For the Evil Queen Pharaoh of Osirion, it’s all about white with gold, bold necklaces, lotus flower motifs, long column dresses, diaphanous fabric.
Valentino’s Fall 2014 couture collection combined many of these elements:
Even without the iconic lotus flower, these capture Osirian power dressing.
Badgley Mischka, Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear Collection and Sass & Bide, Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear Collection
Hakon, the iconic Skald, was unveiled on many Thursdays ago, but vacation kept me from posting. The class is a barbarian/bard hybrid, which might have presented an interesting sartorial challenge. How to meld the rough hides of a barbarian with the clean look of a bard. Hakon’s robes, though tend towards the bard side of things. They are, in a word, impeccable. They don’t have the usual, worn-in, adventuring look about them. (Is it safe to assume that prestidigitation is on the Skald’s spell list?)
Valentino Couture Spring 2009
The real world equivalent for Iconic’s fashion that doesn’t look lived in, is surely Valentino. Also impeccable. Always.
This picks up the two contrasting green, clean lines (I worked really, really hard, not to say “impeccable” there), interesting trim (which is important in Hakon’s backstory), and even fur-like trim, to keep the Ulfen warm.
Valentino Couture Spring 2009
Other impeccable green clothes on Hakon‘s pinterest page.
Reta is one of the heroines of We Be Goblins. That qualifies her as an iconic, right?
This is what I did last Saturday, when I was supposed to choosing a look for Crowe. (Heavily armoured melee characters are challenging. I really hope this week’s iconic a nice, robe-wearing caster, from Taldor.)
Reta is a Sandpoint goblin who wears, hands down, the best wedding dress in Golarion. So I had to recreate it when I got my plushie.
This weekend, I got the answers to all my burning questions about Numeria when my book arrived. And, as always, more questions were raised than answered. I’m only about 20 pages in (as of this writing), so I may have to eat my words later.
Answer to the Most important Question:
Ruffian Spring 2011 Ready to Wear
YES (with caveat): There is polyester! I feel foolish for even asking. The android on page 57 is rocking a mauve and white, belted, sleeveless, double breasted, flared pantsuit. It is exactly as glorious as it sounds. With that description, how could it be anything other than polyester? It looks a lot like this white suit from Ruffian’s Spring 2011 Ready to Wear collection. Also, since she’s an android described as having “synthetic skin”, she essentially is polyester.
Louise Goldin Fall 2008 Ready to Wear
The Numerian Gunslinger on pg 55 is wearing a standard issue superhero/speed-skater suit. The kind that requires an amount of stretch which is unattainable with natural fibres alone. This piece from Louise Goldin’s 2008 Fall collection displays similar amounts of stretch and contrasting seam inserts. (ETA: The artist posted the Gunslinger image on deviant art)
From these facts, I am cautiously optimistic that there is polyester, despite no actual mention of petroleum-based fabric.
Speaking of synthetic materials: Am I the only one hoping the Technology Guide includes recipes for making polymers, like the formulas in the Alchemist’s Handbook?
Quinn the stylish investigator iconic was revealed this week. He lists three things he needs to change the world. Obviously, the most important is “a stylish coat”.
I’m not gonna lie. The prospect of finding a literal interpretation of Quinn’s coat on the runways was daunting. Long, camel coat with silver plates sewn onto it? But Burberry Prorsum to the rescue (Fall 2013 Ready to Wear). It doesn’t capture Quinn’s essence though.
I’m embarrassed by how long it took me to make the connection between “Stylish Coat” and “Investigator”. Sherlock Holmes, Philip Marlowe, Harry Dresden — all investigators with really great coats.
Taking the Philip Marlowe Classic Trench direction, it’s no surprise that Burberry and Hermès always have fantastic cots on their runways.
(Hermès Fall 2012 Ready to Wear, Burberry Prorsum Spring 2006 Ready to Wear, Burberry Prorsum Fall 2013 Ready to Wear)
Ultimately, this is the look that, to me, is most Quinn-like:
Dolce & Gabanna Fall 2006. It’s a dramatic coat (or is it a cape? Hard to tell) That covers a waistcoat surprisingly similar to Quinn’s (Is it a remnant of his previous life in Taldor?) All she needs is a sword cane.
I really hope that’s stylish enough to help Quinn change the world.
Stylish coats for Quinn on Pinterest.
June is rapidly approaching and a goblin’s thoughts turn to Numeria. The campaign setting book comes out next month. So, before I get spoilered, it’s time to start making ridiculous statements about what I expect for the Fashions of Numeria.
The official boards are full of question and speculations about the region. Mostly about lightsabers. But so far, no one has asked the Most Important Question: Will there be polyester? Or its less important (ie: not Fashion related) parent question: Will there be plastic? Logic would suggest, “yes”, because (here on Earth) it’s hard to imagine building a spaceship without knowing how to process petroleum. The Shory were able to get cities airborne using magic, but I far as I know, those weren’t space faring.
According to all the documentaries I’ve seen (like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Forbidden Planet, and Galaxy Quest) the first thing space faring people need are sleek, polyester jumpsuits. Jumpsuits were “a thing” on the Runways in about 2010 (*shudder*), so there were plenty to choose from. I looked at about 300 images (who said fashion blogging was easy?) of over 2000 to find the perfect one. I was honestly, truly trying not to use another McQueen, but this jumpsuit (from his Fall 2004 Ready to Wear collection) is Retro-Futuristic perfection.
This dress is from Iris van Herpen and has a really great dark futuristic look. Also. It’s 3D printed. So that’s awesome.
If polyester jumpsuits don’t convince you, here’s another reason to include plastic in Golarion. It conjures up some fantastic mental images. The Sandpoint goblins on Junk Beach… now picture them with making nets out of old six pack rings that washed up on the beach.
Finally, back to Father Zantus’s anachronistic turtleneck.
Previously, I talked about knitting and raglan sleeves. Today’s innovation is the turtleneck itself. Ye Olde Wikipedia says at least as early as the 15th century. Since their only credited source for this “fact” is http://www.chacha.com/question/who-invented-the-turtleneck, I’m going to remain skeptical.
Shirts with high, tight necks have existed for thousands of years. Carl Köhler’s A History of Costume , describes and illustrates a high-necked Etruscan (so sometime between 750 and 250 BCE) woman’s robe (p 111 – 112). He describes a slit in the back of the garment’s neck, which was laced up. Without the slit, the wearer couldn’t get her head through the neck hole, unless the fabric stretched. Like a knit.
Also like knits, turtlenecks didn’t gain popularity as outwear until the earth 20th century, but was worn as underwear or sports wear in the late 19th century.
This one was a no brainer:
Queen of the tengu, (Pathfinder’s bird people).
I would make this cloak from the plumage of my vanquished foes, and in it I would command the fear and respect of my people… birds… whatever.
I usually use the runway shots, but when I saw this picture of Fan Bing Bing on Tom and Lorenzo, I knew she had to represent my Tengu Queen.
The dress is by George Chakra, and I just discovered him through this picture. Looking at his Couture Collections, it seems like he designs exclusively for the Evil Queens of Golarion. (Please Paizo, in the name of Shelyn make that book happen. Extra love for making a paper doll book!)
I’m adding a new topic called “What I Would Wear if I was the Evil Queen (or Empyreal Lord) of X”
I love the runway shows that are on the more ridiculous side and less practical. Every now and then, I’ll see a piece in a show that makes me think, “When I Become Evil Queen of the Universe, that’s what I’ll wear” (Assuming that my ascension to Evil Queendom also includes a 6-foot skeleton and single digit BMI.)
First Region: Cheliax. (Yes, I realize the job is taken)
I couldn’t choose just one. Luckily being Evil Queen of Cheliax means you don’t have to choose!
The black and white is from Thom Brown‘s Fall 2014 Ready to Wear collection. The red is from Georges Hobeika‘s Fall 2013 Couture Collection.
They each have one of Cheliax’s signature colours, red and black and look sufficiently strong and beautiful.
(Lying on the couch, drinking excellent coffee, staring out the window at the rain, writing about imaginary fabric in an imaginary world, until I leave for my Pathfinder game. Today may be perfect)
As far as I can tell, kimlé gets its first mention in the Inner Sea Gods book. It is described in the section on the clothing of Gozreh‘s worshipers: “… at least one garment is usually made of kimlé, a linen-like cloth made of a sea plant the church cultivates.” Sean K Reynolds et al (2014). Inner Sea Gods, p 73. Paizo, Inc.
There’s so much in that one sentence, and my game doesn’t start for hours, so here goes.
Cleric of Gozreh
Gozreh (in a nutshell) [digression: great, now I’m imagining that like the picture of Venus on the half shell]: a god of nature, sea, and weather and is depicted as either male or female, depending on the context.
“at least one garment” & “the church cultivates”: This implies that kimlé may not be readily available, and is specifically cultivated for liturgical garb.
“linen-like cloth”: This presumably means it is a bast fibre, like linen and ramie. [digression: also stinging nettles which explains The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. I never understood the mechanics of making nettles into fabric.] Bast fibres are the inner bark of plants, softened (mechanically or chemically) and spun into yarn to be woven (or knit) into fabric. Bast fibres share several properties which distinguish them from cotton. Bast fibres are stronger and don’t pill. They also feel cool to the touch and absorb moisture without feeling wet (very useful if you’re worshiping a sea goddess). However, they can be coarse (depending on the internal shape of the plant) but get softer with use.
“sea plant”: The natural colour of of linen is light brown, or um…. “linen”. I’d like to imagine that the green in the cleric’s robes shown is the natural, unbleached state of kimlé.
One thing not mentioned in the sentence is name of the plant that produces kimlé. English has a long tradition of using different words for the finished product and source material, eg: cattle vs beef, sheep vs mutton, flax vs linen. (The Norman Invasion is responsible for most of that, but this is the Fashions of Golarion, not the Languages of Golarion.) So does kimlé come from the kimlé plant, or some other plant?
There is (at least) one magic item made of kimlé and another that should be (and is, as of now, in my game version of Golarion). The Kimlé Coat (Inner Sea Gods, pg 252) helps with swimming and water breathing. The Featherscale Cloak (Inner Sea Gods, pg 264) does all kinds of neat bird- and fish-related things (including shape shifting), but is described as “heavy linen”.
fashion goblin 
