Clothing in fantasy novel

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benthomas97

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Hello, I am attempting to write my first fantasy novel (and my first novel), and I'm having difficulty visualizing what kind of clothes my characters should be wearing. My story feels like its set more in medieval times, but I don't want my characters running around in full out tunics and leggings, etc. Any suggestions?
 

KateJJ

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Does it matter? Do you need to describe the clothes at all?

In my fantasy novel I only mention clothes when it's something out of the ordinary - a lady who usually wears skirts wearing riding pants, someone from a different culture wearing their traditional dress (or undress, one of my cultures has the guys go around shirtless). Most of the time, I just assume they're clothed and leave it at that.
 

Kerosene

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Ditto KateJJ.

Unless it's relevant, leave out the description.

Other than that, do what you wish but too much detail hinders the reader. I go general: What the outfit is, larger parts like coats, defining characteristics like lining or certain cuts, and adornments. Of course, don't have it read like your fantasy book's spring fashion collection; add motion to the description and focus on highlighting details while cutting back as much as possible.
 

Lyra Jean

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Medieval doesn't necessarily mean Western Europe. Medieval is just a representation of time in the case of Western Europe it was the time between the Fall of Rome and the Renaissance. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.)

Every country will have a middle age period.
 

MJDavis

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I don't mention clothes much in mine. I mention when someone is NOT wearing them (yes, I have little naked creatures running around), and I mention if its something unusual, but otherwise, I don't talk about it.
 

Dreity

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Echoing Lyra Jean's questions. The culture, climate, and topography of the land is going to inform their fashion choices.

While I neither want nor need long descriptions of clothing, falling back on just "tunic" and "dress" can sometimes give the world a generic feel. You can do some very subtle world-building with a snappy line describing someone's shirt, or lack thereof.
 

Lhipenwhe

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And there's no rule that says you have to use medieval clothing just because your piece is set in a medieval setting. Fashion could have taken an entirely different turn in your world - be original and go wild.
 

CrastersBabies

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Any clothing you like (that's the answer). As to whether or not to describe them, I've never read a medieval fantasy novel where they ignored the clothing (for the most part). I consider clothing to be a part of setting in a sense. How does it help characterize? How does it say something about the character/story?

For example, in GRRM's ASOIAF series, he's always describing clothing, but it's efficient: a sentence tops. Sansa wore something pretty and the prose is pretty, too, when Martin describes it because she's still living in a fantasy world where she believes knights are all good and fair ladies receive royal favor and courtesy.

Look at the successful writers. How do they do it? This is one thing that you can look for when you are reading: e.g. "read like a writer." Food is another one that catches my attention.

As for style, well, that's up to you. They didn't just wear tunics and leggings in medieval times. Men wore simple trousers and shirts (belted or not). Women wore an array of dresses (or perhaps they dress less girly in your world and things are more gender-neutral). Also consider non-western gear. Middle Eastern garb, Asian, Mongol, etc.

Clothing may not be important to you, but it might be to your characters--at least in specific situations. I probably have some article of clothing mentioned in about half the chapters. It's never more than a sentence (or even half a sentence) and always exists to show something about the scene, situation, character, plot, or theme. "Rob hated his formal doublet with its large, slashed sleeves and collar that dug into his skin." Not much to that, but it shows that Rob doesn't like dressing up for whatever reason. He feels confined. He might feel like his garb is too showy (large, slashed sleeves). The reader can infer a lot.
 

RichardGarfinkle

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Not any clothing you like. Clothing arises based on climate, activities, cultural attitudes etc. The history of clothing says a lot about the peoples who wore the various clothes they wore.

Also, a little bit of obscure information: Clothing and furniture evolve in parallel. You have to be able to sit in the clothes you are wearing.

Add to that the need for clothing to work with how the people in a society work, dance, fight, etc. Clothing can bring out a lot about your world and your characters. A great deal of personality can come out in how a person dresses and comports themselves.

One more point, clothing is made from materials. What materials are being used, where do they come from? What professions are involved, what is the status of those professions etc?

Clothing gives you a lot of room to bring forth many aspects of your world and people.
 

Lyra Jean

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In the Dies the Fire series at least the second trilogy where Rudi is the main character.

Rudi's dress up clothes is a kilt and tunic. (Mother was Irish)

Maddie's clothes is her 13 century dress. Otherwise she is in pants and a shirt and when fighting in plate armor. (Father was a history teacher)

Maddie's knight wore hose, tunic, tights, and pointed shoes.

Another character boy from Idaho his dress clothes were American army green BDUs. (Father was in the Army)

A rancher girl was a cotton button up shirt with collar and blue jeans. (Father was a rancher)
 

rwm4768

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You don't have to describe the clothing if you don't want to. Some fantasy readers like that kind of thing, but a lot of fantasy readers couldn't care less what the characters are wearing. It's all about the story.
 

jjdebenedictis

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One thing to consider is that if you "feel" like they have to wear a certain type of garb, that may mean you're letting a cliche dictate what form your story takes.

Cliches and stereotypes are shortcuts to avoid being creative; you use them when you don't know what to do. But those are exactly the moments when you should say, "No--I need to think this out. I need to decide what would be the correct solution here, rather than just using the most obvious, everyone-does-it-that-way solution."

Once you've done that, you might end up dressing your characters in tunics and leggings anyway, but it'll be for a reason--and that reason, once you've sorted it out, will enrich your story because it will be based on the additional world-building you've just done.
 
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Civic

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I echo what everyone else says. Clothing's not too important. However there is plenty of research material out there if you need to get a better understanding of how it all looks. It doesn't have to be described much in your book, but it might help your writing to have an idea of what the style of medieval clothing was.
 

Reziac

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And there's no rule that says you have to use medieval clothing just because your piece is set in a medieval setting. Fashion could have taken an entirely different turn in your world - be original and go wild.

This, but remember that clothing largely reflects the tech level and what domestic animals/plants are common as materials sources. Handmade clothing is labor-intensive, handmade shoes even more so. (I've seen a good pair of shoes priced at a year's medieval wages. Dunno how accurate that is in Real Life, but might make a useful benchmark.)
 

TheRob1

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I spend a decent amount of time describing both clothes and food in my current ms. I do this because the society is at a level roughly consistent with the 1880s and the culture is a mix of American SW/Rome/India. It may sound weird, but I'm trying to make it work. So I'm describing dishes like curry and beverages like toddy (palm wine). Characters are wearing suits with high starched collars and cowboy hats. There are six guns and ink pens and cigarettes. Since 99% of all the fantasy I've read is medieval fantasy I feel it's important for me to constantly stress how different this world is from others.

I'm on the second draft right now so if my betas feel like I'm overdoing the description I can always pair them down.
 

rwm4768

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I spend a decent amount of time describing both clothes and food in my current ms. I do this because the society is at a level roughly consistent with the 1880s and the culture is a mix of American SW/Rome/India. It may sound weird, but I'm trying to make it work. So I'm describing dishes like curry and beverages like toddy (palm wine). Characters are wearing suits with high starched collars and cowboy hats. There are six guns and ink pens and cigarettes. Since 99% of all the fantasy I've read is medieval fantasy I feel it's important for me to constantly stress how different this world is from others.

I'm on the second draft right now so if my betas feel like I'm overdoing the description I can always pair them down.

That sounds like an interesting setting. In that case, I think a little bit of description can definitely go a long way.
 

Lyra Jean

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I spend a decent amount of time describing both clothes and food in my current ms. I do this because the society is at a level roughly consistent with the 1880s and the culture is a mix of American SW/Rome/India. It may sound weird, but I'm trying to make it work. So I'm describing dishes like curry and beverages like toddy (palm wine). Characters are wearing suits with high starched collars and cowboy hats. There are six guns and ink pens and cigarettes. Since 99% of all the fantasy I've read is medieval fantasy I feel it's important for me to constantly stress how different this world is from others.

I'm on the second draft right now so if my betas feel like I'm overdoing the description I can always pair them down.

I also think it being not your typical historical fantasy setting gives you more leeway in the description factor.
 

CrastersBabies

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Not any clothing you like. Clothing arises based on climate, activities, cultural attitudes etc. The history of clothing says a lot about the peoples who wore the various clothes they wore.

I kind of went out on a limb and decided that the average, intelligent writer would understand not to stick a man in the medieval version of a banana-hammock if he was writing in a Norse-like setting. I also figured that cultural attitudes and activities were pretty much a common sense "given" here, left to the discretion of the writer and his/her world/setting choices. Not to rain on your, "With all due respect" parade here. :)
 

RichardGarfinkle

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I kind of went out on a limb and decided that the average, intelligent writer would understand not to stick a man in the medieval version of a banana-hammock if he was writing in a Norse-like setting. I also figured that cultural attitudes and activities were pretty much a common sense "given" here, left to the discretion of the writer and his/her world/setting choices. Not to rain on your, "With all due respect" parade here. :)

If you examine the history of any aspect of human society you'll find that common sense has nothing to do with it. People do all sorts of odd things that make their times and places stand out.

The inter-relationship between culture, natural resources, human needs etc is quite complex and gives room for the uniquenesses that can make one fantasy novel stand out as not being the product of generic thinking.

If you haven't read it, I recommend Diana Wynne Jones' A Tough Guide To Fantasyland. Amongst other things her entry on Stew shows what happens if you don't think through matters like food and clothing.
 

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I agree with Civic. If you're wondering, do some research. I like to know piles of stuff that don't necessarily show up in my writing. Look through historical materials, but also look through costume designer portfolios or relevant art and let it all spark your own ideas. Inspiration is everywhere.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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Some of the deepest, most significant parts of a culture can be brought across by its clothing, how it is produced, who wears what and under what circumstances, and what it conveys to everyone in the vicinity about that person.

An eight-year-old girl in Venice in 1450 with ribbons on her dress meant here is an impossibly wealthy family willing to defy sumptuary laws.

A young man in England in 1670 wearing ribbons at his knee was supporting the home silk industry.

In 1880 in the US you could tell a girl's age exactly by the number of inches her skirt was off the ground; it lowered year by year until at the age of eighteen it hit the ground and stayed there.

Materials were difficult to make and acquire, and thus were treasured and reused. The Thames river mud has proven a treasure trove of thousands of discarded medieval shoes, but boots are almost nonexistent there since that much leather would have been valuable and recycled.

Black was the most difficult and thus the most expensive fabric color to achieve and maintain, which is why so many portraits of princes and wealthy strivers from the fifteenth century onward depict them in yards and yards of solid black.

It's also why the pilgrims had themselves painted in black. They were bragging about their wealth.

Fantasy novels that ignore clothing, or simply refer to the old clichés of "tunic and leggings" and "gowns," have missed the rich opportunity to invest their world with unique and powerful symbols.

Clothing is a complex art deeply embedded in the human psyche. And it has always been varied. "Leggings" is a modern concept invented by people uncomfortable with the idea of men wearing stockings. "Tunic" is no more useful a word than "shirt." "Gown" encompasses ten thousand different types of garment with important distinctions in cut, fit, material, and status of the wearer.

This is the sort of thing that gets time travelers killed five minutes after they hit a new timeline.
 
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Dyfedd Rex

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I tend to agree, the clothes can make a difference, if only in giving insight about a society and its structure. One thing to look at is the old "Sumptuary Laws" from medieval days. Those forbid certain colors, cuts, fabrics etc. based on your class or profession. That can help you form ideas. but do not hold back on something. It is your world after all, even if you cut it from the story, the idea is there for future reference, or as something for you to use in character creation.
 
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