Creating culture
Hello Dear Readers!
Today I want to talk a little bit about World Building! I’ve written before about pulling inspiration from all different sources, from nature documentaries, to history, to mythology.
Read the whole series here if you’re interested:
Inspiration Part 1
Inspiration Part 2
Inspiration Part 3
Inspiration Part 4
Inspiration Part 5
I saw this video the other day online about how different cultures from around delt with extreme heat in their clothing choices. They compared the historical/traditional clothing of Bedouin tribes in the Middle East to the Japanese kimonos to Bangladesh fabric.
There are several factors to take into account here. These cultures have to deal with very different types of heat. From the very dry, arid heat of the desert in the Middle East to the more humid heat in Japan and Bangladesh. Secondly, each of these cultures have access to different resources. In the desert they have access to limited water and limited plant life, so as a result a lot of their garments are made from wool that is sheared from the sheep that the tribes rely on. This resource is renewable and sustainable and can travel with them as they shepherd their flock from one location to the next. Cotton was not widely available in Japan at the time, whereas it was very widely available in Bangladesh and the surrounding countries.
The video then went on to explain how those factors informed how each of these cultures created their clothing. You can watch the video here, but I will try to summarize briefly below.
For the Bedouin tribes they used the wool from their sheep (which in and of itself is a naturally temperature regulating material) and created these very large flowing robes which create an air barrier between the layers of fabric which keeps them cool despite the intense desert heat.
In Japan they developed a highly technical and open style of weaving which allows for exceptional airflow through the kimonos to help cool the body.
In Bangladesh, where cotton was highly available, they used this light and breathable plant material to create muslin, which is a super light weight and comfortable in the heat.
So that gives you jist of the video. What this made me think about was how to incorporate that into your world building. If you are creating a location, what is the climate like? What plants and animals are widely available there? How does this inform the types of fabrics created and the style of clothing people wear? How do these things inform the culture and vice versa. If you made up civilization is one that prides itself on craftsmanship or technology, maybe they take a route similar to the Japanese and create a unique and complicated form of weaving. Perhaps your culture cares more about color and self expression, so they instead focus on creating vibrant fabrics in dozens of colors which can be draped and styled in a variety of ways depending on the wearer’s mood. If you culture lives in someplace harsh where few resources are available, how can they get what they need? Are they reliant on their herd animals? Do they trade with neighboring regions for valuable resources?
On one hand this kind of seems like something obvious, but the way the video compared different cultures just struck me as something I hadn’t really considered in that much depth before. If you are writing in a fantasy setting, something else to take into account is how can you push these concepts a little bit further.
If your culture relies on herd animals for food and clothing, how can you add a little extra flavor to set them apart? Perhaps the sheep native to that area come from a mountain region that is very sparse and known to have thunderstorms with frequent lightning strikes. Over generations of living in this area, the sheep’s wool has taken on some kind of property of being anti-static so it repels electricity, thereby protecting sheep from lightning strikes. The people who live in this region and shepherd and shear these sheep know this, and their wool has become famous for being static repellant. The people in this region all wear clothing made from this to help protect them from the lightning. Now, Wizards from all over seek to have their robes made out of this material to help protect them from lightning spells.
I dunno, I just made that up on the spot, so maybe it’s a little silly, but you can see how you can take a combination of the climate, the environment, the people who live ther, and start to craft things that make your world feel deep, lived in, and real.
Let’s take my silly sheep example a step further. These people who live in this very treacherous and lightning riddled mountains have also adapted over the generations. In addition to herding sheep and using their wool for clothing and blankets, maybe they decided to forsake all metal and see it as a bad omen, since it attracts the destructive lightning. Perhaps all their tools are made out of leather and wood and stone. If a culture doesn’t use metal, what are their houses like? How do you build something without nails? Do they become expert stonemasons? Do they create extremely advanced carpentry joinery techniques so that no nails are required in building? All jewelry should be of natural fibers, so any rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, etc. Would be stone, wood, leather, or some other natural material.
What would this culture use for weapons? Do they favor bow and arrow and/or spears, so they can craft smaller arrowheads or spear tips from the hard stone in the mountains? Maybe they have become incredibly proficient at using leather whips?
What do they use for money instead of coins? What would a people like this consider precious and use for bartering or for currency? Are there any superstitions about metal? How does this shape their own myths and legends? What lore do they have about why this area is so riddled with lightning strikes? Is it a vengeful deity? Or perhaps a deity who is overly protective and is simply trying to ward off any outsiders who might bring accursed metal into the region?
So now we are really starting to extrapolate on the details and create a culture that feels unique and interesting. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I already want to learn more about these anti-lightning sheep and shepherds.
Well dear reader, that’s all I have for you today. I hope you find this helpful for coming up with some deeper and more interesting world building. Till next time! <3 Tiff
