Clothing Questions

[adverge]

 

I noticed that Jordan describes clothing to a great extent in the books.  I find this interesting but I am wondering about how these dresses might actually look.  The way he describes the dresses makes it difficult for me to picture them.

 

Why do the women get upset about thin and clinging dresses but seem to have never heard of a bodice or any kind of breast support, or structure under the dress?  Are they wearing tents to make sure they don't 'cling to every curve'?

 

What is thin fabric?  Why are they more concerned about thin fabric being slutty than about the cut?  I'm not sure when thin becomes too thin.

 

What is a a skirt in one colour slashed with another colour?  What do these slashes look like?

 

I noticed that a lot of the dresses Elaine were have collars up to the chin and seem to not be very form fitting at times.  Are these women wearing burqas?

 

Through the first six books they talked about wool, silk, and the material Aiel use for their clothing but no other material.  Linen pops up in book seven.  How can they have no clue how silk is made but have an awful lot of it in Randland?  Do they use leather at all?  Wouldn't a pair of breeches made out of silk be really uncomfortable?

 

 

[mb]

About how the clothing looks, the Encyclopaedia site shows on some character pages.

 

Through the first six books they talked about wool, silk, and the material Aiel use for their clothing but no other material.

Actually, fancloth (warder's clothing) and streith are also mentioned in the first 6 books.  And the clothing of gai'shain is also mentioned; not sure, but this also might have a specific term.

The Aiel's clothing is named cadin'sor.

 

How can they have no clue how silk is made but have an awful lot of it in Randland?

According to the Encyclopaedia site, silk is imported from Shara.  http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/geography/silk_path.html

 

[adverge]

 

The cadinsor is the style of clothing, not the type of material.  Algod?  Something like that.  I've been listening to the audiobook version so I don't know the spellings at the moment.

[animegirl]

I always picture the clothing as being similar to different periods of history.

 

Tear - I think of the Spanish royalty and explorers circa 1500AD.

 

Amadacia - Late Victorian Britain circa 1880AD

 

Cairhien - British Georgian period circa 1750AD

 

Andor - Tudor Britain circa 1550AD

 

Seanchan - Japanese edo period

 

Sea Folk - Pre-colonial India

 

Aiel Waste - I can't think of anything but the Dune mini-series  :D

[Caedn of the Taardad]

My impression is that the Algode is actually cotton; they mention it is softer, and it certainly isn't wool, so that leaves cotton as the best viable option. 

[Obligatory WOT Reference]

My impression is that the Algode is actually cotton; they mention it is softer, and it certainly isn't wool, so that leaves cotton as the best viable option. 

 

Yeah i'm pretty sure that's what it is

[CUBAREY]

My impression is that the Algode is actually cotton; they mention it is softer, and it certainly isn't wool, so that leaves cotton as the best viable option. 

 

It could also be linen or flax. Moreover, Ail garp always reminded me of American Indian dress without the colors.

 

Tear fashion definately 1500ish Spanish.

Andor fashion definately Elizabethan English dress.

 

Cairhern-- Cromwell's England, the type of dress that the Roundheads wore during the English Civil War (Americans thinkPuritan dress fashions). Of course the men's military haricut is a Japanese Samuri hairstyle.

 

Saldia-- Think Russian, Cossack dress circa 1750-1800.

 

And thin material-- think sheer almost see-through.

 

Shinar think pure 1200-1400 middle ages Northern European dress including Knights in full Armor. (again hairstyle is Mongolian or Cosack top-knots.

 

Illian Think Italian Renesannce.

 

 

[MikeRiley]

It's said somewhere in the book where they enter the Waste that algode is made out of a plant that grows there.

[adverge]

 

 

What does a skirt slashed with a colour look like?  He uses that one a lot.

 

Also, what about Two Rivers clothing?

 

What about the Domani dresses?

[CUBAREY]

 

 

What does a skirt slashed with a colour look like?  He uses that one a lot.

 

Also, what about Two Rivers clothing?

 

What about the Domani dresses?

 

Ever seen a ball gown with a second color highlighting the first color.

 

Two Rivers. Think 1600-1700 English village fashions.

 

Domani dresses-- Think Mortica Addams dressed in light colored silk.

[adverge]

Ever seen a ball gown with a second color highlighting the first color

 

I've spent the last two months shopping for a wedding gown and three bridesmaid dresses.  I've not seen anything that resembles a skirt of one colour slashed with another!  I've seen lots of pleated skirts, skirts with cutouts, skirts with petticoats, skirts with ruching, skirts with gathers, skirts with bustles, skirts with gauzy overlays, and many other variations of styles.  Trust me, spend as much time in formal dress shops as I have in the last two months, I've seen all there is to see when it comes to ball gown styles!

 

I really want to know what Jordan is describing here because I've been curious about it since my first read.

 

 

[Shard]

To me the Aiel always seemed like Scotsman gone African.

[Caedn of the Taardad]

 

It could also be linen or flax. Moreover, Ail garp always reminded me of American Indian dress without the colors.

 

 

 

I don't know about America Indian, especialy not the Indian warriors soft leather garb.  I don't remember any mention of the Cadin'sor being made of leather, and I've always assumed it to be made of either Algode or Wool. 

 

I could be wrong of course, their shields are made of hide, but I've always thought it was some kind of cloth, seeing as its gray and brown instead of just a solid shade.  It just seems to me it'd be a bit dificult to dye soft leather different colors in a camo pattern.

[Gentled Ben]

There are examples of slashed skirts at this website: http://www.mattionline.com/Renaissance.html

[Majsju]

Michelle: What does it mean when dresses are slashed with a color.

 

Jordan: There are two possibilities meanings to this. The most usual one is that there is an underskirt of the color that says it is slashed with. The outer skirt has a slit in it, a slash, which is sown in such a way that it is always open thus revealing its underneath color. The other way of doing this is there is this sort of pocket sown on the inside of that slash of the second color, so you are looking through the outer skirt into a depth, so it looks like it is a little pocket that other color in the skirt. This is not my invention, they did they during the renaissance, and I believe earlier as well.

 

http://theoryland.yuku.com/topic/9912/t/Second-Q-amp-A-Saturday.html

[Kaznen]

Linen=Flax

 

Flax is the name of the flower that produces linen.  And it also requires a lot of water to process flax into linen so I doubt the Aiel produce it themselves but buy it from peddlers and tradeholds.

 

With its moister wicking qualities it would be ideal for their undercloths.  And I doubt with their of pasture that they would have excessive surplus of leather.

[chemteach1977]

Algodon is spanish for cotton.  I cannot believe RJ was ignorant of that so I am quite certain that algode is meant to be cotton.

[trakand_01]

 

I noticed that Jordan describes clothing to a great extent in the books.  I find this interesting but I am wondering about how these dresses might actually look.  The way he describes the dresses makes it difficult for me to picture them.

 

Why do the women get upset about thin and clinging dresses but seem to have never heard of a bodice or any kind of breast support, or structure under the dress?  Are they wearing tents to make sure they don't 'cling to every curve'?

 

 

No, they're wearing well-cut clothing, most of them. Bodices were pretty much a victorian introduction (in England at least), before that they were not prominent. There is a difference, however, to a fabric which skims your figure, and one which clings to every lump and bump. Cotton and wool is good for skimming, in the modern day, fabrics such as Nylon and polyester can be awful for clinging to the figure.

 

 

What is thin fabric?  Why are they more concerned about thin fabric being slutty than about the cut?  I'm not sure when thin becomes too thin.

 

Because no matter what the fabric is, if the cut is good, it will make you look good. A common misconception (in my eyes) is that everything you wear should be of the latest fashion - in fact, clothing with a good cut that suits you will look better than anything off the catwalk. Thin probably becomes too thin when it clings, rather than skims.

 

What is a a skirt in one colour slashed with another colour?  What do these slashes look like?

 

I may be wrong, but I imagine this to be somewhat like the dresses you often found in tudor times. The main fabric of the dress was one colour, but there were very obvious pleats in the skirts, and within those pleats, was a different colour - the 'slash'.

 

I noticed that a lot of the dresses Elaine were have collars up to the chin and seem to not be very form fitting at times.  Are these women wearing burqas?

 

Nope, they're wearing well-fitting dresses with high necks. I imagine soemthing like this:

http://www.georgianindex.net/Reticule/pel_retc.jpg

 

 

Through the first six books they talked about wool, silk, and the material Aiel use for their clothing but no other material.  Linen pops up in book seven.  How can they have no clue how silk is made but have an awful lot of it in Randland?  Do they use leather at all?  Wouldn't a pair of breeches made out of silk be really uncomfortable?

 

No, silk can actually be very comfortable. Silk can come in many forms from rough or 'shot' silk, through to very very soft cotton-like fabric. Min's trousers for example are probably well-moulded to her shape by now. Most of the silk, if i'm not mistaken comes from Shara, so they never see it's production, they just buy it from the silk merchants that venture across the Waste.

 

Hope this helps :)

 

Boo, I was going to comment that Algodon was spanish for cotton but chemteach1977 beat me to it (by about a fortnight).