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. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. The final design with all its layers will often hide elements of the clothing that a client may want to see later. Impress someone with my indifference? I mentioned my online writing group at the beginning of this guide. It gives you an idea of the capabilities that armor can have. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts Clothes that are loose and hanging in folds. I never thought of there being a uniform for Midwestern ladyness. Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice And Fire is one series that wonderfully explores fantasy armor and weapons. I dont mean camisoles and cardigans. That works. 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. Another similar and perhaps way more popular example of this is Steampunk. Not to mention the social status of a person. Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. This one is simple, right? 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. This article has compiled 100 different words you can use to describe clothes, and below the main list of 100 words we've explained our reasoning for a lot of the top picks from that very list, for your personal enjoyment. I have a hard time describing my thoughts on content, but I really felt I should here. Achieving glory in battle was one way of earning a knighthood. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. Our imaginations can do a surprising amount with just a few key details. 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 saw Jesus Christ Superstar a long time ago and Jesus was in a sharp black suit. But they werent administrators. You may have seen steelworkers doing this after forging the likes of blades and horseshoes. Yet Dr. Urbinos status as a respected doctor is earned he has nothing to prove by dressing smarter. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. So Id say in films its more for cinematic effect and also for clarity so the viewer can see whos doing what. I didnt even know how to begin describing this piece of clothing. 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. Heres a video showing the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of leather armor against arrows. It's what we're slowly doing today. One way to deal with clothing is to not try to be unique. As such, the contemporary tales that have followed, like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Dungeons and Dragons and everything in between, have paid homage to that era. You really can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, or what they dont wear. Fantasy Armor - The Ultimate Guide - Richie Billing To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. You walk down the usual street and suddenly some old memory hits you. Arrows will bounce off steel crafted in such a wayunless from close range, as we discussed last week. But put me in a job interview wearing the same outfit, and youd probably start making new guesses about my intentions. 70s-inspired. "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 would have been extremely warm too. Understanding how to describe clothing in a story well will help you create fuller, richer character portraits. With the major shapes in the thumbnails defined, choose the one that best exemplifies the feeling you're looking for. But Ive also noticed that artful clothing description does make a character, a setting, and even a moment more engaging. Its about building a life and a world, and that is something you can do. Some had pointed snouts, the purpose of which was to deflect arrows when walking into arrow storms. You can even use different pieces of clothing to cover up body parts differently. In most cases simply copying the style of whichever era you've based your story on is enough, but it can be fun to create your own styles and in some cases it'd make sense to have your own styles as well. 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. - 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. How long do they need their clothes to last? Shoes made with bendable displays already exist, allowing you to change your shoe's design on the fly. Love this topic!! You find that its about more than throwing out fashion terms and listing articles of clothing. But they could also dress in modest, inexpensive-looking clothes. Designing fantasy armor for your characters can be an awful lot of fun. 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. 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. What Clothes Say About Your Characters - The Write Practice Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. In visual mediums like TV or comics, cool outfits are on-screen the whole time, and they're the first and most obvious impression you'll get of the character, so they have a big impact on how the character is perceived. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to weaponry Richie Billing. Through fashion terms you can understand the fundamentals of the fashion industry. You could even move the buttons to the side and have it close diagonally instead. That said, once you describe how a person dresses you shouldn't really keep doing it unless it is relevant to the plot. Thanks I will be following your blog from now one I just came across it today. The fact Gem goes with jeans and a tee could suggest that she trusts her aunts advice. Is your central conflict a life-or-death situation? 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. 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. Are they overalls or coveralls? Do all your characters embrace it? I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. Pre-empt this by illustrating everything in layers and completing each layer of clothing. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done. Stylish. Community . This can be a very effective way if your universe is based on an existing culture. That cloth ribbon tied around their waist? Costume is a large part of a character. 160 Best Character description ideas | character description, fantasy You could introduce magical enchantments or ability-granting traits. One character might demonstrate their power by showing up to prom in a designer gown. But you may run into difficulties when it comes to the practicalities. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. He's had over a dozen short stories published in various magazines and journals, with one adapted for BBC radio. Examples of the latter are The Fifth Element and The Hunger Games. Details about fit, cut, and material go a long way when describing the clothing of a character who longs to attract. Figurative language . 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. Be specific and accurate. stylish, expensive clothing, yet not specific to a certain time or place. This pride, though justifiable, displeased Katerina Ivanovna for some reason. The details create an authentic sense of a prominentcardinals dressin the 1500s. - Convert future clothing to a historic version. (Where do they buy their clothes? Heating to the perfect temperature was key. This is a fun one. How to describe scenery ? : r/fantasywriters - reddit.com Who's your rebel, and how does their clothing reflect their defiant spirit? Only the most sophisticated, Dr. Urbino among them, wore their ordinary clothes. The only cloak in the world made with silk spun by the cat-sized spiders that live in the forbidden mountains. Describing clothing - Creative Writing Forums Nov 28, 2022 - Explore Anung V's board "Character description" on Pinterest. Here are five examples: 1. A scarf for example might be too hot for some areas, but it's obviously easy to leave those out. Thus his plain dress is, ironically, indicative of higher status. ). Its hard to really appreciate just how sickeningly awful medieval warfare would have been. You may have imagined a man in an expensive suit or a woman in designer clothes. Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? It's easy to try this out too, at least the simple line version. You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. Our wardrobes are influenced by our age, geography, culture, hobbies, and a million other aspects of our worlds. Read these tips on how (and why) to describe clothes with examples from well-known novels: 1: Use clothing to show status and position 2: Build (or thwart) character expectations with clothing descriptions 3: Describe clothing to contrast characters' personalities 4: Show clothing to avoid over-relying on telling But your reader is going to picture something whether you guide them or not. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. 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. By using fur for decoration you quickly create fictional pieces in no time. Its fun to play with power in clothing, because it's a relative concept. 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. - Change lengths. Heres a cool video on making leather fantasy armor by YouTuber, Prince Armory. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Press J to jump to the feed. - 'Stealth'. Fancy dresses. Great article. Is this purely for cinematic effect or would some leaders remove their helmets to show their faces to their soldiers? 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. We therefore see in the fantasy genre characters equipped with grand helmets and beautiful pieces of plate armor. 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. 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. 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. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. Mail was particularly effective against glancing blows. First and foremost, remember that clothing description is still storytelling. Scarves as we know them today weren't really a thing in the middle ages (they were way different) and hoods pretty much came in the form of chaperons and liripipes (Google for reference if needed), not as part of a piece of clothing. The padded material could absorb blows from blunt weapons and provided some protection from cuts, but against well-forged weapons they were useless. We even have the technology to create clothing without seems. This is further influenced/confirmed by the show Forged in Fire where the judges were a half step from putting their heads in their hands when a smith put his hot blade in water instead of oil to cool it down. These elements are very important when taking into account the previous point. 50+ Fashion Terms: Fundamental Words Related to Style Fashionable: Clothes representing a current style in fashion. Thanks, Sana. Good for the mobile knight. Another type of cheap armor, one up from gambesons, was boiled leather, also known as cuir bouilli. Whats the respected uniform, and does your character wear it? 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. It was pretty easy to make, though laborious, and easy to repair. The aim was not to cause any impediment to movement. Maybe theyre wearing an article of clothing that once belonged to someone theyve lost. Never hose for men and probably never puffy breeches. How to Analyze a Fashion Collection - Bloomsbury Fashion Central This is less important for non-visual arts as clothing isn't always described in writing, but it can still be incredibly helpful to have a fully detailed character in your head or written down somewhere for reference and just to make everything feel more real and alive. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. Baggy. 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. No problem! One major element that makes creating more futuristic clothing easier is to make sure it doesn't look familiar, to make sure it doesn't look like something you'd come across today. Smart: Neat and tidy clothes but not necessarily formal. Even the non-conformists are influenced by societal norms. - Gadgets, hair styles and accessories. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. So have fun with that. Stiff with embroidery, strewn with pearls, encrusted with gemstones, they seem to stand by themselves. We often express ourselves through our clothing, at least when we have the freedom to do so, so knowing who we're designing for is the first step in creating the perfect outfit for a character. By playing around with this you quickly create very subtle, but more unique fantasy-themed items. Let it hang diagonally across their chest and over their shoulder instead. 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. 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. Get it right, and you transport your readers to a vivid world. This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. Which of these clothing types is your character most likely to reach for when starting their day? Im writing a little in the Epic Fantasy genre and there were quite a few useful notes I wasnt aware of here. At the end of the day, they were professional slayers, swords for hire. 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. Or else that she feels shamed by her Aunt and thus decides to be good. As I write this, I am wearing jeans that are too big, a gray t-shirt I inherited from a former roommate, and a pilled hoodie from a lighting vendor that works with my friends husbands company. If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. Share. Great points. - Break up clothing into more separate pieces and give them their own styles. [Help] Coming up with Fantasy Outfits : r/fantasywriters - reddit But even regular elements can help with this. Only in certain situations is a description even needed. 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. This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. The same goes for other types of technology that could realistically be incorporated into the design of your character's clothing. You can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. Fully geared up, you were a walking fortress. As a quick question, in film you see a lot of heroes and leaders not wearing helmets. Borrowed armor wouldnt fit as well as a suit made for the wearer and wouldnt be as well balanced, so someone in borrowed armor would be more likely to have problems moving in his armor. But if you do want some guidelines, inspiration or just help this guide'll hopefully provide it. How were women treated in the Middle Ages? Who doesnt like being comfortable when killing? In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. But thats the case wherever you go. Thanks Chuck! I tend to avoid describing clothing. Obviously clothing is extremely varied, especially dresses. In 2021 his debut novel, Pariah's Lament, an epic fantasy, was published by Of Metal and Magic. Clothing description also presents an opportunity to play with different points of view. Youre still not off the hook. Use your first-person narrators senses sight, hearing, touch, etc. A knight, by definition, was a lord. To add to the previous mosaic part stealth technology can provide great patterns. My story feels like its set more in medieval times, but I don't want my characters running around in full out tunics and. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. Ha-ha! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 'There is a blog for every aspect of the writing journey.' Subtle clothing changes can signal character development quite effectively in some scenarios. That decorative belt? Compare this, then, to Dickens description of Gradgrinds wife in the following chapter (Gradgrinds wealthy but poverty-claiming friend has just told Mrs. Gradgrind he was born in a ditch): Mrs. Gradgrind, a little, thin, white, pink-eyed bundle of shawls, of surpassing feebleness, mental and bodily; who was always taking physic without any effect, and who, whenever she showed a symptom of coming to life, was invariably stunned by some weighty piece of fact tumbling on her; Mrs. Gradgrind hoped it was a dry ditch? They give you the chance to offer comic relief, a dash of wisdom, and just some good old fashioned friendship., Sidekick characters. Lets take a look at some ways you can develop those unique ideas: In this section, well take a look at some cool pieces of knight armor in fantasy that people have designed over the years, to give you even more inspiration for your own designs. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. Once blue, it is quenched a second time, permanently fixing its hardness. Dragon scales, fiery furs and feathers and other elements can quickly turn a standard item into a fantasy one. Character description may change over the course of a story to emphasize a characters arc. You can try all Dabbles premium features for free for fourteen days. 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. Another important function of clothing description in stories is to create an authentic sense of time and place. The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it. Think of the process like dressing a doll: start at the beginning and up build the layers. The surrounding culture dictates what they cant wear if they want to be seen as free-thinking individuals. Tell us how the wool of your protagonists sheath dress scratches the skin on the underside of her arm. So its unsurprising to see soldiers wielding swords and axes and shooting bows. - Make things look glossy, smooth and clean. What your character wears can tell us a lot about how they feel or how they want to feel. Thanks Benjamin! Who is your character at the beginning of the story, and how can you dress them to establish their normal? They can tell us what era they live in, and even a persons current state of mind or intent. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. Not a Dabble user? Describing armor and clothing. : r/writing - reddit Impoverished with children to care for, she uses her last money to give her husband a dignified funeral. Continued successes could see knights rise higher up the ranks. 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?