Fan Art Questions

[TheChronicFeruchemist]

I orginally posted this on my tumblr but I wanted to see you guys had any ideas about it. I hope this is the right spot for it rather than the stormlight archive forums. I also apologize for all the costumer jargon in this. I was also sort of hoping that this could be a spot for other artist to posit questions. So here goes nothing:

 

Alethi noble women’s fashion confuses me. I’m really not sure what Sanderson is trying to describe with, “it buttoned up the sides of the torso from waist to neck where it was topped with a small, gold embroidered collar.” Doesn’t really mesh with it being a solid swath of silk in my head. I’d call a sari or a chiton a swath of silk because it is all one large piece. Where the kind of dress that he is describing definitely has seams.

 

Speaking of seams, what does he mean by the side of the torso? Does he mean side seams? That’s what I see when I first imagined it, but then I get to the part about them going up to the neck I get confused again. I suppose that he could be talking about princess seams of some sort. Am I the only one that is confused by this?

 

P.S. The piece I'm working on is of Syl.

[Krelian]

I guess if you wanted to, you could make a sari type piece that ended on a side (think of taking a sari, and slicing it along one side of the torso) and then had buttons/other closures to join it all together again.

 

Not sure how he envisioned the arms in that case though...

[firstRainbowRose]

I've got a costume that my aunt made for me that I'll take a picture of once I get home. It's based on a couple of concept art pics Ben did. I showed it to Brandon at one point and he said it was pretty close to what he pictured. Hopefully that will help.

[TheChronicFeruchemist]

I guess if you wanted to, you could make a sari type piece that ended on a side (think of taking a sari, and slicing it along one side of the torso) and then had buttons/other closures to join it all together again.

 

Not sure how he envisioned the arms in that case though...

I think he was going for more of a middle ages type look, and I think that was what sanderson was going for too(because they talk about storing stuff in their safe pocket in their sleeves, I'm not sure how else you are going to store things in your sleeves inless we are talking about a kimono.)  I'm more confused about button placement.

[Senor Feesh]

I think he was going for more of a middle ages type look, and I think that was what sanderson was going for too(because they talk about storing stuff in their safe pocket in their sleeves, I'm not sure how else you are going to store things in your sleeves inless we are talking about a kimono.)  I'm more confused about button placement.

 

Well, remember the safehand is completely enclosed, so the sleeve itself needs enough room to completely cover the hand AND have a small pouch for personal items.

 

As for the buttons and cut, I have an idea how this might look, but I find it difficult to explain in words (without simply repeating the text). If I have time I'll attempt to draw a simple sketch and upload.

[TheChronicFeruchemist]

I've got a costume that my aunt made for me that I'll take a picture of once I get home. It's based on a couple of concept art pics Ben did. I showed it to Brandon at one point and he said it was pretty close to what he pictured. Hopefully that will help.

Thanks, I'm really excited to see it!

Well, remember the safehand is completely enclosed, so the sleeve itself needs enough room to completely cover the hand AND have a small pouch for personal items.

 

As for the buttons and cut, I have an idea how this might look, but I find it difficult to explain in words (without simply repeating the text). If I have time I'll attempt to draw a simple sketch and upload.

I was thinking one of those huge middle ages sleeves, think Arwen or Galadriel in the lord of the rings movies. Hugely impratical, but cool looking.

 

I've got some ideas, I mean there should be some variation in how these dresses are made.

[Morsk]

I also can't wait to see this. I have some of the dumbest ideas in my head about what the sleeve looks like. At first I pictured it as just a long shirt sleeve that went out too long and was folded shut.

[TheChronicFeruchemist]

I also can't wait to see this. I have some of the dumbest ideas in my head about what the sleeve looks like. At first I pictured it as just a long shirt sleeve that went out too long and was folded shut.

I always had the big sleeves in my head. Though I wont be using them in my Syl picture. Syl is neither described with or with out a safe hand(thus far in my re-read.), and since her dress is described as girlish and I have it in my head they don't start the whole safe hand thing until puberity. Though if anybody else knows otherwise I'd love to know.

[firstRainbowRose]

This is an old one that looks kind of bad.  I'll try to take some better pictures of the dress tonight, but here's a starting point.
 

[Morsk]

Oh... sleeves! See, I'm so oblivious to clothing that I could only imagine a man's button-down shirt, with one sleeve that was too long past the hand. It was ridiculous! I knew it couldn't be right, but nothing better came to mind.

Thanks for sharing the nice picture. Fan art really helps when my imagination just can't come up with anything.

[Inkthinker]

The safehand sleeve in the dresses that Shallan and Jasnah wear is very much like the sleeve of a kimono, with the accompanying pocket space in the corner.

 

Safehands should be completely enclosed, but a slit is cut into the end of the sleeve so that you can get in there with your other hand, or extend the safehand if needed. Button it up for security. My solution was generally to make the left sleeve about a hand's-length longer than the right sleeve, with buttons to close up the opening.

 

Create other options! As a concept guy I know just enough about clothing to get into trouble, practical details and accurate seamery are not my forte. The original concepts were based on Brandon's descriptions, then modified as we moved ahead, what he describes in the text of the book is pretty close to what we came up with, but I can't swear that translates straight into wearable clothing without some creative interpretation.

 

The buttons along the sides of the torso run along the same seams that you would have to allow the dress to hug the body, so from the throat down along the outside of the breast to the waist. At that point, I had stopped the seam with a little ornamental embroidery. The skirts are split into six or eight panels, and beneath them are interwoven sheets of lighter fabric.

 

I wish I could just show the artwork but it remains in sequester until a future date. Sorry 'bout that, but I'll see what I can do about providing another option in the near future.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Inkthinker

[BlairJ]

That is very similar to how I imagined the dress that the Alethi women would wear.  You have your stone for soulcasting in there?

[TheChronicFeruchemist]

The safehand sleeve in the dresses that Shallan and Jasnah wear is very much like the sleeve of a kimono, with the accompanying pocket space in the corner.

 

Safehands should be completely enclosed, but a slit is cut into the end of the sleeve so that you can get in there with your other hand, or extend the safehand if needed. Button it up for security. My solution was generally to make the left sleeve about a hand's-length longer than the right sleeve, with buttons to close up the opening.

 

Create other options! As a concept guy I know just enough about clothing to get into trouble, practical details and accurate seamery are not my forte. The original concepts were based on Brandon's descriptions, then modified as we moved ahead, what he describes in the text of the book is pretty close to what we came up with, but I can't swear that translates straight into wearable clothing without some creative interpretation.

 

The buttons along the sides of the torso run along the same seams that you would have to allow the dress to hug the body, so from the throat down along the outside of the breast to the waist. At that point, I had stopped the seam with a little ornamental embroidery. The skirts are split into six or eight panels, and beneath them are interwoven sheets of lighter fabric.

 

I wish I could just show the artwork but it remains in sequester until a future date. Sorry 'bout that, but I'll see what I can do about providing another option in the near future.

Thank you so much, this is awesome. I'm a theatrical costumer so if you have any questions on making things wearable you can ask.

 

interesting about the kimono sleeves. I kind of want to make a mock up of that to see how it would move, usually the kimono sleeve is open in the back, and I'm assuming that for modisties sake they would not leave that open.

 

I've got one going that is simular but a little more simple and girlish for my thing with Syl. I'll post it in a link here if people want.

 

As for making it wearable if anybody who wants to cosplay it I'm totally willing to help.

[Inkthinker]

Originally I think the sleeves were designed like a cone of fabric, with the narrow end at the torso and the widest part sewn nearly closed except for an opening about 6-12 inches long, which can button closed. False buttons down the seam balance the functional ones, embroidery and patterns decorate the sleeves to break up the silhouette and add detail to the design.

 

Now, as I look on, I'm not so sure that the cone-shaped sleeves are either A.) practical or B.) all that attractive. But there's a world of room to move around in, a monolithic fashion culture would be booooring. Brandon leaves plenty of details open to interpretation.

The big trick is to accomodate the safehand, and that usually means long sleeves. There are gloves for practical usage, but I think that wearing a glove implies that you need your hands in order to function, therefore you are of a menial/labor class. It's much classier to look for other options to cover the hand, and extending the sleeve is an obvious solution.

 

I had another design that extends both sleeves equally, but allowing the right sleeve to open along the arm up to the elbow, letting the right hand move freely. You could also do some interesting things with slashes or layers of fabric that allow one hand to emerge but keep the other covered.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Inkthinker