how to describe fantasy clothinghow to describe fantasy clothing
Chain mail is a great piece of fantasy armor to use in your stories purely because of its flexibility. Amalias dress thus comes across as insensitive to her; malicious even. Or is it really important for a reader to know the specific pattern? 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. Lets take a look at how clothing description indicates your characters identity, goals, and culture. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. Ha-ha! They're the Robin to your Batman, the Luigi to your Mario, the Samwise Gamgee to your Frodo Baggins. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. That said, once you describe how a person dresses you shouldn't really keep doing it unless it is relevant to the plot. Embarrassed by her own inability to dress in finery for the occasion (and by being upstaged), Katerina resorts to scathing mockery of Amalia. Because it actually is possible. Not to pile on, but dont forget to make sure you know which materials wereand werentavailable in the world of your novel. - Use lines to break up a piece of clothing and create a kind of mosaic. 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. Its something readers definitely appreciate, which I found with Pariahs Lament. - Taboos and nudity. You can keep track of your characters signature style, upload photos, note how their style evolves, and keep these ideas right at your fingertips as you write. The important thing to remember is to remain in the character's point of view. But I find looking back in time to the likes of the medieval period can provide some wonderful and unique ideas. I'll make a separate point for sci-fi/futuristic clothing and fantasy/historic clothing. Like Borges would say, - Make things look glossy, smooth and clean. They work, they're safe and in many cases have become a standard. Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? Blend in? 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. Something like this: As you can see, a knights armor is made up of a lot of different pieces. In one single piece of clothing description (a pink-eyed bundle of shawls), Dickens conveys how timid and ailing Mrs. Gradgrind is in contrast to her bullish, overbearing husband. ), The geographical location of your story. Youre already obsessing over hat styles and what the undergarment situation was at the time of your story. What matters more to them: fashion or function? Non-visual senses are big, too. for any particular parts of an outfit. They could withstand high-velocity strikes from a javelin or lance, driven home by somebody charging forwards on horseback. So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. But thats the case wherever you go. Its fun to play with power in clothing, because it's a relative concept. What is the prevailing value in the society of your story? In reality, a medieval lord could pretty much do what they liked. What your character wears can tell us a lot about how they feel or how they want to feel. Do they strive to be humble before their god or do they want to spend this one and only life as their bold, ostentatious selves? Similarly, show how different characters personalities are through apt clothing description. Achieving glory in battle was one way of earning a knighthood. Help your readers feel the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and theyll feel your characters priorities deep in their own souls. Otherwise they wont take you seriously as an artist.. Helmets were arguably the most distinctive feature of an armored knight. Here, for example, Hilary Mantel describes a Cardinals residence being plundered by the Kings men in 1529 England, in her historical novel Wolf Hall. Such coats were made from brass or iron, though steel was deemed best due to its toughness. Thus his plain dress is, ironically, indicative of higher status. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. Id be willing to bet each of these items immediately brought to mind a semi-clear character. 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. Very informative. Coats of plated armor soon came about, which consisted of a series of plates linked on top of one another. Make sure you know whats hot and whats not in your specific setting, as well as what specific words the locals would use. 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. ), Your character and communitys financial resources. Does your character need to hide? This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. And if you want more, this documentary is excellent. 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. What your character wears reveals where they come from, how they rank in society, how they want to be perceived, and even how they feel about themselves. You can immediately show a character is wealthy with descriptions of fine clothing. Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. Now, for the feedbackit depends what POV you're writing in. Can you imagine tweaking this to make your own set of fantasy armor? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Required fields are marked *. The aim was not to cause any impediment to movement. Metallic works well too, but make sure any metal bits or metallic looking bits are smooth and clean looking too, otherwise it might look too historic. Theyre just too important defensively. Heres a cool video on making leather fantasy armor by YouTuber, Prince Armory. Theyre the kind of thing that often happen organically, but you can actually make use of character secrets to make your stories better. The padded material could absorb blows from blunt, A Guide To Writing Stories That Genuinely Helps, "Helped me land my first book deal" - Jack Shannon, Author, Get More Writing Support From Fellow Fantasy Writers, A complete guide to worldbuilding, with a template. Normally I dont dress characters with such complex clothing that takes more than a few sentences to describe but the vest was inspired by a picture I saw and it took at least a paragraph to describe. You dont need it to sign up. Characters Wear More Than Just Clothes. Meanwhile, the character who works two jobs while going to school full-time might scour the Goodwill rack for a designer tag to help them fit in at the same party. Heres a great visual guide on female fantasy armor by YouTuber Shadiversity. Your articles are always very informative. But the biggest challenge can sometimes be simply making something look futuristic or historic fantasy-ish, which is the main focus of this guide. You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. Youre more than welcome to join us and wed love to have you on board. I really loved this article, but I have one question, it was very helpful. 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. 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. It was pretty easy to make, though laborious, and easy to repair. Nov 1, 2019 - Explore Arisa Nightingale's board "Male Fantasy Outfit Concepts & Designs", followed by 456 people on Pinterest. Elsewhere, Mantels novel is full of descriptions of garments for specific, era-appropriate purposes: Riding cloaks, town coats, and other clothing people of means would have worn at this time. Maybe your character is snuggled up in their fleece pajamas while the blizzard rages outside. What backstory or character motivations could combinations of appearance and reality suggest? Dragon scales, fiery furs and feathers and other elements can quickly turn a standard item into a fantasy one. All this to say: there is substantial storytelling power in a coral Life is Good t-shirt. By playing around with this you quickly create very subtle, but more unique fantasy-themed items. When you use clothing to define who your character is, remember that it can also clarify how they feel about themselves and how they fit into the world around them. 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. And lets not forget the trusty steed. Baggy jeans. In Gabriel Garcia Marquezs Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), we learn of a doctors status through his being the only person at an event who is not smartly dressed: Although it was not customary for invitations to request special attire, least of all for a luncheon in the country, the women wore evening gowns and precious jewels and most of the men were dressed in dinner jackets with black ties, and some even wore frock coats. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. Odds are, youve got a character who dresses to stay alive. What are the rules of your characters world? 28 First of all, beautiful dress and mask! Not all trends return and fashion isn't perfectly cyclical. The more you know about real clothing and armor, the more tools in your bag of tricks for describing awesome fantasy pieces. But even regular elements can help with this. A jacket or coat of mail was usually worn with a hood, or coif, of the same material to protect the head and neck. Most clothing throughout history consisted of longer pieces of fabric and with minimal tailoring and cuts. Trendy: Modern, fashionable, and up-to-date outfits. Select the most striking details and move on. When heated, steel turns from yellow, to brown, to blue, to red. Characters can also comment on or react to one anothers clothing, as long as the exchange reveals something about the world or relationship. So let's delve deeper into the details of how to actually figure out what your character wears. Theyll see it automatically. Think the previously mentioned Fifth Element and Hunger Games clothing versus Star Trek, Star Wars and so on clothing. It can be as simple as making a dress shorter, a jacket longer or sleeves wider and longer. As a friend told me, Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. Heating to the perfect temperature was key. Not a Dabble user? Blades hacking, slicing and puncturing, cutting open gaping wounds and severing limbs and heads from bodies. You can try all Dabbles premium features for free for fourteen days. Another important function of clothing description in stories is to create an authentic sense of time and place. Lets delve further into these ideas about describing characters dress: Think of your characters clothing like an actors costume in a play. Glasses, headsets, lenses, jewelry, belts and so on can all help sell the futuristic look. They're the ones who are always there to lend a helping hand, crack a joke, or provide some much-needed emotional relief.And let's be real, sometimes they dont go unsung. As well see below, medieval armor developed through necessitypeople needed to protect themselves from those wicked blades and needle-sharp darts. 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 doesn't exclude those that don't know what a qipao is, nor break immersion for those who do. Both doublets and chain mail were worn in conjunction with plated armor for that added protection, particularly for areas plate could not cover, such as arms and the groin. Mention the familiar swooshing of the neighbors tracksuit as he runs by the house every morning or how the aunts jacket always smells like cold air and pine needles. Sometimes they're more interesting and lovable than the main characters themselves and end up stealing the show., Secrets. An owl, a real owl! This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. 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. But there is so much more to the experience of clothing than that. I tend to avoid describing clothing. - As far as colors go they often seem to be either toned down or bright and happy (or even over the top), depending on the style. So its unsurprising to see soldiers wielding swords and axes and shooting bows. Describe these in passing to add visual colour and authenticity to your character descriptions. But if you do want some guidelines, inspiration or just help this guide'll hopefully provide it. This is a fun one. - Change lengths. To create a more futuristic looking style an easy way of doing it is to incorporate technology into the clothing itself. Ideas are forever being shared and discussed. - Use nudity. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Those warriors came from the people who lived on the lands under the watch of the knights. More on that in a bit. Think of the process like dressing a doll: start at the beginning and up build the layers. The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. Its a bit OCD of me. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. Sometimes the simplest changes are enough to create something completely new and ideal for a particular universe. But your reader is going to picture something whether you guide them or not. Maybe their goal is to entice a mate. Use fashion and clothing history archives if necessary. Well come to this below. Your article is really great. This article was very helpfulcan you post some examples of showing versus telling when describing clothing? Do your main characters tend to steal the show in your novels? If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. Just click the button below to find out more. Its because concrete details are incredibly effective in communicating abstract concepts. Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. Thanks Benjamin! Is this purely for cinematic effect or would some leaders remove their helmets to show their faces to their soldiers? Vividly describing the colors of your character's clothing can enliven ordinary writing. This description generator will create a mostly random description of either a dress or a suit, fit for formal occasions and other fancy needs. Dostoyevsky describes how Katerinas landlady, Amalia Ivanovna, dresses for the funeral: the table was properly laid at the time and fixed, and Amalia Ivanovna, feeling she had done her work well, had put on a black silk dress and a cap with new mourning ribbons and met the returning party with some pride. In Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment, the poor, Tuberculosis-stricken Katerina Ivanovnas husband is trampled to death by a horse-drawn cart. A few small details of clothing may distinguish your characters from each other, highlighting their personalities. Fashionable: Clothes representing a current style in fashion. 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. Or it could be that they want to be charmed by their own image when they look in the mirror. Because like all other character details, its not enough to paint a picture. Excuse the on hold background music. Which of these clothing types is your character most likely to reach for when starting their day? Military service was always well-rewarded and violence applauded. Below, well take a look at the armor found in the fantasy genre, covering everything from chain mail to helmets. Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice And Fire is one series that wonderfully explores fantasy armor and weapons. A pair of starched Wranglers. If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. And what does she put that cap on for? Fashionably elegant and sophisticated. Clothing description also presents an opportunity to play with different points of view. Shoes made with bendable displays already exist, allowing you to change your shoe's design on the fly. A four-layer, bubble-gum pink taffeta skirt. Okay, maybe not.Secrets in real life can be a little trickywe all have thembut they have a way of blowing up in our faces, depending on how big they are.Your characters are really no different. The novels protagonist Rodion gives Katerina the last of his money to host a funeral. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. The fact the clothes seem to stand by themselves indicates just how heavy they are with jewels and embroidery. From time to time we may use affiliate links to help with the costs of running the site. And ninety-nine percent of the clothing descriptions in your first draft are just jeans. I get it. Youre working essential details into the narrative at the moment when they are most relevant. Some had pointed snouts, the purpose of which was to deflect arrows when walking into arrow storms. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. Character description may change over the course of a story to emphasize a characters arc. Clothes that are suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions. On the other hand you may wish to add layers for the same purpose. Your email address will not be published. Similar to how pixelated designs tend to look more futuristic so do designs full of geometrical shapes. Affordable . The surrounding culture dictates what they cant wear if they want to be seen as free-thinking individuals. How does their attire reflect what they want, what they fear, or where theyre going? As for showing with clothing rather than telling, a writer could say, He was lazy and inattentive to his appearance about a character, or they could say his clothes always looked like hed just pulled them out of a pile in some corner of his bedroom and had thrown them on without a glance in the mirror. The changes and improvements made by technology will often create new trends or alter old ones to the point you may as well consider them a new one, so depending on the technology available in your fictional universe you may wish to create a completely new trend. One easy way of creating a more customized look is to simply use cultural elements in the standard clothing. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. The shrewd king essentially licensed out parcels of his land as rewards to his warriors in exchange for their military service. The line could be thin or thick, glowing, metallic-looking or just plain, padded or smooth, patterned, decorated or simply a seem. And if you dont write historical fiction? Cookie Notice Dont worry, thats not a trick question. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to weaponry Richie Billing. I like the way you wrote this information. Why this arguably works better is the details of getting dressed tell us multiple details about Gem. Another type of cheap armor, one up from gambesons, was boiled leather, also known as cuir bouilli. Obviously clothing is extremely varied, especially dresses. There's a few other elements to keep in mind as well, but in most cases it's best not to worry at all, let your imagination go wild and simply create and enjoy what you want to create. Blunt, Once quenched, the steel was re-heated to make it more resilient. Youre still not off the hook. - Geometry. Fashion trends come and go and they often return later, albeit in a slightly different form. Then this is their category. Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a persons position in the hierarchy. 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. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town. It's easy to try this out too, at least the simple line version. 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. I can only imagine the pain of the chafing! Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. Like say a vest with mirrored sequins and rhinestones, but they all go in a pattern and you feel the need to describe the pattern line by line? show how hard is to escape in a narrow street. 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. What your character wears can tell us a lot about how they feel or how they want to feel. Maybe your character heads out on the town wearing a daring leopard print jumpsuit, only to have their best friend immediately ask where they got the kitty costume.. I didnt even know how to begin describing this piece of clothing. Heres how to describe clothing in writing to show your readers the world to which your character belongs. These small but mighty players can add depth, complexity, and a fresh perspective to your plot. Which was, indeed, a little weird straight off! If sturdy is a top consideration, your character might be expecting trouble or adventure. So here are some more ways to alter a design while sticking with familiarity and a more historic feel: A band t-shirt. Black and white usually does the trick as well. Those of us who dont get all jazzed about writing clothing descriptions often fail to consider that a good wardrobe has layers. I thought if I did that at the beginning of a chapter it would be better but I worry it will turn readers off. One way is to avoid what we call filter words. The padded material could absorb blows from blunt weapons and provided some protection from cuts, but against well-forged weapons they were useless. Heating to the perfect temperature was key. The complete opposite is true for fantasy and historic clothing. Love this topic!! Our imaginations can do a surprising amount with just a few key details. Through fashion terms you can understand the fundamentals of the fashion industry. The eye slits were narrow to prevent all sizes of arrowheads from finding their way through. But for writers like me who get stuck in the white socks, green dress rut, heres a quick reminder: Details about fabric, fit, quality, and color are super effective when it comes to creating a sense of character, place, or moment. Its about building a life and a world, and that is something you can do. Instead of saying, for example I saw that the station gate was coming down and the last train was about to leave, you could say The station gate is already screeching closed. Were trying to avoid, Isabell gazed out the window, and by the way, she was wearing a white terry cloth robe.. Hi Paige, thank you (and thanks for your question). One specific form of descriptive writing that particularly affects setting and characterization is the portrayal of characters' clothing. (Hopefully, I dont really know your life, so maybe not. Blunt weapons were effective, causing haemorrhaging and concussion, so padded garments known as a doublet or gambeson were worn underneath to provide added protection. Stealthy clothes bring to mind burglars clad in black outfits and soft-soled sneakers. 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. Sci-fi and fantasy don't necessarily have to be futuristic and historic respectively, but they're commonly associated as such, so for the sake of simplicity that's what I'm going with for the purposes of this guide. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. "White tunics" have been worn from 2016 to a good forty thousand years ago. Besides knowing who we design for we also have to know what the rules for designing are within the universe of our characters. As with mail, steel was the best material due to its hardness, which was obtained by heating the steel to extreme temperatures and then submerging it into cold water, a process known as quenching. In both of these it was mostly the rich who had the extravagant clothing, which brings back the earlier point of how culture influences what a character might wear. Besides, these are all just guidelines meant to spark some inspiration in you. Any suggestions on how to properly do this? They can tell us what era they live in, and even a persons current state of mind or intent. Its not an aspect of character design that bubbles up naturally from the depths of my creative soul. 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. As knights became fully armored, so did their mounts. We'll 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. These detail could suggest that your character is miserly or down-to-earth despite their wealth. Arrows will bounce off steel crafted in such a wayunless from close range, as we discussed, We mentioned gambesons above. They mixed more traditional Asian styles with the more Western Industrial Revolution period styles. When shes not writing, Abi is most likely hiking, reading, or texting her mother pictures of her houseplants to ask why they look like that. What would you think about a wealthy character who looked as though he shopped at thrift stores? A velvet scrunchie. Baggy. That was the theory. Thank you for sharing this valuable information. The answer to this question gives you a ton of clarity. If you write historical fiction, youre probably way ahead of me. For example, if a character is going on a date, you could write: Gem wanted to look sexy for her date downtown (but not easy), so she changed into more comfortable clothes. In a fantasy setting, you may be trying to conjure up a certain feel right off the bat based on how you describe a character's clothing (and the words you use to describe them). Using this site means trees will be planted. - Use lines to break up a piece of clothing and create a kind of mosaic. For example, fur usually wasn't used as a piece of decoration for clothing and if used at all was often worn around the neck and shoulders or underneath other (often hide) clothing to keep warm. Now this won't work for every piece of clothing of course, not everything has buttons or edges that allow for simple changes we don't already use today, so here are a few ways that are commonly used to make things look more futuristic: Costume is a large part of a character. Maybe a bracelet represents a character's relationship to her mother. Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. To discover more awesome ideas, head over to Pinterest and just search for female fantasy armor. 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. I love to wear baggy trousers in summer. But the definition of sneaky depends on your characters situation. How to describe clothing: 6 simple tips Use clothing to show status and position Build (or thwart) expectations using clothing descriptions Describe clothing to contrast character personalities Show clothing to avoid over-relying on telling Change clothing to highlight character development Use clothing details to create authentic setting Press J to jump to the feed. Make them earn any sightof skin, Aunt P always said. We therefore see in the fantasy genre characters equipped with grand helmets and beautiful pieces of plate armor. (Where do they buy their clothes? The time period of your story. - 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.
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how to describe fantasy clothing