Do you see what Henry sees? Do you understand what he objects to in her dress? Do you have any clue this story is set in 1917? Let’s try again.

At least we’re not in the 21^st century any more, Toto. Now, let’s play the scene in 1927.

Dress can define character

You can tell a lot about your characters through what they wear and what they think about clothes. A woman in 1972 who clings to the 40s makeup and hairstyle of her youth is denying the passage of time. One man is aroused by a woman in a tight, revealing red dress, while his friend is outraged and revolted. Henry’s concern for his daughter’s marital prospects marks him as a loving parent. Plus, we have a strong image of a confidently chic girl. Showing such specifics tell far more than telling...and more efficiently and entertainingly.

Dress can indicate social conditions

Clothing is so entangled in social mores, that Henry’s reflections reveal as much as does his daughter’s choice of wardrobe. In 1956, a teenager obsessed with the fullness of her petticoat expresses her desperation to fit in. We know the new boy who wears a suit to school when no one else does, is in for trouble. If the other boys are all wearing suits and he shows up in bib overalls, he’s still in for trouble. You don’t have to say the woman wearing a limp, faded dress and rundown shoes is poor. Or the guy in the drab hand-knit sweater with a shirt buttoned to the collar but no tie is a foreigner. You just showed it.

Dress can enhance action

Grooming and clothes can certainly be more than window dressing to reveal character and relationships. Employed in the action, dealing with garments or grooming can give characters something to do which further develops the story. Stropping his straight razor gives a Victorian man ideas while planning a murder. When a 40s coed gaily whirls to show off her prom dress, its voluminous skirt dashes a precious antique to the floor in a million pieces.

Clothes often impose physical restrictions, which can affect action. A high stiff Hoover collar prevents a man from tucking his chin into his chest so he seems "stiff necked." A trapped woman wearing a pencil skirt and platform heels cannot run. No decent female wearing a miniskirt would sit with one ankle on the other knee.

Then of course, there are all the buttons on the swain’s own coat, vest, shirt and trousers, not to mention the fact that his shirt probably buttons up the back. Remember to pull down the braces after the vest but before the shirt. Oh, and the buttoned-on collar opens in front. At last, he stands in his one-piece underwear...more buttons. Nudity will usually be a major production number anytime before the 1920s. Think what this means to readers accustomed to pullover knits, zippers and velcro.

Dress can set the time frame

Even writing set in the present benefits from incorporating clothing details to indicate social status, define character, and enhance action. But a story set in the past needs "period color" and nothing can provide it like the very clothes your characters wear. Nothing else affects people so closely. Which is doubtless why fashion and clothing are more closely tied to the time line than most other elements of everyday life.

With settings in recent decades, the imperative for historical accuracy becomes at once easier to achieve and more critical to do so. The twentieth century is the most thoroughly documented, photographed, and otherwise recorded period in all of history. You can learn more about the time frame you are writing in than you could possibly use. At the same time, errors are all the more glaring exactly because so much information is available. Readers are more knowledgeable about the recent past because what they don’t remember first-hand, they’ve seen on the history channel.

Another challenge to historical accuracy in the twentieth century is the unprecedented velocity with which women’s fashion changed during that period. What was cool, hip, or the bees’ knees in men’s wear may have evolved more slowly and subtly, but it did evolve. Yup, the vocabulary of clothing changes over the years as well. When what held up a man’s pants were called braces, suspenders held up his socks which he called half hose. The kneepants men wore for hunting or golf were called Knickerbockers, later shortened to knickers. Boys wore them until they were old enough for long pants. Later knickers were called plus-fours, while in Britain knickers have long meant women’s panties. Using historical vocabulary further strengthens the sense of period.

With a little research through magazines of the time, you can find nifty little tidbits to establish a sense of the time setting of your story and put the reader right in there.

Connie’s voluminous Alice Lon net petticoat, made from the Champagne Lady’s own pattern printed in the TV Guide, made her feel like one of the crowd. (1957)

Such details both enrich the texture of a story and anchor its characters to their time and place. This satisfies a primary motive for reading period fiction, to learn about other times and what it was like to live then. Putting period clothes on your period characters can let your readers more fully experience your characters’ world.

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Last modified: August 26, 2010