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...actually, I don't know what to call what I was looking for. The Encyclopedia of Clothing? The Wardrobe Lexicon? Seriously, there has to be a word for that. There's a word for one who collects toothpick boxes (entredentolignumologist) so there has to be a word for a collection of words relating to types of clothing. If not, their should be. Like... clothesenclature. Or something.
Um. Anyway...
I was trying to figure out what the proper term is for those baggy pants typical of Western 'Arabian' films. Turns out people call them everything from 'Afghan pants' to 'Aladdin pants' to 'harem pants', to 'Punjabi pants'... but the proper term is shalwar. Then there are Thai fisherman pants which are very similar, especially when Westerners get hold of them. (Thai fisherman pants are commonly used for yoga and other forms of fitness.)
When I learned we called them 'Aladdin pants', I thought maybe there would be a trope about misuse of clothing terminology (there's a trope for almost everything) and someone would have made a comment regarding what they should properly be called. So I wandered over to tv tropes, and was there for two days. I learned all kinds of things (none of them about clothing), eventually ending up on some pages regarding what not to do when writing a novel.
From pants to said-bookisms.
True story.
(Also, I've decided in retrospect that my character would probably not use the proper term for the pants, but would call them something else. Like harem or Aladdin pants. *head desk*)
Um. Anyway...
I was trying to figure out what the proper term is for those baggy pants typical of Western 'Arabian' films. Turns out people call them everything from 'Afghan pants' to 'Aladdin pants' to 'harem pants', to 'Punjabi pants'... but the proper term is shalwar. Then there are Thai fisherman pants which are very similar, especially when Westerners get hold of them. (Thai fisherman pants are commonly used for yoga and other forms of fitness.)
When I learned we called them 'Aladdin pants', I thought maybe there would be a trope about misuse of clothing terminology (there's a trope for almost everything) and someone would have made a comment regarding what they should properly be called. So I wandered over to tv tropes, and was there for two days. I learned all kinds of things (none of them about clothing), eventually ending up on some pages regarding what not to do when writing a novel.
From pants to said-bookisms.
True story.
(Also, I've decided in retrospect that my character would probably not use the proper term for the pants, but would call them something else. Like harem or Aladdin pants. *head desk*)
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Date: 2011-02-17 02:51 pm (UTC)From: