Lingerie and fashion in Exalted

[Master of Malfeasance]

Okay, this might make me sound a little homosexual, but...


I don't think anyone has really addressed fashion in Exalted yet.  I may have to be the first.


Earlier, I posted a question about who did the bellybutton piercing for the Lover Clad in the Rainment of Uselessly Long Titles.


Which brought me to a couple of other questions:


Who the hell made the Prince Of Shadows' armor?  Was it a ghost?  Who dictates these fashion trends?  Wouldn't it be bizarre if the dead just didn't have the creativity to fashion such things.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to wander into a shadowland and see a bunch of kids playing "Prince Of shadows" with sticks and then to see his older groupies all gothed out trying to look like him?


Does Chejop Kejak have a favorite tailor?  Does this taylor set the fashion trends for the whole city?  If so, can this be bought off the shelf?  Are there knock-offs?


Does Kejak require more than one set of robes?  It says that the bodies of the Exalted are re-made as Gods.  Does that mean that Panther can run around in the same dingy brown pair of pants everywhere for centuries and not be killing his opponents with his smell alone?


Does clothing from the first age remain clean/shiny/warm/dry all the time?  If so, such a large wardrobe could be a fabulous treasure.  Does first age lingerie hang in impossible ways?  Does it subtly emit pheromones?  Does it have no friction?  Maybe a first age outfit could make you look like a porn star and still keep you warm and protect you from the environment.


Wouldn't it be fun for a character to break into a half-remembered stronghold only to realize as he rifles his own armoires that this was his pleasure palace and it's full of bedclothes that by themselves would fetch a small fortune?  How do you sell such a thing?


This is something a lot of people don't think about.  At first glance, it appears boring and inconsequential, but if you are addressing the Perfect of Paragon on why he should by your squash and not that of the Lap, and you are dressed like Dace, for example, Exalt or not, the Perfect is going to laugh at you.


Why?


Look around you.  When you go out (some of you don't ever go out, but bear with me), and you look around, which do you think is more successful?  The hottie in the short skirt who is flawlessly clean, carefully tanned, has recently had her highlights done, has a freshly applied french manicure, nice shoes and tastefully done makeup, or the trashy drama girl whose hair is three colors and none of them really dominant or complimentary, white makeup and blood-red lipstick, all of which appears to have been applied with a shotgun, torn stockings and combat boots?


Unless the goth girl is Redvamp (www.redvamp.com)  then it's probably going to be the first one.


Why?


Because she takes pride in her appearance.  I consider myself an elitist gamer, and I catch all kinds of flak from people on base who want to game, but don't get to because I find their personal habits attrocious.  The same is true of Exalted.  Sometimes, they aren't bowing to your inherent divinity, they are bent over by your BO.


Try having your characters change clothes.  How attractive would that dress Arianna wears after a few months traveling cross country or by horse?  Holy crap, I have spent a few days in the field with girls who would ordinarily (by military standards) be really attractive.


Fast forward three weeks.


Did you know most girls have only one eyebrow?  It compliments their moustache nicely.  Stuff has accumulated beneath their fingernails, the hairspray they had on a week ago to show off is now holding parts of their hair together in clumps, and everyone has a tan that is part sun, part ground in dirt.


Now try plying your seduction charms.


MoM out.

 

[Jakk Bey]

Actually, I have already addressed fashions in Modernis--and even have thumbnail sketches for various areas around the Realm and beyond.


It's not neccessarily homosexual to think about fashion--maybe a little on the metrosexual side, but there's nothing wrong with that...


I did my time as a costume designer, and make up as well, when I was doing theater as a side line business, and even before then, in school, I did a lot of design work for costumes and makeup.  Not just how to apply the tones that look good but for the right effect and feel for a scene.  It's what you do if you want to direct, you have to take those things into account, and the same can be said for a Storytelling game as well.  You have to know what the characters are about, and how to portray them to your players.


I usually run the Realm as very fashion conscious--with whole reams of information to be displayed for rank, associations, family rank, and the like all in the clothing, and readable at a glance.  Not quite the Language of Flowers, but it's there for folks, so you can dispense with a lot of questions and know who you're dealing with, right away.  It goes with the spirit of a long established court, I think.


Out in the Threshold, other kingdoms handle fashion differently.  In the Modernis setting, the Varang have elaborate hair styles, and their women go bald, as a sign of status.  Various nose plugs, rings and jewelry as well all display status right away.  


Same for Gem, but with an emphasis on the silks and gold that folks are wearing.


Yes, in my games, First Age cloths are miracle cloth.  And, yoinking one of my own ideas from a silly thread on the old EC, I have put in a wonderful artificial silk extruder, that uses Essence to weave silk cloths, but only about four or six inches in width, and very popular in Charascuro and the Realm--which in the First Age was used in toilet functions, but that fact has been lost...


Yes, miracle cloth exists in my games, cool in the summer, warm in the winter, repelling stains, and wrinkles, and even changing colors to match the wearer's moods and eyes, and always smelling vaguely of the wearer's favorite scent.  So rare, they command huge prices in the Realm though.  I also use a form of Memory Cloth that changes style and color to suit the wearer, being essentially the only clothing the wearer ever needs, and eliminates even the need for deoderant and such things, because it automatically cleanses the wearer--how you gonna go out trekking the wilderness and wind up looking a fright when you meet up a stray Spirit?  Unthinkable, so enter the Memory Cloth, which can change to suit the occasion.


WW has always been obsessed with fashion though, and I think they address it pretty well in their illustrations.  They give you plenty of fodder, and some ideas of fashions in the Realm and beyond.  Admittedly, the Dragon Kings sometimes come off a little on the BDSM side, with all the straps and thingies, but that's their thing it seems.  The Dalzhan on the other hand, have the robes and veils going for them.  The East has their own look.  The West, the same.

 

[Master of Malfeasance]

That bit with the silk toilet paper is pretty priceless, I think I will try that on my players.  


Maybe it's like John Wayne toilet paper; it's rough, it's tough, and it don't take crap off nobody!


As for the rest of it, I agree with you, especially in 2E, but in the first edition, I think they sort of wrote the game to go with the illustrations rather than vice versa.  I have high hopes for this newer Exalted where it's so much easier to get killed, and I have to spend an action I could have spent slaughtering my players on this "join battle" cock vomit.


I think I'm going to start hunting down some cool materials and designs.  I'll post more here as I find them.

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

Fashion's always bit a bit to my liking in roeplaying. A costume can say a million words about a character, and they're not always the words you want to hear.


Also, yes, I do believe there were articles of miracle clothing in the First Age. The Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light proves that artifacts were sometimes in fact made so one would look spiffy at all times.

 

[Jukashi]

As for hygeine, Exalted basically follow the same rules as for anime characters. They only EVER get dirty or smelly if it somehow compliments their cool-factor.


You see...


*whips out the blackboard*


According to leading powerfologists, the ability to remain clean and good-looking is directly related to one's power over Essence. Essence, being the basic substance from which all of Creation is made, makes things mutable. Perception is everything; it is only because something is percieved to be the way it is, through memory or expectation, that the Essence which consitutes Creation remains solid and does not become Wyld.


Essence users, because of a long history of legend and myth, are expected to be presentable, even impressive, at all times. This perception of Essence users, particularly Exalted, combines with the increased fluidity of Essence surrounding such individuals (that is the innate magical properties that suffuse anything that is repeatedly exposed to Essence manipulation), to shape the Essence-channeler's person and belongings so that they remain in line with this perception. The Exalt's own desires, they innately being individuals who can bend the world to their will, also has an effect.


In addition, the innate health of Exalts- their general resistance to harm- repels the fungi and bacteria which break down sweat and dirt on their person, while at the same time easing the wear and tear on the body which causes the symptoms of aging.


In short; because of magic, powerful Exalted are always healthy, as good-looking as they want to be, and do not smell bad, get grey hairs, wrinkle, eructate, go bald, go through menopause or get saggy unless it somehow makes them more impressive or awe-inspiring, for the very world around them sublty shifts to accomodate their radiant presence.


Hoo-hah!

 

[Kindle]

I once played a female Earth Aspect, who was more concerned about perfecting her battle prowess, that she tended to neglect her appearance and overall social skills. While she had a 4 appearance, I often played it up that she hadn't taken a bath in weeks, if not months, never combed her hair and was more often than not, completely covered in dirt. She liked it that way and looking pretty never crossed her mind...Until she was given a "gift" from her future husband, a Collar of Dawns Cleansing Light. This was a surprise, in game, to my character and I loved the idea so much, that I actually spent, with the ST's permission, the 20 exp I had been saving for weeks, to raise my appearance to 5 at the exact moment that I attuned to the Collar. :lol:


Role playing the slow, but inevitable social changes she began taking, once men started paying attention to her for reasons other than her combat skills, was one of the highlights of the entire campaign. I loved playing up her socially inept skills, that really didn't match her beauty. I loved changing my focus in the campaign, as she slowly began caring more and more about how she looked, spending money on expensive clothes, and using my exp for things that I, initially, never pictured my character ever caring about. I remember these situations a lot more vividly than any of the combat, or other situations that occurred in that campaign, all because of that small "gift."

 

[RainOfSteel]

Okay, this might make me sound a little homosexual, but...

Not really.


In any event, fashion and clothing are excellent topics of discussion, but frankly I don't have much sense about fashion and certainly no ability to draw up outfits.


Players in the games I am usually in or run are only interested in the quality level and regional or situational appropriateness of the clothing they are wearing.


Having actual visual copies of what they would really be wearning would be cool, but it's beyond our capabilities, and somehow I don't think we're going to get The Book of Terrestrial Garments: The Realm, Vol. 1 any time soon.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Heh, we've done the proper attire thing in my games and what not, plus the uncivilized hacks from the backwaters of the Threshold coming to those nice get togethers in the Realm. Made many a Dynast weep at their filth.

 

[Persell]

well at least we know the scarlet empress doesnt wear panties at least.

 

[Jukashi]

Nobody in the Realm wears panties. What would be the point?

 

[Vanman]

Having actual visual copies of what they would really be wearning would be cool, but it's beyond our capabilities, and somehow I don't think we're going to get The Book of Terrestrial Garments: The Realm, Vol. 1 any time soon.

To be followed by The Book of Terrestrial Accessories: The Helm, Vol. 2........

 

[Persell]

to be followed by "The book of Celestial garment Solar underwear, dresses, kimonos, and chesims (Book of Abbysal jockstraps coming out soon

 

[Coyotekin]

to be followed by "The book of Celestial garment Solar underwear' date=' dresses, kimonos, and chesims[/b'] (Book of Abbysal jockstraps coming out soon

Chesims? Or did you actually mean chemises?

 

[archaratar]

NonImperial Panties?


How do we know that Scarlet aint sporting the Skivvies?


I missed that fact.


And who's are these that I've been using as my armor shammy?