The Hawkers

Fashion is one of my favourite worldbuilding components and choosing which way I want characters to look, is one part of research that is more fun than work. The use of different styles give each culture a defined feel and could act as a symbol of all kinds of lands in your WIP. Since it is your WIP, you can play with different elements of the gowns and pay fast and loose with the styles.

Well, I decided to expand one of the most popular posts I have done on here. Here I have explored more Gowns of history, some interesting styles to consider for your WIP. You can find part 1 here

Sari

The Sari is the traditional dress of the women of India. The sari is an unstitched drape of cloth wrapped around the waist and over one shoulder. The sari as an entire collection consisted of:

Choli: This the blouse part of the sari. It was usually cut to fit the body close, baring the middrift with a low neck and shortened sleeves.

Lehnga or langa, or Ghagra or gagra, Chaniya, Pavadai and Lacha: The Lehnga is a form of full ankle-length skirt worn by women in India. The skirt is usually long and thickly embroidered and decorated. Though it has become outdated today, it remains one of the most recognisable garments in the world. It was worn, secured at the waist to leave the lower back and midriff bare. Lehenga are usually embroidered with certain patterns which dictated locality in some regions of India.

Dupatta: The dupatta is a long scarf-like drape of fabric, worn like a shawl.

Stola

The stola was the traditional garment of Roman women. The stola, usually made of wool but sometimes of linen, was worn as a symbol of matronly behaviour and as a symbol of a good Roman woman. (women had worn togas before but it had become associated with prostitution so they stopped). The stola was usually made of linen or wool or even silk depending on the wearer. The stola was worn over a shorter tunic and was often sleeveless though by the Byzantine era, the women began adopting longer sleeves.

Tunic

The tunic is perhaps the most recoccurring women's garment in history. The tunic was rather like a long t-shirt, worn either sleeveless, with long sleeves or short sleeved. Tunics could reach the ground or fell to the knee. Tunics were worn in ancient times straight up to modern times.

Kimono

The kimono is the traditional dress of Japan. The kimono is typically a T-shaped, with long squarish sleeves, at the front of the wearer (the left side wrapped over the right side unless the wearer is dead) The kimono is a layered garment worn with a slew of accessories such as the obi (the decorative belt worn to keep the kimono closed). The kimono is a complicated garment with each piece having its own special term: Dōura ( the upper lining of a kimono), Hakkake ( the lower lining of a kimono), Eri (the collar), fuki (the hem), Furi (the hang of the sleeve) Maemigoro ( the front panels), Miyatsukuchi (the opening of the sleeve), Okumi (the overlapping front panel), Sode (sleeve), Sodeguchi (opening of the sleeve), Susomawashi (lower lining) Tamoto (pouch in the sleeve), Tomoeri (over-collar), Uraeri (the inner collar), Ushiromigoro (the back panels).

Dashiki

The dashiki or Java is a popular garment in Africa and some parts of Indonesia. The dashiki is rather like a large t-shirt, loose-fitted and pulled over the head. The dashiki could be as plain or as decorated as the wearer pleases, meaning it was worn casually and formally.

Kaftan

The kaftan was and remains a popular garment worn by many cultures spanning Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Asia. The kaftan was often long-sleeved, made of linen, silk or cotton and worn with sashes. The kaftan were often status symbols sometimes associated with the upper class and royalty.

Deel

The deel is the traditional dress of the nomadic Mongolian and Asian tribes. The deel is like long coat, fastened at the front with clasps or pavings to pull each side over the wearer's body. The fastenings are commonly placed at the shoulder, armpit and neckline. The deel would be fastened with a sash.

Hanfu

The Hanfu was the traditional style of the Han dynasty of China. The main style of the Hanfu style of dressing consisted of a long robe or shirt as well as a traditionally pleated skirt. The Hanfu consisted of many pieces l again each with their own terminology. Yi (the open collar garment), Ru (Open collar shirt), Shan (open collar shirt or jacket worn over the yi), Qun/chang (the skirt), Ku (loose trousers).

Peplos

Write literally anything!!! Write the things you want to read!!!

Drink water n take care of yourself!!!!

Take pride in your work!! You worked hard on that!!

Practice practice practice!!

for the self-conscious beginner: No one makes great things until the world intimately knows their mediocrity. Don’t think of your writing as terrible; think of it as preparing to contribute something great.

for the self-conscious late bloomer: Look at old writing as how far you’ve come. You can’t get to where you are today without covering all that past ground. For that, be proud.

for the perfectionist: Think about how much you complain about things you love—the mistakes and retcons in all your favorite series—and how you still love them anyway. Give yourself that same space.

for the realist: There will be people who hate your story even if it’s considered a classic. But there will be people who love your story, even if it is strange and unpopular.

for the fanfic writer: Your work isn’t lesser for not following canon. When you write, you’ve created a new work on its own. It can be, but does not have to be, limited by the source material. Canon is not the end-all, be-all. 

for the writer’s blocked: It doesn’t need to be perfect. Sometimes you have to move on and commit a few writing sins if it means you can create better things out of it.

2/2 do not and don't have a place to tell specific stories and struggles, but I also know in the publishing world bipoc authors get snubbed and sidelined and can be more difficult to get published (though has gotten a little bit better in recent years), so you are left with white authors like Rick for example. Again I'm sorry if the question is tone-deaf or ignorant but it's something weighing on my mind and wanting to know to what degree what writers get to write on or create and what they dont

I do want to challenge u when you say “if ever, okay for white authors to write about it” because I do think it come off as performative or kind of like a kid-stomping-their-feet-cause-they-didn’t-get-what-they-want. you know what mean? 

i’m saying that because I do think white authors need to have the ability to actually genuinely care about the people of color they want to include in their writing. i do think that white authors need to be better vigilant when promoting authors of color. think: am I taking this away from an author of color who is already snubbed and pushed aside? am I creating poc in my work because i care or to win brownie points? am i actively following creators of color? 

at this point, i think you should promote authors of color and continually push them to the forefront. people of color always end up being an afterthought in books by white authors and I think we just need to acknowledge that sensitivity readers (MULTIPLE AT THAT!!) and extensive research is important when creating poc but also BOOSTING authors of color is even better. 

also succinctly put:

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

a vampire who was turned as a child sternly telling a much older looking vampire to ‘respect their elders’

“i could sleep for a week” *proceeds to literally sleep for an entire week*

a vampire shouting “hey, we’re not done here! don’t you DARE fly away from me!” at a rapidly retreating swarm of bats

“you can’t tell ANYONE what i just told you okay” “i swear, i’ll take it to my grave” *cut to the next shot in a dimly lit cellar containing several coffins, each with a vampire sitting or lying in it* “so you’ll never guess what-”

a vampire saying “i never look good in pictures of me” but instead of a photo on their phone they’re looking at their portrait in an art gallery

*outlandish story about something that happened to them in the 12th century* “you totally made that up” “how would YOU know” “because i was THERE, asshole”

immediately followed by a shot of two vampires visiting a house where the owner simply says “whatever you’re selling, we’re not buying” and slams the door shut

*sees a house with a welcome mat* “hey, guys, look! an open house buffet!”

“your father would be turning in his grave” *cut to a shot of a casket rattling as if someone is indeed spinning inside it*

someone: you don’t look a day over thirty!

vampire who was turned when they were thirty (200 years ago): *looks into the camera like they’re on the office*

when fantasy books describe the cloth of Quant Farmpeople’s clothing as “homespun” or “rough homespun”

“homespun” as opposed to what??? EVERYTHING WAS SPUN AT HOME

they didn’t have fucking spinning factories, your pseudo-medieval farmwife is lucky if she has a fucking spinning wheel, otherwise she’s spinning every single thread her family wears on a drop spindle NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING THE SPINNING unless you go out of your way to establish a certain baseline of industrialization in your fake medieval fantasy land.

and “rough”??? lol just because it’s farm clothes? bitch cloth was valuable as fuck because of the labor involved ain’t no self-respecting woman gonna waste fiber and ALL THAT FUCKING TIME spinning shitty yarn to weave into shitty cloth she’s gonna make GOOD QUALITY SHIT for her family, and considering that women were doing fiber prep/spinning/weaving for like 80% of their waking time up until very recently in world history, literally every woman has the skills necessary to produce some TERRIFYINGLY GOOD QUALITY THREADS

 In Ye Olde Medieval Fantasy Dayes, everybody’s layer against skin (shirt tunic or shift) is gonna be linen. it’s almost never wool except stockings or hose (like pant legs). Say “undyed cloth” if you wanna make them sound simple and peasanty. Comment on how you can tell it wasn’t made for them (the fit is off) and has had probably eight owners before. 

Outer clothing is gonna be either wool, or a blend called Linsey-woolsey, and again you could say Undyed, but dyes are not only common they are CHEAP and relatively easy. (innerwear is often left undyed or bleached to white because it gets washed to heck- like beaten by a wooden stick on a stone by the river- and dye would just fade out a lot so why bother. Ths is also why innerwear has ties, rarely buttons, unless you are so rich you have people doing your washing delicately because they’re hired to do only that. Buttons would get broken in the washing)

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

First of all, thank you so much for over 8,000 followers!!

Short Story

-Under 500 Words is described as flash fiction. It’s one scene

-Between 1,000 and 8,000 Words is a short story

-Between 5,000 and 10,000 Words is as long as a short story should ever be

Novella

-A story between 10,000 and 40,000 Words

Novel

-Anything over 40,000 Words is considered a novel, but 50,000 should be the minimum amount of words you should have (If you’re trying to get published)

-Most novels are between 60,000 and 100,000 Words

-Publishers generally don’t like more than 110,000 words, unless you’re already established

Adult fiction

-Between 80,000 and 100,000 Words

Science and Fantasy

-Generally Between 90,000 and 120,000. Not abnormal to reach the 150,000 range. (It takes time to build a whole new world)

Romance Novels

-Between 50,000 and 100,000

Crime, Mysteries and Thrillers

-Between 70,000 and 90,000

Young Adult

-Between 50,000 and 80,000

Children’s Novel

Or in some cases 2 or 3 times that.