your Characters Style: Describing Clothing in Writing Written by MasterClass Last updated: Aug 19, 2021 3 min read Creating vivid descriptions for a story or character is a mark of a great writer. It took a while to get ready, with the help of somebody else needed, usually squires, who began with the feet and worked up from there. A scarlet pantsuit. And medieval warfare was a bloody affair. A band t-shirt. 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. Thank you for reading our blog! This can be a very effective way if your universe is based on an existing culture. This may seem like a tricky thing to do as there's so much out there already, but it can often be as simple as simply changing a texture, the patterns used or the amount of fabric. Without decriptions of the clothing it's a bit boring, the novel becomes a list of people the reader can't imagine doing things. Thanks Liv, Im glad you found this helpful. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Particularly in genres such as historical fiction and fantasy, clothing can help to create other worlds (or a long gone era of our own). https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7bbcc198c936bc1af3fbda128514c44fcfc10f0513ea31cad7c21ae61ba0ab0.jpg. Ive always wondered that too! There's also the element of technology that has to be taken into account. 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. No problem! One specific form of descriptive writing that particularly affects setting and characterization is the portrayal of characters' clothing. Your articles are always very informative. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. From time to time we may use affiliate links to help with the costs of running the site. - Mix cultures. Its hard to really appreciate just how sickeningly awful medieval warfare would have been. I love to wear baggy trousers in summer. It's easy to try this out too, at least the simple line version. These were worn on their own by those wanting greater speed and flexibility, but also by those unable to afford stronger armor. Ideas are forever being shared and discussed. Also, don't feel like you have to include every point I've made. They work, they're safe and in many cases have become a standard. The clothes a person wears tellsus many things: their status in life, for example, or their cultural affiliation or identity. Then this is their category. That works. Its a good time. 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. Thanks, Teresa, and for sharing that great example from the stage. Imagine your own armored knights storming through the battlefield like iron giants. 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. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. It can genuinely be tough to come up with cool ideas for epic fantasy armor without drifting back to things that weve seen in the likes of Dungeons and Dragons, The Elder Scrolls and movies like Lord of the Rings. And lets not forget the trusty steed. Stylish. All this to say: there is substantial storytelling power in a coral Life is Good t-shirt. As I write this, I am wearing jeans that are too big, a gray t-shirt I inherited from a former roommate, and a pilled hoodie from a lighting vendor that works with my friends husbands company. You may have imagined a man in an expensive suit or a woman in designer clothes. These are deep questions. Katerina is affronted by Amalias fine dress because it is new and shows pride. The clothing itself can be just standard medieval gear, but with these elements they immediately look (wood) elvish. Which is to say, if you write from the point of view of a character who thinks of clothing only in terms of the simplest descriptors, that's just fine. Fashion photographer Bill Cunningham said, Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life. Try applying this philosophy to clothing descriptions in your writing and see what happens. If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. To illustrate this in a way we did with the futuristic shirt example let's take a standard medieval tunic and turn it into a fantasy-themed version. - Diagonal lines: Diagonal lines aren't all that common in historic clothing and they usually only came in the form of neck lines, the edges of unbuttoned jackets or from large pieces of fabric being held up (think ancient Rome). In 2021 his debut novel, Pariah's Lament, an epic fantasy, was published by Of Metal and Magic. - Use nudity. You can also fulfil (or contradict) impressions your characters (or readers) form based on appearances. I once wrote about imbuing everyday objects with meaning because talisman create great opportunities for symbolism! Or they could be frantically running errands in leggings and a t-shirt. 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. Richie Billing writes fantasy fiction, historical fiction and stories of a darker nature. Am I trying to blow the interview? Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a persons position in the hierarchy. Nylon and polyester fabrics weren't invented until almost the mid 20th century for example. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. Hopefully, you now have more wardrobe ideas for your characters than just red shirt, blue pants. But what about the process of actually sharing these details in your novel? There is simply more characterization, not only of Gem but the other characters, too. The more you know about real clothing and armor, the more tools in your bag of tricks for describing awesome fantasy pieces. To illustrate this let's take a standard men's suit as an example. 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. Black and white usually does the trick as well. An owl, a real owl! Your article is really great. Baggy. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. s a fantastic image that Thomas Feichtmeir, AKA Cyangmou has put together. Im struggling to properly figure out how to describe clothing for a fantasy setting Im trying to create. Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. Think touchable fabrics and the light scent of lavender soap. The description will describe a lot of clothing pieces, some of which you may not need depending on where your character lives. Whether its a matter of indulgence or survival, feeling good is a deeply relatable goal. And when Mother Nature gets involved, even the best suit of armor can have problems. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. Separate and enlarge it, turn down the Opacity of the layer . They're the Robin to your Batman, the Luigi to your Mario, the Samwise Gamgee to your Frodo Baggins. As a result, feudal England became rife with young murderous men. Amalias dress thus comes across as insensitive to her; malicious even. Really, the topic of this article is not how to describe clothing in writing as much as it is how to tell a story with clothes. Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. And as a reader, nothing bores me like an entire paragraph of detailed clothing description. Or are you writing a spy character who dons Lululemon to infiltrate an upscale yoga studio? So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. You suddenly know which details to include, which to leave out, and whether to call it a blood-red cloak or a goji berry wrap. Understanding how to describe clothing in a story well will help you create fuller, richer character portraits. - Use lines to break up a piece of clothing and create a kind of mosaic. Lets delve further into these ideas about describing characters dress: Think of your characters clothing like an actors costume in a play. Using this site means trees will be planted. Do all your characters embrace it? I didnt even know how to begin describing this piece of clothing. 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.