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Author Topic: Fashion in the Persean Sector  (Read 4702 times)

Dragor

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Fashion in the Persean Sector
« on: November 23, 2018, 12:32:19 PM »

Well, I was bored and wrote some silly blurbs in the Discord about the clothing styles within the factions. People encouraged me to post these on the forum, so here we go!

The Average Hegemony Citizen

Hegemony citizens are a weary lot and this reflects in their clothing. The all pervasive militarism influences fashion, relegating colour choice to muted greys and browns with the occasional phoenix orange. Clothes tend to stay on the functional side, with cargo pants, solid boots and body-heat retaining jackets often mimicking uniform regulations within the Hegemony armed forces – or actually purchased as military surplus.  Accessories tend to be more utility objects than decoration, most popular being filter masks, emergency oxygen cartridges and tool knife necklaces, just in case the need arises to have such things at hand.

Citizens in the Hegemony compensate losses on their bodies mostly with cybernetic replacements. While looking somewhat crude, they are still sophisticated and robust. While they obviously betray their mechanical nature, workplace incidents and the harsh life of the Persean Sector make them both ubiquitous and socially accepted.


The Average Luddic

Luddic clothes tend to be surprisingly well-made for the sector, as there is great care took upon them - Most of them are lovingly hand-tailored within the household and thus often exactly made by order. Luddics prefer organic fabrics such as cotton, wool or linen over synthetic materials which are found elsewhere. Dresses, robes and vestments are commonplace amongst both men and women, preferring either undyed yarn or earthy, warm colours of brown, orange and muddy red. Green is reserved for "official" clothing for church sermons or church officials.

No Luddic would ever accept the cybernetics of Moloch and they are seen with fervent distaste. Only in Trader Quarters they are begrudgingly tolerated. However, if a Luddic happens to lose limbs, simple prosthetics are attached. Some of these artificial replacements can range from simple, but charmingly treated wood or intricate, beautiful design wrought out of metal and glass, praising Ludd and the Promise of Redemption with every decoration.

The Average Pather

Pathers are a mistrustful and hard lot indeed, which reflects in their looks. Scars belong to the dress style as much as the clothing they wear, usually made out of organic fabric like the "normal" Luddic, if corrupted by more synthetic materials as the need arises, like joint reinforcements out of complex polymers or the flak weave woven into the chest section of a robe to keep the blood inside when gauss shots start flying. Pathers see no need for dyeing their clothes, leaving fabric untreated, although the fashion to select camouflage patterns when appropriate slowly begins to dominate the various militant sects.

Pathers do not take cybernetics - Usually. If he has to take on the curse of Moloch to keep fighting for his faith, a Pather might opt in to take a cybernetic arm, leg, even body, just to keep fighting the good fight. He will become an outcast amongst his peers, for sure, but sometimes evil has to be paid upon evil.

Pathers who infiltrate other societies often adapt their clothing style to the "host" culture - Even taking cybernetics if they have to maintain their cover in such a way. These fanatics see this as a sacrifice of their own soul for a greater cause and often become even more fervent crusaders.

The Average Leaguer

To talk about the average League Citizen is an exercise in futility. Every member world has its own fashions, traditions and trends, developing in every direction under the suns, but never in an united stream. Clothing ranges from muddy brown and sand-dusted robes of Cibola to the thick parkas of Madeira to the  strikingly colourful clothes of the Westernesse Kingdom, no Leaguer tends to look alike when they come from another member world. This even extends to the League's Navy crews, officers and marines, who often keep trinkets, accessories and totems of their home world, proudly displaying them on their uniform, despite the uniform regulations forbidding such a practice. But to go against the identity and pride of your polity would be an exercise against the ideals of the League itself, would it not?

As much as their clothes are varied the cybernetics within the League. Planets often use their own production lines and licenses, even completely different blueprints to manufacture their replacements. The quality and aesthetics, naturally, vary to an extreme degree due to this reason. It is, however, common knowledge that cybernetics from Tri-Tachyon are the best and many a citizen brought immense debts upon himself to obtain these highly sought after models as a display of wealth and power.

The Average Corporate Citizen

Life is fast in Tri-Tachyon and fashion even faster, changing daily and sometimes even hourly. Trends spark like a wildfire, before dying down and becoming outdated a week later. Luckily, for the fashion conscious citizen, smart clothing with a sigma-level Ais is plentifully available in corporate space. T-shirts, jumpsuits, jackets, dusters and every other “template” for clothing is available and the highly sophisticated memory fibres woven into a holographic matrix enable to change cut, colour and even texture to a dizzying degree. However, a timeless classic is always the black suit or smart business dress, especially used amongst the office drones of Tri-Tachyon.

Cybernetic replacements are ubiquitous in corporate space, however they tend to be more on the subtle side, often fashioned to make them nearly indistinguishable as possible to normal flesh and bone for the untrained, human eye. Obviously mechanical parts and limbs are seen as garish and a sign of poverty.

The Average Sindrian

Sindria and its dependencies display a similar clothing style as the Hegemony, with a few key differences, especially in colour choice and accessories. The Diktat heavily encourages “outward patriotism”, speak, the display of the symbols and regalia of the Diktat itself, as well the colours purple, red and white. And so it's no surprise that many citizens replace the tool knife necklace with the Wings of Askonia. While the standard soldier and normal citizen often wears cheap, synthetic clothing, the Lion Guard often wears far finer uniforms made out of genuine silk or imported smart clothing of Tri-Tachyon, further dividing them from the common populous.

Cybernetics are much like the Hegemony as well with the exception being the Lion Guard who rather be dead than be seen with such clunky devices grafted on their body. No, they prefer finely made cybernetics of own production, each piece hand tailored to their fancies and often little art pieces upon themselves... As well being hidden weapons suited to the personal combat style of its wearer.

The Average Spacer

Anyone who lives on the edge of the greater polities, the independents and the criminals tend to follow the same tenet in terms of fashion and looks : Function over form. A spacer is not a sight for a fashion magazine but the epitome of human tenacity in the cold, uncaring void. Formfitting jumpsuits, heavy, insulated materials and quick-deployment helmets are the calling sign of a person who spend their life in ships or the independent colonies and stations of the Persean Sector. Personal touches only come either with personal symbols, good luck charms or the rare and coveted jewellery. Many Spacers opt to ink their skin instead, being both cheaper and, sometimes at least, more permanent than some silly frills that might be torn and shredded in the next near death experience. Many spacers opt to tattoo a ring around their neck and shoulders, mimicking burn scars obtained by helmet collars of early post-collapse space suits, which were notorious to heat up to dangerous degrees when exposed to the sun.

Pirates share much of the same fashion styles – in fact they are almost interchangeable ;unless, however, it is a successful pirate : they then tend to display their stolen wealth with excessive displays of heavy, clunky jewellery, studded teeth and even absurder wealth statements, such as trans-plutonic walking sticks or volthurian lobster chitin bracers. It doesn't have to look stylish. Just expensive.

Cybernetic replacements are extremely commonplace and seen as a symbol of being a true spacer with the first one being a sort of initiation into the lifestyle of pirates and privateers. They tend to be extremely ramshackle, makeshift and clunky with plentiful drawbacks, glitches and complications, only marginally increasing quality of life.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2018, 12:40:07 AM by Dragor »
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ArkAngel

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Re: Fashion in the Persean Sector
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2018, 03:07:38 PM »

This is pretty interesting to read, and sounds about right thematically to me for the sector.
Nicely done!
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"Yes... Yes I -am- sending you, alone, unarmed, against the might of the Hegemony defense fleet.  Not to worry - watching how they obliterate your puny frigate will be most... enlightening.  I shall dissect their tactics and emerge victorious!  Any questions? Then get to your ship, you launch in 5."

Volfgarix

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Re: Fashion in the Persean Sector
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2018, 04:12:22 AM »

I like it
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Alex

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Re: Fashion in the Persean Sector
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2018, 04:01:30 PM »

Nice! Thank you for posting this, was a fun read.
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