Would anyone be nice enough to tell me the names of the clothes commonly worn in a fantasy world? I know the name of a few pieces of clothing used but only in my first language, and even then it's not enough to be accurate when describing it. If you could send me a link to a list of that kind of clothes it would be awesome, but a single contribution is appreciated too! And, this is off topic, but not worthy of another thread: If you could tell me the name of the vehicle in which Gandalf arrives (in the movies, specifically the fellowship) at the shire is, that would be of great help too. Sorry if my english isn't good, I'm trying to improve it and since it is kind of a universal language, I decided to do my writing in english to expand my reviewing audience.
This depends on the period and setting of your Fantasy novel. Try googling different periods like Medieval. Try Medieval clothing, Greek clothing and Norse clothing for starters and go from there. (Don't forget to click the image option, seeing a sample helps in your description too.) Good luck.
You've only given the desciription of a "fantasy world" and there are an endless amount of fantasies, so it would be difficult to pinpoint what's considered "common" in a fantasy world. In addition, who's to say your fantasy world would (or should!) have the same type of clothes (or names for those clothes) as someone else's fantasy? Create your own names for your characters' clothes; if you're concerned the names wouldn't be recognized, use them is a universal context or include descriptions of their use or purpose. I would think your characters clothes would reflect the fantasy world's climate or environs... Hope this comment helps, and your english seems quite good, by the way!
As some have stated, Fantasy is merely a genre where the typical rules of reality are gone. The setting can be in any time period. You could write a fantasy based in the year 2012, and the clothes you would see are the ones you have on your back. You sound like you are talking about medieval fantasy. A quick google search of medeval attire or the fashion of the 1500-1600s would suffice. Even then, some of the clothes are exactly what you would call them today ie: boots, pants, shirts, cloaks, jackets, gloves, tunics, trousers, leggings. But you have to keep in mind the fabric of the time. Leather, silk, cotton, fur, were common and are also typically used in medieval fantasy. Some fantasy's have even taken it a step further and created their own fabric. The trick is being logical about it. Is it hard to come by silk in your world? Where are the worms located where the fabric is harvested? Is the climate suitable to grow cotton? Are their cows or other animals present in order to have leather? Is the technology advanced enough to even make intricate or elaborate fabrics outside of basic furs? Etc Etc
Fantasy could be: time period-1000bc-early 1900ad's culture/style: European, Greek, Oriental(Japanese, Chinese, Korean,etc) African, Long flowing robes for male and female, man skirts(Kilts), Corsets, etc Each period had its own styles in each culture. Your creation could mesh several cultures and periods together. Google the year range and the culture.
With the style you're talking about, which is termed High-Fantasy, you're looking at Medieval clothing and armor. Gandalf arrived in a horse/oxen drawn cart or wagon. There is a really good book called Daily Life in Medieval Europe by Jeffry L. Singman, you should check out from the library if you want to know more about clothing, transportation, fiefdoms, armor, titles ect ect.
I've got the same problem, and more. For example, I only have two female characters in the entire story. As a plot point, I think one of them should get pregnant. The issue is that the tale has a religious theme, and you can't alienate your focus audience. To accomplish my goal I'm using terms from history that are readily understood. Because the mythical country has a repressive, despotic government, I've decided that every male should be compelled to wear a hat resembling the shape of a codpiece. Their Bureau of Weights and Measures sets the standard and every male is issued a "licensed to wear" permit based on his endowment. I never have to mention touchy subjects for the entire book. For example, I might have my lead character enter a room like this, "As the main character strode defiantly into the saloon, he doffed his hat to the female. Seeing the hatband was marked "9 1/2" she was duly impressed." The implications are in the imagination of the reader, I've made my point, and no religious standards have been violated.
Oh, no! You have to get a license! Like a concealed carry permit! My state just got the concealed carry provision, that's how I got the idea.
Thanks everyone, you've given me great ideas to continue researching; which was also a problem, becuase I didn't know what to search. And yes my story is set in a High Fantasy kind of setting, but as others have stated (and I just realize this now, and think it's a great idea) creating names and even clothing specific for my world, would be great too! Again, thanks to everyone for your kind responses, sorry for not replying earlier.
If you are going that route, be sure to keep your fabric logical. Don't just create something out of thin air. You have to look into your climate and see if its a fabric that can actually be harvested/made/gathered however you set it to come about. Is it expensive? Can your population, overall, afford it? Or is it everywhere and peasants generally wear it? These are questions that should be answered. It's one thing to throw on a garb willy nilly on a rich noble woman, without any explanation as to where the fabric came from, but if it is clothing that a lot of people and/or characters are going to wear regularly, or something some of your scenes where your king or queen are doing their 'royal duties' and are talking about the economy, youre going to want to have a bit of a back story regarding the origin.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to do research for that kind of stuff. But first I would guess is to create a weather for my world, then do the research for that kind of weather. In any case, thank you for your help!
The weather reflects the land, for the most part, unless you are getting super scientific and creating an entire weather system from scratch which would be, imo, be incredibly hard. Just use the Earth as a template and go from there. Think of the northern most reaches, the southern, western hemisphere, eastern hemisphere, climates close or far from the Equator, deserts, mountains. etc
Well, I tried to get really into that subject when I started but dropped it because it would really take a long time to even begin to comprehend an entire system, like you said; so I took the earth as a base for how I'm going to make the world and its weather system. And(this is off topic), talking about scientific stuff, what do you think of using the Meissner Effect as a way to have an explanation to a floating island? I mean, I don't like to just say "it's magic" and be done with it; though the problem is that most of the information I can find about it is in English, and because it can become very technical at times I really haven't been able to research it enough to see if that scenario is plausible (English is not my first language.) EDIT: Sorry if I appear to be too eager to discuss my story in a thread not meant for it, but since I don't really have anyone to talk to in real life about this kind of things, I got really excited to finally have anyone to talk to. Anyways, sorry, it won't happen again.
