What do you think of these inspiration patterns and inspiration colors?

[Warsa12]

Hello, people! Listen up! Remember that the most important part and question of this post of mine is about the inspirations for the patterns and the colors of the krinetas(long skirts), the tartonos(long wrap-around skirts), the jarjas(the knee-length skirts of adurans), and Mayari's tied-up headbands.

I am creating a supernatural horror violent thriller mystery action story about Germanic warrior assassin females.


[removed]


So what do you think of the inspiration colors and the inspiration patterns for the krinetas(long skirts), the tartonos(long wrap-around skirts), the jarjas(the knee-length skirts of adurans), and Mayari's tied-up headbands? Do you like the inspiration colors and the inspiration patterns? Do you like these traditional Filipino inspirations? Are they good to use as inspirations for the colors and the patterns of the krinetas, the tartonos, the jarjas, and Mayari's tied-up headbands? If I do use them as inspirations, what should I call the patterns as? If I used the inspiration patterns for the krinetas, the tartonos, the jarjas, and Mayari's tied-up headbands, what should I call the patterns of the krinetas, the tartonos, the jarjas, and Mayari's tied-up headbands? What cool names should I give the patterns?


Again, I am not Filipino. I don't have anything to do with Filipinos. I do not have any Filipino blood within me. I wasn't born or raised in the Philippines. I just want to say that I do not want to culturally appropriate Filipino culture. I am not even Asian or Austronesian.

 

[The Judge]

Warsa, although a number of people have viewed your thread, I suspect that few people have managed to get all the way through it because it is so very, very long and detailed, with a great deal of information we really don't need, and rather too much repetition which simply made it longer. When asking for help, it is best to keep things short and get to the point as quickly as possible.

Anyhow, in the hope that some members might read this post of mine, what I'll do is set out below the information from your post that I think is relevant, as best I understand it, so the questions you've asked at the end can be considered. Anyone who is then interested in learning more about your story can read your original.

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Warsa12 is "creating a supernatural horror violent thriller mystery action story" (apparently set in the present day, or perhaps the C20th) "about Germanic warrior assassin females" called Andakans and is interested in hearing our thoughts on the patterns and colours of their clothing, which are inspired by traditional Filipino designs. (To be clear, Warsa12 is not Filipino but does not thereby intend to appropriate Filipino culture.)

The specific items of clothing Warsa is most interested in for the characters are:

• the krineta – a long skirt which completely covers the ankles/feet (specifically the cuboid bones), some krinetas being floor length
• the tartono – a long wrap-around skirt, which again completely covers the cuboid bones and can be floor length
• the jarja – a knee-length skirt worn by Adurans (Andakans who have no masters and act for themselves)
• a tied headband for a character called Mayari

(Warsa specifically states that when not fighting, the Andakans wear a clothing combination called a krimota which include the krineta skirts with buttoned long-sleeved blouses called aysaras, but when fighting they wear a clothing combination called a soreto. I’ve not worked out what that comprises, but presumably isn't relevant to the issue of pattern and colour.)

A group of Andakans is called a Magtagot. Each group is distinguished from the others by the patterns and colours of their krinetas, which are designed by the Andakans themselves. An individual’s krineta can represent various aspects of her identity eg her home town area, her puredat (a kind of school/academy), her Magtagot and her rank within it, her religious sect, her master/mistress, even her mood.

The tartono is worn with a white tube top called a hasturan during sacred meditation rites.

The patterns and the colors of the Adurans’ jarjas represent only the subgroups they are from.

Unlike the other Andakans, the character Mayari wears typical modern US military special forces combat gear. However, she also wears headbands that go around her forehead and are tied at the back of her head leaving long tails, and the patterns and colours of these headbands are similar to those of the krinetas which others wear, and show who her master is.

The inspiration colours and patterns can be seen in the skirts and dresses in the images in Warsa’s above post.

In Warsa's own words, the questions we've been asked:

1. So what do you think of the inspiration colors and the inspiration patterns for the krinetas (long skirts), the tartonos (long wrap-around skirts), the jarjas (the knee-length skirts of Adurans), and Mayari's tied-up headbands?
2. Do you like the inspiration colors and the inspiration patterns?
3. Do you like these traditional Filipino inspirations?
4. Are they good to use as inspirations for the colors and the patterns of the krinetas, the tartonos, the jarjas, and Mayari's tied-up headbands?
5. If I do use them as inspirations, what should I call the patterns as?
6. If I used the inspiration patterns for the krinetas, the tartonos, the jarjas, and Mayari's tied-up headbands, what should I call the patterns of the krinetas, the tartonos, the jarjas, and Mayari's tied-up headbands?
7. What cool names should I give the patterns?

~~~~~~~~~

For myself, Warsa, I'm not at all bothered by the colours and patterns of the clothing, which reminded me of Scottish tartans, where colour schemes and designs designate different clans or (nowadays) organisations (though the tartan itself may not be quite as old as people tend to think).

However, I'm not convinced that people of Germanic descent, and (it appears) living for the most part in Germany and Austria, would be using very un-Germanic names for their clothing, as well as all the other aspects of their lives such as their academies and religion. I also don't think anyone who has experienced a German winter would be wearing the kind of clothing -- and presumably the cotton cloth -- designed for women in the Philippines where I rather imagine it's a great deal warmer all year round.

Lovely as the Filipino clothes are, it might be an idea for you to think a little more about German culture, especially if the Andakans are all several hundred years old and would be following generations of similar women, going back perhaps to the Germanic tribes who fought the Romans. Consider what they would consider to be their heritage in their clothing -- by way of the garments themselves as well as colours and designs -- and what changes they've made over the centuries and why those changes have been made, and how that clothing now fits in with the modern world.

 

[Brian G Turner]

So what do you think of the inspiration colors and the inspiration patterns for the krinetas(long skirts), the tartonos(long wrap-around skirts), the jarjas(the knee-length skirts of adurans), and Mayari's tied-up headbands?

It's all completely irrelevant. You're making the classic mistake of hyperfocusing on details that have barely any impact on a story, rather than the story itself.

It's highly unlikely anyone will relate you clothing patterns in a story to Filipino wear unless you explicitly state so, which seems unlikely given that your novel appears to have a Germanic setting but doesn't even have Germanic names. Additionally, you are writing a story, not a documentary or film, so the visual details you are so fixated on are meaningless.

TL: DR; - stop obsessing about irrelevant details. They may matter to you, but not to the story, and therefore not the reader. Otherwise you will never finish your story.

Btw, I also edited out most of your original post, because it wasn't a question, but instead a full-blown dissertation about your story, your world-building, filled with dozens of irrelevant but huge images of clothing. However, I can tell you this for nothing - wearing chequered-patterned clothing and skirts is not exclusively Filipino, but also appears to have been very common across Europe from prehistory to the modern day.

 

[Oligonicella]

Just use plaid and you'll be accurate and everyone knows what it is.

 

[ColGray]

Totally agree with @Brian G Turner 's point.

If the clothing is deeply, intrinsically, foundationally important to a central character and the thing they want, it's interesting but but should remain minor. If it is not the focus of a character's desire, it's going to be distracting and detracting. You don't need to cram every idea into one work--and I'd even go so far as to say, you shouldn't. It gets to be too much.

It is okay to know things about your characters and world that don't show up on the page-- or that maybe only show up a little bit. You know so much more about your characters than any reader will. And that's okay!

Just thinking through the story and bullets that The Judge pulled out:

1. Why would assassins wear an easily identifiable set of clothing? Is stealth not part of their repertoire? Because if people look around and go, Oh hey, there's those assassins in their very peculiar clothing that i can spot a mile away because they stand out, then it would seem to make assassinations a lot harder.
2. Why are specifically Germanic people wearing Filipino couture? If it's important that they're Germanic (with a climate that shifts from hot to cold), why is it important that their dress be in this style, specifically, when the style of dress is made for a tropical climate?

I'd suggest taking a minute to ask, Are these details and choices important to the character, to the story, and to the reader? If the answer isn't yes, to all three constituencies, let it inform things but keep it in your head and off the page.