dresses, dresses, dresses

[Caelan Arendor]

Are the detailed descriptions of clothing—especially Nynaeve’s—superfluous or essential?

I’ve been thinking about the amount of attention Robert Jordan gives to clothing, particularly women’s dresses and Nynaeve’s outfits. Personally I find these descriptions excessive, while some others argue they’re an important part of the worldbuilding and character development.

Do you feel the detailed dress descriptions add depth to the story and the cultures of the world, or do they pull you out of the narrative? And how do you think they reflect Nynaeve’s personality and growth? Is it all for the sake to be pretty for Lan?

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

I think some of it is a little heavy handed, like Nynaeve's instance on stout Two Rivers woolens, giving way to a more luxurious and revealing style, but I think the themes in general make sense. Clothes aren't just extensions of the body, and given the vast diversity of the cast in the Wheel of Time, from foppish nobles to hard working stable hands to displaced people coming together say at the Black Tower, from prudish Andorans to sultry Domani to shameless Mayeners, clothes are important, and the cultural clashes and contrasts more so. Choices about packing reveal character development. And it would be something that would be genuinely important to the characters. Are they going to meet the Amyrlin Seat? Are they going to be trudging through the wastes? Their past experiences will shape them.

 

So no I don't think it is excessive. I do think sometimes Jordan's dealing with characters being "feminine" can be a bit full-on, but not enough to pull me out of the narrative or feel the characters were not believable.

 

All of course in my most humble opinion. 

[Starla Yilmaz]

I personally love the descriptions of clothing and textiles, but I am a cross-stitcher and knitter who has been known to sew stuff too. It is a great bit of worldbuilding because many times a culture's values and ranking system are revealed through clothing. However, I can understand why someone who isn't a fiber crafter/artist or into fashion would be bored by those passages.

[Elgee]

I think unto each their own. Ie we all have different interests, so not everyone will find every sentence of the books fascinating. I quite like the description of the ordinary things, like the clothes, for the same reasons Heavy mentioned, whereas the battle scenes mostly bore me. 

[Caelan Arendor]

Thank you for your remarks; I respect your views. I do, however, tend to prefer stories with more dynamism and development, and I love it when the plot unfolds and is presented at a somewhat brisker pace. 

But fortunately we don’t all have the same preferences or the same taste — that’s probably what sets us apart from faceless ants, although I’m not entirely sure there aren’t different personalities among them as well.

 

Greetings and best 73 to all of you!

[Elgee]

I must admit that usually I also prefer a faster paced story, but the Wheel of Time is just so unique. Everything Jordan wrote just drew me in further, and made it all more "real".

 

I'm sure ants have personalities *grins*