IMC :: Fashion Rules
* What is fashion like in your Amber?
A quirky mix of practical, robust, intense, and imports of the moment. Take the clothing from 1939's "Adventures of Robin Hood" as the intense end of the spectrum. Use 1991's "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" for the practical end of the range. The impact of walking about the docks, where clothing is robust and plain, is much different than walking through a guild hall, where success in business is reflected in attire.
How quickly does it change? Can a girl wear a dress her mother wore at the same age and look perfectly normal, or is last month�s style already dead in the water?
Definitely there are classic cuts and looks that never go out of style. They might be considered conservative—but never out of style. There are trends, but they move slowly. So a dress that you spent a small fortune on two years ago is still quite acceptable to wear. Men's styles move even more slowly. Imports occasionally 'splash' for a season or so.
How much variety is there in clothing styles? What are attitudes to Shadow fashions?
The clothing variety in such a cosmopolitan port does swing a bit, but everyone knows the difference between a Golden Circle outfit and an Amber one if they have the smallest expertise. When some odd thing shows up from distant shadow, it is expected one has permission to discreetly stare.
Rebma is a special case. Rebmans are expected to cover up when visiting Amber, and if they don't, they get stared at with impunity. As a rule Rebman men and women don't like the staring, so they make concessions and cover up.
How much skin can be shown? Is it neck to ground? Cleavage? Is off the shoulder risque? Can you nip down the shops for some milk wearing three handkerchief-sized scraps of chain mail without raising an eyebrow (or anything else)?
Prestige, daring, and ego determine how much blatant sexual provocation fashion allows. The King can wear any damn thing he pleases. IMC, Random is known to lounge about in luxurious heavy cotton robes with
'Plaza Hotel' embroidered on them. It is also true that royals will wear things that nobles would not be caught dead in. Some royals have actually been seen nude in public. Staring is allowed—just don't get caught.
Rebmans make folks crazy with how they dress to thrill, and then are so choosy about their sexual escapades.
Generally, Amber fashion permits women uncovered:
- ankles
- hands to above elbows
- heads (not wise in summer)
- top of shoulders (back of neck considered risque)
- breast cleavage (particularly flesh pushed up, not fabric pulled down)
Amber fashion permits men uncovered:
- hands to shoulders
- heads (not wise in summer)
- legs (fully, if in hose, to knees if kilted)
- neck cleavage (nape, collarbone, back of neck all fine)
Do women wear trousers? In public? What sort of women are they if they do?
Royals do this, much to the exasperation of Amber parents.
Sailors do it. Everyone knows what kind of women go to sea.
Actresses will sometimes do this in theater—particularly the complex comedies. It is considered halfway between shocking and 'good fun' depending on the actress' skill.
Are there class distinctions in fashion? Are upper-class fashions designed to limit ones' ability to do manual labour? Can you climb a tree in your best frock? Can you walk more than 5 paces without passing out while wearing your best frock?
Very much a distinction of wealth. Amber fashions and materials are the best that can be had.
The cut of anyone's "best clothes" will probably restrict their mobility, labor, and climbing skill. Generally, best clothes are better made, so rough treatment might still preserve the clothing.
Corsets and other 'tricks and tools' designed to emulate the figures of royal family are a minor influence in formal wear. Buying extra layers of beautiful things is an affectation of the wealthy. (Since the wealthy also have the heftier waistlines, there is some reason for expensive corsets and binders as a fashion.)
Do professions have distinct 'uniforms'? Can you tell someone is a lawyer/doctor from the way they dress?
Not so much in my campaign. You can tell a successful man from a less-so one if you have the eye for it.
Military units and ranks are extremely fussy and clearly distinctive in their clothing. You can tell regular army, from rangers, from castle guard, from the Thorn Battalion, if you know what you're looking for.
Is denim something only peasants wear?
Typically. But country nobles often do work their estates, and practical considerations crop up more often in the outlying lands of Amber. City dress is opportunity to be seen. Denim is work attire, not fancy attire.
Weapons. Who is allowed to carry them in public and when? Are they part of fashion, or simply a tool?
Everyone might have a small knife, intended more as tool than as weapon. The law allows any citizen to carry a weapon. Carrying a sword implies that you know how to use it. Therefore, if you pull it, the law allows a fellow to think it is possible you mean to kill him, and he can kill you first. Pulling a knife on a man armed with a sword is not looked at the same way: a swordsman must be careful not to get accused of murdering a knife wielder.
Some swords, daggers, etc. are obvious fashion accessories.
Are royals accorded special status, or must they conform to the norms of the rest of society in public? How much leeway are they given?
Royals set the tone. They also break it.
The truth is, that if the royals weren't usually sticking to the rules, those rules wouldn't exist for very long. Even so, there are folks in the family that want to stand out with their clothes.
Or can't help themselves and must preen. You can imagine what most of the family think of that type.
What about men�s fashions? Do men rival (or exceed) women in the 'peacock stakes', or do they garb them selves in dark, sober and conservative hues? Hose? Trousers? Kilts (with or without underwear)?
Men have as much latitude as the women. They can even go for sartorial glory to outshine any lady. Current time in Amber, hose is some few centuries out of fashion, though it was not only five hundred years ago.
Yet Bleys could probably get it back in fashion all by himself, if he chose to.
Only conservative men reflect conservative fashion. Same for women.
Which brings me to underwear. Do people wear it? Are women tight-laced? What about knickers? Are they something only worn by prostitutes or the general population? Is it more respectable to wear underwear or not to wear underwear?
Underthings is a minor industry of fashion all its own. Underwear runs the range of practical to fluff.
It is considered proper to wear some underwear across the classes and degrees of nobility. It's a fact that many find this the practical thing to do. Hence there is common drawstring underwear easily purchased—one size fits all.
But that is just the start of variety when it comes to underwear. Young folks love to experiment. Conforming to appearance doesn't include what you have on underneath.
Older women tend to try the tight-laced things to help them look firmly put together. Shock!—Older men do the same thing. Amber is a healthy culture, not obsessed with youth—though there is that dark side to the immortality of the royals, but folks are concerned about health. The poor and the wealthy share in common the desire to look fit.
Knickers are popular. Also Tap pants. Or just a long chemise. Underwear is usually about the bottoms, not the tops.
Generally wearing no underthings at all means you are either clueless to fashion, willfully ignoring convention, or a randy thing looking for your next conquest. Royals fall to all these extremes at various times.
They also keep the rules.
*in this post for clarity, I have reversed the usual scheme of quote-blocks being someone else's contribution. Quote-blocks here are my comments about my campaign.
Questions are from Claire's entry at Shadows of Amber :: The Center of All Things :: Fashion in Amber
Congrats to Shadows of Amber for the 2003 recognition of contribution to the online Amber community.
Filed under :
IMC at 17.09.2003