how to describe fantasy clothing how to describe fantasy clothing

On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. Without decriptions of the clothing it's a bit boring, the novel becomes a list of people the reader can't imagine doing things. 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. Such simple things, but the clothes really helped show Jesus plight. Changes in characters clothing can help revealcharacter development. The appearance of armor was a big deal for knights. You can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. Whereas a more confident or attention seeking person might seek out the edges of what's socially acceptable more or just wear more stylish and potentially more colorful or flamboyant clothing. "He was wearing a spandex tank top" is an improvement from just mentioning that your character's wearing a shirt; but consider adding the element of color: "He was wearing a black-and-yellow-striped spandex tank top.". It doesn't exclude those that don't know what a qipao is, nor break immersion for those who do. But you may run into difficulties when it comes to the practicalities. Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. These aren't the only elements either, pretty much every part of clothing changes with the times and depend heavily upon what's fashionable at the time. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Im struggling to properly figure out how to describe clothing for a fantasy setting Im trying to create. 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. 2023 NOW NOVEL CC. An owl in new ribbons, ha-ha-ha! Similarly, find out (or, if youre creating a fantasy world, create) the garments your characters would wear in a particular time and place. Which was, indeed, a little weird straight off! s a fantastic image that Thomas Feichtmeir, AKA Cyangmou has put together. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. 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. You can also fulfil (or contradict) impressions your characters (or readers) form based on appearances. Whether its a matter of indulgence or survival, feeling good is a deeply relatable goal. I would be great to expand it with armor from other areas, Samurai armor, for example. 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. First and foremost we need to know who we're designing for. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Smart: Neat and tidy clothes but not necessarily formal. Get an image of a blank shirt and simply draw the lines on it, it'll form a great base to work with. for any particular parts of an outfit. You can even use different pieces of clothing to cover up body parts differently. Nov 28, 2022 - Explore Anung V's board "Character description" on Pinterest. The aim was not to cause any impediment to movement. Who doesnt like being comfortable when killing? Share. But they could also dress in modest, inexpensive-looking clothes. As with body armor, great efforts were made with the designs of helmets. Youre more than welcome to join us and wed love to have you on board. Lets take a look at some individual pieces of armor. Dont worry, thats not a trick question. A knight, by definition, was a lord. Here, for example, Hilary Mantel describes a Cardinals residence being plundered by the Kings men in 1529 England, in her historical novel Wolf Hall. ), The geographical location of your story. This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. As time marched on, small plates of leather or iron were added to the mail to protect key areas, such as vital organs. Maybe your character is snuggled up in their fleece pajamas while the blizzard rages outside. This can be a very effective way if your universe is based on an existing culture. Clothing is one of the easiest and most immediate ways to establish an historical setting. Arrows will bounce off steel crafted in such a wayunless from close range, as we discussed, We mentioned gambesons above. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. 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. What backstory or character motivations could combinations of appearance and reality suggest? Lots of gear would have been looted. Subtle clothing changes can signal character development quite effectively in some scenarios. The clothes a person wears tellsus many things: their status in life, for example, or their cultural affiliation or identity. Chain mail is a great piece of fantasy armor to use in your stories purely because of its flexibility. Jeans and a tee it was. Characters can also comment on or react to one anothers clothing, as long as the exchange reveals something about the world or relationship. - 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). They're the Robin to your Batman, the Luigi to your Mario, the Samwise Gamgee to your Frodo Baggins. With these two changes alone you already have an item that didn't exist in medieval times, but is familiar enough to work in a fantasy setting. Not all trends return and fashion isn't perfectly cyclical. Pingback: The Life of the Medieval Lord - Richie Billing, Pingback: How To Create Your Very Own Living Breathing Fantasy World - Richie Billing, Pingback: Fantasy Races - The Ultimate Guide To Elves, Orcs and Dwarves | Richie Billing, Pingback: Killer Diseases of the Middle Ages | Richie Billing, Pingback: Medieval Cannons: The Essential Guide | Richie Billing, Pingback: On Writing: Fantasy Without Magic Of Metal and Magic Publishing, Pingback: The Lives Of Medieval Peasants - Richie Billing. 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. 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. Now on the other end of the spectrum we have fantasy clothing and more history based clothing. You walk down the usual street and suddenly some old memory hits you. Pauldrons, gauntlets, and even leg armor were fashioned into elaborate designs. Our characters are always (mostly!) This is mostly something to keep in mind when designing for characters living in the future, but it could work for alternative historic universes as well. It really doesnt take much. 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). So as a way of trying to control them and their behaviour, the code of chivalry and honour was introduced. Similarly, show how different characters personalities are through apt clothing description. Costume is a large part of a character. Is this purely for cinematic effect or would some leaders remove their helmets to show their faces to their soldiers? Sometimes the simplest changes are enough to create something completely new and ideal for a particular universe. 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. Its something readers definitely appreciate, which I found with Pariahs Lament. Maybe a bit of both. You can quickly convey a number of things about your characters based on the clothing they wear. Adding them with intention can help increase tension, make twists hit that much harder, and keep your reader engaged., How to Describe Clothing in Writing Without Boring Everybody, Tertiary Characters: Giving Your Background Players Life, Sidekicks: The Loyal Companion Your Hero Needs. Think of the process like dressing a doll: start at the beginning and up build the layers. And lets not forget the trusty steed. As the battle continued through the day, a rumor grew that Harold had died or fled the field, I forget which. Another might claim power by striding in wearing torn jeans and a tank top. Or else that she feels shamed by her Aunt and thus decides to be good. This is a fun one. If you stopped to think about it, you may even notice yourself imagining things as specific as age, hobbies, and ambitions. If a knight fell from a horse, he could quite easily pick himself up, not stuck on the ground like a tortoise knocked on its shell. Thanks, Sana. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. Blend in? )Secrets might not be something youve specifically thought about when youre drafting a story. My story feels like its set more in medieval times, but I don't want my characters running around in full out tunics and. Expensive indeed, and heavystronger horses had to be bred to handle the weight. But as the show moved forward the suit got more ragged the jacket was open, then gone, the shirt cuffs undone, half the buttons undone and I think by the end when he was on the cross the shirt was gone. What matters more to them: fashion or function? With historical fiction one interesting aspect is to bring back the reader to that time period. There are some elements which are common among most works of fiction when it comes to clothing, with these elements in mind it becomes a lot easier to turn the clothing we wear today or wore throughout history into a futuristic or more fantasy oriented equivalent. Clothes that are suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions. Thus, "a dress" is inappropriate for a (male) prince, unless he is pretending to be a woman. 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. 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. The fact Gem goes with jeans and a tee could suggest that she trusts her aunts advice. Heres a cool video on making leather fantasy armor by YouTuber, Prince Armory. 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. Slog through another meaningless day in a world where nothing matters? We see the contrast between the characters friends reaction and the advisory words of Gems aunt. Some wore a trapper a covering of full chain mailand down the line, some horses even had their own plated armor. Glasses, headsets, lenses, jewelry, belts and so on can all help sell the futuristic look. - Use lines to break up a piece of clothing and create a kind of mosaic. What does your character wear to feel safer in their world or in their own skin? Added on top of that the condition that they had to supply him with soldiers too. Use your first-person narrators senses sight, hearing, touch, etc. It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it. Love this topic!! Required fields are marked *. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. And of course, location provides a clue for what it takes to be comfortable in the world of your story. We naturally link clothing and identity, which is why wardrobe is such an effective tool for building a vivid character. Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. Lets take a look at how clothing description indicates your characters identity, goals, and culture. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. ^.^ The only cloak in the world made with silk spun by the cat-sized spiders that live in the forbidden mountains. To create a more futuristic looking style an easy way of doing it is to incorporate technology into the clothing itself. Lets talk about how to use clothing description as a storytelling tool, how to dress your character for their personality and setting, and how to make clothes interesting to anyone. - Mix cultures. By using fur for decoration you quickly create fictional pieces in no time. Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a persons position in the hierarchy. Look how she sits with her mouth open! The rope belt is solely decorative and a status symbol. Lets talk about how to describe clothing in writing organically. Continued successes could see knights rise higher up the ranks. Some had pointed snouts, the purpose of which was to deflect arrows when walking into arrow storms. The first time I joined my family for our biannual Minnesota fishing trip after moving to L.A. from the Midwest, I found myself constantly losing my aunt and mother. is because we get stuck on what things look like. The Victorian author Charles Dickens is widely regarded as a master of characterization, for good reason. 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. I can only imagine the pain of the chafing! If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. Sneak around? Below, well take a look at the armor found in the fantasy genre, covering everything from chain mail to helmets. Black and white usually does the trick as well. Sweaters or jumpers? Make it mandatory to hold up a piece of clothing. It's easy to try this out too, at least the simple line version. Obviously clothing is extremely varied, especially dresses. Like Borges would say, So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. The description will describe a lot of clothing pieces, some of which you may not need depending on where your character lives. Knights were, indeed, hard to defeat in battle. - 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. Theyre just too important defensively. Much of the clothing we wear today were either rare or completely nonexistent a hundred years ago. In other words, research. Nov 1, 2019 - Explore Arisa Nightingale's board "Male Fantasy Outfit Concepts & Designs", followed by 456 people on Pinterest. Embarrassed by her own inability to dress in finery for the occasion (and by being upstaged), Katerina resorts to scathing mockery of Amalia. Since it's a friends' get-together, let's wear casual attire. 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. As well see below, medieval armor developed through necessitypeople needed to protect themselves from those wicked blades and needle-sharp darts. 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. Designing fantasy armor for your characters can be an awful lot of fun. Any suggestions on how to properly do this? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 'There is a blog for every aspect of the writing journey.' The eye slits were narrow to prevent all sizes of arrowheads from finding their way through. For instance, if I'm reading a story and the narrative mentions jeans right off, I'm thinking mid twentieth century or later (while dungarees would be late nineteenth . 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. I once wrote about imbuing everyday objects with meaning because talisman create great opportunities for symbolism! Sometimes they're more interesting and lovable than the main characters themselves and end up stealing the show., Secrets. They give you the chance to offer comic relief, a dash of wisdom, and just some good old fashioned friendship., Sidekick characters. The train hums and throbs in place as people rush to pile in.. Thanks, Teresa, and for sharing that great example from the stage. Such coats were made from brass or iron, though steel was deemed best due to its toughness. Armor, therefore, wasnt that heavya full suit weighed approximately 50 pounds, which is around 3 to 4 stone. Fancy dresses. 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. Im writing a little in the Epic Fantasy genre and there were quite a few useful notes I wasnt aware of here. If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. Do all your characters embrace it? It's what we're slowly doing today. 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 tragedy of Azincourt, for example, occurred because of a poorly-chosen battleground that had flooded. 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: Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice And Fire is one series that wonderfully explores fantasy armor and weapons. Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. One does not refer to "a garb". Consider this example from Hard Times. You dont need it to sign up. His pants are simple and narrow and reach down to his hard leather shoes. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done. He is old but stylish. 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. 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. Good for the mobile knight. Although such armor exists in fantasy worlds, its important to understand how things work in the real world, even at a basic level. Another benefit to chain mail, a point which can slip the mind of writers, is that it was cheap and efficient, able to accommodate different-sized warriors, unlike expensive plated armor. Clothing description also presents an opportunity to play with different points of view. What your character wears can tell us a lot about how they feel or how they want to feel. Are they overalls or coveralls? But even regular elements can help with this. Your trust fund character might be completely confident showing up to a party in board shorts and flip-flops. Pfoo, the owl! Only when youre keeping secrets in fiction, you can make them even darker and deeper than any you might ever have in real life. Reeking of piss on the battlefield was another weapon in the arsenal I suppose. Vividly describing the colors of your character's clothing can enliven ordinary writing. If you tell your readers about Nanettes light pink cardigan and string of pearls, you dont have to say much about the shoes and skirt and silk blouse. Youre already obsessing over hat styles and what the undergarment situation was at the time of your story. Shoes made with bendable displays already exist, allowing you to change your shoe's design on the fly. - "Digital look". Leonidas in 300, for instance, almost certainly wore a helmet in the battle with the Persians! I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. You could introduce magical enchantments or ability-granting traits. Stylish. 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. - 'Stealth'. From lowly serfs to great warriors, all could wear and fight effectively in chainmail. And when Mother Nature gets involved, even the best suit of armor can have problems.