Character Costume Design I: Alandis 🕊️
And a little info on costume design
In my last sketch post, I asked whether there were any specific characters and costumes that you want to see designs of, from any of the stories I’ve posted. I received one request so far, from
, for Alandis’ Releasing the Doves dress in the first chapter of Wingswept. You can read this chapter for free, by the way, if you’d like to reference it!
Today I’ll be sharing this dress, as well as the complement to it from the second Releasing of the Doves ceremony, which Alandis attends months later on the opposite coast of Lharmeval. You can see the dramatic difference between what Alandis wears in Erevale, and in Isola:
Releasing the Doves - Erevale
Creatives know that there are many ways to draw inspiration for a project, and I used a different method for each dress. For Erevale, I looked at French traditional dress. Many images you’ll find don’t look particularly special, or distinct from the dress found in neighboring countries. Austria, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Lithuania, Basque country, and France, for instance, all bear some resemblance to each other in this regard. However, I was struck by the traditional garb of Arles in Provence, which was the most distinctive costume I’d seen yet for France, as well as the most beautiful. You can see the inspiration in the lace apron and shawl in particular, as well as in the requisite choker with a cross, as is loved in French dress. Since fancy lace headdresses are also one of the elements unique to France, I also gave Alandis a lace cap to her headdress, more in the style of a vintage Juliet cap, which is definitely more appropriate for a windy day than the tall headdresses you see photos of!
I again brought in Lithuania via the embroidered ribbon sash around the waist, and the embroidered sleeves on the blouse.
The overall color is the softest and most feminine, girlish color which Alandis wears in the story. All of her subsequent outfits gradually darken in color, except for the ceremonial Dragandrea garb, which was not particularly her choice.
Alandis’ choker is hung with teardrops of Baltic amber, in a rarer opalescent blue and gold: the same color as the amber she uses to create a chaplet for Trys, because it is the same as his eyes. Similar beads hang from the ribbon chain that holds the crucifix at her side.
The apron is embroidered with a pattern of sunset-colored roses, rose leaves, forget-me-nots, which remind her of Trys, and her own periwinkle floral emblem, elsewhere seen on her traveling purse and on Sissi’s bridle. Periwinkle is a symbol of femininity, and the four-point resembles, inadvertently, the Tiny Bluet flower, which is as out of place in a European-esque locale as Alandis feels in Erevale. You’ll also find embroidered hearts in her costume, and a pair of doves, referring back to her name.
Releasing the Doves - Isola
Turning to the next design, this is worn many months later, after Alandis leaves Erevale behind and has been weathering emotional and dragon-related turmoil as the Dragandrea in Isola. Outside of traces of her old rose palette in her ceremonial garb, Alandis’ color palette is graver, and the overall design simpler, more practical, and less girlish than the first, reflecting her journey. The only reminders left of her roots are the amber and lapis lazuli necklace given to her by Ean and the crucifix. This dress was not inspired by studying traditional dress, but instead the route of direct inspiration, and drawing what came to mind immediately. The cooler tones of the dress link Alandis both to her recent near-death, near-suicide experience and her most recent winged adversary, the Vanaile.
Costume Designing
Things to keep in mind when designing a character’s wardrobe:
Consistency
Color Symbolism
Personality
If you’re going to talk about what a character is wearing, each character should have colors that represent them. The palette and style should be consistent, either in who they are, or in following who they become. Also keep in mind that unique identifiers are a plus in character design, whether it’s a specific element that keeps recurring, or a piece of jewelry that’s special to them, a specific hairstyle, etc. The outside of a character should help explain and reflect who they are, especially in visual artwork.
A character with an identity crisis could be as confused in their style as they are in their personality. They could be wearing colors that clash with their physical coloring, jumping in between color seasons in an effort to find something that feels like themselves, or alternatively, trying to become someone else.
A character who deceives could wear colors that are opposite to their personality, or their perceived personality.
Accent colors can remain consistent through a character arc to bring some harmony into a color palette - Alandis’ shoes and boots, for instance, are always a similar rosy brown leather.
Accessories can remain consistent as well: Alandis wears vambraces even before becoming the Dragandrea, her first costume mimicking the shape of a vambrace by ribbon ties around her wrists and forearms, and then actual vambraces while traveling and during her time as the Dragandrea. Likewise, she always wears a headband or headdress in similar silhouettes. Elements like this can become visual identifiers for a character, and can say something about their past or future.
If you’d like to see visualizations and/or have assistance in designing a look for your characters, I offer character design— full illustrations with focus on the face and physical attributes— as well as costume design, with focus on hairstyle, dress, and accessories. If you’re just looking for some guidance in designing it yourself, I can do that too. Feel free to reach out at windflower.14wwg@passinbox.com to discuss it!
Base prices for Character and Costume Design are as follows:
$15 per character, including one redesign; plus $2 for each redesign following. Note: This does not include character color palettes.
Discount - Three characters = $35, $3 total for redesigns of all three.
$5 for a costume, plus $2 for each significant redesign.
A costume here being any outfit that is not the “classic” outfit for the character, which is the one included in character design.
Discount - 3 costumes = $12, $2 total for redesigns of all three
$10 for a character’s color palette only. Working with the author, this includes figuring out the character’s color season, appropriate color symbolism, and the transition the palette makes with the character arc. (No full redesigns are included, beyond swapping out one or two colors if needed.)
Discount - Three characters = $25
For consultation on character, color palette and costume design, it will vary by scenario and the amount of time you wish to spend in the discussion, but an example might be:
Consulting for one character with 1 palette, 2+ secondary costumes, $20 per hour.
You can find more available freelance projects here:
Windflower is fully supported by its audience. Instead of buying me a coffee, you can purchase my novels or leave a donation which will go towards the purchase of fabric for interactive projects, where you’ll be able to vote on what historical dress or film costume I’ll recreate! Donations also help to continue creating Windflower’s content and to support the local Latin Mass.
Please consider liking, subscribing and sharing with your friends. Thank you, and God bless!
The illustrations are very beautiful.
This was an amazing essay, I quite liked the analysis of colour, character consistency and their sense of identity and such. I've long thought the same thing, and it is why I go into such detail on colour, clothing and such in my French series (and most of my English stories also).
More authors should read this essay I have to include it in this week's WW listings.