Clothing in Oz

I could have sworn I wrote about Oz and clothing already, but now I can’t find any such post. So, I figure I’d better rectify that now, yes?

For those who want to see my earlier Oz-related posts and get more information on my personal elaboration on this venerable canon, I suggest just scrolling down—I’ve posted so many by now that linking to all of them doesn’t really work. For those of you who want to see the results of all this world-building, please go check out the blog where I’m posting, chapter by chapter, my attempt at Wizard of Oz fan fiction. You’ll find it here.

So here are descriptions of typical clothing styles for each of the major cultural groups within my version of the Land of Oz. They vary greatly, as you’ll see.

Munchkins

Munchkin clothing looks vaguely Amish, although the rules about female modesty are very different—in general, Oz people do not require women to cover up to any greater extent than men do. The favorite color is blue. Both men and women typically wear a tall, conical, cloth hat with a wide brim when outside or away from home.

Note that although both men and women normally cover the entire torso, it is socially acceptable for either to swim topless, even in mixed company.

Men

Munchkin men wear trousers or coveralls with a button-front, collared shirt and a mid-thigh-length jacket. Men not wearing coveralls usually wear a suit vest. Most men wear an ascot or neckerchief. Footwear is usually tall, leather work-boots with a slight heel, though light-weight walking shoes are an option, too. Clothing can be made in winter-weight or summer-weight styles. In the winter, men also wear long underwear and knee-length coats.

The jacket and trousers/coveralls (and vest, if there is one) are almost always solid, dark blue, as is the hat. The shirt is often medium or light blue, but can be any color except yellow, and may be solid, checked, striped, or even polka-dotted. The hat band is often medium or light blue, too. The neckerchief/ascot is almost always some third color, yellow or orange being popular. Many men wear a pocket-square matching the neckerchief. If the man is a witch, he will almost always wear a white neckerchief and may wear other white elements, perhaps even a white shirt.

Men almost always wear their hair short, and most are clean-shaven. They do not wear any kind of jewelry.

Women

Munchkin women wear a calf-length skirt with a short-sleeved blouse, a tailored vest, and an apron (the kind that does not extend above the waist). A petticoat bells the skirt out nice and smooth. The sleeves may be puffed or straight. The vest buttons to the waist, but might extend as much as several inches farther down, to just below the hips. In cold weather, women wear leggings (and a long-sleeved shirt under the short-sleeved shirt), but in warm weather their legs and arms are bare. When not wearing leggings, most women wear shorts under their petticoats for modesty. Women wear walking shoes more often than work-boots.

In even cold weather, women wear shawls or coats.

Mostly, Munchkin women wear light blue, though the shade varies considerably. The vest may be somewhat darker. Shawls are usually dark blue, or even black. The leggings and long sleeves of winter are often striped, spotted, or otherwise patterned. And since walking shoes expose the socks, Munchkin women often wear brightly-patterned socks. The collar or sleeves might have lace. The skirt may be embroidered, usually in a botanical motif. Many women wear jewelry, usually in modest amounts, mostly silver and turquoise, though other blue gemstones and blue jade are prized. Necklines are always high, but the cut of the vest can flatter the breasts. If a woman is a witch, she will almost always wear a white apron.

Hair styles have communicative value for Munchkin women.

Girls wear their hair loose or in braids or ponytails, but adolescents and women almost always wear theirs in a bun in public. A high bun signals openness to sexual attention from men—she remains free to say no, but does not mind being approached. A low bun signals she does mind. A woman is free to choose either style on any given day, regardless of marital status (even monogamous women sometimes like to flirt). Widowed or divorced women often cut their hair short, signaling they will not date until their hair grows enough to make a bun. “Widow’s cuts” are also worn by women who simply have no sexual interest in men.

Switchers

Throughout Oz, it is entirely polite and normal to refer to someone who changes gender role (irrespective of whether they change gender identity) as a “switcher.” Munchkins like to signal their switch clearly, and do so with clothing. Some switchers cross-dress entirely (and some of these may also take on a new gender identity), while others adopt a style that mixes masculine and feminine elements, such as a skirt in a dark (masculine) shade or trousers in a light (feminine) shade. Also, women sometimes wear trousers and men sometimes wear aprons for certain activities for practical reasons, and this is not seen as switching.

Quadlings

Quadlings have no gender roles (they do have gender identity). Instead, their society is divided into two classes or moieties. One of these, the majority, dress plainly and do most of the work, while the other, a minority dresses elegantly and more or less provides entertainment. The later are referred to as nobles, but they have no more power than the commoners do.

Quadlingland is tropical, so there is no need for winter clothing. There is no prohibition against baring the torso. Both men and women usually wear their hair longish, in an Afro. Most men are clean-shaven, but since Quadling hair texture sometimes makes shaving difficult, some men wear a bit of rugged-looking scruff.

Commoners

Both men and women wear short, khaki skirts and a red sash (the shade and style vary with the wearer’s taste) around the waist. A heavy apron that also covers the torso might be worn for protection for certain kinds of work. For formal occasions, there is a short, waist-length cape clasped at the shoulder, usually in red, but sometimes printed red and yellow or red and blue—or white, for witches. They wear sandals or go barefoot. They often wear jewelry made of wood, bone, shell, or glass. Large-breasted women wear sports-bras, except on formal occasions.

Nobles

Both men and women wear a long skirt over a slip. The skirt is typically narrow, but slit up one or both sides. A heavy, beaded collar and quite a lot of stunning jewelry (rubies and amber with gold are favorites) usually complete the outfit, along with attractive, strappy sandals. The skirt is usually printed in two colors, red and pink or red and yellow being the most popular, but any color but purple works. The slip is a contrasting color—white, for witches. For athletic pursuits or rough play, nobles will change into shorts or brightly-printed leotards. Again, large-breasted women sometimes wear sports-bras, but prefer to show off the breasts whenever they can do so comfortably.

Winkies

Winkies usually cover the torso outside of the home, but not as carefully as Munchkins do—a glimpse of a breast in public is not considered a problem, and both men and women will go topless in some circumstances.

Both men and women wear their hair long, often in dreadlocks. Men are usually clean-shaven.

Men

Men wear a skirt just under knee-length, and a loin-cloth whose tails drape out over the skirt front and back. They also wear a waist-length vest but no shirt (in cold weather, they do add a shirt and leggings). When outdoors, they also wear a long cloak that is clasped at the shoulder and has both a hood and a flap that can be wrapped across the face in the event of a dust-storm. The primary function of the cloak is to protect against sun and wind. Most also wear a flat-topped straw hat with a wide brim, though the hat has to come off to raise the hood.

The cloak, skirt, and loin-cloth are dull yellow (witches wear a white cloak), but the tails of the loin-cloth are embroidered with dark thread and sometimes beaded or decorated with mirror-flecks. The vest is usually a dark khaki of some shade, and also heavily embroidered. Because the skirt has no pockets, most men wear a satchel, usually of dark khaki cloth and embroidered or beaded to match the vest.

Footgear usually means heavy (not especially decorative) sandals. Some men wear gaiters to protect the lower legs from spiny vegetation. Jewelry is popular, mostly gold, brass, or copper, often with topaz or opal.

Women

Women’s clothing is broadly similar to men’s, but they do not wear loin-cloths. They do not wear panties, either, but instead wear an under-skirt whose folds help protect against exposure—but accidental exposure is not considered a big deal, either. Women’s outer skirts hang to just below the knee and are embroidered and beaded, often with mirror-flecks. Women who are nursing usually wear a baby sling (with or without the baby) instead of a vest. Large-breasted women often wear sports-bras. Women’s cloaks are embroidered near the hem, not plain like men’s cloaks.

Switchers

Winkie switchers seldom cross-dress, since men’s and women’s clothes don’t differ much. Instead, they wear a distinctly switcher hair-style.

Gillikins

Gillikins do have gender roles, but men and women dress alike.

In the summer, most wear jeans and a T-shirt, with or without a vest. In cooler weather, they’ll wear a turtleneck and a vest with jeans. Unlike the vests of other Oz peoples, the Gillikin vest is usually worn unbuttoned and sized somewhat loose. Some don’t even have buttons. In winter, they wear wool trousers and sweaters, as well as long underwear and a coat. In winter, they wear boots. In summer, they go barefoot.

Gillikins do not dye their clothing, except for cotton, which is dyed bluish or gray to avoid it being white, the color only witches wear. Otherwise, they make use of the grays and browns and other colors of natural wool and camel fiber. The vest is usually made of the felted wool of the purple mammoth, and is indeed purplish-brown. Male witches wear vests made from the fiber or leather of albino camels. Female witches wear white shirts. Gillikins wear no jewelry, except that sometimes they wear large, decorative belt buckles.

Both men and women usually wear their hair short. Many, though not all, men wear full beards.

Switchers do not make themselves visually distinctive in any way.

Emeralds

Residents of the Emerald City dress very much like Munchkins do, except that green is the favorite color, not blue. There are other differences.

There is no association between color shade and gender. Women do not wear aprons except when working, and do not wear petticoats at all. Instead, they wear slips under long skirts. Men do not wear coveralls, only trousers. The hats are the flat-topped straw type, like those worn by Winkies. Men sometimes wear beards.

Cattle People

The Cattle People occupy the tallgrass prairie in the center and west of Oz. Both men and women wear a short-sleeved, tunic-like garment of soft leather that hangs to the knee but is split to the waist both back and front. Under that is a pair of loose, leather breeches or (in winter) trousers. Most wear knee-high leather boots with leather soles. Undergarments are of cotton. Most people also wear a large, square or triangular satchel.The leather is usually undyed but may have beaded margins.

Also the basic clothing type is the same for men and women, cut and style differ markedly. Women wear their hair long. Men wear theirs short. Both wear jewelry, but men wear substantially more of it, much of it made of copper and sea-glass. Cattle-people prize sea-glass, shell, and pearls.

Forest People and Kin

Forest People, and their cultural cousins, the Rainforest People and the Hill People, have little to no contact with outsiders and generally do not trade with other cultures. They also sharply minimize their environmental impact even more than other Oz peoples do. As a result, they have no access to silk, linen, or the wool of domestic animals, and their supply of cotton is very limited. They don’t have access to textile mills, so all their cotton cloth is hand-woven–another reason they don’t use much of it. They do make felt from the naturally shed wool of some wild animals, and they make cloth-like strips from bark and weave wicker. Mostly, they dress in leather.

And yet despite the difference in materials, their styles are notably similar to their neighbors–Forest people dress a lot like Munchkins, Rainforest people dress similarly to Quadlings, and Hill People dress a bit like a cross between Munchkins and Gillikins. It is thought that the Forest People and their kin did it first, not the other way around.

Forest People

Forest People, both men and women, wear a thin, sleeveless, undyed (but also unbleached) cotton tunic against the skin and cotton undershorts. In winter they wear felt long underwear over the cotton, and year-round they wear a leather vest and a leather belt from which they can hang small pouches or tool-clips. Men wear leather breeches. Women wear short leather skirts with wide fringe. Both wear conical wicker hats, which they sometimes decorate with blue feathers. In winter, both wear fur coats. Men grow their beards and have long hair, usually worn in braids with blue (or white) feathers tied in them. They also wear bark-cloth arm-bands decorated with feathers and bone beads. Women keep their hair short and wear necklaces and other jewelry made of mussel-shell beads. Both go barefoot in the summer and wear calf-length leather moccasins or fur boots in winter.

Rainforest People

Both men and women wear a short, undyed and unbleached cotton skirt heavily decorated with porcupine quills in various patterns and belted with bark cloth. They wear their hair long and tied back with bark cloth hung with bone and shell beads. For special occasions, they wear collars or capes of red or red and blue feathers and shell bracelets and anklets that jingle. They go barefoot. Men wear beards–if their beards get long enough, they braid them.

Hill People

In summer, both men and women wear leather breeches and vests with no cotton undergarments, though women’s vests are longer and fringed. Both wear conical hats of birch bark and no shoes. In cold weather they wear felt jackets and leggings with moccasins. In very cold weather, they wear fur suits and boots. Men wear their hair long and braided with a single purple or blue feather tied in the end of the braid. They grow their beards out. Women wear their hair short and unadorned.