So have fun with that. 1. If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. A few small details of clothing may distinguish your characters from each other, highlighting their personalities. In reality, a medieval lord could pretty much do what they liked. As a quick question, in film you see a lot of heroes and leaders not wearing helmets. 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: You can even use different pieces of clothing to cover up body parts differently. If sturdy is a top consideration, your character might be expecting trouble or adventure. Expensive indeed, and heavystronger horses had to be bred to handle the weight. The senses were deadened: sight limited, sound muffled, breathing stifled (depending on the type of helmet). The appearance of armor was a big deal for knights. Or they could be frantically running errands in leggings and a t-shirt. And as a reader, nothing bores me like an entire paragraph of detailed clothing description. Some wore a trapper a covering of full chain mailand down the line, some horses even had their own plated armor. As a result, feudal England became rife with young murderous men. The train hums and throbs in place as people rush to pile in.. The more outlandish the fantasy species your character is the more outlandish you can usually be with clothing, but familiarity is usually still a solid ground for a realistic feel, even if the universe and the creatures are completely unrealistic. 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. Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? The good news is that attire is not only important, its also kind of fun when you start digging into it. But put me in a job interview wearing the same outfit, and youd probably start making new guesses about my intentions. - Another way to use color is to make things seem like they're glowing even if they're not and to use gradients. And its in designs that you can really go wild with your own fantasy armor. Most clothing throughout history consisted of longer pieces of fabric and with minimal tailoring and cuts. Slog through another meaningless day in a world where nothing matters? - 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. I like the way you wrote this information. 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. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done. 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. One easy way of creating a more customized look is to simply use cultural elements in the standard clothing. So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. You dont need it to sign up. for any particular parts of an outfit. On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 'There is a blog for every aspect of the writing journey.' But it provided an odd sense of security. The reader does not need the full outfit in one go. The shrewd king essentially licensed out parcels of his land as rewards to his warriors in exchange for their military service. I tried to add as much variety as possible, but without turning the whole description into a mess. Vision in such helmets was extremely limited, but this was the cost of added protection. 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. Nov 1, 2019 - Explore Arisa Nightingale's board "Male Fantasy Outfit Concepts & Designs", followed by 456 people on Pinterest. It's something we have today as well, but they're oddly uncommon and work great for more futuristic looks. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. Here are five examples: 1. Fully geared up, you were a walking fortress. 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. - Make things look glossy, smooth and clean. Chausses / Chauces (15th century) Pantaloons; padded hosen for the legs, often worn under chainmail or plate armor. And what weve covered here today is only just the tip of the iceberg. If you write historical fiction, youre probably way ahead of me. It's also an indirect way to describe their physical appearance by examining how the clothes fit them. Vividly describing the colors of your character's clothing can enliven ordinary writing. Get it right, and you transport your readers to a vivid world. Make them earn any sightof skin, Aunt P always said. How to Give Your Characters Style: Describing Clothing in Writing Written by MasterClass Last updated: Aug 19, 2021 3 min read Creating vivid descriptions for a story or character is a mark of a great writer. But if you do want some guidelines, inspiration or just help this guide'll hopefully provide it. What also worries me is that in Chapter 3 I used a lot of descriptions of the house, like the main characters room and then I had him go to various other rooms, looked at pictures of his family he has yet to meet so chapter 3 had the least story development or social scenes but the ones it had were good ones and I ended it with a scene that creates more development and story hype. Improve this answer. Can you imagine tweaking this to make your own set of fantasy armor? It may be apocryphal, but Harold Godwinson is said to have done just that at the battle of Hastings in 1066. And lets not forget the trusty steed. With the major shapes in the thumbnails defined, choose the one that best exemplifies the feeling you're looking for. And if you dont write historical fiction? Another similar and perhaps way more popular example of this is Steampunk. In other words take what exists and apply it differently. (Has denim been invented yet? You may have imagined a man in an expensive suit or a woman in designer clothes. Figurative language . For example, headphones aren't really a piece of clothing, but they definitely affect our style. 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. Blend in? But I find looking back in time to the likes of the medieval period can provide some wonderful and unique ideas. Clothing is one of the easiest and most immediate ways to establish an historical setting. 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. - Change lengths. Shoes made with bendable displays already exist, allowing you to change your shoe's design on the fly. You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. I love the way clothes can describe a character. It makes for a more entertaining read. Arrows will bounce off steel crafted in such a wayunless from close range, as we discussed last week. In this scene, Gradgrind returns home to find his children playing outside: A space of stunted grass and dry rubbish being between him and the young rabble, he took his eyeglass out of his waistcoat to look for any child he knew by name, and might order off. Amalias dress thus comes across as insensitive to her; malicious even. Now turn the edges a different color or make them light up and you immediately have a more futuristic looking suit. Which was, indeed, a little weird straight off! Make it look very clean and smooth and it immediately feels more modern. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. Richie Billing writes fantasy fiction, historical fiction and stories of a darker nature. Impoverished with children to care for, she uses her last money to give her husband a dignified funeral. Heating to the perfect temperature was key. This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. They also wear talismans, jewelry, and other objects. They looked something like this: One of the main defensive strengths of plated armor came from its curved design, which deflected both blades and arrows. Theyre the kind of thing that often happen organically, but you can actually make use of character secrets to make your stories better. A jacket or coat of mail was usually worn with a hood, or coif, of the same material to protect the head and neck. The tragedy of Azincourt, for example, occurred because of a poorly-chosen battleground that had flooded. Follow edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:43. Maybe a bracelet represents a character's relationship to her mother. Pauldrons, gauntlets, and even leg armor were fashioned into elaborate designs. But they are a common element used in fantasy clothing in all sorts of works of fiction. I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. Whether its a beekeeping suit, climbing helmet, knee pads, or sun-protective fabric, what your character wears provides a clue about whats at stake in the coming scene. Would the fashion designers in your fantasy novel make use of dragon scales? And if you need a place to organize your complex responses, I recommend Dabbles Character Notes feature. Fashion trends come and go and they often return later, albeit in a slightly different form. William the Conquerors society was shaped with war in mind. You can also fulfil (or contradict) impressions your characters (or readers) form based on appearances. The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. 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. That decorative belt? They are more common around the chest and torso in Asian cultures though, so keep that in mind when adding diagonal lines. Another important function of clothing description in stories is to create an authentic sense of time and place. Not quite. 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. Thanks, Teresa, and for sharing that great example from the stage. If you arent keeping at least a few secrets from your friends and loved ones, are you really living? Each lesson breaks down the analysis of one component of a fashion collection, progressing from a consideration of the designer's technique and influences to the . Technology goes beyond simply what kind of clothes could be made though, it also relates to how technology is incorporated into style in general. Think the previously mentioned Fifth Element and Hunger Games clothing versus Star Trek, Star Wars and so on clothing. Lets delve further into these ideas about describing characters dress: Think of your characters clothing like an actors costume in a play. 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. When heated, steel turns from yellow, to brown, to blue, to red. Theyll see it automatically. Our imaginations can do a surprising amount with just a few key details. (Would people living in this area have access to leather goods? 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. Costume is a large part of a character. In writing, the clothes kind of do make the (hu)man. Glasses, headsets, lenses, jewelry, belts and so on can all help sell the futuristic look. Im writing a little in the Epic Fantasy genre and there were quite a few useful notes I wasnt aware of here. You could introduce magical enchantments or ability-granting traits. PsstDoes Your Character Have a Secret? Jeans and a tee it was. 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? 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. We naturally link clothing and identity, which is why wardrobe is such an effective tool for building a vivid character. 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? Blades hacking, slicing and puncturing, cutting open gaping wounds and severing limbs and heads from bodies. 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. This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex. The same goes for other types of technology that could realistically be incorporated into the design of your character's clothing. Leonidas in 300, for instance, almost certainly wore a helmet in the battle with the Persians! 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. 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. They're the Robin to your Batman, the Luigi to your Mario, the Samwise Gamgee to your Frodo Baggins. Get an image of a blank shirt and simply draw the lines on it, it'll form a great base to work with. ), The geographical location of your story. 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. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. Using a squared, pixelated look or circuitry patterns usually works great too, which can even be combined with layered clothing to create the circuitry feel. A scarlet pantsuit. He's had over a dozen short stories published in various magazines and journals, with one adapted for BBC radio. 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.

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