Noldorin children often wear simple clothes and jewelry in the normal day, only on special occasions dressing up in more. The clothes and jewelry is meant to be easy to move around in and robust, and with age, becoming more decorative and detailed. To compensate for the simple cut out on children's clothes, embroidery usually takes on the leading role for decoration, as only adult robes can touch the ground. See here how adults robe for a noble Noldor might look.
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hi! i love your art, and i especially love the way you design the character’s outfits! they always look super cool and cohesive. do u have any advice for drawing clothing? (especially design wise) whenever i try and draw outfits my brain blanks unless i have an exact reference lol
Hi anon<3<3<3
I like world building, so first, I look to see if the place where the person I´m designing is described geographically, where they live, and their lifestyle. If not much is said, I look at the lands around and go from there.
I mostly put a focus on the weather, but mostly lifestyle and wealth. Of course the fauna near the person is important too, and if they have the possibility to get transported goods.
I made three versions of Maedhros from his three times living in different climates, here they are shortly, a more detailed description are down - note; this is Noldorin fashion and I depict other groups in different styles
These notes are only about the clothing, not jewelry, hair, or cosmetics.
Maedhros!Valinor:
The underwear is made of linen and here a long skjorte with a tied inner cloth with loose breaches to accompany Valinor stable weather that can easily cool you down and keep you warm at the same time. The edges of the skjorte is embroidered as it is meant to be shown. This has been seen a lot over history that an undergarment or something "sexual" meant to be hidden is shown in a glimpse - a modern equivalent would be showing the rim of your boxers or a bra strap. The clothes are long and layered and reaches the ground, unpractical for any manual labour or any wear that doesn´t have clean floors. The colours are saturated and a lot of white is used too.
Detail notes: While not noticeable I HC that Maedhros white robe is lined with gold cloth to match the embroidery around it, which is made on top of it where his purple robe is made with brocade.
Maedhros!Himring:
The underwear is not tighter and shorter to give better modality and keep warmth rather than cold. The sleeves are sewn to look big as heavy clothes can´t be used the same way, the sleeves have therefor become a new fashion symbol as well as status, it makes the arm look bigger and therefor the wear stronger, as well as give something to look at now that heavy fabrics that reaches the hands aren´t a choice anymore. All the robes reach just below the knee to still cover and fill, but also to make it easy to move in. The clothes are now looking broader to show strength and satiety. - Beleriand is in war, food is scarce, especially in the north close to Angband, and clothes are now made to make you look fat and well fed in this part of Beleriand. Fur has become an important aspect of fashion too, especially if sewn into clothes as padding or trims. Damask is used more in Himring than brocade which is used most in Doriath and Hithlum court.
Black is used due to the symbolism, but also as it is an expensive colour to hold as black as possible, it shows that someone with so much black clothes has the money to uphold it and to constantly buy new clothes to replace the old ones, as it is one of the easiest to break. - Due to Himring´s long winter and harsh climate, flowers and other forms of fauna quickly make themselves into fashion and are depicted on almost everything from walls, to tables, to clothes, to windows, and so on.
Maedhros!Amon Ereb:
The clothes here are still made to look you well fed but not in the same way as it was in Himring, as this part of Beleriand was hit much later with scarce food and therefore has a stronger hold on thin and strong fashion.
While still black, it is more gre,y which shows a fall in wealth, due to the visibility to now keep the clothes functioning for as long as possible without the possibility to carelessly throw it away.
Genreal notes on Noldorin Clothes:
Clothing are a social marker and always has been therefore it´s the same for the Noldor. There is a difference between the classes of society in how clothes are worn and the decorations used, to quickly show rank and status to those around you. Usually, the less practical your clothes are, the richer you are.
The style of clothes is also tied to your rank, meaning someone of one rank can´t wear a certain type of clothing style as that is outside of their social class. Different textile techniques are also sometimes defined by your rank.
Notes on fabric and technics:
Brocade and damask are also used a lot due to the hardship of producing it, where a cheaper solution would be printed patterns to those outside of the elite. Brocade is usually worn to court, where damask is a more daily solution as it is mostly made on linen and doesn´t appear as three dimensional as brocade.
Linen and cotton are usually worn as under clothes due to their lightweight and breathable properties, they are also used for pants. = flax fibers and cotton plant
Silk is usually worn as some form of overwear due to it reflecting light and expensive manufacture. = Silkworms cocoon
Velvet is usually used for clothing padding, or pants. = special loom usually with silk although linen, cotton and wool can be used
Cashmere is used for thin over clothes and usually only for decoration. = cashmere goats
Wool is used rarely and if it is it is used as padding in colder climate, so something you have in between your under and over clothes. It is also and important aspect of the military later in Beleriand as it is easy to get and you stay warm even in rain. = hair of animals (sheep, goats, cows, dogs, etc)
Rayon is used a lot by the Noldor too as it is easier to get than silk and hold a more stable temorature. Rayon is usually chosen for a pieces of clothes that requires a lot of embroidery silk wouldn´t be able to hold or as a tunic. = wood pulp
Notes on dyes:
Dyed clothes can be categorised in two; cheap home dyed fabrics, with local based dyes and expensive professional dyed fabrics, coloured with imported and expensive ingredients. The more clearer a colour the wealthier. - the colour mentioned here is what I draw him in.
White although not seemingly much is expensive due to the ingrediency being hard to obtain and not something you just get shipped to you, it shows wealth as the common folk of the Noldo really uses it and are more drown to easy colourful clothes instead, it also symbolises purity as it absorbs colours better than any other dyes. - Easy = sun bleaching (never really white white more like a pale yellow or brown) Expensive = chemical help
Black requires the fibres to be dyed repeatedly therefore, it is also a symbol of wealth, although it is less eye catching which also makes it the colour for humility and plainness. Black fabrics also holds the shortes amount of times if dyed with alum. - Expensive = mix of the basic dyes: (madder, weld and woad, alum), acorns, galnuts, oak apple
Yellow/gold although and easy colour to obtain is still a colour used by the elite as it can represent gold as a heraldic colour. - Easy and mild yellow = tansy, goldenrod, birch leaves and wild chervil Expensive and satured yellow = turmeric, saffron, onion skin, marigold, chamomile
Red/Scarlet is at times some of the most expensive due to the material used to get a scarlet red. Easy still expensive but cheaper = madder root (the root are harvested once a year - the leaf are harvested the whole year but gives a slightly different colour - madder can also give pink), brazilwood (can also make pink and purple) Expensive = raisin dragonsblood, kermes, scale insects
Purpel/violet is at times more expensive than gold due to the ingredients. - Easy = kermes and alum Expensive = dog whelk
Would be very interested to see your take on Numenorean fashion, either at the beginning with Tar-Minyataur or at the end with Tar-Miriel :D
Never turning down an opportunity to draw Tar-Miriel - have Miriel and Ar-Pharazôn as models :)
I base my Numenor, both in architecture and fashion, on a mix of Egypt 17/1500 bc and Rome 100 ad. A more detailed version of Pharazôn´s clothes can be found here.
While I think they used a lot of amazonite and turquoise in their jewelry, I also like to think they had a big pearl production. Although pearls were only ever worn at big events or by priests, the main stones used were imported opals, amazonite, turquoise, and pearls. I do have a tendency to draw Tar-Miriel in pearls.
I think that the people of Numenor were all for makeup, usually coal and gold, although sometimes a dust of color too. I do draw Miriel here with a lot of pearls and a lot of eyeshadow.
While they have two kinds of armor, a parade, the one above, and a war set, both made of dyed leather wrapped around metal, the big difference is that the war armor shows much less skin and has more metal plates both under the leather and over it.
Depicted: a necklace, a pearl in an earring, a bracelet
I was thinking about the Rohirrim. Our beloved horse people and..
I had such a crush at Éomer when I first saw the movies.
So I would love to see some Rohirrim fashion maybe modeled by Éomer ❤️
And one or two hc would make my day!!
You can get both Éomer and Éowyn as models :)
As decedents of Haleth, whose people´s clothes I draw with the Mongolian empire 1206–1368 as inspiration, I think they have some elements from the first age, mostly seen in their jewelry and accessories (coats, hats, etc), otherwise, I draw my inspiration from a mix of 1300-1400 medieval and Anglo-Saxon fashion.
Their armor is lamellar leather with some iron pieces, usually hidden under the leather.
While this is a depiction of daily wear a more formal dress would be something like Éowyn wears here, while something for hotter weather would be something like this.
Depicted: a beaded bronze and gold headdress, a bronze and gold earring with beads and horse hair, a link of a bronze belt, two golden necklaces with gems.
for the design reqs, elves, sindarin, pre-first age (like before the noldorin crossed back)? thank you so much 💕💕
I´m taking Luthien and Daeron to play dolls with here >:)
Luthien´s dress can also be seen here in more details, while an example of the armor can be seen here with Dior.
The difference between the years of the tree and the first age fashion is that after the Noldor´s arrival, they begin wearing more layers and show less neck/breast, as well as wearing more jewelry, especially necklaces which I don´t think was a part of their fashion before the same way. - I think necklaces would be a bit like we see a livery collar, not "weird" but a bit unusual.
The colors of their clothing are usually cold blue or purple, with hints of green, but also sometimes all green or rust.
I inspire Sindar´s jewelry on art nouveau, and while I don´t think they use it a lot, they do take great pride in the finer details of it. They would rather wear a few very detailed pieces than a lot so that the individual piece doesn´t get overshadowed by another.
Depicted: a hair comb, a silver brooch, a ring, an earring
For the fashion designers: Green-elves (the guys who lived in Ossiriand during the first age) years of the trees? (Pre-Noldor influence).
I don´t think the fashion of elvers changed as much as humans but I think especially the Nandor and Silvan´s (green elvers) kept their fashion stable - as you can see in my Legolas and Galion, who are both green elvers of the third age. - most noticeable difference with years of the tree and third age fashion for them is that less cleavage is shown less and there´s usually a decorate cape on third age fashion. - neither do I think they have a gendered fashion like some other groups, they pretty much wear what they want.
Their jewelry is usually made out of tree or hunting trophies but sometimes, if very fancy, bronze - mostly because it´s a soft metal and easier to work with than other kinds of metal.
For armor they use leather and reed vests - don't underestimate a well made reed vests they are warm and might just work better than plate armor at times - both because it´s what their resources permit but also because it´s good armor without slowing them down the way metal would.
Depicted: a wooden necklace tied with ribbons, a bronze earing, a charm with a clip to hold things (goes on the belt)
