ERASERHEAD BABY STAN ARMY

Some further notes on the outfit designs, etc. Pretty long and rambling, just a heads up!

I based the clothing off of ancient Aztec and Mayan clothes, trying to use credible sources and depictions. I say 'trying' due to the fact that hunting down sources for some of the images was particularly hard, and I'm sure some of them were mislabeled, as tends to happen. I will shout out Zotzcomic/Daniel Parad, an Amercian artist from a Salvadoran family. She did some wonderful posters of ancient Aztec and Mayan styles that really helped.

The first Argonian woman is wearing a tunic/dress inspired by the huīpīlli blouse ancient Aztec woman would wear, and is still worn today by some Mexican and central American countries. I imagine that this Argonian is some sort of fisherman or at least engages in a lot of manual labor, so she needs something loose to move around in, and less jewelery so it doesn't get caught or worn down.

The second Argonian, and first male one, is wearing an outfit loosely inspired by an ancient Mayan 'hip cloth skirt', and an ESO outfit I thought was neat (I think it's the Black Marsh Keeper). I imagined he was a mage of some type, and thus doesn't do a lot of labor. Maybe he's a Hist minder or even Hist speaker. Either way, he has the luxury of long cloth that could get dirty, and lots of jewelry and feathers.

the next male has an outfit somewhat based on the ancient Aztec maxtlatl that was worn by men. It's similar to a loincloth, but would usually be paired with a cape/cloak. I just made his waist wrap thicker, and gave him a sort of shawl. I imagined him as some old veteran on his way to the best hot mud baths in his tribe lol.

and our last Argonian is another lady, dressed in an outfit loosely inspired by various depictions of ancient Mesoamercian clothes, fantasy aesthetics and so on. I gave myself a lot more liberty with her, trying to combine what I learned and studied into something unique but still inspired by the real world. Maybe this lady is going to a dance, or some event.

I really wanted to incorporate a lot of color. Something that really bugs me about the ESO Argonian clothing is the lack of color! In my mind it makes no sense. Reptiles and amphibians are a group of animals that often use color as communication (bearded dragons, chameleons, dart frogs and so many more), and so many Mesoamercian cultures are colorful. I saw many examples of bright, bold colors while looking for references. I imagine in universe, Argonians could use the unique and varied flora and fauna of Black Marsh to dye these clothes and maybe give them as gifts to friends and family, or just as hand-me-downs. I dont have a justification for the gold and turquoise though, lol, it just looks very nice. The feathers could be from loved ones or the birds of the Marsh. (Side note: I have no idea if the fashions/costumes of ESO can be dyed. Even still, its sad the default colors are so muddy)

theres also some patterning on the clothes! I imagine this would be embroidery, or even hand painted. Argonians focus on the present, the 'Aurbic Now', so to speak. I could easily imagine an artsy lizard sitting down and embroidering for hours as a sort of meditative state, or for fun, or whatever. It seems like a good way to pass time as well! And plenty of the examples I found featured patterns and embroidery.

closing thoughts? I'm disappointed at the lack of diverse fashion for the Argonians in ESO. Actually, I'm pretty disappointed at the lack of diverse fashion for each race of Tamriel in ESO. I think ESO does some very cool stuff with some lore (all of the Murkmire release, expanding more on the various races, some fun Daedra stuff) but it really disappointed me with the fashion. Dunno if you can tell, but I'm a huge history nerd, especially historical fashion. It really saddens me that there's a lack of diverse, distinct options for ESO fashion. I should note- I'm strictly speaking about fashion, not armor.