Dynastic Fashions

DYNASTIC FASHIONS AND SEASONAL IMAGERY
Dynastic fashions are incredibly varied, employing patterns, cuts, and materials from across Creation. Any gathering of the Realm's overlords presents a veritable rainbow of shapes and colours, and a Prince of the Earth has much leeway in their choice of dress.

However, certain trends and conventions exert influence over Dynastic fashions, and those at the forefront of style exert great efforts to adopt both traditional and groundbreaking elements together in their clothing.

Mon Fashions

In the Dynasty, each individual, as well as each institution and House and aspect, has an associated sigil which serves as its symbol and signature... even the Realm itself is represented by a circled pentagram. These symbols often form a part of Dynastic dress, from use as the pattern for cloth to appearance in jewellery or more inventive arrangements. On the most formal occasions, Dynasts often wear a 5-Mon robe as an outer garment. The proper etiquette for these mon is to display two on each side of the collar (personal or household mon), one on the back (Great House mon, or Realm mon for outcastes) and two on the sleeves (aspect or institution mon). On less formal occasions it is typical to see a 3-mon arrangement, with one mon on the back (House mon) and two on each side of the collar (household mon).

Furniture Fashions

Fashionable colours, shapes, and imagery do not only influence the dress of Dynasts… they influence their choice of foodstuffs, of furniture, of subjects for poetry and art and theatre. All these have trends and themes which follow the changing of the seasons, and the very wealthy will redecorate their abodes several times a year to keep in fashion. As with clothing, occasional trends in interior design will emerge unrelated to seasonal themes, such as the popularity of sulphur-etched wooden furnishings from the islands of the Southwest Threshold which swept the Imperial City in RY768.

Seasonal Fashions

Air: Lavender, gray, light blue colours. Azure, lapis, sapphire, and blue jade jewels. Five layered robes. Air-element associations. Stories of the occult and the distant past.
- Ascending: Green layered on Deep Purple. Bamboo, sunrises, swallows.
- Resplendant: Pine trees and sprouts, cranes, eels.
- Descending: Crimson layered on Purple. Plum blossoms, snowflakes, bluebirds.
- NOTE: Five layers of robes can be both cumbersome and expensive. Many Dynasts, particularly those of poorer means, instead use 'collar strips', lengths of cloth that can be worn inside a robe to give the impression of further robes beneath.

Water: Black, dark blue, blue-green colours. Silver, obsidian, ebony, and black jade jewels. Two layered robes. Water-element associations. Stories of political maneuver and epic journeys.
- Ascending: Rose layered on Slate Blue. Clover, irises, jellyfish, gulls.
- Resplendant: Lavender layered on Deep Blue. Chrysanthemum flowers, great blue herons.
- Descending: Lavender layered on Burgundy. Aster branches, water lilies, wigeon ducks.

Earth: Saffron, sable, white colours. Ivory, diamond, and white jade jewels. A single lined or padded robe. Earth-element associations. Stories of war and tradition.
- Ascending: Orchids, oysters & clams, skylarks.
- Resplendant: Crabs & lobsters, house sparrows.
- Descending: Peach lined with khaki, anglerfish, pheasants, cattails.

Wood: Green, teal colours. Emerald, gold, and green jade jewels. A single robe. Wood-element associations. Stories of love and personal growth.
- Ascending: Pink, White lined with scarlet. Cherry blossoms, sunrises, bush warblers.
- Resplendant: Bright green. Ivy, wormwood branches, dragonflies, wood ducks.
- Descending: Cedar Bark and Sky Blue. Cicadas, cicada wings, hummingbirds.

Fire: Red, orange, yellow colours. Rubies, opals, bronze, and red jade jewels. A single light robe. Fire-element associations. Stories of heroism and battle.
- Ascending: Orange blossoms, Lazuli Buntings.
- Resplendant: Tigerlilies, koi fish, flowing water, Yellow-breasted Chats.
- Descending: Vermillion and gray-green. Maple leaves, sunsets, deer, cuckoos.

Calibration: Black, iron, polished obsidian, ravens.
- NOTE: Some Dynasts choose to oppose the darkness of this time by wearing even brighter and more garish colours than during the rest of the year.

Elemental Associations

In a culture as obsessed with the five elements as the Dynasty, the associated images play a prominent role, being featured during the appropriate season or in the dress of those Dragonblooded blessed with that particular elemental aspect, as well as in meals, the design of buildings ( both manses whose geomancy depends on it and mundane structures where it is merely for show).

- AIR: Circle shapes, the number zero. Raw & chilled foods, sweet flavours. Noodles. Liqueurs. Wind, lightning, storms, thought, music, silence, language, cold, fast, moving, precision, perfection, invisible, pervasive, travel, thrown, open, unlocked, academia, manual dexterity, sky, birds, memory for detail, pale colors, logic, philosophy, puzzles, independence, pride, Solar eclipses, Maiden of Serenity, straight lines, mountain tops, sapphire, tin, dream-stone, blue jade. High ceilings, large windows and hallways, courtyards, towers, clear glass, thin doors or curtained doorways, flags and pennants, music, curving forms, open layouts, arcane symbols.

- WATER: Square shapes, the number 4. Broths, fermented foods, salty flavours. Breadfruit. Rum. Intrigue, rain, subtlety, emotional memory, flexibility, acceptance, dark colors, manipulation, unpredictability, unexpected force, persistence, instinct, logic, philosophy, ice, storms, sailing, deception, grace, fish, versatility, depth, essential natures, purity, usefulness, mazes, complexity, calm, frogs, fog, night, Maiden of Secrets, waves, turquoise, pearl, coral, black jade, silver. Pools and fountains, excellent indoor plumbing, blue, green or purple stone or glass, smoothly curved layout and ornaments, few doors, nautical or oceanic ornaments, martial arts training facilities.

- EARTH: Octagonal shapes, the number 8. Stewed, roasted foods, savoury flavours. Potatos. Distilled beverages. Rock, sand, architecture, toughness, underground, ritual, tradition, internal, reliability, stillness, claustrophobia, humanity, civilization, tools, training, dedication, eternity, landmarks, white and brown, faith, mountains, goats, small furred animals, burrows, serpents, the Sun at its zenith, Maiden of Battles, right angles, caves, cities, farms, domestication, gems, white jade, lead. Black or white stone, low ceilings, heavy stone construction, few windows, packed dirt floors, brick or adobe walls, manses partly sunk into hillsides, stone statues, compact layouts.

- WOOD: Hexagonal shapes, the number 6. Fried & fresh foods, bitter flavours. Rice. Wine. Plants, animals, seasons, growth, poison, birth, death, cycles, love, forests, green, brown, simple governance, joy, pleasure, spirit, gods, thorns, fl owers, lust, reproduction, drugs, parties, predator-prey, twilight, Maiden of Endings, spirals, rivers, emerald, amber, green jade. Wooden construction, trees and gardens, potted plants, multi-storied layout, organic forms, wide angles, artwork of everyday life, small comfortable chambers, archery motifs, performance spaces.

- FIRE: Triangular shapes, the number 3. Grilled & deep-fried foods, spicy flavours. Bread. Beer. Passion, heat, light, agility, animation, pain, danger, renewal, change, specialization, consumption, orange, quickness, immediate force, awe, conflict, desert, volcano, phoenix, reptiles, lions, sacrifice, purification, instinct, great cats, desert snakes, dawn, Maiden of Journeys, acute angles, violence, ruby, red jade, steel. Red, orange or yellow stone or terracotta, angular linear or recurving forms, pointed arches and domes, forged metal, glass, many fireplaces, candles or torches, multiple floors, sweeping stairways, decorative weapons.

Festivity Fashions

Marriage: The traditional colour of marriage and fertility is sapphire blue, a colour which features in the wedding gowns of Dynast and patrician alike.
Funerals: The traditional funerary colour is a deep violet, and cloth of this shade is used to wrap the dead or in the veils of mourners. For commoners, who cannot afford the dyes for such a rich colour, the dark purple-red of beet juice is used as a substitute.
Feast Days: On the 15^th day of the appropriate month, it is typical for all Dynasts and many patricians, regardless of aspect or even Exaltation, to try and wear the colours and associations of the element whose Immaculate Dragon is being celebrated.
Seven Shattered Helms: On the 1^st of Ascending Wood, the Legions parade to celebrate the ascent of the Scarlet Empress to power in the wake of the Great Contagion. Scarlet colours and military cuts are favoured, as is the pentagram symbol of the Realm.

Astrological Fashions

While not a trend amongst the majority of Dynasts, some (particularly amongst House Ledaal) favour incorporating the imagery of their birthsign.

House Colours

While the palette of colours amongst the scions of a Dynastic House is varied, each House has a particular colour which it considers its own, a mark of identity much like its mon symbol.

Cathak: Orange
Cynis: Bright green
Ledaal: Lavender
Mnemon: White
Nellens: Light brown
Peleps: Dark blue
Ragara: Dark brown
Sesus: Burgundy
Tepet: Sky blue.
V'neef: Blue-green

Fallen or Cadet House colours include Manosque (dark green), Iselsi (black), Jerah (olive), and Ferem (steel blue).

Professional Fashions

While not mandated by law as it is in cultures such as Varang, within the Realm there are certain professions who tend to wear specific colours so as to mark out their particular skills.

Messengers: saffron tunics.
Prostitutes & courtesans: sapphire blue veils or scarves.
Gravediggers & morticians: violet aprons
Savants & sages: deep green robes.
Magistrates & archons: black robes with a golden Imperial pentagram on the chest. The pentagrams of archons are iron gray instead of gold.

Legion Fashions

The Imperial Legions share a common set of fashions, in the form of their uniforms. Typically regular soldiers wear buff jackets or tabards which were once the scarlet colour of the Realm, which since House takeover has been replaced by the colours of the individual Great House controlling the Legion. While regular troops have only one uniform, officers of scalelord and above, as well as some fanglords and specialists, usually also obtain a dress uniform for inspections and social functions. The Legion dress uniform is a more neatly pressed version of the reinforced buff jacket, its buttons polished brass or plated in gold, its metal components replaced with stiffened leather, or in the case of the sholuderpads silver-plated and polished to a gleaming sheen. Some units mark themselves out with specific badges or patches, but this is frowned upon by the Thousand Correct Actions. Rank is indicated by braids that cross the chest from a button on the jacket over to the left shoulder, with the braids usually being gold, save those of officers in slinger units whose braids are silver. The 6^th braid on the dress uniform of a Legion general is of a metallic crimson colour, representing the personal faith the Empress has placed in the officer… when a general retires, this braid is returned and replaced by one in gold, though the general maintains her title and right to wear the uniform. Black Helms use a similar braid system and uniform of slightly different cut, made from black cloth, with exposed metal laquered gleaming black. Their braids are bronze, save for those of the Imperial Force which are gold.

Fanglord: 1 braid.
Scalelord: 2 braids.
Talonlord: 3 braids.
Winglord: 4 braids.
Dragonlord: 5 braids.
Strategoi: 6 braids.

Thousand Scales Mandarin Squares

Bureaucratic uniforms are perhaps the most complex of professional fashions, composed of brown cloth edged in scarlet, made of cotton for clerks and lower ranks and silk for higher offices. These are usually worn when more elaborate dress (for galas or Imperial audiences) is unsuitable. Whatever is worn, the rank of a bureaucrat is displayed through a square of ornately embroidered cloth, bearing various symbols depending on the exact position.

Dragon-blooded: Exalted members of the Thousand Scales, regardless of rank, feature dragons in the background of their mandarin square, almost always in the colour appropriate to their aspect.

Imperial Husband: Kirin (giraffe)
Imperial Consort: Phoenix

Minister: White Crane
Vice-Minister: Golden Pheasant
Department Overseer: Peacock
Secretarial Overseer: Wild Goose
Secretary: Silver Pheasant
Under-Secretary: White Egret
First Clerk: Mandarin Duck
Senior Clerk: Quail
Junior Clerk: Paradise Flycatcher.
Scribe: Sun with Clouds.

Satrap: Lion
Satrap's Deputy: Panther
Governor: Eagle
Vice-Governor: Falcon
Prefect: Tiger
Vice-Prefect: Bear
Mayor: Racoon
Senior Prefectural Secretary: Leopard
Prefectural Under-Secretary: Seal
First Prefectural Clerk: Rhinoceros

Imperial-sanctioned Performer: Oriole.

Deliberative Fashions

Members of the Deliberative dress as other Dynasts when off the floor, but on it they all wear a common form of dress, a white silk robe lined in crimson. The senators of the Greater Chamber bear their House mon in gold on the back of their robes.

Immaculate Fashions

The Immaculate Order has a strict dress code, though due to corruption not all of its members are strict adherents. What an Immaculate monk wears is based on rank, though all begin with a set of white robes in simple cut, with the colour of their belt indicating the dragon they are currently seeking to emulate.

Postulant: Coarse, gray robe with a gray rope belt.
First Coil: White robes, lighter than the postulants', with belt made from jute, hemp, or similar material.
Second Coil: Wool belt.
Third Coil: Cotton belt.
Fourth Coil: Linen belt.
Fifth Coil: Silk belt.

The Cost of Fashion

Those with experience in modern reality might consider it normal for the wealthy to wear clothes once and then discard them, this is not the case in Exalted. Embroidered silk robes fit for the Imperial court are costly, perhaps two talents of jade to purchase… to buy a new robe for every season would completely bankrupt a character of Resources 5 in a single year. Thus, while fashions change regularly, even the most wealthy cannot keep up with them by simply changing to a new robe to fit the new trend or themes. Most Dynasts will possess at least one set of clothing of this calibre, gifted by House on their adulthood. Those married are often gifted another by the family of their spouse. Dynasts of Resources 0 might not even have this as they have done something to see stipend and support stripped, those of Resources 1 have only these robes, of Resources 2 might have a single additional set. Those of Resources 4 will likely have managed to accumulate four or five additional garments, and those of Resources 5 will have accumulated around ten. It can be useful to detail the exact outfits a Dynastic character has at their disposal as part of their background information.
Purchasing new outfits requires fittings and measuring, specifying patterns and images, and an investment of 2 talents of jade, such a luxury not being purchasable with scrip (Resources 4, roughly) and takes approximately three seasons to complete. The highest fashions, such as those from lady Onherra's Ragged Lace in the Imperial City, can reach up to 5 talents (a Resources 5 purchase) in price. Members of the Legions are provisioned with a dress uniform in addition to this, and members of the magistrates, Immaculate Order, and Thousand Scales are also provided the required dress… though in the case of a Scales bureaucrat, the mandarin square itself is not provided and must be purchased, often at significant expense.