Ikelan Fashion

Three main "streams" of fashion: High Mirzapor fashion, High Varanasi fashion, and low fashion.

High Mirzapor mode is the "classic" high fashion. Traditional to a fault, it changes only slowly and emphasizes good breeding and status. High Varanasi is the experimental fashion, with trends being born and dying like froth on the sea. Low fashion is the clothing and styles worn by the country folk (nobles and common alike). It emphasizes practicality and changes extremely slowly.

Fabrics and Materials

Mostly cotton and linen, with silk used extensively among the most wealthy. Fur is used only very rarely, and mostly as an accent (Ikela being a warm, humid climate). Leather is used in low fashion and as protective gear. Exotic materials such as spidersilk and coralweave are used in tiny amounts by the very wealthiest. Elastic fibers (sourced from a few types of plants) are known but expensive.

Fasteners and decorations are bone or wood (at the low end) and brass and gold and gemstones at the high end.

High Mirzapor

Attractive men are slender, pale skin, with dark hair and eyes. Tans, calluses, and visible musculature are lower-class markers. Women are hourglass (enforced by corsets and stays), but also pale with dark hair. "Languid" is a term of approval.

Male Fashion: think "Regency England" (aka Jane Austin's era) in cut. Frock coats, tailored shirts, tight breeches and boots. Generally unembroidered and without lace or ruffles. Nobles go armed, mostly with a smallsword (like a cut-down rapier), but this is usually decorative. Hats are worn, but closer to a tricorne (except). Colors are bright, generally being shades of a single color across an outfit. Blues and greens predominate, with reds being seen as a more feminine color.

Female Fashion: Corsets narrow the waist and push up the bust. The upper bodice is cut low, tight and square, exposing much of the upper side of the breast, with puffy shoulders and long, fitted sleeves (often extending to a point on the back of the hand). Breathing is optional. Lace and ruffles are used sparingly. The skirts are voluminous and layered, often with 7-8 layers of petticoats or with hoop skirts. Artificial bustles are added. Colors are pastels, often very pale ones. Reds (well, mostly pinks) show up frequently. But most dresses are cream or other off-whites or very pale pastels. Women wear substantial jewelry, especially necklaces with heavy pendants. Hair is worn up, but no wigs, although jewels are woven through it. Big hair.

High Varanasi (ca 250 AC)

Attractive men are slightly more muscled and fit than High Mirzapor fashion dictates, but still very pale and soft skin. Slightly more forgiving of various hair colors. Attractive women have more natural figures (although slender is a necessity, cf the dresses).

Male Fashion: Similar in cut to High Mirzapor, but with frills, ruffles, and BRIGHT CLASHING COLORS and high-heeled boots. Men wear jewelry, including ear studs and rings. In the highest fashion, trousers tend to be laminated on with large, padded codpieces made of a very different, contrasting color. Seriously, they look ridiculous.

Female Fashion: Ditch the corsets and bustles and large skirts. Necklines stay low but become V-shaped, but every artifice is made to fit the dress to the skin. Women frequently have to be sewn into their dresses and can barely walk, as the skirts only flare out in the last 6-12 inches (and often have large trains). Bright colors are the norm, as are arm bands and big chonky jewelry. Hair is worn down (often to the lower back) or pulled back, but not braided. Jeweled ropes tie it back and are woven through it.

Low Fashion

Trousers and tunics, belted at the waist and laced up the front. Not particularly fitted. Formal dresses tend to be simple but follow somewhat similar patterns (without the excesses) of High Mirzapor fashion: full skirts and square necklines. Sleeves only reach the elbow and the dresses generally are worn with only a single petticoat and no corset.