Notes on Fashion & Status

[aldersprig]

First: The Callanthe like bright colours, and they like to mix them. They're hampered only by not having advanced chemical dyeing techniques. This drawing, from the Peacock King, is what they'd wear if they could manage those colours.

I was looking at Russian historical garb today, and I've noticed a trend: most historical clothing seems to be based on "put on layer after layer of the same basic pattern until you're warm." This makes sense: having a summer & winter wardrobe separate of one another is expensive.

Clothing and status:

So the side the shirts close on indicates skilled worker vs. unskilled labor.

Fabric would also be an indication of status: silk is expensive in any world.

Add on to that pants. I'm thinking that pants are worn by those for whom long skirts would get in the way - those who ride, and those who labor manually. So an emperor and a farmer might wear very similar outfits, but the emperor's silk tunic closes over the right shoulder, and the farmer's hemp tunic over the left.

I'm still up in the air on embroidery/beading/etc. And hats! Hats are great for warmth. But. I don't see the modesty issue coming up in quite the same way. I <3 beanies, but if I go with them, we hearken back more and more to China.

ETA: Terminology! Turkish, modern English, any one of the medieval European? Is it a kirtle or a cote or a qipao or a tunica or a liene or a...?

ETA: Qitari.

ETA: Neat site on qipao http://qipao.info/

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, yes, cost is one limiter on who wears what, but do the Callanthe have Sumptuary laws as well? It's something to consider.

Becka

[aldersprig]

I have :-) I'm not sure yet if they do or not.

[clare_dragonfly]

DYEING

::thwaps::

[aldersprig]

*wince* miew. Corrected. Never claimed I could spell!

[eseme]

Hey, I recognize that knitting!

[aldersprig]

Yeah, I really ought to finish those and mail them to you, since they'll never fit me.

[eseme]

*grins*

No worries. I am now like 70% done or so... on a pair of mitts I started while living in Sidney!

These things take time.

[aldersprig]

*laugh* they do, and, what's more, I have to actually knit to get anything done.

Baby cousin was born and is a baby girl, squueeeee!

[eseme]

Oh, yay! Congrats on the new family member, and the many happy hours of knitting ahead of you. *grins*

But yes, knitting is like that (looks at the pile of half an afghan). Amazingly, crochet is the same way.

[aldersprig]

It would help if I picked up my knitting at all. BUt I can't be online and knit at the same time...

[eseme]

My solution (knit during D&D game) is not going to be helpful.

The only other regular project time I had was a once a week meetup at Barnes and Noble with a friend - since the D&D game moved to Tuesdays, I lost that. And am less productive.

Maybe knit at cons? It did seem popular at Albacon. Not huge productivity for the year, but maybe another reason to go to more cons?

[aldersprig]

Knitting at cons only works when I don't want to network, sadly.

I just need to buckle down and start knitting, once the hTML crunching is done.

[eseme]

Cool! I hope you get to make stuff for you, not just the new cousin.

[aldersprig]

bububut... bebe!

[eseme]

I said "not just"! Stuff for baby and stuff for you. Do both!