If you arent keeping at least a few secrets from your friends and loved ones, are you really living? In other words, research. So we've covered ways to make clothing look both futuristic and historic, but these are all just guidelines and mostly based on what's been done before. Characters wear more than just clothes. What I would like to ask is how you would go about describing very specific details on more complex clothing? Ideas are forever being shared and discussed. What would high stakes clothing look like in your story? Like Marquez, compare and contrast characters clothes to reveal important details about their social status or position. its obviously black with a centered zipper is easy but then the various pieces, the shapes, the colors, like two rows of this then a row of that, you get what I mean? The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. A warrior had to fight the enemy, and to fight his armor as well would be too distracting. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done. The answer can guide you towards certain fashion trends to inspire your characters wardrobe. The landladys dress highlights, by contrast, the downward spiral of Katerinas fortunes, and she responds to the landladys prideful clothing with her own wounded pride: Look at her, shes making round eyes, she feels that we are talking about her and cant understand. In my case my character is new in town and this description of clothing doesnt come until hes getting ready for the party in chapter 4 and its in the context of getting dressed, there are reasons behind it, the party is a very big deal for him getting his foot in the door with other teens in town and he wants to be impressive or maybe wants lot of attention with all the sparklies. - Make things look glossy, smooth and clean. What are the rules of your characters world? The good news is that attire is not only important, its also kind of fun when you start digging into it. Need help with clothing description in Fantasy | Royal Road Chapters 1 and 2 were pretty decent and I started chapter 4 with him dressing for the party. If youre trying to learn how to describe clothing in writing, youre probably like me: Youve only pretended to know what organza is. What would you think about a wealthy character who looked as though he shopped at thrift stores? Smart: Neat and tidy clothes but not necessarily formal. And here are some great concepts for female fantasy armor. Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. To add to the previous mosaic part stealth technology can provide great patterns. Who doesnt like being comfortable when killing? And above all, people share their writing, get feedback, build friendships and develop greater confidence not just in their writing, but in themselves too. Obviously clothing is extremely varied, especially dresses. From lowly serfs to great warriors, all could wear and fight effectively in chainmail. Help your readers feel the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and theyll feel your characters priorities deep in their own souls. Not to mention the social status of a person. Clothing in fantasy novel | Absolute Write Water Cooler 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. 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. Odds are, youve got a character who dresses to stay alive. Pauldrons, gauntlets, and even leg armor were fashioned into elaborate designs. The more you know about real clothing and armor, the more tools in your bag of tricks for describing awesome fantasy pieces. Although such armor exists in fantasy worlds, its important to understand how things work in the real world, even at a basic level. The bully Gradgrind is the type whod wear a waistcoat concealing an eyeglass for catching people out. The line could be thin or thick, glowing, metallic-looking or just plain, padded or smooth, patterned, decorated or simply a seem. Or at least they know what century theyre in. They mixed more traditional Asian styles with the more Western Industrial Revolution period styles. The more outlandish the fantasy species your character is the more outlandish you can usually be with clothing, but familiarity is usually still a solid ground for a realistic feel, even if the universe and the creatures are completely unrealistic. Nylon and polyester fabrics weren't invented until almost the mid 20th century for example. Besides, these are all just guidelines meant to spark some inspiration in you. 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. On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. Also bear in mind that not all clothing descriptions have to be presented as She put on x or He was wearing y. You can draw your readers attention to an item of clothing by having your character draw on their jeans or fiddle with their collar. Another type of cheap armor, one up from gambesons, was boiled leather, also known as cuir bouilli. Because like all other character details, its not enough to paint a picture. Well also take a look at female fantasy armor and those used by, Mail was particularly effective against glancing blows. Chain mail is a great piece of fantasy armor to use in your stories purely because of its flexibility. 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. At the end of the day, they were professional slayers, swords for hire. Use fashion and clothing history archives if necessary. As a quick question, in film you see a lot of heroes and leaders not wearing helmets. [Find more articles on character description in our complete guide to character creation.]. 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. My story feels like its set more in medieval times, but I don't want my characters running around in full out tunics and. It makes for a more entertaining read. I don't mean make your characters walk around naked, but exposing (or covering) body parts in ways we don't today helps make ordinary clothing look different, which in turn helps sell the idea of it being futuristic. Medieval clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators Heating to the perfect temperature was key. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. 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. Only the most sophisticated, Dr. Urbino among them, wore their ordinary clothes. By using fur for decoration you quickly create fictional pieces in no time. Press J to jump to the feed. And if you need a place to organize your complex responses, I recommend Dabbles Character Notes feature. Achieving glory in battle was one way of earning a knighthood. They could withstand high-velocity strikes from a javelin or lance, driven home by somebody charging forwards on horseback. The important thing to remember is to remain in the character's point of view. 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. Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. You can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. Most picture the knight when we talk about plated armorrigid tin men that can withstand all manner of blows. The surrounding culture dictates what they cant wear if they want to be seen as free-thinking individuals. That cloth ribbon tied around their waist? Characters can also comment on or react to one anothers clothing, as long as the exchange reveals something about the world or relationship. Stiff with embroidery, strewn with pearls, encrusted with gemstones, they seem to stand by themselves. An owl in new ribbons, ha-ha-ha! Costume is a large part of a character. 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. This article was very helpfulcan you post some examples of showing versus telling when describing clothing? I love the way clothes can describe a character. Get an image of a blank shirt and simply draw the lines on it, it'll form a great base to work with. Sometimes they're more interesting and lovable than the main characters themselves and end up stealing the show., Secrets. Ragged clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators Ill add it to my to do list . 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. Maybe a bit of both. For a bigger image, just click on the link above. That fancy Ming dynasty dress looks completely different with exposed shoulders and that medieval set of pants look completely different if you turn them into shorts with exposed legs. As well see below, medieval armor developed through necessitypeople needed to protect themselves from those wicked blades and needle-sharp darts. In other words: To describe a fantasy world, use either neutral terms, or made up words. How do they change, and how does their clothing reflect that change? To discover more awesome ideas, head over to Pinterest and just search for female fantasy armor. As soon as the actor enters stage right or left, we have an inkling of whether theyre a wealthy landowner or peasant, an elegant heiress or humble flower-seller. (Find out more). To create a more futuristic looking style an easy way of doing it is to incorporate technology into the clothing itself. 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? Select the most striking details and move on. Struggling with describing clothes for a fantasy setting. : r/DnD - reddit How were women treated in the Middle Ages? If Im wearing lipstick with no plans of going out, one of two things is happening: Im in a great mood or Im feeling like I have zero control over my life and failure is inevitable. Fancy clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators A four-layer, bubble-gum pink taffeta skirt. But it makes a good story. More on that in a bit. Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. 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? Similar to how pixelated designs tend to look more futuristic so do designs full of geometrical shapes. Impress someone with my indifference? Use your first-person narrators senses sight, hearing, touch, etc. We all love a character with a cool set of fantasy armor: the baresark Rek from David Gemmells Legend with his enchanted coat of bronze, or Tomas from Raymond Feists Riftwar Cycle with his gleaming white dragon plate which gifted him incredible power. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. What matters more to them: fashion or function? Not to pile on, but dont forget to make sure you know which materials wereand werentavailable in the world of your novel. Think touchable fabrics and the light scent of lavender soap. Or it could be that they want to be charmed by their own image when they look in the mirror. It's easy to try this out too, at least the simple line version. Your email address will not be published. Pfoo, the owl! Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to Castles and Keeps: part one Richie Billing. That said, once you describe how a person dresses you shouldn't really keep doing it unless it is relevant to the plot. In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. 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. 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. A possible source of conflict for a story, perhaps! Give your wealthy character a pair of Louboutins and dress your non-wealthy characters in hand-me-downs. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. You can try all Dabbles premium features for free for fourteen days. 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. You could introduce magical enchantments or ability-granting traits. Your articles are always very informative. Even things like tattoos, hair colors, eye colors and so on can help with this. 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. Well, mostly. The pieces around the vital organsthe chest and headwere thicker and heavier than those on the arms and legs to try and reduce weight as much as possible. Never hose for men and probably never puffy breeches. It's also an indirect way to describe their physical appearance by examining how the clothes fit them. Do your characters care deeply about looking respectable, or are they more afraid of putting on airs? You really can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, or what they dont wear. In other words take what exists and apply it differently. One does not refer to "a garb". 160 Best Character description ideas | character description, fantasy For example, think about a wealthy person and how that person might dress. 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. Also, don't feel like you have to include every point I've made. But put me in a job interview wearing the same outfit, and youd probably start making new guesses about my intentions. But status can be communicated in more subtle ways, too. That works. Heres a video showing the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of leather armor against arrows. If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. However, you can show and imply a characters intention without spelling it out: Theyd agreed to meet downtown at six. )Secrets might not be something youve specifically thought about when youre drafting a story. This idea of knights becoming lords was introduced in England by William the Conqueror. Its okay if Todds checks his designer watch three pages after you mention his silk tie. 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. You dont need it to sign up. Were trying to avoid, Isabell gazed out the window, and by the way, she was wearing a white terry cloth robe.. I'm talking about the jagged, triangular shapes you find on some stealth planes or the digital camouflage patterns. Not really. For example, headphones aren't really a piece of clothing, but they definitely affect our style. or the world theyre desperately resisting. "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.". The Victorian author Charles Dickens is widely regarded as a master of characterization, for good reason. 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. 1. You may have seen steelworkers doing this after forging the likes of blades and horseshoes. 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. We even have the technology to create clothing without seems. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. Lets talk about how to describe clothing in writing organically. Examples of the prior are Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey and to some degree Star Wars and Tron. Consider this example from Hard Times. Can you imagine tweaking this to make your own set of fantasy armor? This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. There is simply more characterization, not only of Gem but the other characters, too. We already have spray on clothing technology.
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