Best Dressed: 5 Tips for Writing Better Fictional Clothing
Every culture in the world, no matter how big or small, has its own aesthetic. That aesthetic, of course, includes clothing.
Fashion has been a huge part of society since clothing became a thing, determined by countless factors over the ages. When writing a fictional culture for a science fiction or fantasy world, clothing is a part of cultural identity that can’t really be ignored (unless you want your culture to look bland and uninteresting, which you probably don’t).
But how do you dress the people of your culture? How do you decide what they should wear?
Well, here are a few good questions you should ask yourself when clothing your culture to make them stand out among the others.
1. What climate do they live in?
This is the first thing you should ask yourself.
A person who lives in an icy tundra (assuming they are human or have human-like reactions to temperature), are not going to go around wearing thin layers. A person who lives in a desert is not going to be wearing heavy furs.
Make sure your characters are dressed appropriately for their environment.
Look at cultures in our world that are in similar environments to the one you are writing, and look at what they are wearing. Look into why they wear what they wear, and what the practical thought behind them are.
Also, consider things like protection from the weather. For example, if your people are in an area with a lot of sun or rain, hats will likely be a priority, just as things like gloves are important in colder regions. The first factor that affects clothing design is function, so figure out the necessary functions of your culture’s clothing before moving onward.
2. Are there restricted or required articles of clothing?
Do certain members of society have to wear specific articles of clothing? Are there articles of clothing that are reserved for only high-ranking members, like leaders? Are there colours reserved for the priesthood or elders, or even for specific organizations? What about religious or ceremonial connotations of clothing? Are there types of clothing, colours, or symbols that mark someone out as important?
There is also the flipside of this, of course. Are there types of clothing that immediately mark someone as being lower in society or undesirable? Are there types of clothing (or a level of modesty) that’s considered taboo?
Look at your culture’s belief systems, and see if there are any parts that relate to clothing and aesthetic, including symbolism and colour.
A good real-life example of this is in Imperial China, where yellow was a colour reserved only for royalty due to its symbolism in their culture, and religious orders where certain clothing is required for different members and ranks.
This also touches into masculine and feminine clothing. What do men and women each wear? Is there a dress code for either, or does everyone kind of wear the same thing? What is considered men’s clothing vs. women’s?
Think of how you want your culture to act and think at its core, and let it inform how they dress.
3. What colours are available?
Catapulting off the previous point, let’s talk about colour for a moment.
What is the dye situation like in your culture?
The reason certain colours have been considered as belonging to the wealthy is, generally, due to the price of some dyes. The most commonly known, of course, is that in medieval Europe indigo and violet dye was rare and extremely expensive. If someone could afford clothing that was violet, it was a sign of massive wealth, which is why violet isn’t on most countries’ flags and only started being on flags very recently—making violet a national colour would bankrupt a country. Earth-toned dyes, like orange, yellow, and brown, were simply more affordable.
There are also different colours and dyes available in different regions of the world, depending on how common certain natural materials are. Even though indigo was a rare pigment in medieval Europe for clothing, it was much more common in ancient Japan, where the indigo plant was far more common and accessible.
If you’re basing your culture off a real-world location, consider the colours used by people in the real world and let it inform the colours your characters wear.
4. What Materials are readily available?
This goes deeper than simply what environment the culture is in, though it plays a big part.
This is more about farming and harvesting.
You can’t have wool clothing without animals that give wool, such as sheep or alpacas. Unless you’ve made another creature that gives wool, a society cannot have wool without animals that grow it. Same goes for silk—you need silk moths or some other creature that can create silk. If they aren’t harvesting the materials on their own, then they have to get it through trade, which in turn makes them more expensive.
It boils down to this: materials have to come from somewhere.
Does your culture make clothing from plant fibres? Do they use animal hides, or does some kind of cultural belief prevent them from doing so? Do they hunt a fantasy creature and use its materials for textiles?
Even though the textile industry isn’t something that you need to go into in your book (in fact, your readers will probably thank you for not doing so unless it’s relevant to the plot or characters), knowing what the clothing is made of will help you to describe and understand what it is your characters are wearing.
5. What accessories do they wear?
Jewellery is a common thread across cultures, either for particular cultural reasons or for the sake of just looking pretty. How do the people of the culture accessorize? Do they wear particular talismans as necklaces or bracelets? How about earrings or rings? Are there certain pieces of jewellery that are used as signs of commitment, such as marriage or religious affiliation?
On that note, what materials are available for making this jewellery, and what materials are seen as valuable? If the culture is heavily invested in hunting, for example, is there a kind of animal tooth or horn that is considered rare and valuable as a piece of jewellery? Is there a material that is commonly carved in some way, like a type of wood? Some kind of metal that is seen as high-value or cheap?
Think of what your culture values, and how that might relate to how the people of your culture decorate themselves.
In Conclusion
Clothing is an integral part of cultural worldbuilding, and having an understanding of how your culture uses, views, and makes clothing can add realism and depth to your cultural worldbuilding. Sprinkle in tidbits about how the clothing looks through description. Take inspiration from the real world when deciding what the people of your culture wear.
There are many fictional cultures out there, but by paying attention to the details that make up a culture’s unique aesthetics, you can make yours stand out from the crowd.
