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. Just click the button below to find out more. - "Digital look". Excuse the on hold background music. What would you think about a wealthy character who looked as though he shopped at thrift stores? - 'Stealth'. Some had pointed snouts, the purpose of which was to deflect arrows when walking into arrow storms. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. Pingback: Fantasy Weapons - Medieval, Magic And Other Types - Richie Billing, Helping writers on their journey and readers find their next favourite story.. For example, headphones aren't really a piece of clothing, but they definitely affect our style. Why this arguably works better is the details of getting dressed tell us multiple details about Gem. In other words: To describe a fantasy world, use either neutral terms, or made up words. Now turn the edges a different color or make them light up and you immediately have a more futuristic looking suit. How do you describe this dress - Writing Forums An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. I mentioned my online writing group at the beginning of this guide. Help your readers feel the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and theyll feel your characters priorities deep in their own souls. 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 I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. It illustrates brilliantly the differences between fantasy armor and the boring armor of reality, in this case, Gothic armor. Your email address will not be published. You can try all Dabbles premium features for free for fourteen days. Blunt weapons were effective, causing haemorrhaging and concussion, so padded garments known as a doublet or gambeson were worn underneath to provide added protection. Thanks I will be following your blog from now one I just came across it today. But there is so much more to the experience of clothing than that. You could even move the buttons to the side and have it close diagonally instead. In pre-thermometer times this was difficult as you can imagine, so instead, armorers observed the colour of the heated steel. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. 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. This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. [Find more articles on character description in our complete guide to character creation.]. 1. Embarrassed by her own inability to dress in finery for the occasion (and by being upstaged), Katerina resorts to scathing mockery of Amalia. Your article is really great. Make it mandatory to hold up a piece of clothing. Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. 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. In reality, a medieval lord could pretty much do what they liked. Our characters are always (mostly!) Most picture the knight when we talk about plated armorrigid tin men that can withstand all manner of blows. Heres a cool video on making leather fantasy armor by YouTuber, Prince Armory. 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. Earlier I mentioned how it's important to try and keep a feel of unfamiliarity to futuristic clothing. When shes not writing, Abi is most likely hiking, reading, or texting her mother pictures of her houseplants to ask why they look like that. Thats a good example of using clothing to reinforce the narrative of a characters arc. 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. First and foremost, remember that clothing description is still storytelling. To create a more futuristic looking style an easy way of doing it is to incorporate technology into the clothing itself. Make sure you know whats hot and whats not in your specific setting, as well as what specific words the locals would use. His pants are simple and narrow and reach down to his hard leather shoes. These detail could suggest that your character is miserly or down-to-earth despite their wealth. By playing around with this you quickly create very subtle, but more unique fantasy-themed items. 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. But status can be communicated in more subtle ways, too. 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. Maybe theyre hoping to impress the cool kids or please their parents. I thought if I did that at the beginning of a chapter it would be better but I worry it will turn readers off. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. Really like your article. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. Its fun to play with power in clothing, because it's a relative concept. Whenever other races or species are involved, like elves and trolls, it's often best to give them clothing that differs from whatever humans (and other races) wear, even if those differences are subtle. Stealthy clothes bring to mind burglars clad in black outfits and soft-soled sneakers. How long do they need their clothes to last? But they could also dress in modest, inexpensive-looking clothes. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. It may be apocryphal, but Harold Godwinson is said to have done just that at the battle of Hastings in 1066. Most clothing throughout history consisted of longer pieces of fabric and with minimal tailoring and cuts. 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? 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. His writing offers a masterclass in how to describe clothing in stories. Thanks Chuck! 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. 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. Ha-ha! There's also the element of technology that has to be taken into account. Chest plates had grand etchings. A pair of starched Wranglers. With historical fiction one interesting aspect is to bring back the reader to that time period. The details create an authentic sense of a prominentcardinals dressin the 1500s. "White tunics" have been worn from 2016 to a good forty thousand years ago. Ive always wondered that too! Arrows will bounce off steel crafted in such a wayunless from close range, as we discussed last week. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts The description will describe a lot of clothing pieces, some of which you may not need depending on where your character lives. As for showing with clothing rather than telling, a writer could say, He was lazy and inattentive to his appearance about a character, or they could say his clothes always looked like hed just pulled them out of a pile in some corner of his bedroom and had thrown them on without a glance in the mirror. "Garb" or "dress" (without an article) is a rather drab abstract noun for what a person is wearing. The fact the clothes seem to stand by themselves indicates just how heavy they are with jewels and embroidery. What Clothes Say About Your Characters - The Write Practice A person who doesn't want to draw attention to themselves would dress completely differently today than they would even a few decades ago. Even things like tattoos, hair colors, eye colors and so on can help with this. Similarly, find out (or, if youre creating a fantasy world, create) the garments your characters would wear in a particular time and place. 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. Advertisements. In a fantasy setting, you may be trying to conjure up a certain feel right off the bat based on how you describe a character's clothing (and the words you use to describe them). Clothing description in a story is useful because it often gives additional information about a character that you might otherwise tell. To discover more awesome ideas, head over to Pinterest and just search for female fantasy armor. I tend to avoid describing clothing. So here are some more ways to alter a design while sticking with familiarity and a more historic feel: 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. PsstDoes Your Character Have a Secret? Our wardrobes are influenced by our age, geography, culture, hobbies, and a million other aspects of our worlds. 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. Fashionably elegant and sophisticated. Follow edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:43. To navigate your way through this guide, just click the links below. Here, for example, Hilary Mantel describes a Cardinals residence being plundered by the Kings men in 1529 England, in her historical novel Wolf Hall. That was the theory. And here are some great concepts for female fantasy armor. In my case my character is new in town and this description of clothing doesnt come until hes getting ready for the party in chapter 4 and its in the context of getting dressed, there are reasons behind it, the party is a very big deal for him getting his foot in the door with other teens in town and he wants to be impressive or maybe wants lot of attention with all the sparklies. So why not join the gang? is because we get stuck on what things look like. Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice And Fire is one series that wonderfully explores fantasy armor and weapons. 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. Read these tips on how (and why) to describe clothes with examples from well-known novels: 1: Use clothing to show status and position 2: Build (or thwart) character expectations with clothing descriptions 3: Describe clothing to contrast characters' personalities 4: Show clothing to avoid over-relying on telling It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it. 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. The Victorian author Charles Dickens is widely regarded as a master of characterization, for good reason. Not all trends return and fashion isn't perfectly cyclical. There is simply more characterization, not only of Gem but the other characters, too. Consider whether your characters attire might serve as a symbol, highlight a theme, or represent a conflict. Id be willing to bet each of these items immediately brought to mind a semi-clear character. Adding these other bits of lesser-known fantasy armor to your stories can really add extra depth to your worldbuilding. What your character wears can tell us a lot about how they feel or how they want to feel. For example, a shy person will often wear 'regular' clothing, clothing that isn't too bright or outgoing in both design and colors. They're the Robin to your Batman, the Luigi to your Mario, the Samwise Gamgee to your Frodo Baggins. Will using real-world cultural vocabulary in a fantasy setting Im writing a little in the Epic Fantasy genre and there were quite a few useful notes I wasnt aware of here. However, you can show and imply a characters intention without spelling it out: Theyd agreed to meet downtown at six. Would the fashion designers in your fantasy novel make use of dragon scales? That would depend on a few things. Ragged clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators I'll make a separate point for sci-fi/futuristic clothing and fantasy/historic clothing. When youre shopping for yourself, you know what you like but you dont know how to describe it. Dragon scales, fiery furs and feathers and other elements can quickly turn a standard item into a fantasy one. 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. Just click this link and dont even think about touching your wallet. for any particular parts of an outfit. Mail was lightweight and flexible. And if you need a place to organize your complex responses, I recommend Dabbles Character Notes feature. One of her poems is (legally) stamped into a sidewalk in Santa Clarita, California. That cloth ribbon tied around their waist? 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: Black and white usually does the trick as well. Chausses / Chauces (15th century) Pantaloons; padded hosen for the legs, often worn under chainmail or plate armor. Ill add it to my to do list . s a fantastic image that Thomas Feichtmeir, AKA Cyangmou has put together. He's had over a dozen short stories published in various magazines and journals, with one adapted for BBC radio. We already have spray on clothing technology. Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. Designing fantasy armor for your characters can be an awful lot of fun. Select the most striking details and move on. Note that with the camouflage patterns it's best to use this style, but make them less randomized to avoid the military look, unless that's what you're going for of course. Pre-empt this by illustrating everything in layers and completing each layer of clothing. That said, once you describe how a person dresses you shouldn't really keep doing it unless it is relevant to the plot. Chapters 1 and 2 were pretty decent and I started chapter 4 with him dressing for the party. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. So Id say in films its more for cinematic effect and also for clarity so the viewer can see whos doing what. How to describe scenery ? : r/fantasywriters - reddit.com Sneak around? I didnt even know how to begin describing this piece of clothing. Those warriors came from the people who lived on the lands under the watch of the knights. Its hard to really appreciate just how sickeningly awful medieval warfare would have been. Nudity was often either a complete taboo or just common place in many cultures throughout history, so by changing these taboos (and others) you immediately create a fictional piece. An owl in new ribbons, ha-ha-ha! ), The geographical location of your story. 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. Stylish: Elegant and sophisticated clothing to grab attention. 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. So have fun with that. 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. - Another way to use color is to make things seem like they're glowing even if they're not and to use gradients. Well, mostly. It really doesnt take much. Heating to the perfect temperature was key. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. So sometimes all it takes to create futuristic clothing is to take a trend that has passed, alter it slightly and you're done. I dont mean camisoles and cardigans. A man's padded undercoat worn under a doublet and over a shirt; a woman's (often padded) under-tunic or the skirt of her riding habit. 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. Not a Dabble user? What exactly are you trying to communicate about the character, setting, or situation? Heres a video showing the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of leather armor against arrows. 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. That decorative belt? The reason we fuss over physical descriptions is not because its so important that the readers imagination gets it right. Examples of the prior are Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey and to some degree Star Wars and Tron. In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. The more you know about real clothing and armor, the more tools in your bag of tricks for describing awesome fantasy pieces. 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. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. "He was wearing a spandex tank top" is an improvement from just mentioning that your character's wearing a shirt; but consider adding the element of color: "He was wearing a black-and-yellow-striped spandex tank top.". An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella.