Practical (and Impractical) Clothing Styles For Microgravity
What might clothing designed to be worn, long-term, in microgravity look like? For the purpose of this question there are two categories. Practical, or everyday wear, and impractical or simply fancy wear. But these categories can overlap. The second is just for those designs you might not want to wear every day.
Specifically looking for certain trends that might be found in clothing, like a popularity in single piece suits or something. Fashion should only be taken into account if it could logically emerge from useful trends.
Note: I am looking more for everyday, civilian wear, then military uniforms
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/134273. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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In our world, four important factors have determined the look of our clothes since the dawn of time: available resources, climate, purpose and moral. In my opinion, microgravity is simply going to add one degree of freedom to the clothing designers, but it is not going to decide whether clothes will be tight around the body, or floating in the air.
Note on Resources. If all clothing is imported from Earth, then we can presume we'd be able to find the same range of materials that we would find in terrestrial shops. On the other hand, if the manufacturing occurs locally, then depending on the local resources, one could should consider whether cotton or linen production is feasible, whether farming for wool could happen, or whether the local fauna can provide skin for leather clothes. If the answer to these three questions is 'no', then the locals may exhibit a preference for synthetics. A note about the local fauna: if there is a native wild fauna, the corresponding skins and furs may be considered fancy pieces of garment, depending on how difficult it is to hunt them.
Note on climate. I am going to state the obvious: cover more to protect from extremes. Extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme radiance, extreme wind, all typically call for longer clothes, covering more of the human body.
Note on purpose. Working clothes are definitively designed for purpose. Be it a uniform to identify members of the organization, or a special suit to shield from hazards on the workplace. Hazardous working environment will require stricter control over the design. For instance, factory workers moving around large machinery may be given tighter clothes, gloves, helmets, and protective shoes.
Note on morals. Morals dictate clothing design in our world to much a larger extent that we may imagine. The most interesting aspect of this is that hindering and impractical clothing may become the norm if it best fits the moral standards of society. The fact that women had to wear gowns for instance, even when riding horses, is just one example of such trend. I would recommend that you define your society well before dwelling into defining the clothing design, as the latter depends heavily on the former.
Q&A note on microgravity
Q: wouldn't microgravity make clothes float as in water?
A: That is very likely, but... It depends on the fabric and on the treatment. A large dose of starch can keep clothes rigidly in place for quite some time. Leather can be arranged to be stiff and in place. Old Victorian era gowns had a frame to keep them in shape, defying gravity: the same principle could be applied, i.e. to implement a frame inside the clothing, to defy microgravity.
Q: wouldn't this floating be unpleasant?
A: Not necessarily. In fact, it may be part of the fashion to have a floating scarf that follows you as you dash around. Or to have a tunic dancing in the air as the memory of the contour of the movements you just made. In fact, you could build a whole Bohemian philosophy on that.
A note about military uniforms
A military uniform is not a combat suit. It is a cloth of display. In history, military uniforms have been designed to be pompous, affected, and possibly impractical. I would imagine that they would embrace microgravity, add a cape and a complicated set of salute movements to make it float like angel's wings. Add a hat with golden threads, dangling in the air, like the mane of a godly horse. Now you have a military uniform worth being displayed.
A combat suit, on the other hand, has to allow free movement, protect from external hazards, and provide some level of cloaking. No special microgravity thoughts there. It really depends on where the action happens.
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