The fashion of Fire Emblem

[Corrobin]

Fire Emblem's clothing has been an ever-changing subject. But while how we got from Pantless Marth to the breastplates of Camilla and Charlotte is an important (and obvious) change, there has been several other changes in fashion over the years.

For our first example, let's look at Dadgar from Thracia 776.

For anyone not familiar with Thracia, Dadgar is somewhat of a Jeigen/Oifey of the game-he's a prepromoted Warrior you get in the first chapter with solid bases but bad growths, but unlike most Jeigans, his bases are strong enough that they can carry him almost all the way to endgame due to the all 20 caps of the game. Dadgar is a reformed bandit who assists Leif as part of his Fiana Freeblades, alongside his daughter Tania and subordinate Marty.

The first thing you may notice about his clothing is that it seems realistic given the kind of medieval fantasy worlds FE is set in, in that it would probably be something a peasant in the middle ages on Earth could wear. His shoes are held with a ribbon keeping them in place, there is no notable hem on his shirt or pants, the holes for his belt in his pants are rough, and it looks very worn and roughly made, like it was just torn from cloth. This makes sense given Dadgar's background. Let's compare him with another character of a similar background.

Gonzales, from Binding Blade, has the same rough background: Former bandit, although he is recruited in the middle of the game instead of at the start, and he's a Brigand who promotes into a Berserker rather than a Warrior. He's also not as intelligent as Dadgar-he's not even literate and he speaks in a broken, stop-and-start tone that indicates it's hard for him to speak (for example, in his support with Echidna, he says “But...I ugly... I not be with people. People hate me...”).

Fittingly enough, his wardrobe is even rougher than Dadgar's. Putting aside the stylistic differences, the neck hole of his shirt looks like it was literally ripped off, as do the legs of his pants, and he doesn't wear a proper belt, just a ribbon around his torso. His wristband on the right of the picture (but on his left arm) also looks torn, and he isn't even wearing shoes. This is a far cry from both Dadgar (who at least looks somewhat normal, if a little rough) and our next point of discussion: The middle-class FE playables, if Dagdar and Gonzales are lower-class.

Wil, from Blazing Sword, is a normal villager, barring his moving around, who joins Lyn in the tutorial.

First thing of note is that Wil is wearing actual armor, even if it is just a shoulder guard and half a breastplate. He's also wearing a belt, like Dagdar, but it is a lot less rough than his. And while his boots do have a bit of string on them, the do actually have buckles on them, as well. Finally, you can see the hem and sewing that went into his shirt and pants.

Another example of this is Hicks, another FE5 character. Hicks is an Axe Knight who joins at the tail end of the Manster Escape sequence, provided you have rescued his son, Maphy.

The roughness of the art style may make it harder to tell, but Hicks is wearing armor, even if, just like Will, it's only a breastplate. And while his shirt may not be as nice-looking as Wil's, you cannot  deny it has a more definite end, unlike Gonzales's neckline. He is also wearing a belt, even if it has no buckle, and his boots, while they have no ties, that in and of itself implies they're sturdy enough that he doesn't need them.

Our final topic of discussion will be the higher-class folk of FE.

Klein is a prepromote Sniper from FE6 who is the son of FE7's Pent (A Sage) and Louise (A Sniper), and a minor noble himself. This is reflected in how, design-wise, he's a fancier version of Wil (or, more accurately, Wil is a less fancy version of him.) The basics are all the same: Gloves, boots, a somewhat open and flowing shirt, pants, shoulder guard. But Klein's boots seem to be either covered with or made out of metal, and there are more hints of gold in his clothing: The tops of his boots, his belt buckle, the ends of his sleeves, the designs on his shirt, and even some on the tops of his feet.

Pent, Klein's father, follows this idea. Though he replaces Klein's gold with silver, the fanciness and refinery of his dress cannot be denied. Patterned, flowing dress shirts, a cape, two belts, show that this is a man with taste.

While most people might only focus on the fanservicey clothing and the funny costumes to make fun of, it's worth noting how Fire Emblem can use clothing to make a statement about what a character is. And this is all coming from someone with no background in clothing or costumes.

[Martin]

Hey! Can you do a fashion analysis on Chrom? Like what's up with that shoulder armor and unsymmetrical set of clothing in general? (I think it looks badass)  

[eclipse]

Uhhh. . .

A unit's class also has to do with it as well.  Pent can afford to be a bit fancier with clothes, because he doesn't have to worry about wearing armor.  Another noble archer (if you will) is Takumi.

But then there's some design choices that make no sense (Serra's skirt, for one).

[Corrobin]

16 minutes ago, eclipse said:

But then there's some design choices that make no sense (Serra's skirt, for one).

...this is a dress, not a skirt.

[Emperor Hardin]

I liked your analysis.

 

Its interesting how Fighters and Brigands tend to be lower class while Snipers, Generals and Sages tend to be upperclass nobility and such.

[eclipse]

13 minutes ago, Corrobin said:

...this is a dress, not a skirt.

The issue is the lower half of the dress, hence the skirt.

[Corrobin]

3 minutes ago, eclipse said:

The issue is the lower half of the dress, hence the skirt.

There is no skirt. A skirt is a article of clothing with an open bottom, worn by woman, that comes somewhere between the buttocks and the knees.

This is a skirt. Serra is wearing a dress, because it comes down to her ankles.

[eclipse]

Just now, Corrobin said:

This is a skirt. Serra is wearing a dress, because it comes down to her ankles.

You already said that you have very little knowledge of clothes, in your first post.

So why are you arguing with a woman about women's clothes?

This mentality completely boggles me, because your definition is horribly misinformed.

[Corrobin]

1 minute ago, eclipse said:

You already said that you have very little knowledge of clothes, in your first post.

So why are you arguing with a woman about women's clothes?

This mentality completely boggles me, because your definition is horribly misinformed.

You may have a point there...

Okay. In my mind: Skirts = short, dresses = long. How is this incorrect?

And what are you referring to in Serra's picture? Do you mean that little seam of other material along the side that makes the bottom of the... article of clothing have a larger circumference? Because I assumed that was there to make walking easier, dresses with a small circumference are easy to trip in if you try and step too far and the dress stops your leg, according to my sister.

[eclipse]

1 minute ago, Corrobin said:

You may have a point there...

Okay. In my mind: Skirts = short, dresses = long. How is this incorrect?

And what are you referring to in Serra's picture? Do you mean that little seam of other material along the side that makes the bottom of the... article of clothing have a larger circumference? Because I assumed that was there to make walking easier, dresses with a small circumference are easy to trip in if you try and step too far and the dress stops your leg, according to my sister.

I strongly suggest consulting a dictionary with regards to the word "skirt".  Not all of them are short.  I own a nice A-line that falls below my knees.

Maybe your sister's gait is drastically different than mine for some reason.  Restrict the natural movement of my legs, and it becomes awkward.  That's why I prefer A-line skirts, even if they're a hindrance once the wind picks up - I can run as if I was wearing my usual jeans.

If you want an example, take a few steps, and look down.  Note how your legs look as you move.  Now imagine that there's a ring of fabric around your shins, which limits how far you can take a step.  It's not too bad for walking, but it makes it hard to run.  And if you're in the middle of a battle, I can't imagine why you'd want to hinder your ability to run.  Serra's dress is great for a nice stroll in the park, but completely baffling for battle wear.

I'd take fashion in entertainment (especially video games) with a giant grain of salt.  Many of the designs cater to visual appeal over practicality.

[Corrobin]

Well, to be fair, Serra is a cleric, not a warrior. The skirt does look somewhat habit-esque.

[Acacia Sgt]

It's certainly restrictive if it comes to being in a battle, but I'd think that even FE healers wouldn't really be in the frontlines if it were realistic. They're likely not be in the frontlines, but in a field hospital to receive the wounded. There's probably squad rotations going on, the way you can just heal up injuries as FE has it, and it all boils down to which side kills faster and not leave enough wounded to retreat and get back into fighting shape. But well, if it wasn't a game. No matter how you're dressed or if you're armoed, if you can heal, you're a high-priority target. Unless you can fight back, why would you be where you'd be in most dangeR?

Edited May 12, 2018 by Acacia Sgt

[Roxas]

5/12/18 - Shota visits SF for the first time in ages to discover man does not know that dresses consist of skirts.

[Mercakete]

Personally, I enjoyed this refreshingly neutral analysis of how the characters' social classes affect their attire. Though to me, it seems kind of obvious (if you're designing a character, you're designing a first impression of details about that character's lifestyle) I still thought it was nice. :)

Also, I can see how people who don't have much experience with women's fashion wouldn't realize that dresses are composed of two, basic parts: the dress' top and the dress' skirt. As a stand-alone article of clothing, skirts and dresses are different, yes. There are also various lengths and styles of each. Skirts can range from stopping just below the butt to being far too long for the person wearing it (like, longer than the person's legs.) The important thing to ask is "is this a loop of fabric that goes around the lower body?" If so, it's a skirt, even if it's not a very good one (I.e., lacks a proper waistband, or is just a tube made of a non-stretchy fabric.) A dress includes what is essentially an attached  (sewn together or made of the same piece of fabric) shirt of some sort, even if that "shirt" is a tube top. It's all about where you wear it on your body, and, more specifically, where it was designed to be worn on your body. But the lower part of a dress is, in fact, referred to as "the skirt," similarly to how one would refer to "the leg" of a pair of pants.

I hope this has helped to clear some confusion on clothing terminology.

[Azura]

1 hour ago, Corrobin said:

Okay. In my mind: Skirts = short, dresses = long. How is this incorrect?.

Skirts are a replacement for pants, dresses also cover the upper body. You can talk about the skirt part of a dress though, so what you did - talking about Serra's skirt - is technically not incorrect as long as you only mean the lower part of her dress  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Slumber]

2 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

I liked your analysis.

 

Its interesting how Fighters and Brigands tend to be lower class while Snipers, Generals and Sages tend to be upperclass nobility and such.

It makes sense. 

Axes are the most utilitarian of the main weapons in FE. Most peasants would have an axe around, as it's a useful everyday tool in that kind of setting. Add in that Fighters and Brigands wear light clothing, and it makes sense that Fighters and Brigands, likely normal villagers who turned to fighting or banditry, would be on the poorer end and wear shabbier clothing. 

Knights were upper class, and anybody who has a skill that had to be taught or require a lot of practice(IE Archery, magic and horseback riding) would likely have more money than peasants who picked up an axe and fought for whatever reason. 

[Cute Chao]

3 hours ago, eclipse said:

But then there's some design choices that make no sense (Serra's skirt, for one).

Wow, I'd forgotten how restrictive that thing looks. 

She may only be a healer and not be on frontlines, but if she needed to run away in a hurry, she'd be in trouble. I'm a huge fan of maxi dresses, and I can just about walk sort of medium paced in them. I'd have to fully rip the darn things if I needed to run... maybe some would be stretchy enough to pull up but definitely not convenient!

[Water Mage]

This reminds me, there are very few FE characters with glasses.

Makes sense, a glasses were rare in medieval times and only nobility had them. There are 3 characters with glasses Miriel, Laurent and Yukikura. Yukimura is a noble, and Mirel is very likely to be a noble herself so it makes sense for them to have glasses.

[Emperor Hardin]

3 minutes ago, Water Mage said:

This reminds me, there are very few FE characters with glasses.

Makes sense, a glasses were rare in medieval times and only nobility had them. There are 3 characters with glasses Miriel, Laurent and Yukikura. Yukimura is a noble, and Mirel is very likely to be a noble herself so it makes sense for them to have glasses.

There's quite a few characters with monocles though, oddly.

37 minutes ago, Slumber said:

It makes sense. 

Axes are the most utilitarian of the main weapons in FE. Most peasants would have an axe around, as it's a useful everyday tool in that kind of setting. Add in that Fighters and Brigands wear light clothing, and it makes sense that Fighters and Brigands, likely normal villagers who turned to fighting or banditry, would be on the poorer end and wear shabbier clothing. 

Knights were upper class, and anybody who has a skill that had to be taught or require a lot of practice(IE Archery, magic and horseback riding) would likely have more money than peasants who picked up an axe and fought for whatever reason. 

I was thinking Soldiers might also be common but then again, Lukas is a blueblood and several of the Tellius Halberdier bosses could be too.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Not to mention Cavaliers almost always being nobility or in service of a kingdom owes something to the cost of horse. A combat horse is not the same as a farm horse, which is not necessarily the same as a travel/messenger horse, each is bred for different purposes with different traits. You either need to be really wealthy, have someone with money to give you the means to own a horse (a kingdom/liege), or perhaps be a mercenary (Fergus, Titania and Oscar are former royal soldiers turned mercenaries) to care for such financial burdens, and you might need multiple horses if Fudgeflake gets stabbed dead one day or grows old (inevitable) or sick. Wyverns and Pegasi must have even greater costs, since I can't imagine flight is a low calorie activity nor that they would breed so easily and thus be so plentiful.

Heavy armor isn't cheap either, lots of metal is heckuva lot of money, and if the enemy's axe rip through it, well you'll need money to replace it. Cloth armor is significantly cheaper, and layered can be decently effective against arrows, and that too still needs to be replaced.

Nor are swords- they're 100% metal and metal = money. Awakening and Fates giving the Villager class Lances makes perfect sense. The shaft can be wood, only the tip need be metal.

 

1 minute ago, Emperor Hardin said:

I was thinking Soldiers might also be common but then again, Lukas is a blueblood and several of the Tellius Halberdier bosses could be too.

Well they should be more commonly commoners, and more common overall. At least they have the stats of greenhorns in most games.

Neph and probably Devdan are commoners. Aran was adopted by Begnion merchants- so some many.

Levail and Jarod, and the generic bosses Rommit and Roark... well the mass must obviously be commoners in Begnion, there cannot be that many nobles. But we don't know exactly how aristocratic the officer corp is, given IRL Germany maintained even into WWII disproportionately high amounts of nobility in the officer corp, it wouldn't be surprising if every named officer we kill is a noble- the medieval justification for nobility was their combat skills. But then again, Veyona the Druid probably isn't, and being not a perfect medieval copy, Tellius could make room for some upwards social mobility via the elevation of commoners through the military to noble status, but not a lot.

 

And now that I think about it, while we get a lot of very noble Cavaliers/Paladins, Knights tend to be more ogre like in demeanor. Well not completely, the prepromoted Generals like Lorenz, Douglas, Xavier, Tauroneo are all very noble, but the first thing that comes to mind with Knights is brute strength/stoicism, they don't flaunt their nobility as much as Cavs/Pals seem to, for me at least.

 

22 minutes ago, Water Mage said:

This reminds me, there are very few FE characters with glasses.

Makes sense, a glasses were rare in medieval times and only nobility had them. There are 3 characters with glasses Miriel, Laurent and Yukikura. Yukimura is a noble, and Mirel is very likely to be a noble herself so it makes sense for them to have glasses.

All three of whom come from the Awakening and Fates, and while Nohrian males are noted for historical authenticity in their garb, these games overall are more known for the objections to their fashion than their accuracy.

Maybe older FE was trying to stay accurate by barring glasses? Then again, maybe it was the artistic idealization of the human form- vision problems are an imperfection, as are skin blemishes, body hair, rotten teeth, and fat people. Loathed by Greco-Roman art as much as modern anime.

[Light Strategist]

23 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Maybe older FE was trying to stay accurate by barring glasses? Then again, maybe it was the artistic idealization of the human form- vision problems are an imperfection, as are skin blemishes, body hair, rotten teeth, and fat people. Loathed by Greco-Roman art as much as modern anime.

It could be possible (albeit unlikely) that they simply never considered full-on glasses in the series up to Awakening. It could just be that they looked over the amount of characters they've had with imperfect vision.
 

49 minutes ago, Water Mage said:

This reminds me, there are very few FE characters with glasses.

Makes sense, a glasses were rare in medieval times and only nobility had them. There are 3 characters with glasses Miriel, Laurent and Yukikura. Yukimura is a noble, and Mirel is very likely to be a noble herself so it makes sense for them to have glasses.

Miriel's clothing interests and mannerisms already suggests a high status. There's how much she's seen reading or lost in thought, as well as her general speech, which among most of her varied vocabulary still suggests a highborn air to her. Also, as I recall, her mother was a renowned scholar and when you think about books cost a lot or at the very least. Reading lessons would.

Of course some of that is a bit of speculation, but it is going on a few things I remember as well as note from the overall conversation here.

EDIT: Just remembered that Ricken's family had fallen on financial troubles and if you compare Ricken's clothes to Miriel's they seem patchy and commonly repaired in comparison, which might at least suggest that Miriel has a significant budget to be able afford fine clothing.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Light Strategist

[EricaofRenais]

Seeing those pictures of characters with eye wear makes me really want Canas and Etzel in Heroes.  Ax users normally are poorer so of course their clothing shows that, anyone with a mount has money so they have better armor mages also tend to have money because they learn magic by studying.

[indigoasis]

Clothing is used to great effect in FE, in that it establishes a character's social class, nationality, and unit class. Obviously there are exceptions, like Lewyn/Levin for example, who dresses as a bard despite being a prince. What I really like about the clothing is how it's evolved throughout the games and the timelines, showing the advancements of fashion and culture throughout the years, similar to our own world, which I really like.

[Emperor Hardin]

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Not to mention Cavaliers almost always being nobility or in service of a kingdom owes something to the cost of horse. A combat horse is not the same as a farm horse, which is not necessarily the same as a travel/messenger horse, each is bred for different purposes with different traits. You either need to be really wealthy, have someone with money to give you the means to own a horse (a kingdom/liege), or perhaps be a mercenary (Fergus, Titania and Oscar are former royal soldiers turned mercenaries) to care for such financial burdens, and you might need multiple horses if Fudgeflake gets stabbed dead one day or grows old (inevitable) or sick. Wyverns and Pegasi must have even greater costs, since I can't imagine flight is a low calorie activity nor that they would breed so easily and thus be so plentiful.

Thats definitely the case, while there are some mercenary cavaliers, almost all of them have a  background in the military, like Trec in FE6 is a former member of Lord Zelot's forces.

Free Knights are a little more likely to be purely mercenary like Beowulf and Fergus though.

Hunters are also lowborn as I mentioned in another thread.

You know there doesn't seem to be a Lance class associated with mercenaries and bandits the way Fighters, Myrmidons and such are. The rare times bandit armies use lances, they just have a couple random cavaliers. Like in the 14th chapter of Path of Radiance, there is a single random lance cavalier with the Laguz Lance in the bandit army. Unlike the other bandits, he also wears begnion's colors. 

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Well they should be more commonly commoners, and more common overall. At least they have the stats of greenhorns in most games.

Neph and probably Devdan are commoners. Aran was adopted by Begnion merchants- so some many.

Levail and Jarod, and the generic bosses Rommit and Roark... well the mass must obviously be commoners in Begnion, there cannot be that many nobles. But we don't know exactly how aristocratic the officer corp is, given IRL Germany maintained even into WWII disproportionately high amounts of nobility in the officer corp, it wouldn't be surprising if every named officer we kill is a noble- the medieval justification for nobility was their combat skills. But then again, Veyona the Druid probably isn't, and being not a perfect medieval copy, Tellius could make room for some upwards social mobility via the elevation of commoners through the military to noble status, but not a lot.

Nephenee and Devdan are explicitly commoners.

Come to think of it, Ashnard allowed anyone of any birth to reach the rank of commanders if they had the skills, so its quite possible, people like Emil, Kotaff and Hafedd rose through their skill.

Jarod also indicated he wasn't a noble in Begnion.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And now that I think about it, while we get a lot of very noble Cavaliers/Paladins, Knights tend to be more ogre like in demeanor. Well not completely, the prepromoted Generals like Lorenz, Douglas, Xavier, Tauroneo are all very noble, but the first thing that comes to mind with Knights is brute strength/stoicism, they don't flaunt their nobility as much as Cavs/Pals seem to, for me at least.

You wouldn't see a bunch of Knights/Generals in a bandit or mercenary army though.

True to the class name, Military Generals in the series,  allied or enemy, are almost always of the General class. Royalty and Nobility love the class as well, makes sense, not going to move on a throne.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Maybe older FE was trying to stay accurate by barring glasses? Then again, maybe it was the artistic idealization of the human form- vision problems are an imperfection, as are skin blemishes, body hair, rotten teeth, and fat people. Loathed by Greco-Roman art as much as modern anime.

Aren't monocles just as expensive as glasses.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Nor are swords- they're 100% metal and metal = money. Awakening and Fates giving the Villager class Lances makes perfect sense. The shaft can be wood, only the tip need be metal.

 There are actually cheap flimsy swords with only a little bit of metal in them, as well as Wooden swords. I imagine those are the swords, Villagers use.

59 minutes ago, Light Strategist said:

It could be possible (albeit unlikely) that they simply never considered full-on glasses in the series up to Awakening. It could just be that they looked over the amount of characters they've had with imperfect vision.

Just remembered this bespectacled character from Mystery of the Emblem.

@Jotari

I just remembered another little known portrait exclusive to FE3. She's just a generic villager in the DS remake, similar to the Slaver.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Emperor Hardin

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Aren't monocles just as expensive as glasses.

I hazard to speculate monocles, barring on a butler or something (so why don't you have one Jakob?), come off as medieval whereas glasses do not. Monocles are the thing of older times, it makes no sense to wear them in the modern day, whereas the wacky people of the past did.

 

1 hour ago, Emperor Hardin said:

 There are actually cheap flimsy swords with only a little bit of metal in them, as well as Wooden swords. I imagine those are the swords, Villagers use.

There is the Takumi's Shinai in Fates, and the Trainer swords and Practice Axe used in PoR's Prologue fight. So they've referenced them before, just not much.

 

1 hour ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Just remembered this bespectacled character from Mystery of the Emblem.

That is one weird granny. I could see old anime hypnosis spirals in her spectacles, and her turning into a Manakete. And the dragon form wearing those spectacles (then again, Naga invented contacts).

 

1 hour ago, Emperor Hardin said:

You know there doesn't seem to be a Lance class associated with mercenaries and bandits the way Fighters, Myrmidons and such are. The rare times bandit armies use lances, they just have a couple random cavaliers. Like in the 14th chapter of Path of Radiance, there is a single random lance cavalier with the Laguz Lance in the bandit army. Unlike the other bandits, he also wears begnion's colors. 

That was weird, but I guess the horses you could pretend are of poorer stock or stolen from a farm. Given the bandits in that PoR chapter are slavers and their cargo was stored in containers (otherwise Ike would have seen what it looked like- Laguz slaves), they could have doubled as the means by which to drag the Laguz chattel.

If they just made Soldier a normal not LoLdier or Japanified class again, they could invent a bandit aesthetic for the class to be used alongside the normal one. And Knights are explicitly more professional and most commonly lancers, so Soldiers don't have to be that way.