There has been talk of fashion in Elyria since the risqué chainmail bikini was introduced, and even more so now that basic looks of each tribe has been established with artist renditions as well as in-game models so I want to talk about what exactly fashion entails, the workload behind it, and the tools you’ll need. As I plan to be designing and making clothing in Elyria since it is one of my passions on Earth, I thought I would help other designers that want to plan their successful Elyrian enterprise. I hope this may even help those who want to be blacksmiths, jewelers, architects, or other creative designers.
Pre-clothing design
Before you start designing, you must decide who you will be designing for, and what. You cannot design for everyone since tastes are individual preference. One person loves surrealism while the other loves rococo. Fashion is art, and you have to choose your audience. That is your first step but can be the hardest for some. What is the aesthetic of your clothing, who is your target market, what is your specialty, and what is your mission statement?
Aesthetic – Giving or designed to give pleasure through beauty; of pleasing appearance. Also means a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement. (Example: Gothic, Bohemian, Lolita, Punk, etc)
Mission Statement – A formal summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual. Usually what I find is this is the hardest part for people to create. I suggest googling examples of clothing company mission statements to get a feel for it.
Target market – A particular group of consumers at which a product or service is aimed. This can include:
• Demographic – Gender, age, wage, career, education, etc.
• Psychographic – Attitudes, values, religion, lifestyles.
• Geographic – Residential address, location, climate, region.
• Behavioral – Usage occasion, user’s status (wedding, special occasion, convention, costume, etc).
A good thing to note is many times your target market does not turn out to be whom you thought, and that is ok! A perfect example would be My Little Pony, which exists for the purpose of filling little girls with joy, but it turns out a huge part of the market is young men. Another example would be Forever 21, which meant to be focused towards teens and college students, but most of the time the person who walks in the store is a middle-aged woman. Stick to your mission statement, your values, and aesthetic. If you build it, they will come.
The next step is choosing what you want to design, and you will have a hard time if you want to make every type of clothing under the sun. Good thing Elyria encourages you to specialize so it eliminates this potential problem of designers burdening themselves with too much. What types of categories of clothing are there, you may ask?
Sportswear – Not what you think. Not for sports. This is your everyday clothing, your interchangeable separates (blouses, skirts, shirts, shorts, jackets, etc).
Active wear – Designing for specific sports such as swimming, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, track, hunting, gathering, mountain climbing, etc.
Intimates – Chainmail bikini! Need I say more?
Loungewear – Casual, comfortable clothing suitable for wearing only at home. Nobility will probably be the only demographic to wear this category in Elyria. I do not see many people changing into different clothes when they get to their home residence in Elyria. This category may not even exist, similar to sleepwear.
Dresses – Dresses have their own category even though designer’s sportswear collections do include dresses, but only a minimal amount – usually 1-3. This is because you can be exclusively a dressmaker, and usually these dresses are couture, whereas the dresses in sportswear are for everyday wear (example: Ballroom gowns, wedding gowns, pageant gowns, etc).
Armor – Prepare for battle! Anything that aids you in protecting your body from harm when facing your enemies.
There are countless more categories of clothing, but I only included the ones that I felt were relevant to Elyria. I do want to add to keep in mind of the layering system Elyria will have when choosing your specialty. Since most clothing (not accessory) design will occur in the torso and legs category (sportswear), that leaves a lot of creative room to really go crazy with your designs since you only have two to focus on. If you're a designer that wants to be popular for their sportswear line, then I think you'll really have to bring it.
The rest of the layers are mostly accessories and armor, though some still made of cloth (caps, coifs, cowls, and gloves), if you're focused on the weaving aspect as opposed to leather-working or blacksmithing
(Items below marked in bold are cloth clothing items, the rest are leather and metal or accessories.)
Head – Used for helmets, caps, coifs, and hooded cloaks
Face – Masks and cowls
Neck – Necklaces, cowls, and coifs
Torso – Clothing, armor, and holsters
Layer one contains shirts, blouses, and dresses.
Layer two contains jackets, jerkins, tunics, doublets, vests, and some chain shirts.
Layer three contains robes or mail.
Back – Backpacks, capes, cloaks, and holsters
Arms – Bracers, gauntlets, bracelets, and bucklers
Hands – Gauntlets, gloves, knuckles, and rings
Waist – Belts
Legs – Garters, trousers, skirts, and leggings
Layer one contains either trousers or garters.
Layer two contains either armor, a skirt, or a kilt.
Feet – Boots
Now I want to go on a little tangent here when it comes to armor, I've never designed armor but I think I would approach it the same way I design couture since couture is extremely custom and has a lot of complicated and intricate design elements to make it as beautiful as it is functional. Back in college my professor would say it is not couture unless it's as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside of the garment. All those seams must be perfect. Armor seems similar.
Also, keep in mind blacksmiths, armor will encompass more layers so you could be giving yourself a lot more work if you want to focus on complete suits of armor, rather than be a helmet or breastplate specialist. It may very well be the most profitable enterprise as well if you do it right. A whole matching set of armor would be extremely aesthetically pleasing, rather than buying a helmet here, gauntlets there, breastplate from a corpse, etc. Realistically, I can see kingdoms commissioning blacksmiths for complete suits of armor for their military since they would be the ones to easily afford it.
So, after brainstorming and combining all the above information, your clothing line design layout should look something like the two examples below:
Aesthetic: Gothic inspired designs
Target market:
o Demographic: Unisex wear for young adult alchemist
o Psychographic: Drasean lifestyle
o Geographic: Catered towards people who live in the swamps.
• Specialty: Sportswear
• Mission statement: “Murk clothing line makes essential every day clothing for alchemists to assist in making the brewing process easier. Our focus is protection from unstable chemicals and ample pocket storage for those who travel peddling their wares.”
Aesthetic: Bohemian
Target market:
o Demographic: Wealthy Kypiq women
o Psychographic: Faedin, with focus on forest living. Materials cannot be made from animals if it requires the death of the animal.
o Geographic: Broad leaf forest, high temperatures,
• Specialty: Dresses
• Mission statement: “Little leaf couture house prides itself on the femininity and functionality of our designs. We believe you should look as beautiful and fierce as your spirit within.”
I made the second one as a very niche design group. Especially if you're a dressmaker in a hot biome, you have to account for the materials and weight of fabrics, especially for your clientele who like to climb. I personally wouldn't mind the challenge, and you wouldn't have too much competition. Have fun with creating a few different ones and see what you like the best.
So there you have it, you just created your company values and design perspective! I'm working on the next segment which jumps into designing your clothing and what you need so I'll link it at the bottom of this post or just continue this one and bump the thread when the rest is complete. After the design segment will be product development; implementing your 2D sketches into 3D works of art!
Also, definitely check out
Huntsmaster's guide on textiles
Very good information for weavers and yarn spinners. He goes over textile properties, basic types of weaves, and even throws in technical terminology which every basic weaver needs such as weft, warp, and bias.
