Imparin Clothing
Textiles
The most common fibres used in Imparin clothing are
méθal 'jute',
pɛł 'cotton',
hának 'silk' and
hul 'linen'. Of these, only silk is not produced in the Isles: typically it is imported from Adeia and is therefore something of a prestige good. Aside from cotton, it is relatively rare for textiles to be made out of only one kind of fibre: linen and jute are commonly blended with cotton (or sometimes silk).
The Impar are fond of colourful clothing. Particularly common are yellows and reds, both generally derived from plant-based dyes. However, the most prized colour is
fareθó ka hákar (lit. 'crimson from Adeia'), a deep crimson derived from the dried body of the
sagrotis insect which is imported from Carasta. After reds and yellows, blue is particularly common, derived from the leaves of the
náhtor bush.
Men's clothing
The fundamental article of men's clothing is the
θáfan 'loincloth', a word fairly trasparently derived from
θɔfál 'to tie'. There are numerous regional styles of the loincloth, but the most common in the north-eastern islands of the archipelago, and therefore most familiar to Adeian travellers, is a length of cloth (usually cotton or a cotton and linen mix) approximately one span wide and five cubits long (hence the alternative name
kemíl muǝk 'five cubits'). One end is held on the shoulders while the other is passed through the legs and wound around the waist, then the first end is allowed to fall, passed through the legs and wound around the waist. The overall effect is pretty similar to the Japanese
fundoshi.
Other notable styles are far more elaborate, with much wider cloths, tasselled ornamentation, embroidery and so on. The traditional clothing of priests, for example, is a loincloth much like the Philippine
bahag: this is a length of cloth about a cubit wide and approximately nine cubits long, which is tied in such a way to leave apron-like flaps at the front and back, which are generally richly embroidered and starched.
In the earliest times, the loincloth would have been a man's only garment. Indeed, among men who are engaging in physical activity, particularly at sea or in rural areas, only a loincloth is worn even to this day. However, in urbanised society a fully grown man wandering the streets in just a loincloth would be seen as eccentric at best, batshit crazy at worst. To appear in front of someone whom you respect in just a loincloth would be seen as a horrible insult[1]. The more formally a man wishes to present himself, the more clothes he puts on. This is likely a result of the archipelago's climate, as being able to put on lots of clothes and sit around in the shade without sweating profusely is a marker of high status.
The next article of clothing worn by men is the
rúhal 'jerkin'. In contrast to the general Imparin preference for wrapped clothing, the jerkin is a tailored garment, cut close to the body and stitched together. Its presence in the isles seems to be relatively recent - maybe only five centuries - and has most likely been adapted from the Adeian
asrîk. In form, it is a sleeveless garment, opening at the front and covering the upper body. The length of the jerkin has varied through the years: currently among sophisticated urbanites it reaches to about mid-thigh and is worn fastened at the chest by elaborate ties (buttons are not used in Imparin clothing). Older men wear theirs longer, and fasten them by means of a broad sash around the waist, while young batchelors wear them cut to the waist and louchely unfastened at the front. Typically, they are made from a stiff jute-cotton mixed fabric, dyed blue or red, with silk embroidery around the seams.
The final traditional garment worn by men is the
ahłáran 'wrap'. Finding an equivalent English translation is tricky here. Another wrapped garment, made of light cotton cloth twenty cubits long by two cubits wide. There are two ways of wearing it: either simply wrapped around the waist and tied at the front, or wrapped around the waist, passed through the legs and elaborately pleated in front. The former method gives a garment not dissimilar to what
this man is wearing, while the latter produces something more like an Indian
dhoti - although the Imparin garment is shorter in both cases, reaching to just below the knee. It is worth noting that originally the wrap was not a particularly high-status garment. The Θíǝŋer class would wear elaborate loincloths and cloaks decorated with bird feathers and the Wɔhtár class would just wear simple loincloths: the wrap was the garment characteristic of the mercantile and farming Súǝmar class. With the rise to power of this class, their manner of dress became first normative, and then restricted more and more to formal occasions. Today, the wrap is found in the most formal contexts: rituals, ceremonies, governmental business, when you want to make a favourable impression on your future father in law/someone you want to borrow money from and so on. However, an exception to this is travelling abroad: most Imparin traders are aware that their native dress makes Adeians uncomfortable, and so will generally wear the more concealing wrap when abroad.
Women's clothing
Linguistically, women's clothing uses many of the same terms as men's clothing does; but applies them in a different way. A number of the same themes are seen: a preference for wrapped rather than tailored clothing, and the concept that putting on more clothing increases the overall formality of the outfit. However, there are some fundamental differences: women's clothing has far more regional and class variety than men's clothing does. While the above section can be said to hold largly true accross the bulk of the archipelago, this section will by necessity only really discuss what urban middle-class women of the Sórtay islands wear. Additionally, attitudes towards men's and women's bodies are different, with differing standards of modesty. While the Impar have the near-universal human taboo against exposing one's genitalia in public, standards between the sexes beyond that are different: for a woman to expose her buttocks is shameful, for a man unremarkable. Female thighs are always covered (or discreetly revealed), while men's thighs are only covered in more formal circumstances. However, it should not be assumed that the Impar have a Victorian attitude towards women's bodies: for a woman to expose her breasts in public is as unremarkable as for a man (although it is highly taboo for a woman to expose her stomach- which leads to some odd fetishisation of the belly among Imparin men).
As for men, the most fundamental garment is the loincloth, although for women it is strictly an undergarment. Situations in which a women wears a loincloth and nothing else are limited to single-sex spaces, such as bathing or women-only rituals. Over the loincloth, a woman wears a
tɛ́na 'petticoat', a length of cotton about two cubits wide and some four cubits long, which is wrapped around the hips and covers the thighs to just above the knee. Generally, this will be brightly coloured, although not embroidered. At home, relaxing amongst the family, this is the bare minimum that a woman will wear.
In public, a woman will add to this a
soyɛ́nt 'bodice'. This is a square of silk or cotton cloth, often richly embroidered and brightly coloured, which has two ties attached to one of the corners. These are fastened around the neck, and the cloth then tied at the back, draping the breasts and stomach: the closest Terrestrial equivalent here is the Vietnamese
yếm. The bodice covers the belly and allows some support for the breasts and, for nursing mothers, allows relatively easy access for breast feeding.
The next garment to be added is the wrap, which uses the same word as for the male garment:
ahłáran. This is wrapped around the waist and tied at the front, and reaches down to about mid-calf. Currently, it is fashionable to arrange the knot and the resulting pleats so that the front of the petticoat is exposed, with the wrap being in a pleasingly contrasting colour to the petticoat. The level of formality added by the wrap is somewhat less than when it is worn by men: petticoat, bodice and wrap is the typical outfit for a modern urban woman going about her daily business.
Finally, there is the female version of the jerkin. Using the same word as the male garment,
rúhal, the jerkin as worn by women tends to be open at the front, tight around the bosom but long and fairly free-flowing hanging almost towards. Unlike the male version, the female jerkin is not made of stiff cloth but softer silk or cotton, sometimes even diaphanous voile-like fabric. This is considered to be both elegant and formal, and is what a woman will wear for most important occasions.
Children's clothing
Babies are generally left naked until they start to toddle: before this time they are normally carried arround in a sling by their mother. The Impar don't use nappies or similar, instead they practise what in modern childrearing terms would be called 'elimination communication'- parents (mothers) learn to anticipate when the child is going to evacuate its bowels and take it to the toilet. As such, Imparin babies are generally toilet trained relatively early from a Terrestrial point of view; normally it starts between sixteen and twenty months[2].
Once babies start to walk upright, they are clothed in a plain, undyed linen
tɛ́na, which is wrapped around their waists and tied in place: this makes cleaning up after "accidents" a bit easier. By about five or so, children start wearing smaller versions of adult clothing. In the case of boys, this is generally just a loincloth, while girls will wear a petticoat and a bodice.
Children only start wearing more formal adult style clothing, such as jerkins in the case of boys and wraps in the case of girls, when they hit puberty. Even in that case, there remains a distinction between proper "adult" clothing and that of unmarried young people: adolescent boys wear loincloth and a waist-length jerkin, while adolescent girls will wear a wrap that reaches to the ankles rather than just below the knee[3].
Footwear
The universal footwear for men, women, boys and girls is the
síǝhe 'sandal'[4]. Normally, these are made from either
wiǝ 'coir, coconut fibre' or
pak 'leather'. Coir sandals are generally made from a sole of "felted" coir rope, which is coiled into a sole shape, soaked with water, pounded and pressed, attached to the foot with leather or jute straps (looking vaguely like
this). These are the normal option in urban areas, particularly for women and children. Men, and pretty much everyone in rural areas apart from the very poor, are more likely to wear leather sandals, which look rather like Roman
caligae.
Headwear
Telpahké has two words which roughly correspond to the English word "naked":
tan and
wełtɛ́l. The former denotes being without clothing on the body, while the latter denotes being without clothing on the head. Both men and women wear headgear, which takes a rather bewildering variety of forms: again, with variances both regional, class-based and through time. However, whether one wears headgear or not is dependent solely according to whether one is married or not: both married men and women cover their heads, while unmarried men and women do not.
The most basic and common head-covering is the
θɔ́fal 'kerchief', which is basically a square of dyed cloth. For most men in relatively informal situations, the kerchief is simply tied in much the same way as a Terrestrial bandana is, albeit with the cloth being rather larger. For women, the kerchief might be worn as a shawl around the shoulders as well, and held in place with pins, but again being tied around the head is not uncommon.
this man and
this woman are wearing kerchiefs in a manner not dissimilar to typical everyday Imparin wear. (As an aside, the man's skin tone is pretty close to that of the Impar. The facial structure would be slightly off, however, as Telmonan humans aren't
Homo sapiens but rather a different species within the genus
Homo)
Beyond this, the possibilities are endless, from elaborate starched and folded headdresses to turban-like wraps. It is said that every city on every island has its own characteristic way of wearing a kerchief.
Accessories and adornments
In general, because most Imparin clothing is sleeveless, most jewellery and ornamentation is worn on the arms. This might be a leather or cloth armband worn around the bicep, or bangles and armlets made out of precious metal (gold is preferred: silver is for currency) and elaborately worked. Anklets are also not uncommon, although necklaces are rare.
The Impar historically have had something of a horror of body modification. Pierced ears and noses are only ever really seen in the far north-east, and even then it is seen as a somewhat exotic Adeian affectation, only seen on those who have spent a large amount of time abroad. Tattoos are almost entirely unknown aside from on Sahtíǝl: the rest of the archipelago sees them as a strange and somewhat distasteful aping of Tarì ways. Make-up is, however, common. Both men and women will outline their eyes with
ɛ́har 'kohl', and women typically stain their finger- and toenails blue using a paste made of
náhtor leaves.
[1] An exception here is for the parties in a court case: it is expected that the plaintiff and defendent will both wear only loincloths, symbolising their wretched status (and trying to elicit sympathy from the judges). The more extreme (or aggrieved) will turn up naked, wearing only ashes on their head.
[2] Sixteen months makes up a Telmonan year, approximately. The Telmonan year is roughly the same length as a Terrestrial year, so sixteen Telmonan months is about twelve Terrestrial months. A post on the calendar is forthcoming.
[3] This is in part due to how adolescent boys and girls are treated in Imparin society. While a more in-depth treatment will have to wait for a later post, suffice it to say that adolescent girls are isolated from men and boys as much as possible until marriage, while adolescent boys are expected to be rather promiscuous. You might immediately spot the contradiction there, and you would be right to do so. Think ancient Athens, and you won't be far wrong.
[4] Linguistically,
síǝhe is a singulative, the expected plural would be **
siǝ. However, the original plural is not used, and the actual plural is
sehsaθíǝ. It was more transparent in Old Telpahké:
cēse 'pair of sandals',
cēsesa 'single sandal',
cēsesatay 'multiple individual sandals', which gives
siǝ,
síǝhe and
sehsaθíǝ respectively. In other dialects, the situation isn't quite as fucked up: on Kamustíǝl for example one speaks of a single
ɕɛixǝx and multiple
ɕɛix, which is a touch more transparent.
thank you for the interest, an update will follow tomorrow. Initially about clothing, but I’m also minded to just wrap up nominal morphology before attacking verbs: verbal morphology will be a massive post.
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