The League look and feel
Overview
Lavish, opulent, mercantile, urbane, swaggering, flamboyant, ostentatious, panache, flourish, extravagant
The League look takes inspiration from European renaissance fashion. Garments and accessories from the Italian Renaissance, the German Renaissance, and early Tudor England can form a solid foundation provided they achieve the right silhouette. The League is a nation of city-states, where citizens love to compete for acclaim, social status and power. League fashions reflect this bustling urban world where ‘everything is on show’ and where citizens aim to experience ‘the best of everything’. Fashion is a prized way to express the role in the great game one has chosen to play.
Most outfits employ rich, bold colours, and where the owner can afford it, the material is slashed to allow the garment beneath to show through. The lower layer may be white or in a striking colour, chosen for a stark contrast with the outer garment. Brocade or jacquard fabrics are popular with those who can afford them, the better to show off the owner's wealth.
Every aspect of a Leaguer’s outfit is an opportunity to embellish and show off. Prominent, flashy jewellery is commonplace across the League. Rings are a key element of hearth magic, but jewelled or ornate necklaces, bracelets, brooches and hair accessories are widely worn - often with a ‘more is more’ mindset. Several strings of pearls worn together, or chokers worn at the same time as lower-slung necklaces, are a frequent sight.
Silhouette
- Achieving the right silhouette is the key to a great League costume
The League silhouette is also about creating a dynamic look with a contrast in shape: outfits with close fitting hose could be larger on the upper body, with puffy sleeves or a dramatic duelling cape; dresses with a smaller bodice and a higher waist have a wide, flowing skirt; waffenrocks or wams with a boxy upper half will be accompanied by extravagantly slashed sleeves and trousers. Below are some illustrated examples by Lampblack Art of archetypal League silhouettes. These are by no means definitive, but serve as an example of silhouettes you can aim for with League costume.
Garments and Accessories
Shirt, Blouse or Chemise: League dresses, doublets and gowns are designed to be worn over shirts, blouses or chemises. These base layers can be any colour, a simple white or coloured to contrast or compliment the outer garments worn on top. They tend to be loose and have baggy, voluminous sleeves gathered into a cuff or puffed down the arm at intervals. They can have lacing at the neck, or be low cut with a gathered neckline.
The garment may have a higher neckline to keep out the cold, but it is less appropriate to have a pointed collar, lapels or buttons all the way down in the way a modern formal shirt would. Likewise it is less appropriate for the sleeves to trail or flare at the wrist in a ‘trumpet’ style, or be straight like the sleeves of a t-shirt or tight to the arm like a fitted shirt. Leagueish shirts are not worn with cravats and do not have cascading lace at the throat in a ‘highwayman’ or Regency style.
Doublet, wams or bodice: A doublet is a short upper body garment, usually fastened at the front with lacing or buttons and worn over a shirt or blouse. A doublet can be sleeveless, with separate sleeves tied or laced on at the elbow, or the sleeves can be attached. In either case a doublet is likely to be richly decorated, perhaps with slashing. Most doublets come down to the waist or hips. Some have short skirting or tabs at the bottom.
Wams are a style of doublet that is often lower necked, and square or v-necked. They typically have a side closing, rather than a central one or have a big detachable panel on the front (called a brustfleck), which you can decorate or remove. Wams look the upper half of a waffenrock, but are worn with hose like a traditional doublet. The sleeves are large and often extravagantly slashed, with decorative slashing popular on the main body of the garment also.
A sleeveless bodice is a good alternative to a doublet, particularly if you’re working with a lower budget as many off-the-peg doublets are designed to be marketed for men. The ideal League bodice covers the back and shoulders and resembles a doublet without sleeves rather than a corset.
If you want to wear a bodice instead, bear in mind that many ‘cottagecore’ or ‘peasant’ corset tops, or ‘renaissance faire tavern wench’ looks are not right for the League. Rather than something with thin straps and/or heavy boning, look for a garment which Ideally, you want something that will give you the option of attaching tie-on sleeves. The Freyhand range by Burgschneider has a good example, as does Leonardo Carbone. One way to adapt a bodice so you can add tie-on sleeves is to sew some metal D-rings or loops of fabric tape to the shoulders. Some online retailers sell ready-made tie-on sleeves (see Traders below for some possible suggestions). You can also pair a bodice with a shirt that has striped sleeves that already resemble slashes, such as Epic Armoury’s.