This article was very helpfulcan you post some examples of showing versus telling when describing clothing? - Change lengths. Obviously clothing is extremely varied, especially dresses. Am I trying to blow the interview? You can use visual description to make a character more vivid in the readers minds eye. Lets delve further into these ideas about describing characters dress: Think of your characters clothing like an actors costume in a play. I tend to avoid describing clothing. They're the ones who are always there to lend a helping hand, crack a joke, or provide some much-needed emotional relief.And let's be real, sometimes they dont go unsung. Consider whether your characters attire might serve as a symbol, highlight a theme, or represent a conflict. Who's your rebel, and how does their clothing reflect their defiant spirit? Or are you writing a spy character who dons Lululemon to infiltrate an upscale yoga studio? Allrightsreserved, create an authentic sense of time and place, Use fashion and clothing history archives, https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7bbcc198c936bc1af3fbda128514c44fcfc10f0513ea31cad7c21ae61ba0ab0.jpg, 1: Use clothing to show status and position, 2: Build (or thwart) expectations using clothing descriptions, 3: Describe clothing to contrastcharacters personalities, 4: Show clothing to avoid over-relying on telling, 5: Change characters clothing to highlight character development, 6: Use clothing details to recreate authentic setting, 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. Yet Dr. Urbinos status as a respected doctor is earned he has nothing to prove by dressing smarter. (Where do they buy their clothes? Here, for example, Hilary Mantel describes a Cardinals residence being plundered by the Kings men in 1529 England, in her historical novel Wolf Hall. Impress someone with my indifference? Only the most sophisticated, Dr. Urbino among them, wore their ordinary clothes. From time to time we may use affiliate links to help with the costs of running the site. I tried to add as much variety as possible, but without turning the whole description into a mess. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and free at Coachella. Theyre probably less concerned with how they look (unless they want to look intimidating) and more concerned with things like survival or victory. Very informative. An owl, a real owl! - Convert future clothing to a historic version. To discover more awesome ideas, head over to Pinterest and just search for female fantasy armor. Chapters 1 and 2 were pretty decent and I started chapter 4 with him dressing for the party. I like the way you wrote this information. The bully Gradgrind is the type whod wear a waistcoat concealing an eyeglass for catching people out. You can immediately show a character is wealthy with descriptions of fine clothing. PsstDoes Your Character Have a Secret? Armor, therefore, wasnt that heavya full suit weighed approximately 50 pounds, which is around 3 to 4 stone. I didnt even know how to begin describing this piece of clothing. One very important aspect of describing attire well is understanding why youre describing it in the first place. Just click this link and dont even think about touching your wallet. Knights were, indeed, hard to defeat in battle. - Geometry. The appearance of armor was a big deal for knights. These detail could suggest that your character is miserly or down-to-earth despite their wealth. With all that armor, its often assumed the medieval knight was immobile. 80s-inspired. Youll be blown away by the number of awesome things on there. Why this arguably works better is the details of getting dressed tell us multiple details about Gem. 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. If youre good at talking clothes, you can sit this one out. 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. 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. 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. Maybe a bracelet represents a character's relationship to her mother. 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. For example, the corset wasn't popular until the 16th century and while earlier versions can be found incredibly early they weren't common place. Maybe your character heads out on the town wearing a daring leopard print jumpsuit, only to have their best friend immediately ask where they got the kitty costume.. Military service was always well-rewarded and violence applauded. In Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment, the poor, Tuberculosis-stricken Katerina Ivanovnas husband is trampled to death by a horse-drawn cart. Casual. - Make things look glossy, smooth and clean. 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. What is a good way to do Show not tell in a first person POV state? This pride, though justifiable, displeased Katerina Ivanovna for some reason. - Break up clothing into more separate pieces and give them their own styles. Stiff with embroidery, strewn with pearls, encrusted with gemstones, they seem to stand by themselves. The fact Gem goes with jeans and a tee could suggest that she trusts her aunts advice. So as a way of trying to control them and their behaviour, the code of chivalry and honour was introduced. And medieval warfare was a bloody affair. And what does she put that cap on for? Below, well take a look at the armor found in the fantasy genre, covering everything from chain mail to helmets. They should be doing that. Theyll see it automatically. Pingback: Fantasy Weapons - Medieval, Magic And Other Types - Richie Billing, Helping writers on their journey and readers find their next favourite story.. Use your first-person narrators senses sight, hearing, touch, etc. Also, don't feel like you have to include every point I've made. Its a good time. Much of the clothing we wear today were either rare or completely nonexistent a hundred years ago. We see the contrast between the characters friends reaction and the advisory words of Gems aunt. And of course, location provides a clue for what it takes to be comfortable in the world of your story. You can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. And as a reader, nothing bores me like an entire paragraph of detailed clothing description. You can also fulfil (or contradict) impressions your characters (or readers) form based on appearances. Another important function of clothing description in stories is to create an authentic sense of time and place. Not a Dabble user? 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. - Use nudity. Expensive indeed, and heavystronger horses had to be bred to handle the weight. I'll make a separate point for sci-fi/futuristic clothing and fantasy/historic clothing. It illustrates brilliantly the differences between fantasy armor and the boring armor of reality, in this case, Gothic armor. A lowly one at that, but one very much capable of climbing the ladder. 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. This idea of knights becoming lords was introduced in England by William the Conqueror. clothed and we should definitely be using them to portray our characters personalities. So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. 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. A common (wood) elvish theme is to have lots of green tints, flowery elements and intricate embroidery. At the end of the day, they were professional slayers, swords for hire. Get an image of a blank shirt and simply draw the lines on it, it'll form a great base to work with. But I find looking back in time to the likes of the medieval period can provide some wonderful and unique ideas. This description generator will create a mostly random description of either a dress or a suit, fit for formal occasions and other fancy needs. As a friend told me, Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. Leather could be stitched into coats, or added to mail to provide added protection. Even the non-conformists are influenced by societal norms. Now, for the feedbackit depends what POV you're writing in. 2012 - Whats the respected uniform, and does your character wear it? And above all, people share their writing, get feedback, build friendships and develop greater confidence not just in their writing, but in themselves too. On occasion, Abi pretends to be a poet. Clothes that are suitable for everyday wear rather than formal occasions. 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. ), Your character and communitys financial resources. A self-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. I second the idea of describing the reactions of the characters to the city. A jacket or coat of mail was usually worn with a hood, or coif, of the same material to protect the head and neck. I would be great to expand it with armor from other areas, Samurai armor, for example. The aim was not to cause any impediment to movement. Maybe their goal is to entice a mate. Thats a good example of using clothing to reinforce the narrative of a characters arc. Dragon scales, fiery furs and feathers and other elements can quickly turn a standard item into a fantasy one. 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. The complete opposite is true for fantasy and historic clothing. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. 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. So this really reaffirmed that approach for me. I dont mean camisoles and cardigans. Now on the other end of the spectrum we have fantasy clothing and more history based clothing. Try some colour. And if you dont write historical fiction? Nylon and polyester fabrics weren't invented until almost the mid 20th century for example. Youre not infodumping. 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. 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. Excuse the on hold background music. Continued successes could see knights rise higher up the ranks. Richie also runs The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, a podcast devoted to helping writers improve their craft. But it makes a good story. Or at least they know what century theyre in. As with body armor, great efforts were made with the designs of helmets. 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. This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. Both doublets and chain mail were worn in conjunction with plated armor for that added protection, particularly for areas plate could not cover, such as arms and the groin. That was the theory. As the battle continued through the day, a rumor grew that Harold had died or fled the field, I forget which. It would have been extremely warm too. Fancy dresses. A warrior had to fight the enemy, and to fight his armor as well would be too distracting. Sometimes the simplest changes are enough to create something completely new and ideal for a particular universe. Those outfits can become iconic. This is a fun one. s a fantastic image that Thomas Feichtmeir, AKA Cyangmou has put together. His pants are simple and narrow and reach down to his hard leather shoes. Dont worry, thats not a trick question. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. Some helmets had chain attached which hung around and protected the neck, called an aventail, and most were padded inside, for added comfort. Do not describe a character's clothing except as that point of view character would do so. Theyre the lifeblood of any relationship. In other words: To describe a fantasy world, use either neutral terms, or made up words. So why not join the gang? But status can be communicated in more subtle ways, too. Maybe your character is snuggled up in their fleece pajamas while the blizzard rages outside. Also try searching cool fantasy armor, or epic fantasy armor. Sweaters or jumpers? 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. Thanks I will be following your blog from now one I just came across it today. This may seem like a tricky thing to do as there's so much out there already, but it can often be as simple as simply changing a texture, the patterns used or the amount of fabric. But the definition of sneaky depends on your characters situation. This usually involves dresses from some time pre-renaissance and a tunic or shirt paired with trousers for men and women who are doing warrior stuff. Also bear in mind that not all clothing descriptions have to be presented as She put on x or He was wearing y. You can draw your readers attention to an item of clothing by having your character draw on their jeans or fiddle with their collar. Characters wear more than just clothes. 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. Someone jumps down from a boundary wall wearing dark clothes and clutching a bag, that's enough of a clue they're a burglar, and if the protagonist now has to chase them then a description of the form those clothes take down to the buckles on the shoes is going to break the flow. Use fashion and clothing history archives if necessary. Choose A Chapter The Fantasy Genre And Medieval Armor Chain Mail Plated Armor Helmets Other Types Of Armor The Medieval Knight Ha-ha! Not all trends return and fashion isn't perfectly cyclical. Or else that she feels shamed by her Aunt and thus decides to be good. 28 First of all, beautiful dress and mask! Send private message Achievements: Need help with clothing description in Fantasy #1 I'm writing a Fantasy Novel in the middle ages, filled with swords and magic However, I realize I have trouble trying to convey how the characters look, like what the nobles' attire, the bandit's armor. Black and white usually does the trick as well. Any suggestions on how to properly do this? Give your wealthy character a pair of Louboutins and dress your non-wealthy characters in hand-me-downs. - 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. Play with the question of presentation and power! They could withstand high-velocity strikes from a javelin or lance, driven home by somebody charging forwards on horseback. It's part of culture, so it's definitely something to keep in mind since your fictional universes will have some form of culture as well.