Clothing and Geography

[Atom]

I just wanted to say that the clothing articles and drawings are really really cool. They are excellent guides to help me get think about Almea looks like from ground level. plus they're excellent pieces of artwork, definitely some of your best.

Secondly, are you ever planning to update the Hemisphere map? I ask because I was rereading the Historical Atlas of Almea (shouldn't that be Eralae now that we have Arcel?) and the hemisphere map is really odd looking. It has a bunch of really odd things on it. Like Jagai, and Mnemese is completely different now as is the rift valley etc. Also ,the text in some aprts mentions the fact that you might in the future do something on Arcel, which is a bit funny.

[zompist]

Thanks much. They're part of a general attempt to make Almea more easily visualized (which stretches my skills as I'm more of a verbal person).

Sometime I'll update the whole Historical Atlas... more info has accumulated and it needs a thorough going-over.

[dhok]

I've seen the Wede:i clothing, but I have a question: isn't Xengiman a little cold for just loincloths?

[zompist]

By our standards, certainly. But early terrestrial clothing could be awfully skimpy too— my primary idea book shows Central Europeans and Germans of pre-Roman times going bare-chested. The Indians of Massachusetts too, IIRC. Brr!

[hwhatting]

I commented on that matter in the Almeopedia. I'm quite sure that even the hardy Germanic people of yore put on warm clothes and coats in winter.

[Salmoneus]

After all, Central Europes can get pretty hot in the summer.

I assume all the furs were seasonal.

[zompist]

I changed the text to allow for more layers in the winter. Still, I think people may be projecting contemporary behaviors into the past. Looking at sources on historical costume, it's striking how frankly skimpy clothes were even in areas where fuller outfits later became customary. And even in historical times it's not a sure bet that the poor had what we'd call sufficient clothing.

[brandrinn]

I changed the text to allow for more layers in the winter. Still, I think people may be projecting contemporary behaviors into the past. Looking at sources on historical costume, it's striking how frankly skimpy clothes were even in areas where fuller outfits later became customary. And even in historical times it's not a sure bet that the poor had what we'd call sufficient clothing.

I like to read Russian literature, and as late as Tolstoy some very poor peasants are described as sharing one big fur per family. Basically, only one person could leave the house at a time in the winter, with the rest huddled around, under, or above the stove. Fur was probably even more expensive in areas where large wild animals were locally extinct (like agricultural Xengiman?).

[Mornche Geddick]

Those straps on the Cuzeian peasant woman's dress are really going to rub. She'd be better off in just a simple skirt.

[zompist]

Those are borrowed from ancient Egyptian dresses.

[Mashmakhan]

People in colder climates occasionally take most of their clothing off to get rid of sweat after they have exerted a lot of energy. Heavy insulated clothing makes you sweat more because of more heat build-up and less ventilation. If you were to get those clothes wet with sweat, after a while the water from the sweat cools and then it freezes. Enough sweat in your clothes could give you hypothermia. That's why traditional peoples living in cold places would, on occasion, take most of their clothes off after they have been using up a lot of energy partaking in strenuous activities like whale hunting or taking part in conflicts with other hostile groups. It's not that they liked doing it or that it was some sort of custom or tradition in itself, it was more a matter of necessity. Otherwise I am sure they would have preferred keeping their clothes on all the time. It would be downright foolish to take your clothes off in the dead of winter for very long and I have never heard or read from a reliable source that this sort of thing was at all common.

EDIT: If you are thinking of the tribes in western Europe or the British Islands during the dark ages, remember that these places had a temperate maritime climate. As such, it was considerably warmer there than in other places like central Europe, the Eurasian and central Asian steppes, and Siberia. These places had a continental climate so they faced higher extremes in temperature. That includes more extreme winters. Something similar can be said of the Native American peoples living in the Laurentian woodlands of eastern North America. Winters there are milder than those farther up north. You would probably not see any Cree or Ojibwe people walking around with no shirts on in winter. Atleast not for very long.

[Atom]

So, I'm guessing Uytai is next, now that we had Be.

[Brel]

my primary idea book shows Central Europeans and Germans of pre-Roman times going bare-chested. The Indians of Massachusetts too, IIRC. Brr!

Zompist, could you tell us what your "primary idea book" is? I'm interested in learning more about ancient fashions.

[zompist]

Sure-- Claudia Muller's The Costume Timeline. Looks like it's out of print though.

[Brel]

Thanks.