The Fashion World

[Discussion Initiator]

Well, considering how fashions change through history, I was wondering how Zalanthan fashions in Allanak, and fashions in Tuluk (seperately) are:

-Evolving? (specifically not in the general sense that Tuluk has the vibrant colors and Allanak has the more practical, down-to-earth style)
-How often these changes occur and should occur?
-What any major fashion changes might be?
-And any ideas on new fashions? (adding alittle of MO, wouldn't an old romanic style be nifty for nobility, such as the large drapes of clothing you see on roman senators?)

All for helping the tailors out there.  

[Tamarin]

I imagine Fale and Kadius have a large hand in deciding what's hip.

[Anonymous]

I imagine Fale and Kadius have a large hand in deciding what's hip.

*sigh* That's not a very good way to continue a discussion...

[Larrath]

Evolutions:
Tuluki fashion evolves pretty slowly, and they mostly rely on elaborate embroidery in order to mark a garment as one of quality.  (Also note that Tuluki clothes are generally the simpler ones with the duller, long-lasting dyes).
Allanaki fashion is a demented horse-race where everyone tries to get forward.  Frills are the next big thing for one year (or even month), and later it's all about the pentagram-shaped collars.  Commoner fashion moves a little slower than noble fashion, but it generally imitates what the nobles are wearing.

Changes:
In Tuluk, fashions really change very slowly, and trends can easily last upwards of a year and a half.  They're just very relaxed about clothing.
In Allanak, again, it's just a horse-race.  Trends can last anywhere between one year and one week.

Possible trends:
In Tuluk, embroidery could be shifted from threads that contrast with the base material to threads that are just a few tones darker or brighter.
In Allanak, changes could be much more drastic, such as completely abandoning turbans in favor of silk surmacs with veils that go all the way down to their knees, or completely abandoning sandals in favor of heavy boots.

Ideas:
In Tuluk, stay traditional but add a sweet twist maybe, like trying to tell a story on a piece of cloth using embroidery and paints.
In Allanak, go -nuts-.  The less practical, the better, and commoners will try to imitate this within limitations of day-to-day life.

[Mook]

Think I agree with Larrath and Tamarin - my only comments would be that, imho, Tuluk/Allanak fashion just goes in endless, contorted circles.. because their societies never really go anywhere (just as they shouldn't, imho, due to their being under the heel of one Sorc-King or another.)  New materials/modes of production/social and artistic movements would be slim to none, so the best they can do is chase the random frills or pentagram-trends as Larrath suggested.  Like tregils in a Zalanthan hampster wheel.  OH THE VICIOUS, ENDLESS CYCLE!!

[Cuusardo]

If it's Fale and Kadius who set the trends in Allanak, who is it who sets the trends in Tuluk?  Surely there's got to be more than just Kadius!

Something I've noticed is that there have been pieces of jewelry that have been specifically designed in respect to a particular historical event in the north.  Perhaps that means that Tuluki fashion can be influenced heavily by such things?  

I would guess that changes in the arts there would also influence fashion in respect to Tuluk.  People seem to love to experiment with art, so why not fashion?

(OOC problem: No frivolous new items accepted and put into the game.  That gives PCs who do fashion design little chance to invent new styles, and thus stagnates the changes in fashion trends all over the world.)

[Vanth]

Fashion trends are largely dictated by what PCs (and their players) want to buy.  Often these things don't change.  Black leather, for example, is perenially in vogue despite how hot it would be in the Zalanthan environment.

However, from time to time there are trend-setter PCs, often nobles, who will bring a certain color, article of clothing, or style of dress into vogue.  This, however, depends upon 'peon' PCs being willing to emulate others.

As one of the Kadian imms, I have tried to influence style by making certain thing more available at some times (lace, for example) but again, these efforts depend on PCs saying "Hmm, there seems to be a lot of lace in the shops lately.  I'd better get in on the trend."  Overall, however, I'm happy to let PCs dictate what the trends are, and concentrate more on making as broad a spectrum of items available as possible (within the confines of what 'belongs' to a particular city's style).

[ale six]

Is there any reason that fashion trends in Allanak (not sure about Tuluk) seem to rotate through colors more than anything else? I'm basing this mostly on viewing the selection of items loaded for sale at the Kadius shops, which almost always seem to follow a color pattern.

I'm sure that some shades may go in and out of vogue, but it seems like the only conclusions a player can draw for certain about fashion trends after seeing the selection in the shops is: "Blue stuff is trendy to wear this month. Last month it was black."

Obviously a whole rainbow of colors for sale every month might be slightly unreasonable, but seeing clothes vary on more than one spectrum of color would be great to me. One month the rage might be garments in darker shades of blue/purple/black with lots of lace trim, and next month it might be clothes in brighter reds/yellows/oranges, and no sleeves.

Jewelry could be the same way. Instead of every possible piece of jade jewelry on sale at once, it'd be cool to see more color variety over a smaller selection of pieces. Maybe one month, bone jewelry and dangly earrings set with gems are in style, but the next month it's small studs or no earrings at all, and people like onyx and ivory instead of bone.

Arguably the biggest benefit to this is that people aren't stuck waiting for RL weeks to find clothes in a color they'd like to wear. If you want red clothes but missed the "red" week, it would really suck to watch the shops go from green to black to blue to yellow to white, when all you want is a pair of red boots to match your skirt. Or whatever. I know the best cure for this is to find a PC Kadian or tailor to order from, but not everyone can always do that.

Even if you can't judge what's currently in fashion by what the Kadian shops are selling (although to me that makes sense), it still would be nice to be able to see a selection of various pieces in different colors than an exhaustive display of everything crimson.

Sorry for a bit of derailment, but hey, we're still talking about clothes!

[Cuusardo]

In Tuluk the colors change about every two IG months.  Month one has these styles, month two has different styles.