Let's Do This!

populations and peoples don’t just suddenly change at a border marker. cultures interact and blend.

there are usually a multitude of cultures in one place, and religions often have different factions within them

what are the differences between the upper and lower classes? is there a lower class? what system is used? fuedalism? capitalism? communism?

how does your society view and deal with poverty?

think about the diaspora. invent a large population of immigrants. why are they there? how long have they lived there? how does their culture now differentiate from their homeland?

languages. is there a global lingua franca (a language that people use to speak internationally. historically this has been latin and french, and right now, english)? if so, why That One? are there smaller lingua francas within different nations?

a large country will almost always have smaller languages within it. put some in. you don’t even have to name them, just have someone mention that they often have to translate for their parents

the lingua franca will usually be the language of the majority, but not always. if a particular ethnic group has control of the government, and therefor education, then that language will probably become more widespread. although sometimes there are “official languages” and “daily languages”

i could write a whole other post about languages honestly

what things do different cultures see as beautiful? is it eyes? hair? what parts of the body are considered scandalous. are the bodies of men and women seen differently? how do people feel about breasts?

how is makeup used? is it daily? is it ceremonial? do different colours and patterns have meanings or is purely for aesthetic? is it seen as gendered?

basically just don’t take everything in your culture as the “norm.” there is no norm. the world is weird.

Just showing a thing we’ve been working on~

We often call clothes silk when they are satin, velvet where they are velveteen or we have no clue what we’re on about. So today let’s look at fabrics.

Laying down the law

Many renaissance/mediaeval societies governed over who could wear what. By adding these laws you had a layer of depth to your world.

Women and men could only be dressed n clothes benefiting their position

Female servants or their daughters could not wear veils costing more than twelve pence

Knightly families could not wear cloth of gold or sable fur or velvets

The wife or daughter of a labourer were not to wear clothes beyond a certain price or a girdle garnished with silver

Cloth of gold and purple silk only worn by the royal family. This goes for ermine.

The importation of silk and lace foreigners was prohibited when the kingdom produced those textiles.

Peasant Clothing (Beggars to Merchant classes)

Wool: This was the staple of much of the clothes owned by peasants. It was in supply and it wasn’t as costly as most fabrics when undyed. It was also warm.

Linen: Forget about softness. Peasant linen was made of coarser weaves and flax. It was heavier than noble linen.

Cotton: A lightweight fabric used in hotter climates. It was softer than the linen and airier.

Fustian: heavy cloth woven from cotton, for menswear.

Leather: Leather was used for boots and shoes rather than killer jackets.

Nobility & Royalty

Cloth of Gold: Cloth made from woven threads of gold (very expensive)

Cloth of silver: cloth made from woven silver strands (very expensive)

Samite: a rich silk fabric woven with gold and silver threads

Tulle: A netting sort of material

Brocade: rich silk fabric with raised patterns sewn on it.

Cambresine: fine, lightweight linen

Cambric: thin white cotton or linen

Cypress: gauze made of cotton or silk

Damask: like brocade but the patterns are flat

Delaine : light wool/mixed wool and cotton

Lawn: sheer plain-woven cotton or linen

Sarsenet: fine and soft silk

Sateen: glossy cotton or wool

Satin: closely woven silk, shiny

Taffeta: Thickly woven silk

Velvet : piled fabric of silk, cotton or synthetic material

Velvetine: cotton with silk pile

Saxony: fine, delicate woollen fabric

Alençon Lace: intricate floral lace with three-dimensional corded detail sewn onto a fine tulle backing

Chantilly Lace: lightest of lace

Charmeuse: smooth, flowing, silk, cotton,

Chiffon: sheer and lightweight fabric

Crepe de Chine: thicker, lightly textured silk

Dupioni: crisp lusturous silk

Organza: sheer and lightweight fabric of very fine weave silk

Georgette: sheer fabric of silk

Guipure Lace: heavier lace

Designs

Embroidery: Patterns sewn on the fabric by thread

Appliqué: decorative fabric, often lace or floral motifs, sewn onto the main material

Embellishment: details such as beads, crystals, sequins, pearls

Trim: a line of material or fur that finishes off a hem or cuff.

Piping: a cord lining the fabric creating a ribbed look.

Colours

Here are the colours that you will catch your people wearing. Keep in mind that dyes had to be sourced and could be very expensive.

Peasant: brown, red or gray.

Nobility: Gold, silver, crimson or scarlet, deep indigo blue, violet colors and even deep black and pure white colors

Royalty: Purple

Furs

Mink: Soft and lightweight, silkly and glossy furs

Fox: Long, lustrous, colourful and easy to dye.

Ermine: White fur streaked with black (ONLY FOR ROYALTY)

Sable: long, luxurious, dense but light.

Wolf: thick, tough, warm but has a bad smell

I give it MASCLES

And I wanna stress that when i say “top of the leg” i’m not talking about the crotch (please don’t flag me tumblr it’s an anatomical term) i’m talking about the point where the femur connects to the pelvis, which is higher up on the hips:

It’s easier to see what I’m talking about in this photo of a man squatting: 

So yeah if you use that measurement when using this technique you should get fairly realistically proportioned legs:

But remember! messing with proportions is an important and fun part of character design! Know the rules first so you can then break them however you please!