And above all, people share their writing, get feedback, build friendships and develop greater confidence not just in their writing, but in themselves too. If sturdy is a top consideration, your character might be expecting trouble or adventure. Delighted to hear youre finding this useful. 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. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar a long time ago and Jesus was in a sharp black suit. Here are a few different types: We mentioned gambesons above. If you want futuristic fantasy simply follow the sci-fi/futuristic tips more or mix and match both sides. Make it mandatory to hold up a piece of clothing. Mantel creates a vivid sense of the wealth that the church amassed in these times. 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. This can be a very effective way if your universe is based on an existing culture. These elements are very important when taking into account the previous point. Fancy clothing description generator - Fantasy name generators Coats of plated armor soon came about, which consisted of a series of plates linked on top of one another. ), Your character and communitys financial resources. Why this arguably works better is the details of getting dressed tell us multiple details about Gem. As time marched on, small plates of leather or iron were added to the mail to protect key areas, such as vital organs. An owl, a real owl! Details about fit, cut, and material go a long way when describing the clothing of a character who longs to attract. 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. In the historical fiction books Ive read, none of the heroes took off their helmets unless they were knocked off, or bashed in. Share. Mention the familiar swooshing of the neighbors tracksuit as he runs by the house every morning or how the aunts jacket always smells like cold air and pine needles. Pingback: A fantasy writers guide to weaponry Richie Billing. A few small details of clothing may distinguish your characters from each other, highlighting their personalities. Select the most striking details and move on. 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. Use fashion and clothing history archives if necessary. Another benefit to chain mail, a point which can slip the mind of writers, is that it was cheap and efficient, able to accommodate different-sized warriors, unlike expensive plated armor. Required fields are marked *. In Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment, the poor, Tuberculosis-stricken Katerina Ivanovnas husband is trampled to death by a horse-drawn cart. Clean, powerful strikes were needed to disable a foe wearing mail. I'm sort of into historical armor so would get a kick out of finding an excuse to talk about vambraces/rerebraces, spaulders, etc. But it makes a good story. 100 Words to Describe Clothes - grammarhow.com Describing clothes? : r/writing - reddit But if you do want some guidelines, inspiration or just help this guide'll hopefully provide it. Like Borges would say, With historical fiction one interesting aspect is to bring back the reader to that time period. A scarf for example might be too hot for some areas, but it's obviously easy to leave those out. - Mix cultures. Clothes can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. As I write this, I am wearing jeans that are too big, a gray t-shirt I inherited from a former roommate, and a pilled hoodie from a lighting vendor that works with my friends husbands company. Not really. Thats a good example of using clothing to reinforce the narrative of a characters arc. But I find looking back in time to the likes of the medieval period can provide some wonderful and unique ideas. Mantel describes the cardinals vestments: They bring out the cardinals vestments, his copes. This includes things like a pilots uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket. This article was very helpfulcan you post some examples of showing versus telling when describing clothing? See more ideas about fantasy clothing, anime outfits, character outfits. And here are some great concepts for female fantasy armor. Fashion trends come and go and they often return later, albeit in a slightly different form. 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. That would depend on a few things. Its okay if Todds checks his designer watch three pages after you mention his silk tie. His writing offers a masterclass in how to describe clothing in stories. Embarrassed by her own inability to dress in finery for the occasion (and by being upstaged), Katerina resorts to scathing mockery of Amalia. Let your mind fill in the details, always checking back in with your adjectives to make sure the concept is moving in the right direction. 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. ). I love to wear baggy trousers in summer. Maybe your character is snuggled up in their fleece pajamas while the blizzard rages outside. By playing around with this you quickly create very subtle, but more unique fantasy-themed items. The reader does not need the full outfit in one go. In other words: To describe a fantasy world, use either neutral terms, or made up words. Or are you writing a spy character who dons Lululemon to infiltrate an upscale yoga studio? Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud? "A dress" (or using "the" to refer to a particular "garment") means an item of clothing that is normally worn by women. These images all go a lot further than white socks, green dress, and most of them dont require a lot of extra words. Another might claim power by striding in wearing torn jeans and a tank top. Well cover everything from helmets and plate armor to chainmail. When youre shopping for yourself, you know what you like but you dont know how to describe it. Slog through another meaningless day in a world where nothing matters? (Huh.). 28 First of all, beautiful dress and mask! Give your wealthy character a pair of Louboutins and dress your non-wealthy characters in hand-me-downs. 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. Fully geared up, you were a walking fortress. Jeans and a tee it was. As a friend told me, Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. We even have the technology to create clothing without seems. I tried to add as much variety as possible, but without turning the whole description into a mess. Which is to say, if you write from the point of view of a character who thinks of clothing only in terms of the simplest descriptors, that's just fine. How to Describe Clothing in a Story (with Examples) | Now Novel First and foremost, remember that clothing description is still storytelling. List of Medieval Clothing (91 terms!) - The Medieverse: Tim's Realistic ^.^ 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. How does their attire reflect what they want, what they fear, or where theyre going? Try some colour. Fantasy Armor - The Ultimate Guide - Richie Billing Or at least they know what century theyre in. Think of other interesting combinations: A teacher who dresses provocatively; a beggar with an innate sense of style. 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. Further reading How To Write Fight Scenes. 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. 50+ Fashion Terms: Fundamental Words Related to Style 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. All cultures have dress codes to some degree, some more so than others and some more stricter than others, but every culture has a range of styles that would be considered normal, 'out there' and unacceptable to most. Pingback: Fantasy Weapons - Medieval, Magic And Other Types - Richie Billing, Helping writers on their journey and readers find their next favourite story.. It really doesnt take much. One way is to avoid what we call filter words. Describing clothes : writing - reddit Its not an aspect of character design that bubbles up naturally from the depths of my creative soul. If all else fails use Google images and find some visual aids and inspiration sources, they can work wonders. Not to mention the social status of a person. As such, the contemporary tales that have followed, like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Dungeons and Dragons and everything in between, have paid homage to that era. Mail was lightweight and flexible. It's what we're slowly doing today. Metallic works well too, but make sure any metal bits or metallic looking bits are smooth and clean looking too, otherwise it might look too historic. Chain mail is a great piece of fantasy armor to use in your stories purely because of its flexibility. Heres a superb glossary, with pictures, of all types of armor. This idea of knights becoming lords was introduced in England by William the Conqueror. For example, a shy person will often wear 'regular' clothing, clothing that isn't too bright or outgoing in both design and colors. What the description shows is that many of the inviteesplay at status through fancy dress. Some had pointed snouts, the purpose of which was to deflect arrows when walking into arrow storms. If you look at popular works of fiction you'll find two trends, one is the simplistic and often tight-fit look and the other is the more over the top and extravagant look. It doesn't exclude those that don't know what a qipao is, nor break immersion for those who do. You may have imagined a man in an expensive suit or a woman in designer clothes. I love the way clothes can describe a character. Your email address will not be published. Besides, these are all just guidelines meant to spark some inspiration in you. They can be important too.If you want to breathe life into your stories, it's time to give tertiary characters a little love. Casual. 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. Lets talk about how to use clothing description as a storytelling tool, how to dress your character for their personality and setting, and how to make clothes interesting to anyone. Richie Billing writes fantasy fiction, historical fiction and stories of a darker nature. Or one who was forever wearing poorly-fitted clothing that appeared to be handed down from friends? These shallow details help us go pretty deep on character. A person who doesn't want to draw attention to themselves would dress completely differently today than they would even a few decades ago. But it provided an odd sense of security. Or they could be frantically running errands in leggings and a t-shirt. 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. Whats the respected uniform, and does your character wear it? There's also the element of technology that has to be taken into account. Hi Paige, thank you (and thanks for your question). Sometimes they're more interesting and lovable than the main characters themselves and end up stealing the show., Secrets. Do they need a ghillie suit to blend into the natural environment? - 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. Stealthy clothes bring to mind burglars clad in black outfits and soft-soled sneakers. - Break up clothing into more separate pieces and give them their own styles. (Find out more). Dr. Urbino in Marquezs example above fits the latter category. A warrior had to fight the enemy, and to fight his armor as well would be too distracting. You find that its about more than throwing out fashion terms and listing articles of clothing. Dont worry, thats not a trick question. (Hopefully, I dont really know your life, so maybe not. Changes in characters clothing can help revealcharacter development. The time period of your story. Consider this example from Hard Times. From time to time we may use affiliate links to help with the costs of running the site. But it can also be fun to play with the confidence and ease that comes with wealth. Sometimes the simplest changes are enough to create something completely new and ideal for a particular universe. Obviously clothing is extremely varied, especially dresses. The aim is to arm you with what you need to enrich your tales with brilliant detail. And if you were skilled at surviving and killing, it was a good way to make a living. Get free books, an invite to my exclusive writing group, writing tools and guides and much more when you join my community. - "Digital look". Examples of the prior are Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey and to some degree Star Wars and Tron. What backstory or character motivations could combinations of appearance and reality suggest? Another similar and perhaps way more popular example of this is Steampunk. This is often enough to make something look more futuristic, especially if used on something that looks glossy, shiny and/or smooth. For fantasy stories to be more believable, we need to understand how it interacts with our characters, especially if theyre enchanted. Clothing tells your reader a lot about your characters goals and motivations within a given scenario. Does your character need to hide? You could introduce magical enchantments or ability-granting traits. Improve this answer. What are the rules of your characters world? 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. Finally there's the aspect of fashion to take into account. So below, well take a look at the relationship between the genre of fantasy and medieval armor. 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. Because like all other character details, its not enough to paint a picture. Tell us how the wool of your protagonists sheath dress scratches the skin on the underside of her arm. 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. show how hard is to escape in a narrow street. 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. Thus his plain dress is, ironically, indicative of higher status. In battle, you are trying to strike a moving target, so mail was sufficient as most blows were glancing ones. Heres a video showing the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of leather armor against arrows. The reason we fuss over physical descriptions is not because its so important that the readers imagination gets it right. Those outfits can become iconic. However, you can show and imply a characters intention without spelling it out: Theyd agreed to meet downtown at six. 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. I mentioned my online writing group at the beginning of this guide. The eye slits were narrow to prevent all sizes of arrowheads from finding their way through. One reason clothing descriptions can start to feel like a tedious laundry list (see what I did there?) Vividly describing the colors of your character's clothing can enliven ordinary writing. Youre still not off the hook. Either way, their goal is to be desirable, whatever desirable means in this situation. 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. You can weave clothing description into your process when using our story planner for writers. But there is so much more to the experience of clothing than that.