But the biggest challenge can sometimes be simply making something look futuristic or historic fantasy-ish, which is the main focus of this guide. "White tunics" have been worn from 2016 to a good forty thousand years ago. Lets delve further into these ideas about describing characters dress: Think of your characters clothing like an actors costume in a play. Its a good time. Select the most striking details and move on. Look at this picture, is it insane for an author to try to describe this on a character? But status can be communicated in more subtle ways, too. It's your creation, your imagination and your time you use and spend, so make sure you use and spend it on something you enjoy. What would you think about a wealthy character who looked as though he shopped at thrift stores? Baggy. One thing Ive always wondered is if someone wearing plate could fall down just right in a muddy battlefield, and get stuck there in the same way a large flat rock gets stuck laying in mud. - Use lines to break up a piece of clothing and create a kind of mosaic. She also writes for film and television with her brother and writing partner, Phil Wurdeman. To illustrate this let's take a standard men's suit as an example. 2023 NOW NOVEL CC. It took a while to get ready, with the help of somebody else needed, usually squires, who began with the feet and worked up from there. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. As well see below, one of the best things about using medieval armor in a fantasy story is the freedom to elevate it in some way. and our 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. Our characters are always (mostly!) What is a good way to do Show not tell in a first person POV state? - Another way to use color is to make things seem like they're glowing even if they're not and to use gradients. But it can also be fun to play with the confidence and ease that comes with wealth. These were worn on their own by those wanting greater speed and flexibility, but also by those unable to afford stronger armor. A knight, by definition, was a lord. Shoes made with bendable displays already exist, allowing you to change your shoe's design on the fly. 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. One character might demonstrate their power by showing up to prom in a designer gown. Showing what your characters are wearing can be a great way to show your readers what they might be up to that day without having to actually narrate anything. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts For example, think about a wealthy person and how that person might dress. That decorative belt? 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. It would have been extremely warm too. 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. These shallow details help us go pretty deep on character. Think armor, bulletproof vests, and bandoliers. Amalias dress thus comes across as insensitive to her; malicious even. Clothes that are loose and hanging in folds. Most picture the knight when we talk about plated armorrigid tin men that can withstand all manner of blows. Non-visual senses are big, too. (Has denim been invented yet? But that doesn't mean you can't deviate from these guidelines completely and do whatever you wish. The important thing to remember is to remain in the character's point of view. Using this site means trees will be planted. Thank you for sharing this valuable information. Without decriptions of the clothing it's a bit boring, the novel becomes a list of people the reader can't imagine doing things. When heated, steel turns from yellow, to brown, to blue, to red. show how hard is to escape in a narrow street. I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. Thats a good example of using clothing to reinforce the narrative of a characters arc. 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. By using fur for decoration you quickly create fictional pieces in no time. Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. Does your character need to hide? Think noble King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable. Some helmets had chain attached which hung around and protected the neck, called an aventail, and most were padded inside, for added comfort. 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 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? But it provided an odd sense of security. Do all your characters embrace it? And lets not forget the trusty steed. We see the contrast between the characters friends reaction and the advisory words of Gems aunt. 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. But the definition of sneaky depends on your characters situation. Heating to the perfect temperature was key. Your articles are always very informative. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. Imagine your own armored knights storming through the battlefield like iron giants. They should be doing that. A jacket or coat of mail was usually worn with a hood, or coif, of the same material to protect the head and neck. Here are five examples: 1. Theyre probably less concerned with how they look (unless they want to look intimidating) and more concerned with things like survival or victory. The same goes for other types of technology that could realistically be incorporated into the design of your character's clothing. This pride, though justifiable, displeased Katerina Ivanovna for some reason. It's also an indirect way to describe their physical appearance by examining how the clothes fit them. For example, a shy person will often wear 'regular' clothing, clothing that isn't too bright or outgoing in both design and colors. We therefore see in the fantasy genre characters equipped with grand helmets and beautiful pieces of plate armor. Were trying to avoid, Isabell gazed out the window, and by the way, she was wearing a white terry cloth robe.. And ninety-nine percent of the clothing descriptions in your first draft are just jeans. I get it. If youre good at talking clothes, you can sit this one out. 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. The clothes a person wears tellsus many things: their status in life, for example, or their cultural affiliation or identity. 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. Katerina is affronted by Amalias fine dress because it is new and shows pride. Which is to say, if you write from the point of view of a character who thinks of clothing only in terms of the simplest descriptors, that's just fine. We even have the technology to create clothing without seems. And when Mother Nature gets involved, even the best suit of armor can have problems. Or at least they know what century theyre in. Adorable. Casual. Most clothing throughout history consisted of longer pieces of fabric and with minimal tailoring and cuts. 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. A four-layer, bubble-gum pink taffeta skirt. Youre more than welcome to join us and wed love to have you on board. 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. Such coats were made from brass or iron, though steel was deemed best due to its toughness. Follow edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:43. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. 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. You walk down the usual street and suddenly some old memory hits you. - Convert future clothing to a historic version. Now turn the edges a different color or make them light up and you immediately have a more futuristic looking suit. Im struggling to properly figure out how to describe clothing for a fantasy setting Im trying to create. Glasses, headsets, lenses, jewelry, belts and so on can all help sell the futuristic look. You can quickly convey a number of things about your characters based on the clothing they wear. 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. Other clothing pieces could be various types of hats and scarves, (trench) coats and even something as simple as pockets or buttons used for fastening rather than as decoration to name just a few. 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. This article was very helpfulcan you post some examples of showing versus telling when describing clothing? For fantasy stories to be more believable, we need to understand how it interacts with our characters, especially if theyre enchanted. 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. 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. 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? 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. But even regular elements can help with this. Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. is because we get stuck on what things look like. Our imaginations can do a surprising amount with just a few key details. But they werent administrators. No problem! 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. 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. 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. I would be great to expand it with armor from other areas, Samurai armor, for example. Or it could be that they want to be charmed by their own image when they look in the mirror. I really loved this article, but I have one question, it was very helpful. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. Heating to the perfect temperature was key. Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a persons position in the hierarchy. Choose A Chapter The Fantasy Genre And Medieval Armor Chain Mail Plated Armor Helmets Other Types Of Armor The Medieval Knight Examples of the prior are Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey and to some degree Star Wars and Tron. 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. There is simply more characterization, not only of Gem but the other characters, too. Helpful links to blog posts, articles, videos and guides are shared every day. - Change lengths. The train hums and throbs in place as people rush to pile in.. 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. Just click this link and dont even think about touching your wallet. Do they need a ghillie suit to blend into the natural environment? Youre working essential details into the narrative at the moment when they are most relevant. They're the Robin to your Batman, the Luigi to your Mario, the Samwise Gamgee to your Frodo Baggins. In reality, a medieval lord could pretty much do what they liked. Impoverished with children to care for, she uses her last money to give her husband a dignified funeral. But if you do want some guidelines, inspiration or just help this guide'll hopefully provide it. Here are some classic characteristics you can draw out through clothing description. Thus his plain dress is, ironically, indicative of higher status. ^.^ Play with the question of presentation and power! Delighted to hear youre finding this useful. For example, headphones aren't really a piece of clothing, but they definitely affect our style. Its about building a life and a world, and that is something you can do. Describe these in passing to add visual colour and authenticity to your character descriptions. 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. - 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). Affordable . Once blue, it is quenched a second time, permanently fixing its hardness. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. One very important aspect of describing attire well is understanding why youre describing it in the first place. 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. 2012 - So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. Once quenched, the steel was re-heated to make it more resilient. 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. Its all in the craft.Its good that youre here to learn how to describe clothing in writing, because its a powerful tool. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. Not all trends return and fashion isn't perfectly cyclical. Hi Paige, thank you (and thanks for your question). 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. Ive always wondered that too! Fancy dresses. 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. As a friend told me, Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. 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). 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. Dragon scales, fiery furs and feathers and other elements can quickly turn a standard item into a fantasy one. The bully Gradgrind is the type whod wear a waistcoat concealing an eyeglass for catching people out. Impress someone with my indifference? 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. 04. Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. Which was, indeed, a little weird straight off! I'll allow my fangirl side to shine for a second and use the Legend of Korra as an example of how mixing styles can work amazingly well. Even things like tattoos, hair colors, eye colors and so on can help with this. In some cases because they simply didn't have the technology for it, in others because it was too expensive and/or time consuming for the average person. The fantasy genre borrows an awful lot from medieval history. First and foremost we need to know who we're designing for. That's why it's valuable to learn these terms. Theyre the lifeblood of any relationship. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. The unsung hero of so many stories. The complete opposite is true for fantasy and historic clothing. You may have seen steelworkers doing this after forging the likes of blades and horseshoes. A band t-shirt. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. What does your character wear to feel safer in their world or in their own skin? See more ideas about character description, fantasy fashion, fantasy clothing. (Would people living in this area have access to leather goods? 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. - Use nudity. The reader does not need the full outfit in one go. Your email address will not be published. Its fun to play with power in clothing, because it's a relative concept. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. 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. Advertisements. Thus, "a dress" is inappropriate for a (male) prince, unless he is pretending to be a woman. Finally there's all the little things that can make an outfit look more futuristic. Fully geared up, you were a walking fortress. If sturdy is a top consideration, your character might be expecting trouble or adventure. Besides, these are all just guidelines meant to spark some inspiration in you. For a bigger image, just click on the link above. Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. 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. If done right you could even use these elements alone with clothing of today to sell a futuristic look. I tried to add as much variety as possible, but without turning the whole description into a mess. Similar to how pixelated designs tend to look more futuristic so do designs full of geometrical shapes. Sometimes they're more interesting and lovable than the main characters themselves and end up stealing the show., Secrets. Only the most sophisticated, Dr. Urbino among them, wore their ordinary clothes. Make it look very clean and smooth and it immediately feels more modern. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to Castles and Keeps: part one Richie Billing. Thanks Liv, Im glad you found this helpful. The final design with all its layers will often hide elements of the clothing that a client may want to see later. (Cough-cough-cough.) 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? Look how she sits with her mouth open! And if you need a place to organize your complex responses, I recommend Dabbles Character Notes feature. Because it actually is possible. Although such armor exists in fantasy worlds, its important to understand how things work in the real world, even at a basic level. We already have spray on clothing technology. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex. Characters Wear More Than Just Clothes. Military service was always well-rewarded and violence applauded. It really doesnt take much. So why not join the gang? Thanks Chuck! If it fits your universe it usually works, so don't be afraid of doing something different. As time marched on, small plates of leather or iron were added to the mail to protect key areas, such as vital organs. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. You really can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, or what they dont wear. What backstory or character motivations could combinations of appearance and reality suggest? What the description shows is that many of the inviteesplay at status through fancy dress. These were worn on their own by those wanting greater speed and flexibility, but also by those unable to afford stronger armor. 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. Since it's a friends' get-together, let's wear casual attire. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. One specific form of descriptive writing that particularly affects setting and characterization is the portrayal of characters' clothing. Besides knowing who we design for we also have to know what the rules for designing are within the universe of our characters. The appearance of armor was a big deal for knights. But there is so much more to the experience of clothing than that. Lots of gear would have been looted. stylish, expensive clothing, yet not specific to a certain time or place. Examples of the latter are The Fifth Element and The Hunger Games. When heated, steel turns from yellow, to brown, to blue, to red. Fashionable: Clothes representing a current style in fashion. Given that I am writing alone in my apartment, you might rightfully conclude that my goal is to be comfortable. I'll make a separate point for sci-fi/futuristic clothing and fantasy/historic clothing. Discover an extensive list of terms you may want to know here. As a quick question, in film you see a lot of heroes and leaders not wearing helmets. Its hard to really appreciate just how sickeningly awful medieval warfare would have been. 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. Then this is their category. Never hose for men and probably never puffy breeches.