Another important function of clothing description in stories is to create an authentic sense of time and place. One reason clothing descriptions can start to feel like a tedious laundry list (see what I did there?) Reeking of piss on the battlefield was another weapon in the arsenal I suppose. They work, they're safe and in many cases have become a standard. The novels protagonist Rodion gives Katerina the last of his money to host a funeral. 1. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. Arrows will bounce off steel crafted in such a wayunless from close range, as we discussed last week. Its okay if Todds checks his designer watch three pages after you mention his silk tie. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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 Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. Theyre probably less concerned with how they look (unless they want to look intimidating) and more concerned with things like survival or victory. 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). Particularly in genres such as historical fiction and fantasy, clothing can help to create other worlds (or a long gone era of our own). Pingback: Fantasy Weapons - Medieval, Magic And Other Types - Richie Billing, Helping writers on their journey and readers find their next favourite story.. Leather could be stitched into coats, or added to mail to provide added protection. This is great! Stylish. Can you imagine tweaking this to make your own set of fantasy armor? One way is to avoid what we call filter words. Lets delve further into these ideas about describing characters dress: Think of your characters clothing like an actors costume in a play. The front part of helmets, or the visors, were there to raise or open so the wearer could breathe during taxing hand-to-hand combat or scan around the battlefield. If you tell your readers about Nanettes light pink cardigan and string of pearls, you dont have to say much about the shoes and skirt and silk blouse. Expensive indeed, and heavystronger horses had to be bred to handle the weight. Clothing is one of the easiest and most immediate ways to establish an historical setting. And its in designs that you can really go wild with your own fantasy armor. Fashionable: Clothes representing a current style in fashion. [Find more articles on character description in our complete guide to character creation.]. Its something readers definitely appreciate, which I found with Pariahs Lament. A knight, by definition, was a lord. 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. Something like this: As you can see, a knights armor is made up of a lot of different pieces. As well see below, medieval armor developed through necessitypeople needed to protect themselves from those wicked blades and needle-sharp darts. It makes for a more entertaining read. You could even move the buttons to the side and have it close diagonally instead. The shrewd king essentially licensed out parcels of his land as rewards to his warriors in exchange for their military service. Any suggestions on how to properly do this? Only the most sophisticated, Dr. Urbino among them, wore their ordinary clothes. Fully geared up, you were a walking fortress. Nov 28, 2022 - Explore Anung V's board "Character description" on Pinterest. Here, for example, Hilary Mantel describes a Cardinals residence being plundered by the Kings men in 1529 England, in her historical novel Wolf Hall. A pair of starched Wranglers. Blades hacking, slicing and puncturing, cutting open gaping wounds and severing limbs and heads from bodies. Youre already obsessing over hat styles and what the undergarment situation was at the time of your story. It gives you an idea of the capabilities that armor can have. I dont mean camisoles and cardigans. You can quickly convey a number of things about your characters based on the clothing they wear. 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. Armor, therefore, wasnt that heavya full suit weighed approximately 50 pounds, which is around 3 to 4 stone. But that doesn't mean you can't deviate from these guidelines completely and do whatever you wish. or the world theyre desperately resisting. I sincerely hope youve found some inspiration for your fantasy medieval armor. 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Instead of saying, for example I saw that the station gate was coming down and the last train was about to leave, you could say The station gate is already screeching closed. As knights became fully armored, so did their mounts. What backstory or character motivations could combinations of appearance and reality suggest? Required fields are marked *. and our But you may run into difficulties when it comes to the practicalities. Even the non-conformists are influenced by societal norms. Does your character need to hide? A scarlet pantsuit. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. Your email address will not be published. To illustrate this let's take a standard men's suit as an example. Do they need a ghillie suit to blend into the natural environment? Very informative. Try some colour. Subtle clothing changes can signal character development quite effectively in some scenarios. 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. Casual. Richie Billing writes fantasy fiction, historical fiction and stories of a darker nature. As a quick question, in film you see a lot of heroes and leaders not wearing helmets. You can immediately show a character is wealthy with descriptions of fine clothing. Ha-ha! I love the way clothes can describe a character. Adorable. Not a Dabble user? The good news is that attire is not only important, its also kind of fun when you start digging into it. Changes in characters clothing can help revealcharacter development. Baggy jeans. Other elements you could include are mood-based changes (exists today), clothing that uses lights or glowing elements (exists today), clothing that can be repaired or changed on the go (exists today), smart technology woven into the fabric of clothing (exists today), changing colors (think chameleons) whenever you feel like it (exists today, kind of). Both can lose clout simply by the way their peers respond to their wardrobe choices. Give your wealthy character a pair of Louboutins and dress your non-wealthy characters in hand-me-downs. What is a good way to do Show not tell in a first person POV state? I mentioned my online writing group at the beginning of this guide. This is further influenced/confirmed by the show Forged in Fire where the judges were a half step from putting their heads in their hands when a smith put his hot blade in water instead of oil to cool it down. Improve this answer. Do your characters care deeply about looking respectable, or are they more afraid of putting on airs? The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. Because it actually is possible. 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 can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. Thank you for sharing this valuable information. When heated, steel turns from yellow, to brown, to blue, to red. 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. Creating new clothing styles for fictional worlds can be a daunting task, there's just so much out there already and so many elements to play around with to create a fun and unique style, no matter whether the art form is visual or not. But the definition of sneaky depends on your characters situation. The appearance of armor was a big deal for knights. Finally there's the aspect of fashion to take into account. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. But there is so much more to the experience of clothing than that. Choose A Chapter The Fantasy Genre And Medieval Armor Chain Mail Plated Armor Helmets Other Types Of Armor The Medieval Knight Not to mention the social status of a person. The eye slits were narrow to prevent all sizes of arrowheads from finding their way through. Only the most powerful strikes could pierce such armor. Plain: Ordinary clothes of one color like gray, beige, or black. That cloth ribbon tied around their waist? Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. Share. Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. So have fun with that. 28 First of all, beautiful dress and mask! It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it. Clothes that are suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions. Clothing reflects the resources available in a specific time and place. A vintage polka dot dress with a sweetheart neckline. Most picture the knight when we talk about plated armorrigid tin men that can withstand all manner of blows. If it fits your universe it usually works, so don't be afraid of doing something different. 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. Sci-fi and fantasy don't necessarily have to be futuristic and historic respectively, but they're commonly associated as such, so for the sake of simplicity that's what I'm going with for the purposes of this guide. Consider this example from Hard 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. 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. Sweaters or jumpers? Youre working essential details into the narrative at the moment when they are most relevant. Whereas a more confident or attention seeking person might seek out the edges of what's socially acceptable more or just wear more stylish and potentially more colorful or flamboyant clothing. And if you want more, this documentary is excellent. I tend to avoid describing clothing. Maybe a bit of both. )Secrets might not be something youve specifically thought about when youre drafting a story. Privacy Policy. Press J to jump to the feed. Costume is a large part of a character. If your character comes home and immediately sheds three layers of down and fleece, Im going to assume theyre not in San Antonio, Texas. Tell us how the wool of your protagonists sheath dress scratches the skin on the underside of her arm. The image you create has to play a role in the narrative.Consider the character arc. 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. 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? The padded material could absorb blows from blunt weapons and provided some protection from cuts, but against well-forged weapons they were useless. In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. The final design with all its layers will often hide elements of the clothing that a client may want to see later. Dragon scales, fiery furs and feathers and other elements can quickly turn a standard item into a fantasy one. Another might claim power by striding in wearing torn jeans and a tank top. "A dress" (or using "the" to refer to a particular "garment") means an item of clothing that is normally worn by women. What would you think about a wealthy character who looked as though he shopped at thrift stores? By using fur for decoration you quickly create fictional pieces in no time. 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. We see the contrast between the characters friends reaction and the advisory words of Gems aunt. 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? The train hums and throbs in place as people rush to pile in.. Your trust fund character might be completely confident showing up to a party in board shorts and flip-flops. Chausses / Chauces (15th century) Pantaloons; padded hosen for the legs, often worn under chainmail or plate armor. - Change lengths. If done right you could even use these elements alone with clothing of today to sell a futuristic look. The clothes a person wears tellsus many things: their status in life, for example, or their cultural affiliation or identity. This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex. Or are you writing a spy character who dons Lululemon to infiltrate an upscale yoga studio? Thats a good example of using clothing to reinforce the narrative of a characters arc. To make it futuristic you could change where the buttons are, they're normally quite low and form a v-neck line when buttoned up, how about moving them to the top and creating an upside down V shape at the bottom. I mean what your character wears provides a clue to how they see themselves, how they want to be seen, and even how others see them. On the other hand you may wish to add layers for the same purpose. You may have seen steelworkers doing this after forging the likes of blades and horseshoes. By playing around with this you quickly create very subtle, but more unique fantasy-themed items. If you write historical fiction, youre probably way ahead of me. - Another way to use color is to make things seem like they're glowing even if they're not and to use gradients. Thanks Benjamin! As a friend told me, Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. An owl, a real owl! (Huh.). In visual mediums like TV or comics, cool outfits are on-screen the whole time, and they're the first and most obvious impression you'll get of the character, so they have a big impact on how the character is perceived. 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. And well dip back in time to look at medieval armor and how it was used and crafted. - Geometry. Consider whether your characters attire might serve as a symbol, highlight a theme, or represent a conflict. Of course there are more ways to alter historic designs and the middle ages aren't the only period to draw inspiration from. Some helmets had chain attached which hung around and protected the neck, called an aventail, and most were padded inside, for added comfort. The unsung hero of so many stories. Think noble King Arthur and his knights of the roundtable. Technology goes beyond simply what kind of clothes could be made though, it also relates to how technology is incorporated into style in general. 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. I thought if I did that at the beginning of a chapter it would be better but I worry it will turn readers off. Fashionably elegant and sophisticated. And above all, people share their writing, get feedback, build friendships and develop greater confidence not just in their writing, but in themselves too. The more people that join this thriving group the better it becomes. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to weaponry Richie Billing. Lets talk about how to describe clothing in writing organically. Im struggling to properly figure out how to describe clothing for a fantasy setting Im trying to create. So why not join the gang? Excuse the on hold background music. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to Castles and Keeps: part one Richie Billing. 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. Since it's a friends' get-together, let's wear casual attire. All this to say: there is substantial storytelling power in a coral Life is Good t-shirt. You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. 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. That said, once you describe how a person dresses you shouldn't really keep doing it unless it is relevant to the plot. I really loved this article, but I have one question, it was very helpful. Great points. If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. Well come to this below. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. To create a more futuristic looking style an easy way of doing it is to incorporate technology into the clothing itself. We even have the technology to create clothing without seems. Its a bit OCD of me. Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. If you stopped to think about it, you may even notice yourself imagining things as specific as age, hobbies, and ambitions. The complete opposite is true for fantasy and historic clothing. True, it all depends on your purpose. You walk down the usual street and suddenly some old memory hits you. Richard the Lionheart, for instance, was celebrated amongst his peers for his ability to chop his enemys skulls down to the teeth. Do not describe a character's clothing except as that point of view character would do so. These shallow details help us go pretty deep on character. 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. In other words, research. Coats of plated armor soon came about, which consisted of a series of plates linked on top of one another. Whether its a matter of indulgence or survival, feeling good is a deeply relatable goal. Which was, indeed, a little weird straight off! 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. So here are some more ways to alter a design while sticking with familiarity and a more historic feel: Heating to the perfect temperature was key. "Garb" or "dress" (without an article) is a rather drab abstract noun for what a person is wearing. 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. Nylon and polyester fabrics weren't invented until almost the mid 20th century for example. Otherwise they wont take you seriously as an artist.. See more ideas about character description, fantasy fashion, fantasy clothing. Maybe their goal is to entice a mate. But status can be communicated in more subtle ways, too. A possible source of conflict for a story, perhaps! Similar to how pixelated designs tend to look more futuristic so do designs full of geometrical shapes. Impoverished with children to care for, she uses her last money to give her husband a dignified funeral. Hi Paige, thank you (and thanks for your question). 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. A velvet scrunchie. - Furs and other animal parts: A quick and obvious way of making something look more fantasy-themed is by simply adding elements of fantasy creatures. Now turn the edges a different color or make them light up and you immediately have a more futuristic looking suit. A scarf for example might be too hot for some areas, but it's obviously easy to leave those out. Those outfits can become iconic. For example, think about a wealthy person and how that person might dress.



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