"15mm Civilian Figures In Realistic Futuristic Fashion?" Topic

Let's say 100 years from now … and if there's NO major Apocalyptic event …

Which specific 15mm CIVILIAN figure(s) do you have, either as-cast or converted, that to you typify what society (wealthy, worker, etc.) would look like then?

Or is there an SF fashion style (from TV or films) that you wish was reflected in 15mm civilians?

Do you think that lines between traditional ethnic fashions will blur and people will wear a mix of Eastern and Western elements? Or do you think they will evolve separately? Basically, what do you think will change, and what will stay the same?

Think realistic, please.

Thanks,

Dan

What will change is likely to be fabric qualities and with that can come thinner materials, being more protective, so I'd imagine much more skin-tight clothing, less layers. On a good day! Environmental conditions may change for the worse though, so perhaps more hats/hoods, and shades/visors.

What will stay the same (at least from a western point-of-view) is society's desire to evolve/devolve, mix-and-match, go retro, whatever. A cowboy look might be "in", perhaps the 1980s will be recycled. Argh!

So many possibilities.

Cheers, Rob.

Wow, that's a tall order of what ifs, I would believe there would be a fair amount of those who have, lots and lots of have nots, and third group in the number amount yet to be determined to keep it all running for the haves, only because there is not enough resources for everyone to be raised up to the same living conditions that we (the Western World) are accostum to.

So with that said, I would think things would fall more somewheres between Blade Runner and Solent Green.

Provided that we don't improve on our space tech stuff for space travel where we can start mining asteroids and alike and improve our food production plus better resource control

So clothing could be a mix of everything, from the top down as far as the social ladder goes, also as to where one is from carrying their culture with them in their clothing style as it is today

So I am sure by now I didn't help at all at this point

I think (OK, maybe hope …) we will migrate more toward functional clothing, however we will never loose the desire to stand out (it's a deep-rooted breeding imperative).

I would guess a popular outift would be a loose-fitting coverall. It would match a lot of 70's sicfi in my memory, too; that may be an influence. It would also match the amazing sanity of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force in the way they manage uniforms (a few dress items, when needed , but functional otherwise).

I would also guess that fabrics would become more multi-purpose as well. You would have the same fabric be able to change its permiability on demand to suit the environment. More open and breezy when outside in the humidity, then more close knit when you go inside to the air conditioning. All from one cut. The impact this would have on modeling is a uniformity of cut in all environments. OK, not all, but many.

I would also guess that color and markings would be dynamically controlled. Good functional things like becoming more light and reflective during darkness. Also good function based markings for emergency response personnel. I imagine big icons on the back and front of first providers that can change as their roles change. That would be hard to do with figures, but it would mean you needed, say Police with different identifiers on their uniforms (you could swap figures out if roles changed during a game); pictograms that say things like "I'm the scene leader", "I'm the comms guy", or "I've got emergency food and water".

And of course, with that capability, there is no way that tons of people would not have lots of dynamic designs on their clothing. Maybe even transparent sections. You might consider interference pigments (paints that look different colors under different light and from different angles) and temperature sensitive paints.

That's it! Mood minis! I knew there was a 70's vibe in there somewhere …

WOW. That would give an entirely different meaning to the term "turncoat"!

As for "I would guess a popular outift would be a loose-fitting coverall", that idea is still around, in the minds of some film makers. The basic citizens in the film Equilibrium all dressed that way, but color-coded:

link

YouTube link

Dan

If history shows us anything it's that specific fashions cannot be predicted with ANY reliability for more than a few years. Sexual values may become more conservative and result in people covering up more (see: girls in Tehran or Salt Lake City for the fashion-conscious version of this). The ozone layer could get thinner again resulting in sun hats, flowing robes etc. for protection. Or… translucent but UV-protecting fabrics that allow near-nudity without risk of melanoma!

Men will still wear suits, with slight lapel style changes. Sigh. Otherwise, no matter what your portray, in a decade or two it will look hopelessly naive and dated.

Literally "Slaves for Fashion" …

Does not recycling 1980s fashion qualify as a major Apocalyptic event?

yes it does. When will people ever learn?

I cannot ever imagine the same-jumpsuit look favored by scifi films and shows.

I can imagine that clothing will not be all that different than now. Blue jeans might change in color as we stuggle to keep our waterways cleaner. Clothing might get a few more pockets in places to hold the Ipod of the day or other electronic gadgets.

Also remember that 100 years from now the elderly will still be wearing clothing that they favored 70 years from now, and the younger holdouts will still be stuck in their teen/20 somethings era fashions to the amusement of their friends and family.

Used Military clothing will still be used by rebelling children.

Fabrics will change more likely than giant changes to design.

Those electronic gadgets may well be built into the clothing, or implanted…..

I could see tattoos really taking off if they could be changed more frequently.
Actually – if you have a look at some of the Chrome books for the Cyberpunk RPG, there's some interesting fashions there.
link

Aieee---it is The End of Civilization As We Know It--Disco makes a comeback!

If you have an interplanetary setting its an opportunity to use everything… what's fashionable is different on Earth from location to location, just imagine the differences from planet to planet? Not just clothes, even, tattoos, some sort of futuristic skin dye for your whole body, car styles, etc.

LOL

Reminds me of this, from Robocop:

YouTube link

Dan

This is interesting …

link

Dan

Same style, loose fitting jumpsuits but everyone "broadcasts" their chosen style (like an avatar) as an overlay that others see. This would also allow you to tailor different overlays for different viewers, groups, locations, situations.

Here's that clip from Serenity, showing all the fashions among the school kids:

link

Dan

This would also allow you to tailor different overlays for different viewers, groups, locations, situations.

… and you wouldn't even have to change your shirt.

Ever.

Man.. I published a peer reviewed paper on this subject :>

There are two ways there..
Either you acknowledge thats its impossible and try to create something fancy (unlikely) or that just suit your future fashion sense..

or you pick from existing, future looking sets..

Only movie with futuristic fashion for its time I can think of was Barbarella, and thats because Paco Rabane – first name in the industry for its time made her costumes..

In every other proposition I know of from Metropolis, through Flash Gordon to star trek uniforms and pret-a-porter streetwear are either historical or contemporary in design..

Surprisingly I think the costume artists for "The Hunger Games" did a pretty good job. I don't know if they experienced an apocalyptic event or just a breakdown in society though leaving only a few rich and many poor. Outfits are practical and impractical, older generation vs. younger generation. Poor vs. Rich. They also went retro in look in some areas to give a feel to modern audiences they could relate to.

link

In a world where there is no middle class…THEY'RE SOOO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU!

Cool but they look like more aggressive dressed people from royal wedding in the Uk few years back :>

Its very hard to imagine and invent something new and practical.

Thats why its better to use what looks modern today.

I've some old Traveller 15mm with some of the folk wearing psi-shieds. Seems futuristic.

I rather like slighty adjusted current fashions; suit coats with collars turned up kind of thing. Tied to now, but not the same.

Instead of double-breasted, as in two rows of buttons, triple-breasted. Oh, wait, that was Eccentrica Gallumbits…

Doug

If we are talking retro (today and older), but with a 2113 flare …

How about business fashion?

Check out the fella on the far right:

link

Or simply longer hair?

Or a turtle neck under the suit?

Or a full silk scarf:

Or a Aeon Flux-like coat:

Dan

With the exception of the goings on of Eroticon 6, I rather think that style for men will be more or less the same as it has been since the mid 1800s. Sure suits are cut slightly different, the 3 piece fades in and out, number of buttons change… But it is the same old suit. Male youth/casual fashions also haven't really changed in the last 75ish years… Again slight variation in cut and deco, but pictures of youth culture from previous decades look remarkably similar barring hairstyles and minor details. Women's fashion has changed a bit more over the decades, but overall it is the same items in vaguely different shape. It seems to boil down to this- men's fashion has just become sloppier, women's has become more revealing. It is funny, but it is always the clothing that dates science fiction films. If you try too hard, it just looks ridiculous (looking at you Buck Rogers) Some have pulled it off, Star Wars made some good choices fashion wise. Bladerunner has excellent fashion that is elegant and plausible. I feel like the Fifth Element works remarkably well for its couture based fashion. Then look at 2001, the clothes are fine, but the furniture and set design is so futured up that it has locked itself into 60s modern. I love the film, I love the design, but I have a really hard time suspending my disbelief of when the film takes place. Forbidden planet holds up okay, Lost in Space, not so much. Star Trek TOS, super dated, STTNG works (from season 3 on)… Voyager and DSN hold up even better… My favorite loving mock of SF clothing is the double necktie in Back to the Future II. Very funny.
So I guess the point of my super-rant is this, in 100 years fashion will look almost like it does now, but it will look exactly like fashion from 20 years earlier.

Look at 1913 fashion …

link

Then look at 2013 fashion. I know of no one today that does the 1913 look. But even if they dressed with some of those 1913 elements, it would be a blend, with most of the garments looking 2013, or thereabouts. If dressed exactly like 1913, they would be seen very odd today.

This clip shows interesting civilian fashion for 2030:

YouTube link

Do you think that in 2113 mainstream civilians (not fringe elements) are going to dress exactly like those today (2013)? And do you think that there will be Asian (mainly Chinese and Indian) elements in the fashion styles of the Western Hemisphere?

Dan

Middle eastern scarves are an example of what I mean in my last question. Seems like it's really taken hold among mainstream civilians (specially young men and women in their 20s and early 30s) these days:

link

And it has little to nothing to do with weather in this case. This Spring and Summer I've seen this look a lot in Houston, New York (including Brooklyn and Queens), as well as in Luisiana and Illinois.

Dan

Dan- I think the scarf thing is an example of how "big events" tend to change fashion.

So wartime wearing of shorts in hot climates led to shorts being acceptable men's wear after WW2.

Wartime wearing of keffiyehs/shemaghs in the long middle eastern wars has spread from the small fighting population to everyone else.

This can happen in a lot of ways… personally I own a few because a relative in Afghanistan sent a bunch as gifts and I found them to be quite comfortable and practical in a variety of weathers and climates. Never was much of a scarf guy before that.

But I think in general if you look at practical things in SF (elements of space suits, perhaps? Wartime culture-specific clothes like shemaghs) and then think "how would a regular person look at that and adapt it to regular life?" you can often figure out cool "future fashions" that seem plausible even if they aren't perfect predictions.

Add that to slightly modified modern/retro clothes (as people have noted clothing has largely remained the same since the 1800's, especially in formal and "semi-formal"-- what used to be very casual-- wear) and you'll get something really cool and unique, I think.

**another example of "practical, specific" wear becoming a mainstream thing is all the "exercise" clothes that have, in the past few decades, demolished the idea that things generally stay the same… yes, formal and "nice" clothes for most people has remained mostly the same with minor variations for the past two centuries, but hoodies, sweat pants, leggings, and gym shorts are pretty much their own thing entirely, and are now very common in casual youth wear.

But beyond that change I doubt there will be many more in the same vein.

So, for a game setting in 2113, just buy a bunch of modern civilians and done?

Dan

Interesting topic…

I enjoyed the way future clothing was handled in Hunger games and The Fifth Element and the figures in the Rezolution line. I'd look to those for some inspiration.

Think about what you want to portray, then build from there. For the class differences you described, perhaps putting the plebs in coveralls colored to match a job classification, or in drab colors for those shopping etc.

Fashion has functioned to differnetiate people as far back as we have some archaeological record (actual clothing or other adornment, or images of them). Fashion of the upper class in many areas/periods has been impractical (think corsets, heels, foot binding, business suits, tuxedos and then trying to put in an honest day of physical labor). What kind of labor are the future upper class folks trying to differentiate themselves from? Perhaps they wear garrish billowy items that would be impractical in a cubicle; or they could be nearly naked illustrating that they can afford the modern whirly-gig rad-away subdermal implant while everyone else is covered and wearing broad hats. It was the big thing to be pale in many places until the working class got inside jobs; not folks scamble to get tan because it now has a connection with leisure rather than toiling in the hot sun. It is cool because you get to use the figures to tell as story.

Post what you come up with.
(Doing the upper class in 19th C figures in odd bright colors with tech doodads might be interesting.)

Geekygamer: "perhaps putting the plebs in coveralls colored to match a job classification, or in drab colors for those shopping etc."

I've started looking for just such types of figures:

TMP link

Dan