tLoE XI: That post is soooo last century....

Welcome back to the Land of Equestria Everyone! This week's will be a bit lighter than the last, because we'll be tackling something a little humbler than a Dark Conspiracy centered around the Equestrian Empire. Nay, this week we'll be simply covering a more basic, societal topic: Fashion.

Now, before getting in depth, we need to make a major distinction between Human and Equestrian Society here. While Humans wear clothes constantly due to our culture and shame of Nudity, Equestrians commonly do not wear clothing. (Most likely this is due to a few factors such as the Equestrians having fur and tails, as well as being quadrupedal, meaning they any "shameful exposure" would actually be rather difficult while nude, while Humans are Bipedal, nearly hairless, tailless creatures, thus making "shameful exposure" practically guaranteed when nude, but I digress ). This means that fashion in their society would not be of the same significance as it would be in ours. Instead of it being much like how our people wear latest fashions, it's more comparable to the way our people wear hats or other non-essential apparel, given that clothing itself is an option in Equestria.

Now that the differences have been established, on to fashion itself. An early example of "Fashionable" apparel can be found in Season 1, in an episode where Rarity designs dresses for each of her friends. In it, each friend wants to design their own dress, which in turn gets rejected by an official Fashion Expert. The redesigns are subsequently adored by said expert, which gives us our first glimpse of what they view as "Fashionable" clothing. The rejected designs each had their own unique style, but included an old-military-like design, a farming outfit, and an accurate starry outfit, among other things. The "Approved" Designs however each seemed to incorporate dress elements, while still remaining true to the personalities. These "approved" designs were of varying color schemes, indicating that, so long as colors do not clash in an outfit, any color palette is acceptable. They also seemed to be much "smoother" than the rejected designs (a less jagged Rainbow Dash design, or a less rugged Applejack design for instance). Finally, each one was far more subtle than the rejected ones, such as Rainbow having a small golden Olive branch crown rather than something bulkier.

However, there is far more about fashion that is shown throughout the series. For example, it seems to be expected of all individuals formally invited to an important event to wear clothes, leading one to the conclusion that being nude in Equestria is the Equivalent of wearing jean shorts and a Tee Shirt in the First world of Earth. Many "Fancy" individuals such as "Fancy Pants" (I know, bad joke, sorry ) wear clothing as a status symbol, much like how a businessman would wear a suit. It's also a very competitive market, as evidenced by the events of "Rarity Takes Manehattan", in which she is blatantly backstabbed by another aspiring fashion designer, and then is highly motivated (to a fault one might add) to outdo her. Finally, There ARE official Fashion Seasons, indicated in a few episodes, but blatantly stated in the episode "Inspiration Manifestation" by a crazed creative Rarity.

So, what have we learned? Fashion is an optional, competitive field, taking place over the course of numerous seasons. Generally respected fashion seems to consist of smooth pieces, with matching color schemes (although so long as it matches itself, any color scheme will do), and subtle markings/symbols to mark individuality. All-in-all, another rather interesting facet of Equestrian Society.

The weekly TLDR!!
-Fashion is way different in Equestria
-Clothes are optional, but are more formal
-respected fashion seems to be smooth, unique, yet not over-the-top
-Fashion here is a very competitive field

Well, that's all I'v got this time around! Until next time, keep doing what you do best!

I'm Ironsmith, Invent on!