how to describe fantasy clothing how to describe fantasy clothing

Such coats were made from brass or iron, though steel was deemed best due to its toughness. Sometimes the simplest changes are enough to create something completely new and ideal for a particular universe. 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 . Stylish. Armor, therefore, wasnt that heavya full suit weighed approximately 50 pounds, which is around 3 to 4 stone. Improve this answer. Clothing description in a story is useful because it often gives additional information about a character that you might otherwise tell. The Victorian author Charles Dickens is widely regarded as a master of characterization, for good reason. 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. If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. It's part of culture, so it's definitely something to keep in mind since your fictional universes will have some form of culture as well. Ive always wondered that too! They can tell us what era they live in, and even a persons current state of mind or intent. 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. Blunt weapons were effective, causing haemorrhaging and concussion, so padded garments known as a doublet or gambeson were worn underneath to provide added protection. A few small details of clothing may distinguish your characters from each other, highlighting their personalities. - Convert future clothing to a historic version. But they could also dress in modest, inexpensive-looking clothes. More on that in a bit. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts 2012 - A velvet scrunchie. Think noble King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable. Understanding how to describe clothing in a story well will help you create fuller, richer character portraits. If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. Do your characters care deeply about looking respectable, or are they more afraid of putting on airs? They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. 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. All this to say: there is substantial storytelling power in a coral Life is Good t-shirt. 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. 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. - Use nudity. But it provided an odd sense of security. Also try searching cool fantasy armor, or epic fantasy armor. But thats the case wherever you go. So as a way of trying to control them and their behaviour, the code of chivalry and honour was introduced. Much of the clothing we wear today were either rare or completely nonexistent a hundred years ago. Do not describe a character's clothing except as that point of view character would do so. Now, if you write historical fiction, its important to research the clothing of your chosen era. If you arent keeping at least a few secrets from your friends and loved ones, are you really living? Copyright 2023 Richie Billing | Fantasy Writer. Youre still not off the hook. Youre not infodumping. From lowly serfs to great warriors, all could wear and fight effectively in chainmail. You could even move the buttons to the side and have it close diagonally instead. 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. Heres how to describe clothing in writing to show your readers the world to which your character belongs. The fantasy genre borrows an awful lot from medieval history. Well come to this below. - 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. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. Only the most powerful strikes could pierce such armor. I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. However, you can tell your reader interesting things through a mismatch: A wealthy character might show off their expensive clothing. Use fashion and clothing history archives if necessary. What are the rules of your characters world? But it makes a good story. 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. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. 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. Play with the question of presentation and power! We already have spray on clothing technology. The shrewd king essentially licensed out parcels of his land as rewards to his warriors in exchange for their military service. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. The senses were deadened: sight limited, sound muffled, breathing stifled (depending on the type of helmet). I would be great to expand it with armor from other areas, Samurai armor, for example. This idea of knights becoming lords was introduced in England by William the Conqueror. Richie Billing writes fantasy fiction, historical fiction and stories of a darker nature. If done right you could even use these elements alone with clothing of today to sell a futuristic look. How do they change, and how does their clothing reflect that change? Who is your character at the beginning of the story, and how can you dress them to establish their normal? Now on the other end of the spectrum we have fantasy clothing and more history based clothing. Although such armor exists in fantasy worlds, its important to understand how things work in the real world, even at a basic level. The rope belt is solely decorative and a status symbol. Because like all other character details, its not enough to paint a picture. You dont need it to sign up. Are they overalls or coveralls? Helpful links to blog posts, articles, videos and guides are shared every day. Sweaters or jumpers? Once quenched, the steel was re-heated to make it more resilient. In writing, the clothes kind of do make the (hu)man. The good news is that attire is not only important, its also kind of fun when you start digging into it. And well dip back in time to look at medieval armor and how it was used and crafted. Great points. 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. Continued successes could see knights rise higher up the ranks. Think of the process like dressing a doll: start at the beginning and up build the layers. I mentioned my online writing group at the beginning of this guide. Every time we got separated in a public space, I discovered myself in a sea of mature women with the same haircut and pastel tops. 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. There's also the element of technology that has to be taken into account. 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. I thought if I did that at the beginning of a chapter it would be better but I worry it will turn readers off. Tell us how the wool of your protagonists sheath dress scratches the skin on the underside of her arm. Clothing description is something I have to actively choose to create, too. Knights werent as immobile as people assum, though I can imagine in a quagmire itd be tricky to get up. 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. - Furs and other animal parts: A quick and obvious way of making something look more fantasy-themed is by simply adding elements of fantasy creatures. Maybe their goal is to entice a mate. - "Digital look". Given that I am writing alone in my apartment, you might rightfully conclude that my goal is to be comfortable. That said, once you describe how a person dresses you shouldn't really keep doing it unless it is relevant to the plot. Mantel describes the cardinals vestments: They bring out the cardinals vestments, his copes. Its not an aspect of character design that bubbles up naturally from the depths of my creative soul. Leather could be stitched into coats, or added to mail to provide added protection. show how hard is to escape in a narrow street. - Use lines to break up a piece of clothing and create a kind of mosaic. A few easy changes are to make one side longer than the other, so basically creating a diagonal cut instead of the standard horizontal one. Heres a superb glossary, with pictures, of all types of armor. Like all forms of exposition, your goal is to deliver this information without pulling the reader out of the story. But that doesn't mean you can't deviate from these guidelines completely and do whatever you wish. From time to time we may use affiliate links to help with the costs of running the site. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. But there is so much more to the experience of clothing than that. Let your mind fill in the details, always checking back in with your adjectives to make sure the concept is moving in the right direction. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. Here are five examples: 1. 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. But they werent administrators. 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. Only when youre keeping secrets in fiction, you can make them even darker and deeper than any you might ever have in real life. 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. In a book, none of that is true. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 'There is a blog for every aspect of the writing journey.' Well cover everything from helmets and plate armor to chainmail. Its all in the craft.Its good that youre here to learn how to describe clothing in writing, because its a powerful tool. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7bbcc198c936bc1af3fbda128514c44fcfc10f0513ea31cad7c21ae61ba0ab0.jpg. They could withstand high-velocity strikes from a javelin or lance, driven home by somebody charging forwards on horseback. Not a Dabble user? Abi Wurdeman is the author of Cross-Section of a Human Heart: A Memoir of Early Adulthood, as well as the novella, Holiday Gifts for Insufferable People. You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. A lowly one at that, but one very much capable of climbing the ladder. No problem! One does not refer to "a garb". Do they need a ghillie suit to blend into the natural environment? I'll make a separate point for sci-fi/futuristic clothing and fantasy/historic clothing. Lets talk about how to describe clothing in writing organically. Do your main characters tend to steal the show in your novels? If youre good at talking clothes, you can sit this one out. It's easy to try this out too, at least the simple line version. You can also check out some of my other guides too, like: If you have any questions about this guide on fantasy armor, please get in touch. ). 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. 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. My story feels like its set more in medieval times, but I don't want my characters running around in full out tunics and. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. Just click this link and dont even think about touching your wallet. 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. Beyond medieval Europe, you have the Far East, the Romans, Viking Before you know it youll have designed a full set of fantasy roman or viking armor. Thanks I will be following your blog from now one I just came across it today. But put me in a job interview wearing the same outfit, and youd probably start making new guesses about my intentions. I like the way you wrote this information. - Mix cultures. Help your readers feel the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and theyll feel your characters priorities deep in their own souls. Most clothing throughout history consisted of longer pieces of fabric and with minimal tailoring and cuts. That decorative belt? (Find out more). Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. These shallow details help us go pretty deep on character. If you write historical fiction, youre probably way ahead of me. Which brings me to my next point. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. I'm talking about the jagged, triangular shapes you find on some stealth planes or the digital camouflage patterns. Or at least they know what century theyre in. We even have the technology to create clothing without seems. 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. It would have been extremely warm too. 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. The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. Embarrassed by her own inability to dress in finery for the occasion (and by being upstaged), Katerina resorts to scathing mockery of Amalia. And here are some great concepts for female fantasy armor. For example, a meticulously dressed character who is discovered in a disheveled and poorly dressed state. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. If youre trying to learn how to describe clothing in writing, youre probably like me: Youve only pretended to know what organza is. For fantasy stories to be more believable, we need to understand how it interacts with our characters, especially if theyre enchanted. But they are a common element used in fantasy clothing in all sorts of works of fiction. You can immediately show a character is wealthy with descriptions of fine clothing. 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. 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. 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. A vintage polka dot dress with a sweetheart neckline. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. But Ive also noticed that artful clothing description does make a character, a setting, and even a moment more engaging. Discover an extensive list of terms you may want to know here. These were worn on their own by those wanting greater speed and flexibility, but also by those unable to afford stronger armor. Adorable. Characters wear more than just clothes. [Find more articles on character description in our complete guide to character creation.]. Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. 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. The complete opposite is true for fantasy and historic clothing. 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. Just click the button below to find out more. The only cloak in the world made with silk spun by the cat-sized spiders that live in the forbidden mountains. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done.