Althusian Women's Fashion

As befitting an occasion hosted by the Supreme Decider himself, everyone of the highest caste of Althusian society is present and has dressed to the nines. The colors of the occasion are black and red, although certain favored members wear blue. One lady wears a dress embroidered with Althus' moon in a prominent position across her chest. Another has pinned her sash in place with a stem of gold laurel leaves. A third has done similar with a blue sash, trailing it around her leg as though it were a skirt. One lady has broken from form to wear a cape wrapped crosswise about her torso in a move clearly inspired by Althus' uneasy neighbors.
But the highest lady of all wears the heavily beaded gown, said to map every drop of dew in the royal gardens. The beadwork stretches up across her shoulder pads and gingerly touches the top of her black cape.

History

Fashion on Althus has always been influenced by its rulers, and nowhere is this more apparent than the realm of women's formal wear. High-born women have always preferred elaborate beadwork, although the styles have changed drastically over time. It is often cited that there was an "astrological phase" in which all women's dresses had to sport the designs of the Althusian Zodiac, or there would be nebulously-defined "bad luck". This particularly long-lasting trend was bucked finally when a woman who had married into her station elected to wear the patterns of her family to a ball instead, and this sparked another trend that focused on "heritage". However, it is most common for trends to be influenced by the women surrounding the Supreme Decider, such as his wife and daughters.
Presently the trend is toward bold color blocks accented by beadwork, although it appears to be swinging back toward a sort of "gown-of-beads" look that was popular on and off throughout history. Complete with this is influence from the neighboring Nine Systems, including wrapped fabric and clean, utilitarian looks. Althusians have been bolder with this influence than their neighbors, including red, green, and all manner of colors that Stenza do not utilize.

Execution

There are many unwritten rules in the realm of high-class female fashion. Among them, if two women are caught in the same outfit at a function, both can expect to be subjected to a round of "Who wore it better", and some may be mortified into leaving early. The taboo against wearing the same thing twice is also in effect, except in private spaces such as the home. Intimate gatherings of family members are exempt from most of these unwritten rules, except where they are enforced by the family matriarch.

Primary Related Location

Althus