Challenge Tuesday Part 2 – 1

A new year, a new start – but the same series!

Book 1 – The Path of Daggers, by Robert Jordan.  As this is a continuance of the series the same rules apply about spoilers, which I will try to avoid.  To be truthful, I am also losing sight of when one book ends and another begins!

Instead, this week I will talk about fashion.

There is a lot of chat about fashion in these stories.  For the women it’s all low tops vs high necks; petticoats and aprons; laces, ribbons and embroidery; slippers and shawls.  One female character who wears ‘breeches’ makes sure they are snug, and blushes when people note that she shows her hips… There are outfits so sheer you can see the skin beneath, or stout woolens

For the men, it’s embroidered sleeves, or high collars; buckles and hats and boots.  Much is made of their accessories – their swords, axes, sceptres.

There are uniforms for many groups, who are identifiable from their outfits as being ‘other’ – either able to access the One Power, or from another culture from the main protagonists.

Plus of course there are those times when no clothes are suitable at all, which is often given ritual significance.

Jordan often uses clothes as an emotional indicator in the books – both style and colour have significance to individual characters, and are signposts to a character’s mental state.  As fashions are given geographical relevance in the stories, the retention of particular colours, styles and choices is deliberate.  It is also notable that as Rand al’Thor becomes harder, his wardrobe becomes darker and more severe.

This can be a little more evident in some cases than others – and many of the female characters comment on the dress choices of their friends and fellow travellers, which is a little heavy-handed – but I find it an interesting way of showing how a character has developed and changed from their original introduction.

Happy reading,

EJ

🙂