Lilly Rippser 06

Appendix A: Annalow Fashion

Such a strange question was asked by one of the Felf children here. The wondered what kind of cloths people wore in Annalow. With what I know of it's history and, of course, what I've seen, I've come to realize that Annalow is a salad of different styles and material grown from it's place as a trade centric city.

The primary fashion of wear seems to stem from the tropical atmosphere and radiate like sunlight from there. Elder Mumes will remember that tight linen, light and strong, was the cloth of choice, and in most cases, still is. As before, a well kept white set of trousers or dress is a sign of wealth in the city. It's so hard to keep good cloths brightly colored and white is the hardest. The wealthy, today, keep this tradition of tight white cloth. The womumes I've met had said the white helps show off their best jewlery, and oh what a love of jewels all Mume have. The poorer mumes dye their clothes and they hang looser, some like shaws, made to blow in the wind. This style has moved in from Jerrow island in the north and is cheap to maintain. There's still braclets, rings, and necklaces, but not quite as shiny. Both rich and poor womumes like dresses that split on either or both sides of the skirt and rejoin at the bottom to help the garment breath. It's hot and humid in Annalow much of the time. Fresh air is the friend of all citezens.

Mume's aside, the Ixxar tend to ware well kept robes that fold rather than ruffle or fluff. I've taken care of many a robe and they like each line in their garments straight and clean. All male Ixxar wear trousers underneith and almost no females do. Int he past, it was tradision for each set of twin Ixxar to keep identical robes when they left their homes, but one fashion bug or other had bitten them in the last few decades. They now prefer the robe styles to be exact duplicates except for the dye used, which should be off "Exactly 7 degrees off from one another, and no more." How fortunate that thier Effee slaves have good eye sight to detect the difference.

Speaking of Effee, they wear no jewelery other than their slave-rings, of course. It use to be that Effee, as slaves, had no choice in their attire, but lately they've been given some small element of choice. Effees, being the only race in Annalow to have true fur, prefer almost no cloths at all. Just a simple skirt or trousers of loose and dark color to help hide the dirt gathered from work. The woeffees do still wear dresses, but prefer just aprons and skirts.

A few people in Annalow dye their hair, and the Mume are notorious for this. Mume have thick strands of yellow blond hair that can bleach white if they spend enough time in the sun. The farmers and sports-mume that play at the beaches away from Annalow and return often come in wearing bright white sandy hair. In this state, Mumes come to realize that their hair will soak up almost every color they put into it. Any color will do, tho I've mostly seen Green and Red. I once saw a beautiful and wealthy womume taunt a meeting by walking in with dark blue hair. It was a taunt to the Ixxar people because blue is a funeral color* for Annalow, but the dye is also very expensive.

(Margins: *It's been noticed that many buildings in Annalow are made with bluestone. I think this is more a nod to the Ixxar's blue skin than the funeral angle.)

Finally the Borc, who treasure might, still like to show off their skill by wearing skins and leather made from the animals they hunt. I'm not sure if all Borc hunt, but they all seems to like leather and skins. Under that they enjoy Annalow linen trousers and shirts that reach their knees and elbows. The woborc where sleeveless dresses that split like the womume's, but they also wear a kind of short cloak which seems to be traditional to the borc up north.

Those being the three main kinds of fashion, everything then starts to blur together the longer you stay, because the Mume so love to change and express and art their way through fashion. The Mume especially alter their cloths and you see long sleeves slipt to help air in, or one wear a bikini top, but thick borc pants, or a modified robe from the ixxar, or something completely different entirely. No rules and little tradition keep Mume fashion in place given their chaotic nature.

You may have noticed that I've left out the Marf from under the city. They rarely come to the surface except on business and, tho I've seen them and met only a couple, their attire tend to mimic the borc. They like thick cloth, but everything else is a match, even their purchase of leather. One day I may visit them in the catacombs of Annalow, if the master would accompany me, and learn more of them, but I actually know very little.

The only time I've seen the Marf celebrate was during the rain storms. We from Annalow don't talk about it. Or try to remember it. And we try to forget that it happens. Ever.