As a part of my project to "streamline" background features of the Pendragon game I'm trying to create a guide for when major fashion-trends take place in the GPC time-line. Sort of like a bullet-point timeline, not in depth.

I am trying to make culture, trends, fashion, food a major part of the game, but without take-ing up to much time between sessions or during sessions. I want to be able to tell players what the latest trends are, where they come from and so on. "The women at court is talking about the young boy from London, the one who drew the sword. They say he keeps his hair shoulder-length and cuts his beard (if he has any). It's the latest trend in the court. It looks ridiculous and resembles a baby's butt, but your wife insures you, it's the latest in fashion. You should heed her advice, or not."

This is a good start I think:
http://www.fashion-era.com/hats-hair/hair1-1066-1327-womens-hair-calthrop.htm
http://www.fashion-era.com/english-costume/1066-1087-william-the-first-calthrop.htm

Would anyone be interested in helping me put "years" to the fashion trends on this page? Where would the historical analogies of clothes be in GPC? And to perhaps connect them to a few major events in the time-line. There is pretty good info from the Boy-King and forward, and I'd think it won't be impossible to fill in the blanks. When does braids become common? How does the dark times of the anarchy affect fashion? Who's the ideal when Uther dies? and so on...

The early periods should be marked with fewer changes in fashion, but it'd be cool if it's tied to major events in the time-line. An idea I am working on, is that not all years are equal in fashion. Perhaps some years the the clothes loose a lot of worth when big changes come, and other years not. This would affect the part of the winter-phase where the clothes loose half value. But that is a house-rule, and maybe for another thread.

Here is an example of what the list could look like:
485: Uther is becoming the ideal of the land. Men abandons old "cymric" hairstyles. (Beard is fashion)
486: Prince Madocs hair is really long. Why isn't yours as long? (Long hair is fashion)
487: The Great Sword Feast was magnificent. The king got a long fur-coat from Norway. (Silk, samite and expensive cloth is the latest fashion.)
488: Uther wore an impressive long tunic last court, it came from the raids in Frankland. (Long tunics become fashion)
489: War in Britain, but no battles. No major fashion-trends this year. '



Edit:
A rather interesting "law" regarding fashion that could be used: http://www.fashion-era.com/lavers_law.htm

I have no particular skills or knowledge that would be of great benefit to this task. And, as my first ever Pendragon game is set to commence in a month-and-half, my time is tied up in more pressing campaign prep, like understanding politics and the rules and how to run a feast.

I will, however, gladly reap the rewards of your hard work and potentially make use of whatever you come up with without me.

As such, you have my unwavering moral support in this endeavour.

I have no particular skills or knowledge that would be of great benefit to this task. And, as my first ever Pendragon game is set to commence in a month-and-half, my time is tied up in more pressing campaign prep, like understanding politics and the rules and how to run a feast.

I will, however, gladly reap the rewards of your hard work and potentially make use of whatever you come up with without me.

As such, you have my unwavering moral support in this endeavour.


To be honest. My skills are lacking as well. I was always amazed at my last GM's (Skarpskytten is my Liege Lord) ability to just "know" these things. And it added a lot to my personal immersion in the game as a player. But, lacking a doctorate in medieval fashion, I instead wanted to use my google-fu and perhaps get some help from this forum to make a list of it. There is a LOT of very knowledgeable people on this forum!

Any help, even if it's only opinons or moral support. Is gladly accepted. :D

Well, here's my idea:

Uther
In Logres, people dress in real-world Norman styles, as the second link shows. However, unlike the real Normans, southern Cymri tend to wear their hair long and go unshaven like Uther and Madoc, unless they were Priests. Older knights, by contrast, normally crop their hair and shave, in imitation of the style popularized by the Emperor Constantine a century earlier - Romans on both sides of the British Sea follow this as well. Cumbrians and Cambrians, by contrast, dress in more "Dark Agey" apparel, more like what we would think Dark Age Celts dress like. Saxons, of course, dress like pre-Conquest Saxons, and the Franks dress like 6th-century Franks. Priests go clean-shaven - if they are Roman Christians they tonsure themselves Roman-style (top of head), if they are British Christians they tonsure themselves Celtic-style (front of head)

The Anarchy
Largely a continuation of the previous period. In general, Logres and Cornwall follow the patterns of King Stephen's time, Cambria and Cumbria continue to ignore the south and be more "traditional." There's no king to set fashion, so fads flare up and die out with alarming speed. Clothing tends to be more utilitarian than historically - the disintegrating political structure can't support frivolities.

Boy King
Clean-shaven chins come into fashion as knights try to follow the "beardless youth." Henry II is the main source for fashion of this period. Southern fashions reach Cambria and Cumbria as Arthur pacifies those areas. Roman Christian priests start to dress with more grandeur. Guenever popularizes the chin band and linen cap among women. In France, the influence of Romans and Aquitanians causes long hair to fall out of fashion, and it becomes the prerogative of the royalty alone.

Conquest
Roman fashion falls out of favor amongst Romans in Britain. Arthur starts growing a beard, and other men follow suit. The experience with Eastern soldiers following the Romans leads to two developments - the invention of the surcoat and the introduction of silk garments. Influenced by the foreigners starting to arrive in Camelot, Guenever introduces Saracen-style clothing to court (ironically, since she never sees a Saracen woman, the outfits look bizarrely masculine)

Romance and Tournament
Pointed shoes and draperies come into fashion for the men. Later, the heat caused by the Wasteland leads to cotehardies replacing surcoats. To make up for the loss of surcoats, headgear becomes more elaborate. Better trade with the east brings in new dyes and colors. Throat gorgets become popular with women, and both Guenever and Margawse introduce make-up - alternatively accusing the other of either stealing her idea or needing it more. Near the end Isolde introduces new fashions like the steeple headdress.

Grail
This is a time of contrasts. Landed noblemen wear clothing of increasingly bold appearance, with long shoes, pelicons, and baldrics to hold their weapons. Isolde and Guenever seem to start a contest as to who can have the more elaborate hairdo. Houpellandes become popular for both sexes. One the other hand, this is the time of the Grail. Many people see knights dressed as simple monks, even as the actual clergy now conform to our standard vision of what a Catholic priest looks like. Arthur himself has put two and two together regarding Mordred and walks around in a camel-shirt with an unshaven beard.

Twilight
Almost as if they are in denial, the nobility dresses in open grandeur during this time. See the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III. Women wear cauls and henins, with open-cut, colorful dresses. Men wear large, black velvet hats and long, full-pleated skirts. Near the end, Mordred attempts to restore "old" fashion - which in his mind means kilts and slathering woad over every exposed skin. After Camlann, society breaks down and people revert to utilitarian clothes that are easy to make - once again looking like people did in the historic Dark Ages.

Didn't GPC already provide the 'fashion guide' per Period?

Well, here's my idea: [lotsoftext]

I like this! I always did find it a bit strange that people wore 5th century clothes and then BAM! Arthur.

So from your list, and with the help of the "historical analog" from book of battle I could figure out this:

Roman period: 6th century
Uther Period: 10th century norman clothes ()
Anarchy Period: 11th century clothes (William I and forward)
Boy King and Conquest (until 525): 12th century (Henry II)
526 - 537: 13th century
538 - 555: 14th century
556 - 564: 15th century
565->: Fashion is forgotten... 6th century.




Didn't GPC already provide the 'fashion guide' per Period?


Yes, somewhat. But it's a bit lacking in the early periods, and could be a bit more detailed later on too. It's basically "norman armor and 5th century clothes" before Boy-King. After that it does mention several clothes that come into fashion. My idea was to

Personally I have some problem coming up with ideas for why the clothes should drop by half each year. And wanted to tie some historical changes into the story events. Maybe to make it a bit more... immersive?

Didn't GPC already provide the 'fashion guide' per Period?


Yes it does, but the problem is that the words used are rather arcane, and particularly so if you are not a native English speaker. Using those words while describing clothing wont really tell most KAP players anything.

I'd prefer to have a good set of pictures to show my players: "And Gunievers dress looks like this".

I've started this project, but it'll advance more or less as my campaign advances.

https://oath-of-crows.obsidianportal.com/wiki_pages/clothing

I've started this project, but it'll advance more or less as my campaign advances.

https://oath-of-crows.obsidianportal.com/wiki_pages/clothing

I have to admit, I'm jealous of your graphics prowess. My players are lucky if I'm able to grab a photo from Google Earth