#i have often felt more comfortable in highly patterned loose shirts

[omophagias]

worldbuilding june, day 18: what are the fashion norms in your world?

Varied, to say the least. Everyone in this area of Vaugwèrr wears some kind of clothing (with the exception of some Garredi hermits). [This one is long as hell and I’m sorry.]

The Quktil make most of their clothing out of furs and skins. There isn’t much gender differentiation in the shape of the clothing—fur or skin trims, beading, and woven or fur appliqués are the main methods of decoration, and there are different pattern groups for different individual traits (gender, familial affiliation, etc.) General wear is pants, a coat never shorter than hip-length that can be hooded or plain, double-layered boots (often the inners are higher than the outers, and they can be lavishly decorated), and mittens when needed. People often carry scrimshawed or carved charms and use them as jewelry. Elements of this dress—especially the coats and shoes—have been adopted by the Valtulu and eastern Gwalnazhek, who tend to incorporate more woolen items into their clothing. 

The Valtulu dress in a very similar fashion as the Quktil but tend to decorate more predominantly with woven bands of brightly colored fabric than with beading. They often wear woolen undershirts along with or instead of their coats.

The Gwalnazhek wear primarily woolen clothing, although Quktil-style coats and boots are common especially on the colder islands. Men primarily wear pants and knee-length tunics; traditionally neuter dress is comprised of pants and calf-length or longer slit-sided dresses. Although women generally wear an ankle-length dress and a sort of apron-like over-dress on land, they wear more practical pants or neuter dresses in seafaring situations. Gwalnazhek clothing is generally as brightly dyed as its wearers can manage (often, not much) and embroidered, especially around the collar and cuffs. Earrings are common on all genders. Droùmenek dress is similar, although Droùmenek footwear is exclusively single-layered. Everyone wears belts, from which people hang their everyday tools as well as ornaments and charms.

In Arreshathra, common men and women generally wear long, soft, sleeveless tunics of wool or linen that close with ties over (optional) short- or long-sleeved undergarments and either long pants (which can be rolled or tied up) or a skirt. Women of all social classes cover their hair. Common clothing is generally left a natural color or dyed blue. Upper-class fashion is highly decorative and involves extremely intricate woven or embroidered designs, heavy use of jewels, and a rigid system of sumptuary laws.

The Fenashir tend to wear tunics or dresses and hose with thick-soled shoes; dresses are usually calf- or ankle-length and worn over a smock (but can be belted up) while tunics are usually around knee-length for common people and longer for upper classes. Heavy cloaks (often made of stitched-together tablet weaves in bright colors) in the winter and straw hats in the summer are a necessity. Pins, brooches, and clasps are very common decorative items. Breast-binding is widespread as well.

The Ku-Jemhar wear very long, almost gown-like tunics that close on one side, with a wide belt, over felt leggings with tall boots. Felt cloaks and capes are also common in inclement weather. Many wear round caps, often with added earflaps. Similar to Quktil dress, details about individuals are more communicated through their accessories and the decoration of their clothing than their clothing style. Embroidery, beading, and hair ornamentation (all Ku-Jemhar wear their hair long) are common techniques and usually carried out in bright and intricate patterns. Horsehair plumes worn on the cap are a common signifier of high status.

Common Nuhev men and women wear loose pants, often rolled up, with a vest or a loosely cut, thigh-length robe. Women sometimes wear skirts, and men cover their heads in public. Common people wear cotton or hemp, while ladies and their families wear cotton, fine wools, and silk. Nose ornaments are very common, ranging from a simple nose ring to heavy, ornate septum pendants that cover the wearer’s mouth. Upper-class women also wear complex headdresses, and their robes are covered in ornate brocades and embroideries. Upper-class men wear heavy, stiff, voluminous robes and are subject to various modesty codes.

Garredi dress involves a lot of drapery; common people wear sleeveless tunics pinned at the shoulders and belted at the waist, generally extending to around the knees or a little lower. Loose full-length robes are also common, depending on more specific cultural affiliations. Upper-class people wear large, dramatic robes with wide sleeves, often accented with equally large cloaks pinned at the shoulder and highly decorated sashes. Some Garredi cultures practice tattooing, usually with blue ink on the arms and face.

Prosperous Lanfisei men wear tunics with embroidered panels around the neck and wrists and down the front closure, flaring out at the waist and belted with a sash, over wide pants fitted into calf-length boots. Women wear loose shirts, skirts with similar wide embroidered bands, and the same style of boots. Long, padded jackets are common in the winter. Common Lanfisei wear more or less the same thing but less ornate. All Lanfisei wear their hair long; patterns of braiding or knotting and of weaving cords, ribbons, or charms into the hair indicate social status and are believed to ensure luck of various sorts. Scarification, generally in the form of parallel lines along the cheeks, is part of Lanfisei puberty rites.

Rural Tahhanriki wear loose shirts with high necks belted into skirts; upper-class and city-dwelling Tahhanriki tend towards tighter shirts and a slit-sided overdress with their skirt. Shawls, ranging from simple square fabrics to elaborately bordered items, are used as head-coverings.

The clothing of Ganmannet combines archaic Arreshathran influence—long sleeveless over-tunics or surcoats—with more traditional Ganmannet styles such as wide sleeves on blouses and overcoats and voluminous skirts on women. Like the Arreshathrans, Ganmannet women cover their hair and sometimes their lower faces as well. Heavy arm, wrist, and finger jewelry and pendant necklaces are very common among the upper classes. Dramatic headgear is also common and used as an indicator of specific rankings.

In general, shapechangers tend to incorporate their animal skin into their clothing as part of their natural existence—a selchie will often wear a sealskin cloak while in human form, a fox-spirit some foxfur trim (as well as, often, trailing, tail-like ribbons), or a swan-maiden feather decorations or uncommonly wide sleeves. This often isn’t an intentional choice so much as the animal skin enacting a sort of morphological resonance on the shapechanger’s clothing. There isn’t really any pan-shapechanger mode of dress beyond the general bisklavredenn preference for looser clothing at the times when their shifts are about to happen.

Seafolk who live on the land usually dress like their human neighbors, although they have a decreased sensitivity to cold. Marine seafolk don’t wear clothing (although the more humanoid ones will cover their genital areas* to preserve the comfort of humans if they go on land) but tend towards a lot of personal jewelry and ornamentation.

*I can’t believe this is the only footnote on this monster post, but I just wanted to say that after a point seafolk genitalia, even if their lower halves aren’t literally fish, are not human-like and are usually some kind of cloaca. I don’t want to talk any more about fish reproductive systems.