#when it comes to fashion and textiles i mean

[swashbucklery]

The Rest Of The Internet, Probably: Interested in Lestat undressing to lay nude in his coffin in a display of extremely gay opulence for Louis

Me, A Lesbian: fawning over the exquisite Art Nouveau woodwork in the doors to Lestat’s extraordinarily gay opulent coffin room

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

this isn’t exactly a question, but has twisted wonderland ever expanded on gender norms before? I know in sunset savanna women seem to be highly respected, but it seems like that is a behavior unique to sunset savanna. It seems like gender discrimination might be uncommon in briar valley because Mallenoa was so respected by her subjects, but Sebek, silver, and grim were surprised to find out she was so self sufficient and powerful when they met her in Lilia’s dream (this is more my interpretation tho) . in the endless night event, silver tells a story about a warrior who taught for her country, which is a reference to mulan i think, and the person he is telling the story to is very surprised that the strong warrior is a girl. I think silver told that story to Leona but I don’t remember. I’ve heard that royal sword academy is a school boys and girls can both attend, but night raven college is one of the most prestigious magic schools out there, so it being boys only makes me wonder if gender is a part of magic politics, although we have been shown female characters who have high educations and magical abilities such as Mrs . Rosehearts

No, not really? It’s explicitly mentioned and touched upon in extended conversations maybe a total of… 3ish times. Of those instances, most are referring to the Sunset Savanna.

Gender norms and politics are some of those elements of world-building that can come off as really ham-fisted and preachy if the characters stop everything altogether and just start expositing about it. Thankfully, TWST largely doesn’t take that “telling” route and instead “shows” us what they mean through subtle implications.

Now, for the most part I think the gender norms of Twisted Wonderland are similar to the real world, but may be more progressive overall.

For one, Twisted Wonderland has many male characters (both in NRC and beyond it) who openly wear cosmetics. No one ever comments on men wearing makeup or dressing up in a negative light. Sometimes they complain about putting makeup on (ie the effort) or certain fashions they don’t vibe with but never do they say it’s “not manly” for them to put on makeup/perfume/jewelry, care about their clothing, etc. Even the characters we traditionally think of as masculine (Jack, Leona, etc.) wear eyeliner and eyeshadow, jewelry, or try new styles of clothing. Floyd and Ace express interest in fashion. Jamil cares about the quality of textiles and Kalim is willing to buy tons of jewelry for himself (and his classmates!!) if the mood strikes him. Rook regularly compliments people’s looks and Cater has an eye for aesthetics too. Lilia brags that he is “cute” and likes to show off his cuteness to others. And, of course, we cannot forget our queen Vil, who champions the idea of challenging and redefining gender norms. He also shares these ideals with Epel, who has been called out by Vil for having “outdated” gender norms. Given that Vil is such a popular celebrity (5 million followers on Magicam), I get the impression that the sentiments he extols is a popular way of thinking and is the direction that TWST society wants to move toward. (This is assuming that his fans are mainly younger people.) The boys often “dress up” and wear different makeup when visiting new places such as Silk City and and Clock Town, so it appears that a lot of Twisted Wonderland society that we’ve explored leans more liberal when to comes to gender expression.

Another detail I think is important is that many of the Great Seven—in fact, over half of them—are women. This is notable because oftentimes history glosses over the achievements and accomplishments of women in favor of their male peers. The fact that NRC and all of Twisted Wonderland seems to honor them in addition to their male counterparts says something. The G7 women aren’t even the only instance of female figures who shaped history. Azul and Floyd, for example, have brought up the Mermaid Princess on multiple occasions, talking about how her union with a human prince and personal efforts have strengthened the bond between land and sea.

Gendered terms to refer to mages exist, but according to Lilia, “witches” and “wizards” are outdated (they were used during the human/fae war era of ~400 years ago). Currently, most prefer to use the gender neutral terms “mage” or sometimes “sorcerer”.

There does not appear to be gender restrictions in terms of the modern day workforce either. We know of the boys’ family members who are great mages or hold significant power or status. Mrs. Rosehearts is an accomplished medical mage, Mrs. Ashengrotto runs the most popular restaurant in the Coral Sea and his grandmother is a benefactor to those in the neighborhood, Mrs. Shroud is STYX’s Chief Engineer, Meleanor is an integral leader of Briarland’s military forces, Maleficia is queen, etc. Even the women in more mundane roles play vital parts in their communities: Mrs. Clover is a baker alongside her husband, Mrs. Zigvolt assists her husband in his dental clinic, Granny Bucchi supports him as his only relative, Marja travels and helps sell her family’s produce, etc. There are many economic opportunities for women in this world.

Some may point out that NRC is a prestigious all-boys school, so there aren’t opportunities for women in education. The same goes for RSA, which is another prestigious all/ boys school. To that, I say… that’s because NRC is a very limited scope of magic education as a whole. We don’t know how many other schools are out there or if all magic schools are boys only. It’s not impossible to think that there may be girls only or mixed schools out there—but the NRC cast are the ones this game focuses on, so we view things from that perspective. I’d also like to add that we only see male students from other schools because of meta reasons: 1) there are limited game assets, so some details are inaccurately conveyed by the live 2D models, and 2) this is a joseimuke, a game with a predominantly male cast aimed at a target audience of women. It makes sense that there wouldn’t be many live 2D assets for random female mobs.

There isn’t any lore in-game or in other official materials which would imply that women are discriminated against in education or in the workforce. However, Twisted Wonderland at large seems to still perpetuate gender expectations and gendered traits as we understand them irl. There are some instances when the idea of women having traditionally feminine interests are mentioned: (Suitor Suit) Ace complains that his ex only liked romance and animal movies, disliked thrill rides, and preferred cute things and taking Magicam pics; (Birthday Boy) Cater also mentions his mother and older sisters having interests in making sweets and cute things. Additionally, as Anon mentions, in Endless Halloween Night, Silver shares the story of Mulan, who pretended to be a man to save her father from enlisting in the army. He told this tale to Jamil (not Leona!), who reacts with surprise when he learns that this capable warrior is a woman. At the same time, there are “masculine” expectations vaguely alluded to: Deuce states he is the “man” of his household, Epel of course worries about his manliness and sees Savanaclaw, the athletic dorm, as “cool”, etc.

Of course, these gender norms are not pervasive nor are they the same everywhere in Twisted Wonderland. One extreme is demonstrated through Epel, who holds the most regressive beliefs prior to Vil’s influence. This leads me to believe that Harveston is one of these areas that perpetuates these beliefs—and when you think about its population, it makes sense. Epel tells us that his hometown is largely elderly people, who are more likely to hold conservative worldviews compared to young people. The community, being small and located pretty far from nearby urban centers, is also exposed to fewer ideas that differ from what they perceive as their “norm”. These factors will naturally shape its residents and inform how they interact with and perceive others.

I actually think that Briar Valley would also be one of those areas with regressive gender norms for similar in-universe reasons as Harveston. Briar Valley is described to us as a region mainly populated by long-lived fae… meaning they are pretty old and more likely to be conservative. Not only that, but the area is very isolated and fae in general prefer to keep to their own kind. Briar Valley is also said to be opposed to change and new ideas and technology being introduced to their land. All of these factors suggest they would have more old-fashioned ideas about gender, not progressive ones. Meleanor and Maleficia may be widely respected and viewed as capable women, but I do not think it is fair to extrapolate how magically gifted monarchs of the Draconia bloodline are viewed to the governed population. It is more likely that they are the exception, not the rule. This better explains why Sebek and Silver, who are technically subjects of Briar Valley, are surprised to learn of a powerful princess. Their shock, as well as how Lilia describes human princesses as being meek and needing protection, also implies the usual gender norms. Given that humans seem to be the majority race in Twisted Wonderland, it means those gender expectations were predominant at the time.

The Sunset Savanna is the only country we know of at the moment where women are noted to be viewed differently. According to Leona, he “respects women” since the women back in his home country are physically stronger and stronger-willed than men. (This may be a reference to how irl lionesses do most of the hunting.) It’s not uncommon to see women in high-ranking warrior or guard positions because of this. This implies that the gender roles are somewhat reversed here; women are the ones expected to be strong, not men.

Slight tangent here: I don’t particularly subscribe to the idea that “strong” women are somehow better or more deserving of praise than “weak” women. It’s a fallacy that I see perpetuated way too often in media. True feminism does not mean demonizing what is seen as traditionally “feminine”, nor does it mean women can only be independent or strong by acting in traditionally “masculine” ways. Feminism means not judging or holding back women from pursuing whatever it is they want to do, be it a career of their own, homemaking, or anything in between. Women can be strong and admirable no matter what they choose to do with their lives.

Okay, so Twisted Wonderland does operate on gender norms—but that does NOT inherently mean that Twisted Wonderland is a sexist hellscape. Gender discrimination is on a spectrum, and we’ve yet to see any blatantly regressive demands be taken as anything of real merit in TWST. If anything, they get clowned on and told off as much as Sebek is for his anti-human sentiments. And, as I’ve pointed out earlier, Twisted Wonderland on the whole appears to accept and normalizes things that may not be widely accepted irl— namely, men in makeup or in traditionally feminine fashion. There’s also many examples we can look to of regular women in power or jobs across the world of Twisted Wonderland.

We also need to remember that TWST was penned by people who also live in a society of gender norms, so it’s expected for their lived experiences to also bleed into the worlds they create. It doesn’t make them bad people, it just makes them human. They write what they know and also play around with the ideas of different societies—those that skew in both directions (as we see with Harveston vs Sunset Savanna).

[flagellant]

Re: VIKTOR & ROLF Couture Fall/Winter 2024

I know fashion, especially couture, is meant to be an expressive and exploratory art. I think the exploration of geometry in fashion, silhouettes, and textures here is really neat! But I am unfamiliar with the designer - is there more to those pieces than meets the eye?

Sometimes there is less evident meaning in a collection to those who don't spend a lot of time and study in the industry. Where would you recommend going for more information on current collections?

If you remember these dresses from last year, Viktor & Rolf have been having a very interesting conversation about current fashion trends and the intersection of the cultural zeitgeist. Structuralism is big in fashion right now, arguably the biggest since Antoinette did her shit. A bunch of designers are fucking around with pushing the limits of what is possible to be worn on the body in a very literal sense, treating garments as almost like physics theorems to be solved. Textile sciences, 3d modeling, etc--it's all being used to make dresses that are more fiendishly complex than the last, than arguably we've ever been able to make.

And Viktor & Rolf specifically seem to be having a very purposeful dialogue of the absurdity of it in the face of what beauty standards are "supposed" to be, what high fashion is "supposed" to be. Their works have always relied heavily on pushing those boundaries and the current couture tech boom is just enabling a lot of their weirdness, which is absolutely fantastic to watch.

I would argue that their 2024 FW collection is specifically exploring what it means to be prioritizing those structuralist tendencies over the actual bodies they're being worn on. It's a conversation piece going back to the old hack question: "Who would ever want to wear this?". The harsh geometries make most of the collection entirely infeasible and impractical for actual wear. No celebrity is gonna want to sit at the Met wearing any of these. Their only value is...what, exactly? Where IS the value coming from? Why do we consider Viktor & Rolf as high fashion icons if the dresses they keep making seem to be actively infeasible for even their "intended" purpose as red carpet event shit? What happens to the fashion industry when the ability to make whatever you want no longer requires it to be intended to be worn, to be used a single time in that runway show and then shoved in an archive?

When couture maisons have to pump out hundreds of dresses every two months, when the world is burning down around us, when none of this matters--isn't it refreshing to see some absolutely buckwild shit on a runway? In a world where the spectacle is supposed to distract from the horror, it feels lately like Viktor & Rolf are specifically hamming up the absurdity of it all. They've watched the industry change from when they first started out into becoming something alien and unrecognizable. Fashion design demands Autocad and 3d printing and literally engineering in order to keep ahead of the pack--and in what is supposed to be an industry defined by the inherent humanity needed to design couture, perhaps these strange polygons are a sort of reckoning with that.

[lunastrophe]

Drow Fashion 🕷️✨ About Spider Silk - Part 1

Everything you may want - or may not want - to know about spider silk in (mostly Lolth-sworn) drow culture and fashion. In this part you will find information about:

sources of spider silk,

basic uses and meaning of spider silk in drow culture.

🕷️ Various Types Of Silk – among surfacers, silk spun by spiders is generally not widely used, but in the Underdark, spider silk is not excessively hard to obtain. It is extremely light, very elastic, durable and often has many other extraordinary properties, especially after being imbued with magic. In consequence, the Underdark silk market is probably vast.

Raw spider silk can vary in quality, depending mainly on the spider species it comes from – also, most spiders are naturally able to produce several types of silk that vary in thickness and adhesiveness. Some threads are suitable for producing delicate, transparent or semi-transparent materials. Some are useful for weaving thicker fabrics, carpets and tapiseries. Silk waste, after being properly processed, is also useful – for example, for making silken threads and fabrics of lesser quality.

🕷️ Silk Farming? – silk can be obtained from webbings, cocoons or egg sacks of wild spiders, or it can be extracted directly from caught or freshly killed specimens of various sizes. Such methods are generally time-consuming, though, and often dangerous.

Silk farming is probably quite popular in the Underdark, allowing to produce silk on a larger scale while maintaining better control over its quantity, quality and properties. Silk farms can contain thousands of more or less domesticated spiders that can belong to species best suited for producing silk.

Headcanon warning - silk farming is not mentioned in drow lore sources, I borrowed this idea from historical attempts to produce spider silk on a larger scale. So far, we humans are bad at this, mainly because we cannot figure out how to domesticate spiders (they like to kill each other, so it is hard to keep them together) and how to make them produce the kind of silk we want them to produce (every spider produces several types of silk and only some are suitable for making threads and textiles)... but I bet that drow would figure out how to make this work.

(If anyone is curious about this topic, I was inspired mainly by this article).

🕷️ Free-Range And Cruelty-Free* – silk can be obtained without harming the spiders and in case of more intelligent species, even with their explicit permission. Such things are probably especially important to Lolth-sworn drow who are forbidden to cage, mistreat or kill arachnids, or even to disturb inhabited spiderwebs.

*Only in relation to spiders, though. Underdark drow are probably not overly concerned with well-being of slaves and serfs tasked with gathering and processing silk...

Silk of spiders that live in temples and other places sacred to the Spider Queen, as well as silk of abyssal arachnids that live in Lolth’s domain, is most likely highly valued among worshippers of Lolth – especially among her priestesses.

🕷️ Uses Of Spider Silk – drow use silk to make armour, weapons, clothing, domestic and ceremonial textiles, high-quality strings, lines, nets and tents, and various works of craft and art. Spider webs, often calcified with magic, are used in creation of architecture ornaments or sometimes even whole structures like bridges, passages or buildings.

Among Lolth-sworn drow, spider silk is closely connected to worship of Lolth and is widely present in Lolthite temples and shrines – just like living spiders. It is said that Lolth herself favours silk and that when she takes the guise of a drow, she appears as a lithe drow woman dressed in a gossamer gown woven from spider silk.

Spider silk is also useful as a spell component and it can be used to craft magical items. For example, silk of phase spider and strands of ether are needed to create a portable hole – wondrous item that looks like a circle of black cloth.

For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️

[stepmarchen]

okay i know that you said you're not the greatest history buff, but i realy wanted to know your take on the Safavid kingdom as a representation of a middle eastern community..? if you've read enough manhwas you probably have seen some stupid stereotypes and it realy sucks. god i feel like i'm bothering you asking this i mean we don't know much about safavid .. you don't have to answer this :D

of course! i'll try my best to speak about it! the floor is also open to anyone who has their own additions!

So. We all know that ASM borrows inspiration from existing territories and conflict from the 1700s all the way up to the late 1800s, right? Well get ready for this.

If we use this same research model, we'll come to find that the Safavid Dynasty also existed in Iran back in the 16th century. Which means we have a direct reference point we can compare the (manhwa) Safavid Kingdom to! (just remember to take it with a few grains of salt. We're dealing with 400+ years of history here!)

In my humble opinion (as someone who isn't part of the middle-eastern community btw), I feel like ASM does a pretty fair job at representing the middle east via Safavid/Pasha Family. The biggest hurdle just comes from the fact we haven't seen much of them yet.

The first thing I noticed was the architecture. During Halima's trip back home to Safavid we get to see ORKA's depiction of the Kingdom. As you can see below, the inspiration behind the Bahjat's Palace is pretty directly linked to the Meidan Emam in Isfahan, a royal mosque from the Safavid Era!

Unfortunately, the establishing shot of the city isn't as easy to compare, with the introduction of modern architecture. But if we look at Yazd, an untouched city in Iran, we can see the traces of inspiration with just a few minor discrepancies: minaret, domed mosques, earthen town houses.

We also get these small fleeting moments that really make the characters feel like they're from another country. For example, Nasir, Ali's escort can be seen wielding a curved sword as opposed to a European broadsword. Later, Nora mentions that it is a shamshir, a type of Persian scimitar.

even these small details really make for great world building. Honestly, I'd love to see these props make a comeback in future scenes. Like can you imagine seeing one of the rugs Ali brought in the Neuschwanstein Castle?

Now to finally get to the part you've probably been waiting for. The clothes.

Unfortunately, I'm not as well versed in royal fashion in the Middle East so I had a hard time identified the style of dress.

When we compare the real Shahs of the Safavid Dynasty, we'll see that their fashion of choice changed greatly over the course of the ruling. I couldn't pinpoint exactly who, when or which specific culture ORKA is referencing here. But we do see some elements from Tahmasp I (feathered turban, ornate belt, embroidered textiles). Please correct me if I've made any errors here. I'm totally not confident in my Middle Eastern fashion history.

But above all else, I really just enjoy how the Pasha family is written and designed. I think we've seen stereotypes in all forms of media where middle easterners are portrayed... not so well.

In ASM, they're just the Pashas. As a foreign kingdom, they pose a threat against the Empire, but they're not evil. The King seems to be as tired with Halima's bullshit as the Empress is with Theo. Even Nasir has his own occasional dialogue, exasperated by Ali's behavior. And if you've read the same comics I have, we're all too familiar with the "dangerous and stoic middle-easterner" stereotype.

IMO, we've seen "foreign" characters in manga/manhwa that are usually boiled down to one of three types: the socially insensitive clowns/perverts, the murderer, or the alien that somehow has white skin and hair. but I personally find it a breath of fresh air how ASM leans full into the concept of darker skinned characters with dark hair and actual rounded personalities.

This shouldn't be such a high bar to reach, but ORKA has one again reached it.

[baronetcoins]

Some post-canon mystery twins headcanons

in collaboration with @a-pepper-honey

College

Dipper and Mabel have had time in high school to grow more comfortable with a little more independence, but don’t want to leave each other behind entirely

So they wind up going to colleges that are nearby each other but not to the same school

And they wind up in Oregon to be closer to friends and whatnot

I'm an Oregonian so I'm allowed to have opinions on their school choices

Mabel goes to PNCA and gets a bachelors of fine arts with a minor in fashion

Dipper gets into Reed and decides to go there because he isn’t really sure what he wants to do with his life yet

His application essay is about the life skills he learned from cryptid hunting and it’s pretty good. admissions people think he's doing a creative writing exercise but he means it entirely seriously.

Mabel is a little jealous of how proud of him people are over this but shakes it off. She has a Plan. And he’s her brother, she’s also proud of him.

I know people like to HC him going into film because he talks about wanting to do a ghost hunting show(?) But to me he’s too plan-oriented and anxious to really feel comfortable with gambling it all on Hollywood

So he goes to a liberal arts school to be able to figure things out some

And discovers that while he is a nerd, he’s not as in to physics and the like as Ford is.

Instead he likes puzzles and mysteries and putting things together

And I think he has a knack for archive research

So he winds up falling into a history program

And graduates with a major in History and a minor in Film and Media Studies.

His thesis is something on the role of espionage in the Cold War.

(Stan is proud of how he’s picked a different way to be a little bit of a thorn in the government’s side)

Area man learns how to file FOIA requests, uses this knowledge liberally

(He does still wind up getting certified to run the nuclear reactor, because that’s neat and not really more complicated than an interdimensional portal)

After College

Mabel is ambitious and believes in herself and her art career Takes Off

She does lots of photography and fashion as big sculptural art

As well as other work with textiles

Her art never looses that quintessential Mabel maximalism, but it does gain a really biting angle of social commentary.

Everyone comes to her first gallery show.

Dipper wears a shirt with buttons on it, which counts as formal in Oregon.

Stan wears his “Goodbye Stan” sweater and brags to anyone who will listen about how he has a Mabel Pines Original and when she’s famous it’s going to be worth millions

Ford reads a bunch of theory beforehand because he doesn’t know how to to talk about Art and he still doesn’t really but Mabel recognizes and appreciates the effort

Her first bit of work to gain national attention is a series critiquing the demands placed on models after talking with some people in the industry while on shoots

Dipper is initially a bit down about being overshadowed, but she never rubs it in his face

Meanwhile he gets gently encouraged to go for a PhD

Specializes in 20th century history

While he’s in grad school he starts a buzzfeed unsolved style YouTube channel

Mabel is his first subscriber

He winds up teaching university while keeping the channel running on the side. It never becomes HUGE, but it eventually gains a steady following as a kind of niche but much beloved project.

This suits him fine

He continues to wear jeans and a T-shirt to teach

He’s known as the absentminded and kind of weird professor, but he tries to help people out and he grades fairly so he’s a beloved eccentric

If anything happens to the cool guy who teaches a history of espionage course every odd year spring I will kill everyone in this building and then myself

If you go to his office hours you Will see that he uses a red string board to organize his papers. For the aesthetic.

Dork

[intergalacticfop]

Dating a Jacket, Part 1

The Eighteenth-Century Assumption

Part 2 here

Sometimes you come across a piece of clothing and the date just seems a little too ambiguous. That was the case with this jacket, number 1981.314.2, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is said to be from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century. The good people at the Costume Institute within the Met were kind enough to take detailed photos of the jacket for me, including details of construction. These images were invaluable in allowing me to create my own version, but have also given me some questions about their chosen date. I am not allowed to share the images they took for me without express permission, so if necessary I will include photos from my own jacket.

First, let us remind ourselves of what the jacket looks like:

Left: jacket, Italian, 1981.314.2. Dated 2nd quarter 18th c. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Right: my own recreation of the same jacket.

The Met gives the original jacket a moderately wide date range of 2nd quarter of the 18th century, so between 1725 and 1750. And I can see what influenced them to make that decision. At first glance, the overall shape has strong similarities with the examples below of wide-necked riding jackets.

Left: Casaquin, textile 1710-1720, garment 1720-1730. Right: Casaquin, c. 1730-1740. Both from Palais Galliera

Left: Agnieszka Emercjanna Pociej ascribed to Ádám Mányoki, before 1722. Right: Lucy Pelham-Holles by Godfrey Kneller, 1722.

Left: Sophie Marie von Voss by Antoine Pesne, 1746-1751. Right: Maria-Antonia von Fürstenberg by Franz Josef Weiss, 1758.

Please note, however, that regional fashion changes do exist and none of the examples are Italian. I could not find any images of similar jackets from Italy. If anyone does have images of riding habits/jackets from Italy in the first half of the 18th century, I'd love to see them! However, these images do show at least a moderate geographic distribution of this trend: France, Germany (Prussia and Swabia), England, and Poland. All of the examples feature a wider neckline than the close-to-the-neck style found in men's coats and in some other women's riding jackets, and also feature metallic trim embellishing the front and cuffs. So far, so good, right? Well--let's dig deeper.

First, what do I mean by "riding jacket?" I am using the phrase to denote these and other women’s jackets from the 17th and 18th century that are inspired by menswear and originally used for the purpose of riding and hunting. Some of you may be more familiar with the term "riding habit" in which the jacket is worn with a matching petticoat and maybe a waistcoat to create a complete outfit.

Many of these jackets have trends directly borrowed from menswear like pockets and button-fronts, and fasten at the center front without a stomacher. However, as riding jackets and riding habits became an acceptable part of fashionable dress, some of these characteristics may have been adapted, or vanished almost entirely, as is the case with the two French casaquins seen above. These jackets represent the way that practical garments adapted to fashionable tastes. You can see Mme Gaspard de Peleran wearing a very similar jacket in this sketch by Liotard–its equestrian nature is denoted by the long riding whip she holds in her hand.

Madame Gaspard de Péleran by Jean-Etienne Liotard, est 1738-1742 (my estimate is based on Liotard's residence in Turkey from 1738 to 1742, where the subject's husband was French Consul in Smyrna)

So where do my doubts about the Met's jacket come from? Well, it's mainly the construction. When we look at extant riding jackets, however, the vast majority of the (admittedly few) originals have front waist seams, something absent from my own. The brocade casaquin above? waist seam. The pink casaquin? can't say, hidden by lace, could be either. This 1730-1750 riding jacket from the Snowshill Wade Costume collection was even patterned in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion Volume 1, pp 24-25, so you can really see the waist seam:

Whether plain or ornate, you'll probably find a waist seam!

Left: Riding Jacket, 1740s, John Bright Collection. Right: Riding Coat, 1750-1759, V&A Museum.

I found exactly one riding jacket which clearly does not have a front waist seam, and it's from very early in the period:

Jacket, 1710-1725, Palais Galliera.

If we look at paintings, we do find a few more examples that seemingly don't have a waist seam. Some of these might be artistic license or simply the artist not wanting to paint every single seam, but I'm inclined to believe at least some of them, like this painting by Nicholas Lancret:

Picnic After the Hunt (detail) by Nicolas Lancret, 1735-1740, National Gallery of Art.

Why do I trust it? The waist wrinkles. Ask me how I know...

Okay, so, a waist seam of lack thereof isn't proof one or the other about dating. But there are other oddities of construction as well. For instance, looking at this picture of my own jacket, do you see the pocket? These pockets have no flap and are cut straight across, whereas every other example I've shown so far has a pocket flap. This is much more in keeping with men's coats from the same period:

Left: Coat, British, 1720s, Met Costume Institute. Right: Coat, German, 1720s-1730s, LACMA.

Also, where are the rest of the buttons? The jacket held by the Met has 100 buttons total--33 along the front, 8 along each pocket, and 17 along the side and back vents. These men's coats, the most button-heavy of all the examples shown here, have buttons along the fronts, below the pocket flaps, and along the top cuffs, but none running along the vents:

In addition, the Met jacket has large contrasting cuffs, which does not seem to be as much an element of jackets from the 2nd quarter of the 18th century, unless it matched a waistcoat.

Top: Le Repas au retour de la chasse (detail) by Nicolas Lancret, c. 1725. Bottom Left: Anna Katarzyna Orzelska by Louis de Silvestre, c.1730. (red waistcoat matching cuffs is just visible at front opening below lace). Bottom Right: Coat, c. 1735, National Museums Scotland.

None of these cuffs have a heavy trim around the edge though, like the pleated pink ribbon and silver braid on the Met's jacket. It is possible that the cuffs and trim are a later addition, but just comparing the braid on the cuffs to the braid on the rest of the jacket, they appear to be the same 4-strand silver metallic braid.

While this does not rule out the possibility that they were an addition made at a different time, it does make it, in my opinion, most likely that the cuffs are contemporary to the rest of the jacket. In addition, most cuffs of 1725-1750 jackets and coats are cut separately to the sleeve and then attached, whereas the cuffs of my jacket are cut in one with the sleeve and folded back.

So where does that leave us? Well, the Met appears to be correct in noticing that wide-necked riding jackets are largely a phenomenon of the early-to-mid 18th century. The large turned-back cuffs and lack of a waist seam would probably push this earlier in their proposed date range, closer to the 1720s than the 1750s. In my next post, however, I will introduce another possibility--what if the jacket is earlier? Maybe even much earlier?

Part 2

Additional Resources:

Images of more riding jackets found at the 18th Century Notebook from Larsdatter

@vincentbriggs has detailed posts on 1730s coat construction here and here, and in general is a font of knowledge for 18th-century tailoring.

jeannedepompadour.blogspot.com has a good collection of images of early 18th-century riding jackets.

Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion vol 1. Originally Published 1972, reissued 2021 by School of Historical Dress.

[thecrenellations]

Attolian ROYALTY, Irene and Eugenides, have come a long way since the wildcard couple was voted Most Likely To Break Up by our readers last year. We spotted them Saturday, sharing a romantic walk together on the way to Ambassador Ornon's birthday celebration. The fashionable pair chose a casual look, with Irene in a striking purple pullover and Eugenides in a teal cardigan. The ensembles are from their in-house designer, but the choice of wool garments is a clear gesture to Eddisian textile industries, a fact confirmed by Ornon's reaction. The ambassador "definitely noticed when they came in," said our source. What fun!

drawn (I mean, excavated from the Attolian tabloids) for hippolytas as part of Candy Hearts Exchange!

[horselessheadperson]

LITANY AGAINST FAST FASHION: A SHORT GUIDE

2 disclaimers:

I'm not an expert, these are just my ideas. The more you can add on or correct the better, please reblog

The first responsibility in fixing these issues (there are many, it's not a single problem with a single solution) lies with the people making the big money off of this. If you feel like you already have a system for making clothing and textiles work for *you* and you don't feel up to changing anything, that's absolutely fine and you should feel good about yourself for finding something that works.

Having said that, here's the main problem as I see it:

DUE TO FAST FASHION, WE'VE ALREADY PRODUCED ENOUGH TEXTILE/GARMENTS TO LAST US FOR GENERATIONS

The term "fast fashion" really comes from the rapid circulation of collections high street brands go through. H&M famously advertises they have "something new every time you visit", you can always find new pyjamas at Primark, Pull & Bear prints new shitty tshirts every day. Obviously, not all of those clothes actually sell well and then continue to get worn until they are absolutely beyond repair. Most of those garments end up in landfills. Even the stuff that sells usually doesn't survive past a couple uses and gets thrown out.

=> What can I do in the face of this?

Cherish every bit of textile you have. Even dishcloths. Remember even though sewing machines exist every label, hem, and embroidery is hand-crafted onto your bit of fabric. Was it under $50? Then it's likely someone suffered to bring this to you. This is obviously not your fault and this is not meant to inspire personal guilt, but it might inform the way you handle fabrics. Wash something instead of throwing it out whenever you can and follow the instructions on the label. Choose the right kind of fabric for your needs so you don't have to continuously get new stuff.

Learn how to repair and/or alter stuff. This is a big one HOWEVER I feel like this advice is often thrown around without mentioning that a lot of clothing these days isn't made to be repaired. Some socks are so thin and flimsy they won't take to darning and some shoes aren't meant to be cobbled. Most hems don't have enough spare fabric to lengthen a pair of trousers these days. Once you learn about these techniques though you'll be able to more or less tell which is which before buying. I feel confident in my repairing abilities now so I only buy clothing that's sturdy enough to take a few repairs. Again, if that's above price range, don't feel bad.

BUY SECONDHAND. This is the single best piece of advice anyone can give to avoid the fast fashion trap. Always look for a secondhand option - charity shops, bespoke vintage stores, refurbished design, heck, even ebay. Buy something that has already been through circulation and don't add to the demand for new products. The way quality has declined over the last ten years, this also means you'll likely get much higher quality.

Learn to make your own stuff. This is basically a last resort as it's costly and takes a lot of effort and resources. If you're at all interested in fashion though, it's very much worth it to at least look into one or two fabric arts to pick up on the side. You'll have full control over the materials, cut, size, and finish of the garments you make yourself. If nothing else doing this will help you appreciate how much a piece of fabric or a garment is really worth in terms of labour and expertise.

Wear a piece of clothing until you can't repair it any longer. Then, turn it into rags or use it as scrap material for small projects if you do any crafts. After that, donate or re-sell what you can. No, not everything that's donated gets sold, but it's still the most responsible way to get rid of textile products you don't need anymore.

Buying more expensive garments isn't always better. I've had €500 shoes that went bust after two wears and I've had cheap tshirts that lasted for years. When you need a longer lasting item, say, a coat or a pair of boots - do some research, check second hand options, and stay critical. Don't buy based on brand. A good example is Doc Martens, whose boots have famously more or less gone to shit the past 5 or so years.

Remember, fashion is both a verb and a noun. Enjoy!

[vindelllas]

predicting 2023 fashion trends using numerology 🍒🧺📿

🍒 mia goth in her 2022 horror film

🍒 as most of you are aware of, 2023’s numerological number is seven. seven, being the number of ketu (according to vedic numerology), is a highly spiritual value reminiscent of your own soul being your ultimate teacher. the shape of 7 itself mirrors the serpentine flow of the kundalini from the bottom of the spine to one’s third eye. the third eye serves as tisra til, or the “tenth gate”, a secret portal deemed to lead one into their inner spiritual plane. according to satsang, “tisra til is the door we go through, as it is where the soul goes through to know god. but the real meaning is that when the soul comes to know itself as god, as spirit, it can go before god. it worships god directly. and it is real simple: that’s the original condition of mankind”. but this phenomenon brings detachments, losses, mindlessness and wanderlust for the unknown. pulling you into the maddening abyss. this call for personal ascension and prevalence of ketu is ultimately what will influence the fashion trends that will arise within this year.

🍒 photos via tumblr/harper’s bazaar that encapsulate 2014’s overall online subcultures

🍒 the last time we entered a numerology 7 year was 2014. 2014 was an essential year who’s fashion trends were heavily influenced by tumblr. coincidentally the popularity of tumblr has increased today and has often been accused of being the primary forefather of the “reversal of the bbl” trend we are slowly starting to see. while i in no way believe that our body shapes and weight should serve as trends, it is interesting to see the rise and fall of the curvaceous figure in celebrities, such as the kardashians. 2022, the year of the number 6, is associated with shukra. shukra is the graha of fertility, voluptuousness and is associated with a generally curvaceous physique (according to vedic texts). whereas, ketu, the graha of disassociation and generally maleficence, bestows a heavily slender, lithe figure. this is ultimately why in 2014, there was the unfortunate rise of d*sordered consumption-based communities longing for this specific physique. additionally, in 2022, we saw a heavy push for beauty products, ranging from at-home waxes and hair masks to full makeup routines based on what face shape you have. this constant push of product and over-saturation of makeup and fashion trends (being venusian in nature) will cause many individuals to move away from this consumerist narrative and towards more sustainability, minimalism and less purchases. the same happened in our previous transition from 2013 (year of 6/shukra) to 2014 (year of 7/ketu), we transitioned from bubbly, hyperfeminine, ugg-wearing, victoria’s secret-clad, and ariana grande-influenced aesthetic to the grunge, lana del rey-esque, dyed hair, and generally “underground” aesthetic. as we are slowly being called to abandon the temporal, luxurious pleasures of shukra for the wanderlust, detaching properties of ketu in search of self-liberation from the masses and self-discovery.

🍒 visual representation of ketu’s rather epicurean fashion taste and the darker elements in the recent gothic revival

🍒 gothic influences are also on the horizon for 2023’s fashion trends. similar to american horror story’s 2014 influences, wednesday’s and mia goth’s prevalence in social media will likely be a contributor to people wanting to branch out of most of the current trends of hyper layering, uggs, and pastels on tiktok. this fashionable extension may range from incorporating more stripes, polka dots and velvet textiles to more epicurean looks complete with cross necklaces (an ode to the ketuvian act of dying to oneself) and intricate corsets. additionally, the more edgy statements of 2014, such as dip dyed hair and shiny combat boots are likely to come in full effect. the once prominence of dip dyed hair is due to the lack of disturbance to the hair follicle and temporary coloring of the hair cuticle. being able to dye your hair, with minimal damage (such as the absence bleaching), is a great way to immerse oneself in the varying energies of each graha safely. the most common colors for dip dyed hair were blue and pink. dip dyed pink hair is invoking shukra energies, whereas azure (in addition to indigo) coloring is invoking the energy of shani. considering the lessening relevance of shukra on this year’s numerology, shani’s prevalence will likely take precedent. this is due to shani being the precursor to the teachings of ketu. where shani grants hardships, struggles, and frustration, ketu grants detachment, philosophy and maturity.

🍒 examples of the western, americana and vintage aesthetics

🍒 with the rising prevalence of mia goth, we are liking going to see a rise in the traditional/americana aesthetic (as executed in her “x” and “pearl” films). this aesthetic primarily consisting of soft music, rural scenery, folklore, and material culture which are seen as distinctly or especially "american". this americana style is characterized by nostalgia for an idealized past, often seen as "more wholesome" than modern american culture and style and a call to traditionalism. while this aesthetic is often commercialized, restaurant chains such as red robin and applebee's decorate their interior walls with a collection of mid-20th century artifacts and signage which is affectionately known as "american clutter”, modern, stylistic iterations are using traditional, western clothing that could be found in your nearest thrift or vintage store. such as, leather cowboy boots, denim overalls, white and red colored clothing (symbolic of the duality of purification and ignition of ketu), bandanas, and truly any norman rockwell and lana del rey-esc designs. this entire predicted wave of fashionable frontierism is symbolic of ketu’s call to one’s ancestral roots and unearthing/remembering those who came before us.

🍒 examples of revolutionized vintage iconography made to fit modern-day styling

🍒 within the americana aesthetic, simpler, more distressed textiles and prints will arise in popularity. modest kitten heels and nylon tights which rose to infamy in 1942 (due to the shortage of nylon), yet another 7 year, will be heavily worn. additionally, edgy elements of distressed, vintage, or pre-worn clothing, juxtaposed with layered jewelry, will serve as a subtle nod to the traditionalism and retro charm of the americana aesthetic while incorporating the aforementioned gothic elements. similar western notions of denim and low rise jeans will continue to prevail throughout 2023. many will opt for denim jackets as a casual piece, daisy duke shorts, and distressed boot jeans (perfect to pair with a good pair of boots). an overall emphasis of revealing clothing layered with tights and stockings will be seen.

🍒 dolce and gabbana autumn/winter 2020

🍒 crocheting and knitwear will become very integrated into mainstream fashion. light cardigans, heavy turtlenecks, and knitted leg-warmers, once seen in the coquette aesthetic, will turn in statement pieces. the unique and meditative nature of both artistic practices is what calls ketu natives to them. in claire nakti’s previous exploration of magha chandra natives, she noted their affinity for the practice of knitting. i believe this affinity is due to the writing of many devout catholics and christians and their juxtaposition of spirituality with the act of knitting. knitting serves as an act of mindfulness, as the craft is based upon intention and attention. in a similar fashion, those under the influence of ketu only focus themselves on pure intentions. in abstaining from engaging in behaviors that exacerbate their affinity for disassociation and choosing a practice that brings mindfulness and clarity, ketu natives are able to work towards attaining access to their tisra til. perhaps most interesting is the prevalence of christ-focused religions in the contemplation of the spiritual aspect of knitting. it is said that in order for one to go through their tisra til, they must call upon god by prayer or by the “hu” mantra (pronounced as “hugh”). the hu mantra, was the basis of the judeo, christian, and islamic traditions, that is, the ancient tetragrammaton. although the term “hu” predates all religions and belongs to no religion. it is said that sometimes in meditation or mindful contemplation, you'll hear “hu” almost as a hard rushing wind blowing, just as the apostles did when they were filled with the spirit. the mantra being considered as one’s personal love song to the higher power.

🍒 varying head covers intended for fashionable purposes yet likely resulting in spiritual benefits

🍒 another common judeo, christian, and islamic practice: head covering, will likely influence 2023 fashion. crocheted headwear, veils, ushankas, satin bows, tied silk scarves and more will continue to grace the runways of designers. paying homage to the presence of veiling in gothic subcultures and early 1940s hooded couture, by covering the spiritual vehicle that is our hair (particularly the roots of our hair). the ultra sleek, dramatic hooded silhouette is additionally worn to focus and contain one’s energy, providing clarity and a meditative focus on your ajna chakra (third eye). in regards to the eastern church practice of head coverings, bishop athanasius yohan spoke “when a woman wears the symbol of god’s government, a head covering, she is essentially a rebuke to all the fallen angels. her actions say to them, ‘you have rebelled against the holy god, but I submit to him and his headship. i choose not to follow your example of rebellion and pride.'” while many people choose not to veil for personal reasons, the act of covering one’s head or adorning it in cloth, produces similar results of inward focus and angelic guidance.

🍒 pastel iterations of the y2k aesthetic

🍒 lastly, as evidenced by my prior post, i theorize the y2k aesthetic will garner more prevalence due to its ketuvian undertones and influences. more so with less common iterations of the aesthetic that were not revived in 2022, such as plaid, micro skirts and shorts, denim skirts, and leg warmers. we will slowly start to move away from the “mcbling” aesthetic for a more subtle fit with preppy influences; symbolic of the philosophical nature of ketu. think of leather loafers, chunky knitted socks, polos, turtleneck sweatshirts, pearl jewelry, and slender, midsized bags. however, society’s fondness of pastel and pink colors within this aesthetic will slowly start to evolve for more interest in indigos, sultry blacks, neutral greys, baby blues, autumnal tans and silvery whites.

🍒 my previous exploration of the y2k aesthetic and its ketu influences aesthetic (in case you missed it)

🍒 bella hadid and vittoria ceretti for ports 1961’s 2022 autumn/winter campaign

i am interested to know if you guys are already wearing some of these trends and what fashion trends do you think will gain prevalence in 2023? i truly feel as if this year will be the revival of the 2014 tumblr aesthetic.

xoxo,

angel 💋

[torturedcoveydepartment]

Reasons why I fit - or don’t fit into each district of panem. No bc this is something I ask my friends ALL THE TIME & I always come up with amazing reasons for each and everyone BUT NOT MYSELf… sooo..

District 1 (luxury)

- Spending 2$ is like sticking a spear through my heart.. uh yeah

- Not really into that expensive stuff ASIDE FROM DRESSES. I WANNA GO TO THE METGALA..

- Jewlery is lovely..

District 2 (mansory)

- There’s no possibility I fit into this one by any means. Would cry. I hate stone quarries and that job is not flattering to me. NEXT

- Would get executed for flirting with a peacekeeper.

District 3 (technology)

- I asked my friend recently how I make an at sign (@) bc I have no clue. By now I’ve forgotten. I suck at technology and question which control CTRL is. NEXT

District 4 (fishing)

- I hate eating fish and anything from the sea

- Wouldn’t let my dad kill the fish he caught because I felt bad for it.

-Considers it murderer. NEXT LMAO.

District 5 (Power)

- I’m scared of electricity.. we did an experiment in class once and HELL I WAS AFRAUD OF GETTING A SHOCK. NEXT

District 6 (Transportation)

- I can’t drive. Only bike and walk. NEXT

District 7 (Lumber)

- I have a summer cottage by the woods..

District 8 (Textiles)

- I enjoy sewing until I mess up 5 minutes into it.

- Kinda like experimenting with fashion and colors.

District 9 (Grain)

- I like corn? I like oats sometimes. Oat milk is great actually.

District 10 (livestock)

- OH NO. I would grow a bond to the animals and cry when they get slaughtered. I also don’t know how to ride horses or take care of cows, or pigs or whatever.

District 11 (agriculture)

- I killed my cactus

- Managed to grow a zucchini plant

District 12 (mining)

- Wanted to become an archaeologist as a child

- I used to collect rocks LMAO

WHAT AM I EVEN…… 🤭 honestly I’d probably be a covey nomad lmao

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Sixteen (Part 2)

As final term goes on I seem to have a lot less time to socialise than I used to, spending late evenings in the computer room polishing off my digital art piece, or down in the life drawing studio compiling my best drawings from the year, or in the library composing my critical cultures essay, hours spent pouring over books to cite, researching and learning all about my chosen topic, which is the fashion and textile of Asian tribes. 

For most of this time I am alone, but for the times I amn’t, it’s because I’m with Dean. Whenever he has time off work he’ll join me in the lab or the studio or the library and we’ll sit there together silently working through the evening, ankles intertwined beneath the desks as we pore over books about contemporary ceramics, ancient civilisations, Iranian cinema, pop art and the frescoes of Pompeii. The clocks change in late March, and even as April comes and the sky is bright until late into the evening, we stay until the sun goes down and the light fades from the room and all that’s left is the fluorescence from the lamp on the table between us to light the pages of our books. 

“Do you ever get sick of this?” He asks me quietly one evening as I organise my bibliography on my laptop. I lift my head to look at him, hand fisted on his cheek as he stabs his own keyboard with one finger. “Sometimes.” I say. “But I think my essay is finally coming together.” 

He huffs. “It’s so stupid that we have to do this writing shite, this is supposed to be a fine arts degree.”

“Yeah I get that but it’s also an academic degree. There has to be some sort of essay portion, I don’t think you’ll ever get away without having to do it.”

“I’m terrible at writing.” He frowns. “And I’m so sick of reading these stupid books about fucking pottery, the words they use are such bullshit, it’s like these writers are having a contest to see who can make their book the hardest to understand.”

Dean’s education, as I’ve learned, is a touchy subject for him. He left school when he was fifteen because he had either some difficulties learning or a lack of interest. It isn’t clear to me which, but either way he struggles now because of it. I tried to ask him about it before but I only ended up irritating him and he shut down, so I’m careful before broaching it again. “If you need help with anything just let me know.” I say. 

“I don’t.” He goes back to typing something aggressively onto his laptop for several minutes before he whacks the backspace key in frustration and sits there with the heels of his hands dug into his eye sockets. I clear my throat nervously. “Dean, like, I mean it if there’s anything I can do-”

“I don’t need help.” He repeats. “As in, I don’t need you to help me, do you not get it?”

“I get it.” I say quietly. I try to go back to my own citation list but I seem to have lost where I was, my focus having been thrown by him. I scroll back up to the beginning of the bibliography and start checking it again. After several more minutes, he sighs and drops his hands back to his lap, and while I don’t dare look over at him, from the corner of my eye I see him drop his head and shake it from side to side. “I’m so sick of this.” He says. “I’m so tired of spending all of my time in this building. I just go from college to work and back to college again over and over. Everything is shit.”

“I know it’s hard right now.” I attempt. “But soon it’ll be over and you’ll have so much more time to relax during the summer. At least then when you’ll only be working in Primo you’ll have every afternoon free.”

“Yeah.” He says flatly. I know that it’s more than just pure exhaustion with him, more than just college. It’s his family, his father’s death, his sister, his aunts, all of these things that I can’t even begin to relate to or even know how to comfort him about, things that feel so far out of the scope of my experience that they only serve to remind me of the worlds between he and I, a terrain between us that I can’t traverse. It makes me feel weak, small, ineffective and childish. “I don’t know how to make you feel better.” I tell him. 

He sighs and beckons me towards him. “C’mere.” He says, and when I hesitate he repeats himself. “C’mere.” I get out of my seat and walk around the table to stand in front of him. He slides his hands around my waist and links them at my back, and then rests his cheek against my belly. For a moment I’m not sure what he wants me to do with him, but he hums with approval as I lift a hesitant hand and run it through his hair, the dark roots an inch long now and the bleach turning brassy yellow, beginning to grow long over the tops of his ears. It’s so silent in the empty library, nothing but the buzz of the lightbulbs and the gentle whirr of Dean’s laptop fan. He lifts his head and kisses my ribs, gazing up at me with honey coloured eyes that I am immediately knee deep in. Despite the sharp anglesthere really is something so lovely about his face. He takes me by the hips and pulls me easily down onto his lap.

“What?” I whisper. I stroke my thumbs over his dark brows and kiss him gently on his nose, and he looks back at me, eyes travelling over my body as he says “just let me kiss you.” He lifts my hands away from him, and the feeling of his fingers on my wrists makes my skin tingle with awareness. Heat flashes in his eyes and the weight of his gaze makes my breath catch in my throat, and when he kisses me he crushes his mouth against mine so suddenly that I want to gasp. He lets go of my wrists to hold my face and I’m free to touch him again, so I sink one hand into his thick hair while the other sweeps down his chest, then his hands grasp at my waist and pull me even closer to him. 

“Is this helping?” I murmur as he begins kissing my throat, and I’m sure that he can feel the flutter of my pulse against his lips. 

“Mhm.” He says, and guides me backwards so that the table edge presses into the base of my spine. He lifts me off him so I’m sitting on it, impatiently shoving his laptop and his books out of the way to make some room. I pull back to look at him, enjoying the way that his gaze sweeps over me before he takes me by the jaw and kisses the side of my mouth, his hands travelling to my chest, breath shuddering out of his nose as he captures my mouth again. “The things I want to do to you…” He says between hungry kisses. “If I told you about them they’d make you blush.” He moves his hands underneath me so he can hold me to him, right in the place that he wants me, his knee sliding between my legs until I can feel his thigh…

“Wait.” I whisper. 

His voice sounds hoarse and strained. “Evie… please.”

“We can’t be doing this here. Not in the library.”

He sighs against my collarbone and I feel him resign then, resting his forehead in the curve of my neck. His hands return to my waist. “Okay, it’s just, I think we should keep going.”

“And I think we need to stop.”

He sighs heavily and slumps back into his chair, his mouth a little swollen from kissing me, his amber coloured eyes expectantly fixed on my face as if waiting for an explanation, and I don’t really know what to say, so I just repeat myself. “Not in the library.”

“If not in the library then where? This is where we always are lately.”

“It’s not true, we go to the park together, we’ve gone to the cinema and to the harbour that time.”

“If we did what I wanted us to do in any of those places then we’d be arrested.”

I feel my cheeks flushed with heat. “Oh, well, I know, but-”

“And I’m not allowed in your apartment either, you’ve made that clear, since you’re hiding me from your housemate, and you won’t come home to my house either.-”

“You live in Kilbarrack.” I reason. “It’s too far away.” He also lives with three very intimidating sounding men with intimidating nicknames, one in particular that they ominously call Bones who I don’t feel ready to be in the presence of.

“So what do you want from me?” He insists, struggling to keep the impatience from his tone. The impatience that’s been steadily growing over recent weeks. “What is this to you?”

I hesitate. “We’re just getting to know each other.”

“We’re not really, not in the ways I want to get to know you. I just don’t get it. You’re so open with me about everything, your art, your family, your friend Kelly from school who was mean to you, why is it so easy for you to show me all those parts of you but when it comes to sex you’re a closed book?”

“Because that’s private. I’m the kind of person who likes to wait a while.”

He leans forward with his elbows on his knees and looks right up into my face from beneath me. “It’s been a while.” He tells me. “And I don’t get it.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Why does it have to be all about that for you? Can’t we just keep doing what we’re doing?”

“No.” He says. “Because you aren’t my girlfriend.”

“So unless I’m your girlfriend, it’s impossible for you to care about parts of me that aren’t the ones hidden by my underwear?”

“No, Evie.” He says, letting out this intense, frustrated little sound as he clenches his fist and throws his body back into the chair again. “Stop twisting everything and acting like the victim, I’m just asking you why you’re so closed. It’s not like you’re a virgin with no experience.”

I nod. 

“So is it something about me? Is there something off-putting?”

“No!” I cry. “It’s not that, it’s nothing to do with you at all, I just get nervous.” Distantly, I hear my phone buzz from inside the pocket of my coat that’s draped over the chair behind me. I ignore it. 

Dean continues. “So let’s have something to drink first, let’s just relax and I promise that I’ll be nice to you, I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“I know you’re not.” I say in a quiet voice, and he takes my hand, softening his expression as we interlace our fingers, his thumb gently stroking up and down the inner part of my wrist. “Look, Evie.” He says. “If you don’t want to, just say that, and it’ll be grand. I’m not here trying to force you to do anything. I was just asking the questions.”

“I want to.” I say, and the way he looks at me makes my stomach lurch with anticipation and unease all at once. “But not right now, not tonight, and not here.”

“Okay.” He says, watching me carefully. 

“On Thursdays.” I swallow. “My housemate always stays over at her boyfriend’s house in Clonskeagh. I’ll be alone.”

“Thursday.”

“But if I chicken out and I don’t want to do it…”

“Obviously, Evie, then we don’t have to.” 

“Okay.”

He smiles. “Look, I’m going to go home now, I’m tired of being in this building, I feel claustrophobic in it, and my neck hurts.” He stands up and I move out of his way as he snaps his laptop shut and begins gathering up all of his books to put them back onto their corresponding shelves. I stay leaning on the table and watch him as he does it. “It’s going to be fine.” I say, and he looks over his shoulder at me. “Your essay.” I clarify. “You’ll get it done.”

“Oh, that.” He says. “It’s just about the last thing on my mind.” Stuffing his laptop back into its case he says “My essay will be… whatever it ends up being, like. If I cared about it I’d probably be staying here longer. Here, are you gonna leave too? Do you want to walk to the bus together?”

“No, I think I’m going to stay another while and just finish up what I was doing.”

“Fair enough. I’ll see you tomorrow, so.” He takes me by the neck and plants a kiss on my cheek. 

“Bye.” I say to him, and he waves over his shoulder as he exits through the swinging doors and is swallowed into the dark hallway. 

Sighing, I resume my place in front of my laptop, jiggling my finger on the touchpad to wake it, and the screen flicks back to life and displays my bibliography in the exact disappointing state that I left it in. I start moving things around more, checking for spelling mistakes, and then I suddenly remember that I missed a message on my phone earlier, and eager for another chance to procrastinate I dive into my coat pocket for it. I feel my heart expand a little bit when I see a message from Jude. 

Rate me? 

Following the message is a mirror selfie of him in his Top Gun costume. He’s doing a very Tom-Cruise-accurate pose, turned to the side with his shoulder to the mirror, his arm lifted to give a thumbs up to the camera, but also to show off the big red white and blue TOMCAT patch that he ironed onto the sleeve. We’ve talked extensively about this costume over recent weeks, trying to figure out the best ways to make it as authentic as possible, not because there’s a prize for the best costume or anything, but because, as Jude explains to me, he has an insatiable need to be the best at everything he does. 

“It’s a sickness.” He told me last week. “I absolutely cannot be outdone.”

I grin at the photo, feeling proud, and partly responsible for how well it turned out, seeing as I was the one who searched Ebay for three out of the six patches on that costume, getting a kick out of finding the ones most like those from the film and for the best prices.

Just to tease him, I text back:

6 out of 10. Where are the aviator shades??

He replies just a moment later with another photograph, this time of him wearing them, doing a silly duck face. It looks like he’s out already, as there’s a handful of people around him out on the city streets, random arms and legs and elbows filling up the edges of the screen.

Happy? 

Yep, now that’s a 10 out of 10. 

Because it covers more of my face, is it?

Yes 100%, uggo. 

And when he texts back again I forget all about my essay. Thumbs zooming over my phone keyboard, mouth quirked up in a smile as I think of a hundred clever things to say to him, texting, laughing and texting until my laptop screen gives up waiting for me and fades back to black. 

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[trickstarbrave]

exploring elder scrolls lore is a lot like playing historian and theologian. its interesting, complex, and contradictory in ways many media tries and fails to create realism. it is told primarily through unreliable narrators, in game texts that contradict each other as much as they agree, with varying opinions and perspectives you are tasks to sort through and come to your own conclusion on often enough. sure, skyrim drops the ball sending you on infinite annoying fetch quests and plots that feel like they dont even effect the world around you and killing a god has about the same weight as getting a cool sword, but there is still some meat behind the bland surface they couldn’t quite scrape out despite their best efforts.

the problem with it i find, like most fantasy stories and epic tales, is that is male focused.

“but brave” people cry “female characters do things all the time!” this is true, we do actually have more substantial female characters in the elder scrolls who are just as important as their male counterparts. sure their male counterparts are usually not important at all, but there is equality in there. and you can be bi presumably because bethesda couldnt figure out how to code any other sexuality in the game. but what i mean by “male focused” is that most of the lore and mythos we get concerns male heroes, battles, and war. there are politics sure, but mostly things like religion and battles. the importance of textiles is never considered, different cuisines are afterthoughts, fashion is relegated mostly to armor and cheap trinkets for you to enchant. if it does not exist to further grand tales of combat, is largely ignored, and this is increasingly more and more the norm in the elder scrolls.

it isnt entirely non-existent. if you go looking you can find bits and pieces. but most things presumed to be “women’s work” are largely ignored despite making up most of daily life. weaving isn’t a skill you can learn when historically we do see people wear armor made of linen, but you can sure mine and melt down metal, something also mundane and usually boring, because blacksmithing and mining are seen as a traditionally masculine jobs. so saying “ugh no one wants to spin thread” doesn’t exactly hold up when its equally as boring to make dozens of iron ingots and iron daggers to level up smithing.

it’s also just a shame because (and this is touched upon more in older games at least) what clothes people wear can tell a lot about their culture, background, and class. it could be used for stealth, for blending in, and if you are dressed incorrectly you look like and are treated like an outsider. how food varies region by region shows what food they have available to them, what they produce, what goods are more expensive, and also can talk about background and class. riften and solitude should not be eating largely the same food just with different mead. nor should they be mostly dressed the same. these things add richness and complexity to a world that is now largely ignored because who gives a shit just pick up a weapon and fight that’s all that really matters.

skyrim in lore has sheep. of course it does, because they live in a cold climate with a limited growing season, they have devote more time for crops to feed their people and not on textile crops like you might see in warmer climates with longer growing seasons. yet you dont see any sheep, just goats. you don’t see shepherds, or hear about them. you dont see piles of wool, or women spinning thread by the fire or weaving. you don’t see them dyeing yarn or fabric or sewing clothes. even if you don’t want to make your player do it as a game mechanic you could have it be present in the world as a logical part of the setting just as you have npcs working in fields. instead clothes just magically appear in chests and other loot cabinets and are relatively worthless except to enchant despite fabric being a very expensive, labor intensive product to make. it just pops into existence anonymously, largely unimportant and uninteresting. they always say very little, and mean nothing unless you want to play dress up or enchant for a spell caster.

it’s not like the designers have never had to think about these things before. they have, at least subconsciously. fabric is still very clearly heavy and wool. it contains classic pop culture “viking” imagery (including some that are uhhhh very not historically accurate like men wearing women’s broaches), but that’s about it. why they dress like this is unanswered. how their ancestors dressed isn’t really important. how they vary from location to location is also not important, because large swaths of land obvious wear and eat the exact same thing, that’s why there is no regional food or styles of dress across all of europe /sarcasm

anyways throw a dog a fucking bone every now and then i am tired of constantly looking for lore that isnt about fighting and killing and breaking shit. what did they wear and why, how did jewelry evolve, what dyes do they have accessible to them and how rare are they, fabric weaving, gossiping, give me it back so the world feels slightly more alive. 

[darlaluv]

𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 & 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎𝒔 𝑭𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗Textile Edition˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗Total Sleaze ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

ʙʏ ᴅᴀʀʟᴀ ʟᴜᴠ

As usual this fall you can expect these three trending materials within your clothing.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗Cotton˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗Fur˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗Leather˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒏:

Cotton is typically used daily from your panties or the sheets you sleep under. Cotton is everywhere. Recently, I felt a tingling in my hand for a resurgence of "millennial grey," commonly used to describe furniture. However, in the 2010s, many celebrities have been styled in the Heathered Grey which I thought was the meaning of millennial grey.

One thing to note about these heathered grey pieces is that they have a particular way of draping, which, of course, has more to do with the textile rather than the appearance.

This grey is typically styled with blacks, darker greys, and sometimes white. Neutrals, Neutrals, Neutrals....

𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆:

𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕, 𝑭𝒖𝒓:

Fur, as always, is incorporated into FW fashion. It is the essential that has kept the human species warm for thousands of years. But what will this ancient material look like for this upcoming fall 2024 winter weather?

My guess consists of textured, complete, and brown.

In previous years, we have seen a resurgence of Y2K fashion where the base of a fur coat is typically seen being suede (which we will talk about later) with a trimming of textured fur. But now you can expect to see coats with a full base of fur.

And not the cheap shitty fur that's flat with the cheetah print, no...

Fur that has a thick poshness to it.

Also obsessed with textured fur.

Okay, I take the second to last sentence back. The only flat fur that is stimulating at this point is pony hair. (It isn't confirmed that what Kim is wearing is Pony Hair, but I will assertively assume so.)

Recently, Kim Kardashian made an Instagram post called "Cream Dream." People on the internet without the brain chemistry to understand that Lululemon is not fashion but athleisure commented on how ugly she looked. Someone even said her top looked like a pad on the last day of a period. I can't help but disagree with this; the top is everything.

𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆:

𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓:

I see mainly two types of leathers coming back.

Really shitty pleather used for tights and forever 21 jackets with the side buckles.

I also see it for a resurgence of suede. Suede is such a loved material by older generations, figuratively assuming it was a significant fashion statement in the 70s, when people wore questionable fashion items that related back to native people. Suede bags with tassels, suede boots with tassels,

Honestly, everything will be a wearable Balenciaga City bag very soon.

[skullhaver]

Night, informal, wardrobe, makeup and alternative for Athren

This set of prompts truly is well-tailored (hah) to Athren's interests. And it gives me an excuse to share the art you created of him!

wardrobe: How big is your character’s wardrobe? Do they wear things threadbare, or can they afford new clothes often? Are they any good at mending and repairing their own clothing?

Prior to coming into a small fortune during the events of Dragon Heist, Athren's financial situation was like:

Food $200 Rent $800 Clothing $3,600 Books $150 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying

He definitely spent way disproportionately above his means on both quantity and quality of clothes. Happily made sacrifices in other areas of his life in order to dress better. In his former life as a noble House servant in Menzoberranzan, not only did he have to spend all his working hours in a uniform, but his clothing choices during his non-working hours were heavily restricted by both his finances and his caste. Now that he's on the surface, getting to express himself through clothes is HUGE to him.

Athren likes having a lot of clothes, especially by the standard of renaissance fantasy pre-industrial-manufacturing. For him, clothes are an art collection. He never throws anything out. If something he wears frequently starts wearing thin, he'd mend, modify, or get it re-tailored into something new. For statement outfits (like the outrageous Sean Connery Highlander look worn to the Cassalanters' midsummer ball), it will have a place of honor in his closet forever as an art piece to display and enjoy.

He doesn't have the skill to make his own clothes, but he does know how to mend simple tears, replace buttons, etc. The kind of thing anybody who grows up poor or middle class would know. And he also knows a lot about maintaining clothing to keep things in excellent condition, although he is very happy to have enough money to pay other people to do his laundry these days. And I love watching YouTube videos about historical clothing, so I have definitely thought about how his clothes get washed.

I was having so much fun with these!! I'll put the rest under a readmore.

night: What does your OC wear to sleep? Do they have a favorite pair of PJs, or are they more the birthday suit type?

Going to take you through my thought process verbatim on this one.

Huh, never thought about this. Even sleeping/in reverie, he'd still want to feel luxurious. But he'd prioritize comfort, too. And what's physically comfortable would be something that's familiar to him. I wonder if spider silk is soft. It would be so funny if he used his Dragon Heist earnings for super special Underdark-imported spider silk pajamas. Hey isn't Rae's Dragon Heist PC Kiarhys from a merchant family specializing in textiles, with business operations both below and aboveground?

Something something I think there is a worldstate where Athren and Kiarhys meet via his quest for fancy pajamas.

makeup: Does your OC wear makeup? How often? What kind? Why do they wear makeup, and do they like it?

Rarely, but for special occasions or to coordinate with certain ensembles, sure. I'm quite partial to the way in The Mask of Mirrors men casually wear metallic eyeshadow/eyeliner sometimes. Also I think highlighter on his already nice cheekbones would be devastating. Davil should get to be quietly dazzled on a date where he sees Athren wear makeup for the first time.

informal: What’s your OC’s lazy-day look? How do they like to dress when they’re winding down?

Although I devote a lot of time to finding sumptuous Elizabethan outfit refs for Athren, the man does actually own regular, comfortable tunic-and-trouser renaissance fantasy staple clothes.

alternate: What would your OC’s alternate universe look be? If they’re a fantasy character, what’s their modern look?

The best way to capture Athren's sartorial sensibilities in a modern AU would be to put him in a semi-alternative fashion that looks flamboyant but still sharp. I'd dress him in the Black Dandy revival style. Some examples: The Iconic Dandy Wellington:

From Meet the Black Dandies:

[jeanvanjer]

Colors of spice? Wtf does that even mean. Just browns, greens and blacks? Why not take inspiration from our colorful heritage, festivals, textiles or even the flora and fauna. Have they not seen our beautiful birds? Hello! Peacocks!

Do they know how to use google? How about open a history book or even a wikipedia article? Ffs their arrogance is staggering atp! 🤬🤬🤬

Seeing what Cressida is wearing this season I’m actually happy they didn’t take inspo from peacocks 😂

I feel like it was a throwaway comment which makes it worse imo. As if that’s what comes to your mind mentally when you think Indian or South Asian people. Really thought they were doing something with that spice comment. Sorry honey you were not.

But I agree with you anon! We have so much to look at for inspiration! I mean literally just look at latest South Asian fashion and just take what you will from there. Tbh an expert isnt even needed for colours and designs. We get it Kate’s looks aren’t priority this season but at least use google??? This also just shows they don’t know the bare minimum especially when they don’t know the difference between a dupatta and what Sarees are. Huge difference bro.

Thank god for all the other fugly looks this season (sorry but I’m not a fan) because if they kept everything the same and changed it up for Kate that’s weirdly alienating. You don’t have to make it so obvious she’s not English. They were on the right track last season imo. The dresses were western enough to suit Bridgertons aesthetic but also had the nice amount of Indian/South Asian flair. Literally all of those dresses I could easily remake by going to frantic stores in India.

I don’t really see a lot of Indian influence in the clothes right now. Sure we’ve only seen three outfits? But they’ve all been trash sorry. And post spice comment that reddish make out dress makes me think tandoori masala. Kate is a snack and a half (Anthony would know) but I’m sure that’s not what they were aiming for. The colours aren’t it. And nothing in the designs screams Indian either. It just looks bargain bin fabric.

The biggest issues for me is that they don’t suit Kate’s (Simone) skin tone? I’ve only seen gori gori Indian girls wear such neutral tones and look good. Simone looks great but she’s look way better in colours that were bolder. Nor is it culturally appropriate considering Kate’s young and newly married and usually brides wear bold and bright colours. Not neutral tones. Using jewel tones was 🤌🏽 and they should stuck to it. God what I wouldn’t do to have that Sheffields dinner dress Kate wears.

Let’s see what the other looks in the season are like for Kate. I’m not too optimistic but I guess shitty fashion is the compromise I need to make to get three seconds of kanthony time.