For me, clothing, fashion, and style are an essential part of YA Fantasy worldbuilding (or any worldbuilding, for that matter!). Clothes can communicate our mood, thoughts, and feelings, and how we dress is a huge part of our identity.
Are you someone who labors over every outfit you wear? Someone who loves to dress up for special events, but goes casual day-to-day? Or are you someone who fully embraces function over fashion?
Whoever you choose to be, 1) you deserve respect no matter what your clothes look like, and 2) there’s someone like you in every fantasy world! When I was first developing the House of Matchsticks series, I wanted Benemourne to be home to every kind of person, whether they spent time on their appearance or not.
And, like in every world—fictional or otherwise—clothes are an important form of expression for HoM’s characters. Read on to find out how I imagined the wardrobe of some of the core crew from House of Matchsticks.
But first … a little about Benemournian aesthetic.