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. A jacket or coat of mail was usually worn with a hood, or coif, of the same material to protect the head and neck. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. (Would people living in this area have access to leather goods? Use the Character section of the Idea Finder to develop quick story ideas and flesh out your storys cast. When youre shopping for yourself, you know what you like but you dont know how to describe it. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. Fantasy Armor - The Ultimate Guide - Richie Billing document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 'There is a blog for every aspect of the writing journey.' 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. Sometimes they're more interesting and lovable than the main characters themselves and end up stealing the show., Secrets. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. What is a good way to do Show not tell in a first person POV state? 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. 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 All this to say: there is substantial storytelling power in a coral Life is Good t-shirt. A vintage polka dot dress with a sweetheart neckline. Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. PsstDoes Your Character Have a Secret? Blunt weapons were effective, causing haemorrhaging and concussion, so padded garments known as a doublet or gambeson were worn underneath to provide added protection. s a fantastic image that Thomas Feichtmeir, AKA Cyangmou has put together. How to Describe Clothes in English - ESL Advice What Clothes Say About Your Characters - The Write Practice It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it. Great idea. Fashionable: Clothes representing a current style in fashion. Maybe a bracelet represents a character's relationship to her mother. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to weaponry Richie Billing. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town. But that doesn't mean you can't deviate from these guidelines completely and do whatever you wish. As time marched on, small plates of leather or iron were added to the mail to protect key areas, such as vital organs. Another type of cheap armor, one up from gambesons, was boiled leather, also known as cuir bouilli. For fantasy stories to be more believable, we need to understand how it interacts with our characters, especially if theyre enchanted. Clothes that are loose and hanging in folds. Through fashion terms you can understand the fundamentals of the fashion industry. How does their attire reflect what they want, what they fear, or where theyre going? But even regular elements can help with this. In Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment, the poor, Tuberculosis-stricken Katerina Ivanovnas husband is trampled to death by a horse-drawn cart. Sometimes the simplest changes are enough to create something completely new and ideal for a particular universe. So have fun with that. 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. Is your central conflict a life-or-death situation? Although such armor exists in fantasy worlds, its important to understand how things work in the real world, even at a basic level. Our wardrobes are influenced by our age, geography, culture, hobbies, and a million other aspects of our worlds. I thought if I did that at the beginning of a chapter it would be better but I worry it will turn readers off. Am I trying to blow the interview? As well see below, medieval armor developed through necessitypeople needed to protect themselves from those wicked blades and needle-sharp darts. Love this topic!! And if you need a place to organize your complex responses, I recommend Dabbles Character Notes feature. One of the first things I learned when I moved to L.A. is that writers do not dress professionally for big meetings in Hollywood. 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. I once wrote about imbuing everyday objects with meaning because talisman create great opportunities for symbolism! Im struggling to properly figure out how to describe clothing for a fantasy setting Im trying to create. Leonidas in 300, for instance, almost certainly wore a helmet in the battle with the Persians! Here are some classic characteristics you can draw out through clothing description. That was the theory. Its about building a life and a world, and that is something you can do. Odds are, youve got a character who dresses to stay alive. Black and white usually does the trick as well. The clothing itself can be just standard medieval gear, but with these elements they immediately look (wood) elvish. 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. In other words, research. If you stopped to think about it, you may even notice yourself imagining things as specific as age, hobbies, and ambitions. Blend in? They also wear talismans, jewelry, and other objects. Do not describe a character's clothing except as that point of view character would do so. You can also fulfil (or contradict) impressions your characters (or readers) form based on appearances. 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. And here are some great concepts for female fantasy armor. Its fun to play with power in clothing, because it's a relative concept. If done right you could even use these elements alone with clothing of today to sell a futuristic look. 2012 - Its a good time. show how hard is to escape in a narrow street. In fact, you should be putting lots of thought and development into protagonists because thats who the story is about.But how much thought have you given to your tertiary characters? Our characters are always (mostly!) Theyll see it automatically. 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. - Change lengths. 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. Medieval clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators 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. This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. 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. It would have been extremely warm too. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. With the major shapes in the thumbnails defined, choose the one that best exemplifies the feeling you're looking for. What your character wears can tell us a lot about how they feel or how they want to feel. ). They are more common around the chest and torso in Asian cultures though, so keep that in mind when adding diagonal lines. - "Digital look". Another similar and perhaps way more popular example of this is Steampunk. How to design clothes with a sci-fi feel | Creative Bloq 100 Male Fantasy Outfit Concepts & Designs ideas | fantasy clothing Maybe a bit of both. These detail could suggest that your character is miserly or down-to-earth despite their wealth. 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: But let's take a step back and look at what kind of clothing is usually associated with futuristic settings. We naturally link clothing and identity, which is why wardrobe is such an effective tool for building a vivid character. 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. To create a more futuristic looking style an easy way of doing it is to incorporate technology into the clothing itself. List of Medieval Clothing (91 terms!) - The Medieverse: Tim's Realistic Think of other interesting combinations: A teacher who dresses provocatively; a beggar with an innate sense of style. One easy way of creating a more customized look is to simply use cultural elements in the standard clothing. In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. Discover an extensive list of terms you may want to know here. A knight, by definition, was a lord. Since it's a friends' get-together, let's wear casual attire. Richie Billing writes fantasy fiction, historical fiction and stories of a darker nature. Make it mandatory to hold up a piece of clothing. Those warriors came from the people who lived on the lands under the watch of the knights. Blunt, Once quenched, the steel was re-heated to make it more resilient. Think touchable fabrics and the light scent of lavender soap. Does it Matter What Your Character Wears? - The Write Practice See more ideas about character description, fantasy fashion, fantasy clothing. The fact that One character might demonstrate their power by showing up to prom in a designer gown. Sure, it helps your reader to know how you picture a character. Thanks Benjamin! Chest plates had grand etchings. 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 mentioned my online writing group at the beginning of this guide. Designing fantasy armor for your characters can be an awful lot of fun. If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. 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. I'm talking about the jagged, triangular shapes you find on some stealth planes or the digital camouflage patterns. She also writes for film and television with her brother and writing partner, Phil Wurdeman. Another might claim power by striding in wearing torn jeans and a tank top. 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. Like Dostoyevsky, think how something as small as a characters change of clothing can affecttheir own or others behaviour. Which brings me to my next point. Each suit was tailored to the individual. If youre good at talking clothes, you can sit this one out. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to Castles and Keeps: part one Richie Billing. You really can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, or what they dont wear. 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. Only when youre keeping secrets in fiction, you can make them even darker and deeper than any you might ever have in real life. Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a persons position in the hierarchy. The aim was not to cause any impediment to movement. Need help with clothing description in Fantasy | Royal Road As a friend told me, Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. clothed and we should definitely be using them to portray our characters personalities. Clothes that are suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions. The fantasy genre borrows an awful lot from medieval history. What are the rules of your characters world? 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. 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. Yet Dr. Urbinos status as a respected doctor is earned he has nothing to prove by dressing smarter. The jacket has a narrow, rectangular neckline which reveals part of the fancy shirt worn below it and is worn with a light rope belt, which is held together by a simple knot. Dont worry, thats not a trick question. 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. How do they change, and how does their clothing reflect that change? Another important function of clothing description in stories is to create an authentic sense of time and place. I can only imagine the pain of the chafing! One reason clothing descriptions can start to feel like a tedious laundry list (see what I did there?) Military service was always well-rewarded and violence applauded. As a quick question, in film you see a lot of heroes and leaders not wearing helmets. You can quickly convey a number of things about your characters based on the clothing they wear. 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Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. Embarrassed by her own inability to dress in finery for the occasion (and by being upstaged), Katerina resorts to scathing mockery of Amalia. 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. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar a long time ago and Jesus was in a sharp black suit. Clothing in fantasy novel | Absolute Write Water Cooler And above all, people share their writing, get feedback, build friendships and develop greater confidence not just in their writing, but in themselves too. Theyre probably less concerned with how they look (unless they want to look intimidating) and more concerned with things like survival or victory. Heres how to describe clothing in writing to show your readers the world to which your character belongs. Ready to sketch vivid characters for your novel? In the historical fiction books Ive read, none of the heroes took off their helmets unless they were knocked off, or bashed in. However, you can tell your reader interesting things through a mismatch: A wealthy character might show off their expensive clothing. The final design with all its layers will often hide elements of the clothing that a client may want to see later. Make sure you know whats hot and whats not in your specific setting, as well as what specific words the locals would use. Reddit - Dive into anything Heating to the perfect temperature was key. One very important aspect of describing attire well is understanding why youre describing it in the first place. There's a few other elements to keep in mind as well, but in most cases it's best not to worry at all, let your imagination go wild and simply create and enjoy what you want to create. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. 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. 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. Privacy Policy. From lowly serfs to great warriors, all could wear and fight effectively in chainmail. 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? It was my understanding that they quenched in oil, not water. 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. Is this purely for cinematic effect or would some leaders remove their helmets to show their faces to their soldiers? Pingback: Fantasy Weapons - Medieval, Magic And Other Types - Richie Billing, Helping writers on their journey and readers find their next favourite story.. One way is to avoid what we call filter words. - 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. Ragged clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators Again, I don't mean make your character walk around naked, but add elements of covering up or exposing certain areas of the body. 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. Adding these other bits of lesser-known fantasy armor to your stories can really add extra depth to your worldbuilding. Maybe theyre hoping to impress the cool kids or please their parents. Who is your character at the beginning of the story, and how can you dress them to establish their normal? The last minute change suggests an indecisive nature. The complete opposite is true for fantasy and historic clothing. 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? Characters wear more than just clothes. I like the way you wrote this information. Ideas are forever being shared and discussed. 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. You walk down the usual street and suddenly some old memory hits you. Below, well take a look at the armor found in the fantasy genre, covering everything from chain mail to helmets. 1. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. And what weve covered here today is only just the tip of the iceberg. His writing offers a masterclass in how to describe clothing in stories. Clothing description also presents an opportunity to play with different points of view. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. To add to the previous mosaic part stealth technology can provide great patterns. Its because concrete details are incredibly effective in communicating abstract concepts. Whether its a matter of indulgence or survival, feeling good is a deeply relatable goal. Understanding how to describe clothing in a story well will help you create fuller, richer character portraits. You could even move the buttons to the side and have it close diagonally instead. Examples of the latter are The Fifth Element and The Hunger Games. An owl, a real owl! There's also the element of technology that has to be taken into account. Even things like tattoos, hair colors, eye colors and so on can help with this. You can go for standard quasi medieval fantasy clothing. Clothing description is something I have to actively choose to create, too. Ive always wondered that too! In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. Technology goes beyond simply what kind of clothes could be made though, it also relates to how technology is incorporated into style in general. Further reading How To Write Fight Scenes. Similarly, find out (or, if youre creating a fantasy world, create) the garments your characters would wear in a particular time and place. Would the fashion designers in your fantasy novel make use of dragon scales? That works. - Convert future clothing to a historic version. And medieval warfare was a bloody affair. 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. Join Kickstart your Novel and get professional feedback on your first three chapters and story synopsis, plus workbooks and videos. Similar to how pixelated designs tend to look more futuristic so do designs full of geometrical shapes. Are they overalls or coveralls? Heres a video showing the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of leather armor against arrows. Look how she sits with her mouth open! 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. - Taboos and nudity. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. Characters can also comment on or react to one anothers clothing, as long as the exchange reveals something about the world or relationship. 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. Select the most striking details and move on. 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. I sincerely hope youve found some inspiration for your fantasy medieval armor. The important thing to remember is to remain in the character's point of view. Like Marquez, compare and contrast characters clothes to reveal important details about their social status or position. See how Dickens contrasts the fact-obsessed, overbearingteacher Thomas Gradgrind and his wifes personalities through (among other details) their clothing description. Your main character just put on some makeup and changed into a fancy dress, complete with heels and a tiny handbag. Only the most sophisticated, Dr. Urbino among them, wore their ordinary clothes. 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. Pauldrons, gauntlets, and even leg armor were fashioned into elaborate designs. Ha-ha! What matters more to them: fashion or function? Heating to the perfect temperature was key. How long do they need their clothes to last? (Has denim been invented yet? A common (wood) elvish theme is to have lots of green tints, flowery elements and intricate embroidery. The rope belt is solely decorative and a status symbol. An owl in new ribbons, ha-ha-ha! Once blue, it is quenched a second time, permanently fixing its hardness. Your email address will not be published. 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. Both can lose clout simply by the way their peers respond to their wardrobe choices. Really like your article. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. Amalias dress thus comes across as insensitive to her; malicious even. For example, headphones aren't really a piece of clothing, but they definitely affect our style. Lets take a look at how clothing description indicates your characters identity, goals, and culture. This description generator will create a mostly random description of either a dress or a suit, fit for formal occasions and other fancy needs.

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