# Tribal outfits for different biomes/locations



## Dragoncat (Dec 19, 2013)

Need some help with what my vamps will be wearing. It's in a medieval time period, so keep that in mind. The four packs each have a different type of territory:

Copper Pack = canyon
Grove Pack = forest
Rain Pack = swamp
Summit Pack = mountain

So, any fashion experts, or at least people who know more than I do, have an idea? I know a few things, like Summit Pack will probably have fur lined leather, and Rain Pack swims a lot, so they would have...something that's like a wetsuit? Is there even a medieval version of a wetsuit?


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## CupofJoe (Dec 20, 2013)

Most of the time people [okay, humans] wear as little as possible when swimming.
I would imagine that a wet suit [of a sort] could be fashioned from layers of soft leather or fish skin but I don't see that it would be helpful. It wouldn't have the insulating efficacy of neoprene and that's about the only reason to wear a wet suit. Even in warm water body heat leeches out and you need a barrier.


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## Dragoncat (Dec 20, 2013)

I've got them wearing fish skin tunics with leather on the bottom, dyed blue because that's their pack color. The leather is dyed, that is...pretty hard to do that with fish skin. Originally thought of using alligator skin...figured since gators are more dangerous than fish, they're better off avoiding them in a world without guns.


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## Nihal (Dec 20, 2013)

If I had to pick an outfit to go swimming I would pick something easy to take off. Have you ever jumped on water wearing something, or stood in the rain? Sticky clothes aren't comfortable, the rougher the material worse it is, even chafing your skin. It also takes time to dry, hours, and wet clothes are cold. It's something tolerable if it's an one time event, but as a routine it would be quite unpleasant. If you consider that most rivers are incredible cold it's honestly a good idea to have something dry to wear after coming out.

Those clothes would also be light, in case they get wet it's quicker to dry and if the climate is somehow tropical I wouldn't get hot. I would, ideally, have some kind of coat of a tougher material like leather for colder days or tasks that require some sort of protection.


P.s.: Forest people:
It depends on the type of forest, but something more tight fitting is good. It shouldn't restrain the movement, but shouldn't hang loose or it would get caught in the undergrowth. I'm thinking in mobility and a bit of protection versus rough trunks, thorns and rocks as main factors.


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 20, 2013)

One idea might be a kilt?  It's short, so you can wade up to the knee and if you go into deeper water, you can take it off and fold it up or simply hang it up to dry by un-kilting it.  Traditional kilts (don't believe the modern tales) are 3 1/2 yards of 44" wide wool (you could use another fiber) and they're just long sheets you loosely pleat and wear with a belt.  A cotton shirt that hangs to hip length goes under it and a short jacket goes over it.  Those kinds of garments are easy to dry, keep clean, and remove if you need to swim, plus, you can wrap it all up in a bundle and carry it on your head.  Just an idea...


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## Nihal (Dec 20, 2013)

Caged Maiden said:


> One idea might be a kilt?  It's short, so you can wade up to the knee and if you go into deeper water, you can take it off and fold it up or simply hang it up to dry by un-kilting it.  Traditional kilts (don't believe the modern tales) are 3 1/2 yards of 44" wide wool (you could use another fiber) and they're just long sheets you loosely pleat and wear with a belt.  A cotton shirt that hangs to hip length goes under it and a short jacket goes over it.  Those kinds of garments are easy to dry, keep clean, and remove if you need to swim, plus, you can wrap it all up in a bundle and carry it on your head.  Just an idea...



Yeah, I had a similar thought and I agree. I live in a tropical place full of beaches, and one must-have item for women going to the beach are beach wraps. I often wear them like this (without the silly belt) after getting out of the water:








You can surely get more creative with pieces of fabric, using layers of them, having straps, etc, for more fashionable but still practical ways of wearing them.


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## Erudite (Dec 21, 2013)

> Copper Pack = canyon
> Grove Pack = forest
> Rain Pack = swamp
> Summit Pack = mountain



Think about what the people had access to.

Summit pack - what animals are in the mountains that could provide leather? Goats? Perhaps, but I'm thinking wool and leather combinations are more likely to be found among this group.

Rain pack - I'm going to bet alligator skin would be a good concept for you here. Just a thought, people have been using it forever. Seriously. (Or crocodile, if you want to argue about semantics)

Grove pack - I'm not sure the types of forest you're using, so it's hard to say. In the thought, I'm sure they'd have access to all kinds of materials (panther skin, other types of pelts and what not).

Copper pack - This one I'm not so sure about. Again, likely pelts from some sort of animal, but I'm not sure what sort of purpose you're looking to serve. Maybe snake skin?

Cheers,
Erudite


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