Fyri
Inkling
How do you go about creating the fashion of your world? My world has about 6 different regions and Im struggling to decide on fashions for each one. Is it even that big of a deal, or am I stressing too hard?
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Fashion
- Thread starter Fyri
- Start date
If it's something that will matter to your story it's important. This applies even if it's just something that you use to create a mood/feel of a scene.
If you have characters travelling between the different regions of the world their clothes may serve to distinguish them from locals (if they're not different enough in physical appearance already).
You may also consider if you want to distinguish between what's fashion and between what's just the way people dress. For example, if people live in the cold north they will wear warm clothes, probably with a lot of fur and hides. That would be the way the people dress. Fashion could be what kind of furs or what color or how the leather is cut or something like that.
What I'd do is I'd first start with the type of clothes are suitable in an area and then take it from there. In a warm place people might favor light flowing robes. The fashion could be in the cut or color of the robe or perhaps in embroidery or some other decorations.
If you have characters travelling between the different regions of the world their clothes may serve to distinguish them from locals (if they're not different enough in physical appearance already).
You may also consider if you want to distinguish between what's fashion and between what's just the way people dress. For example, if people live in the cold north they will wear warm clothes, probably with a lot of fur and hides. That would be the way the people dress. Fashion could be what kind of furs or what color or how the leather is cut or something like that.
What I'd do is I'd first start with the type of clothes are suitable in an area and then take it from there. In a warm place people might favor light flowing robes. The fashion could be in the cut or color of the robe or perhaps in embroidery or some other decorations.
Nihal
Vala
I like fashion! *girly girl*
Speaking seriously, I enjoy reading a bit about what people are wearing for it hints at their personality, position and cultural background, giving the world some flavour.
However, I don't know if I'm the best person to give advice on how to do it. To determine clothing I try to take into consideration a number of factors:
I can't say I go checking point by point; climate and functionality are always actively taken into consideration, the others are a sort of looming presence in the back of my mind. It doesn't mean you should never create one impossible, highly impractical clothing style either, but that you'll do it consciously.
We, humans, are stupid. We love to create foolish hindrances to make a point about something:
This is not practical. It doesn't need to be practical. Rich people doesn't need to do manual labor, with a wave of hand they can summon servants to tend their needs. What better way to show it off than wearing expensive clothes of imported materials, created using foreign techniques and that scream "I don't need to move (even if I wished I couldn't!)"?
Will a soldier wear the same heels and excessive flowing fabrics layers? No!
Now, let's get this clawed species again: How would someone of status display his status? Buttons are a way. They may possess a device designed to help to open/close the buttons, maybe servants of other species, perhaps some individuals are highly skilled and possess the dexterity necessary to do it themselves. Whatever it may be, I've consciously included an seemingly illogical detail to add more flavour, giving it a purpose.
***
With these concerns addressed, let's talk about the style itself. Going beyond "these people use fur-trimmed clothes and these other people use flowing wisps" requires more work, more worldbuilding, study and might be a waste of time. I do because I like—and it's my job!
The best way is to study the various people of our own world and how they dress, like if you were expanding your visual library. It doesn't hurt to discover why they dress that way either. You can find books on the subject and sites dedicated to this or that ethnic group and time period.
After you are familiarized with some styles, I recommend to start to look at fantasy stuff, to see how the designers take these elements and twist, break and combine with foreign elements (animals traits, architectonic details, etc) to create something new. By fantasy I mean books, movies, games and the fashion world.
I have a personal favorite I like to check when I want to expand my horizons. It's a tumblr that looks at the fashion world to find pieces that could have been something out of the Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, it's mostly women clothing: A Game of Clothes
For jewelry I like to check, for example, Enchanted Doll (NSFW!). It's less varied than the previous blog, for it's the work of a single designer. (but it's so pretty!)
At this point I look at this kind of source for out-of-the-box fine details, to stimulate my mind to operate in another level. But, like I said, it might be to delve too much into this aspect of worldbuilding, therefore, a waste of time.
Speaking seriously, I enjoy reading a bit about what people are wearing for it hints at their personality, position and cultural background, giving the world some flavour.
However, I don't know if I'm the best person to give advice on how to do it. To determine clothing I try to take into consideration a number of factors:
- Climate
- Materials availability
- Technological level
- The daily routine of this individual (so I can determine the functionality)
- Tied to the functionality are the limitations of this individual, e.g.: A clawed species won't be fond of buttons.
- Cultural background and tastes
I can't say I go checking point by point; climate and functionality are always actively taken into consideration, the others are a sort of looming presence in the back of my mind. It doesn't mean you should never create one impossible, highly impractical clothing style either, but that you'll do it consciously.
We, humans, are stupid. We love to create foolish hindrances to make a point about something:
This is not practical. It doesn't need to be practical. Rich people doesn't need to do manual labor, with a wave of hand they can summon servants to tend their needs. What better way to show it off than wearing expensive clothes of imported materials, created using foreign techniques and that scream "I don't need to move (even if I wished I couldn't!)"?
Will a soldier wear the same heels and excessive flowing fabrics layers? No!
Now, let's get this clawed species again: How would someone of status display his status? Buttons are a way. They may possess a device designed to help to open/close the buttons, maybe servants of other species, perhaps some individuals are highly skilled and possess the dexterity necessary to do it themselves. Whatever it may be, I've consciously included an seemingly illogical detail to add more flavour, giving it a purpose.
***
With these concerns addressed, let's talk about the style itself. Going beyond "these people use fur-trimmed clothes and these other people use flowing wisps" requires more work, more worldbuilding, study and might be a waste of time. I do because I like—and it's my job!
The best way is to study the various people of our own world and how they dress, like if you were expanding your visual library. It doesn't hurt to discover why they dress that way either. You can find books on the subject and sites dedicated to this or that ethnic group and time period.
After you are familiarized with some styles, I recommend to start to look at fantasy stuff, to see how the designers take these elements and twist, break and combine with foreign elements (animals traits, architectonic details, etc) to create something new. By fantasy I mean books, movies, games and the fashion world.
I have a personal favorite I like to check when I want to expand my horizons. It's a tumblr that looks at the fashion world to find pieces that could have been something out of the Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, it's mostly women clothing: A Game of Clothes
For jewelry I like to check, for example, Enchanted Doll (NSFW!). It's less varied than the previous blog, for it's the work of a single designer. (but it's so pretty!)
At this point I look at this kind of source for out-of-the-box fine details, to stimulate my mind to operate in another level. But, like I said, it might be to delve too much into this aspect of worldbuilding, therefore, a waste of time.
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Ophiucha
Auror
Nihal's definitely nailed it if really want to get into it. Great post, enjoy a 'thanks'!
It's a lighter area for me, since I'm not very knowledgeable on fabrics or dyes (so I often avoid details like texture and colour), but I am a sucker for design and that is definitely part of my projects. For my current novel, one of my cultures has a deep spiritual connection to the ground, and so there is a lot of ornamentation on their feet, often tattoos and ankle jewellery and toenail art. They are a colonized people, however, and one of the things that their colonizers enforce are shoes - something that they didn't really wear except while hiking or hunting. They invented open-toe shoes as a way to balance, so that they could display some of their foot art while still wearing shoes around the other group's wooden bridges and paved roads.
The colonizers have a bit of a modesty thing with their religion, with the women traditionally wearing a head covering of some sort (the colonized do have that as well, but it's only their most devout who do it - sort of like Catholic nuns). Lots of little cultural things. The setting is also heavily inspired by American history - particularly the 1950s - so even though I don't get too specific or develop it too much from the worldbuilding perspective, it does have some influence on my mental image of the characters, which can have an effect on how I write them (how I describe the movements of their skirt, or the process of getting un/dressed, and so on). I've done that with other stories that had some sort of fantasy counterpart culture (I had a steampunk!Heian Japan several years ago that did this), even if it's a bit distorted you can still use something real as a base and adjust it as needed for the setting.
It's a lighter area for me, since I'm not very knowledgeable on fabrics or dyes (so I often avoid details like texture and colour), but I am a sucker for design and that is definitely part of my projects. For my current novel, one of my cultures has a deep spiritual connection to the ground, and so there is a lot of ornamentation on their feet, often tattoos and ankle jewellery and toenail art. They are a colonized people, however, and one of the things that their colonizers enforce are shoes - something that they didn't really wear except while hiking or hunting. They invented open-toe shoes as a way to balance, so that they could display some of their foot art while still wearing shoes around the other group's wooden bridges and paved roads.
The colonizers have a bit of a modesty thing with their religion, with the women traditionally wearing a head covering of some sort (the colonized do have that as well, but it's only their most devout who do it - sort of like Catholic nuns). Lots of little cultural things. The setting is also heavily inspired by American history - particularly the 1950s - so even though I don't get too specific or develop it too much from the worldbuilding perspective, it does have some influence on my mental image of the characters, which can have an effect on how I write them (how I describe the movements of their skirt, or the process of getting un/dressed, and so on). I've done that with other stories that had some sort of fantasy counterpart culture (I had a steampunk!Heian Japan several years ago that did this), even if it's a bit distorted you can still use something real as a base and adjust it as needed for the setting.