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So this should probably belong on clothes.stackexchange.com, if there were such a thing, but here I am with a question that I hope is not too complicated or specific for this site.

My situation: I've got an order of witches, that try to hide themselves. They've got powers in the area of gravity manipulation and telekinesis, and as a result they can do A) really cool acrobatics to take out foes; B) very efficient long-distance running. But when not doing any of these things, they need to be able to pass for regular women in their society.

They live in Sumer, where the dresscode is this: dresses

Yup, ankle-length dresses.

So, questions:

  • Can you do acrobatics and/or long-distance running in a long dress? (I suppose one that's wide at the bottom to allow you to stretch your legs all the way) Would it be impossible, possible but very annoying, or easy enough?

  • If not - can you easily modify a dress (tie it up or something) to allow those moves?

  • If not - can you do it with a slighter shorter variant that goes down to the knees? I think I could make them have the lowest part to be detachable if that was the case.

Other suggestions? Sorry if these seem like very basic questions - I am a male and have never walked in these things before...

KeizerHarm
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    TV Tropes has a scad of relevant pages. I'd start with https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicSkirt (even though it's about Very Short Skirts). – RonJohn Dec 05 '18 at 16:36
  • "Can you do acrobatics and/or long-distance running in a long dress?" No, but they're witches. Assert that they can. – RonJohn Dec 05 '18 at 16:36
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    @RonJohn Yeah, miniskirts I am trying to avoid since they would definitely not blend in well with the Sumerian fashion... I'll give it a read though, so thanks for your input.

    As for your second comment... No. This is hard magic, not "a wizard did it".

     – KeizerHarm Dec 05 '18 at 16:37
  • My point is that it's fiction. If you want your witches to have placed spells on their dresses so that they don't interfere with Action Moves, then make it so. – RonJohn Dec 05 '18 at 16:40
  • My witches do not put spells on things. I am very well aware of the freedom that comes with writing fiction, and I utilised that freedom to determine what magic cannot do in this world in addition to what it can do. – KeizerHarm Dec 05 '18 at 16:41
  • What is a witch that doesn't cast spells? – RonJohn Dec 05 '18 at 16:46
  • Doesn't cast spells on things. It works more as an inherent ability here - they can only cast magic, and only one thing at a time - they cannot enchant things. – KeizerHarm Dec 05 '18 at 16:48
  • I am not even calling them witches in my story, I only used the term here to simplify things for StackExchange. Rest assured that I fleshed them out properly. – KeizerHarm Dec 05 '18 at 16:48
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    Ginger Rodgers did some petty darn demanding dancing in full evening wear and high heals. Reputedly you can see the blood stains from those high heal straps cutting into ankles during a day (or two ?) of shooting. Your witches have it easy. :-) – StephenG - Help Ukraine Dec 05 '18 at 17:55
  • This is not about worldbuilding, – JBH Dec 05 '18 at 19:44
  • Note that, depending on how your gravity manipulation works, their highest rate of speed is going to be via accelerating themselves forward. Do like Aliera (from Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series) - get a longer dress and levitate above the ground. – Clockwork-Muse Dec 06 '18 at 19:11
  • I understand from your question that the ability to do sports stems from magic? then why not have that extend to dresses? --- And: underskirts really do a lot for you in this scenario: they facilitate the gliding of the fabric, so you do not have to move as much mass with every step and movement. Dresses that do not skimp on fabric usually give you a wide range of motion, but quickly wear you out - solution can either be magic or underskirts... – bukwyrm Dec 07 '18 at 12:51
  • @Clockwork-Muse Their means of locomotion is partially that, forward acceleration, but there is still running involved. It is hard to explain in these comments but basically they can simulate running downhill while not losing any altitude (they can walk on air). – KeizerHarm Dec 08 '18 at 14:41
  • @bukwyrm What do you mean with having the magic extend to dresses? They cannot exactly materialise cloth from thin air :) All powers they have are pretty much tweaking with the most basic forces of physics. – KeizerHarm Dec 08 '18 at 14:47
  • @KeizerHarm I understood your scenario as: 'People who can manipulate gravity to do somersaults they themselves would not be able to pull off in normal circumstances' and was asking myself why the dress would be such a hindrance if they essentially already had a spell in place to 6D-manipulate the trajectory of matter (their own bodies). – bukwyrm Dec 10 '18 at 15:27
  • @bukwyrm Your understanding is mostly accurate, but you cannot exactly beat up people by jumping over them. There's a lot of kicking and punching (or cutting with daggers) involved, just a lot faster and from a lot more unexpected directions than their victims can predict - and to do kicks you need to be able to stretch your legs :-) – KeizerHarm Dec 10 '18 at 15:34

5 Answers5

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This is going purely on personal experience - but, yes. I’m an acrobat and have done acrobatics in a variety of ridiculous items of clothing (dresses, onesies, you name it). However, having the freedom to move one’s legs makes things infinitely easier, so I would suggest:

  • Tying the skirts in a knot above knee-height
  • Having a slit down the side of one leg to increase movement
  • Having very broad skirts, but somehow tying them to the wearer’s ankles, so the fabric moves with the body
  • Slightly cheating and having culottes or other wide-leg trousers that appear to be skirts/dresses when standing or walking normally.

Anything that keeps the legs closer together (i.e. somersaults, handstands, front/backflips) can be easier, because you don’t have to negotiate wading around in yards of fabric. Things such as (aerial) cartwheels, roundoffs, and walkovers (where the legs move at different times) are likely to cause a greater issue, purely because you can’t keep the fabric trapped in place. Having said that, cartwheels can be done with either one hand or aerially, as can walkovers, thus allowing your acrobat-witches to hold their skirts in place while doing epic moves. However, remember the parachute-like effect you’re likely to get if they jump down any distance - having a dress billow up in your face really gets in the way of cool acro.

By the way, I’m working on the assumption you’re imagining something more akin to acrobatic tumbling or parkour, rather than static work (contortion, partner/group acrobatics, etc.). If multiple people are involved, skirts can make things a lot trickier, but it is still possible to do partner acrobatic work in a dress. Happy to edit if you want more thoughts about the logistics of static acro while wearing a dress.

user_629957
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    Fascinating. Does tying the skirts in a knot (a) take very long (b) require regular retying as they work loose (c) be quick to release in order to appear 'normal' again? P.S. Thanks for saying that a split skirt is called a culotte! I didn't know. – chasly - supports Monica Dec 05 '18 at 17:24
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    Tumbling/parkour is a good way to describe it indeed... Thank you very much for the very detailed answer! – KeizerHarm Dec 05 '18 at 17:31
  • I am leaning towards using the knot, but question: how visible is the slit variant in regular walking? Is a leg likely to "slip out" after an accidental stumble and cause great indecency in the ancient society? :-) – KeizerHarm Dec 05 '18 at 17:36
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    I like this answer... But bear in mind that fabric is almost incomprehensibly more expensive when everything is hand-woven (and hand-carded, and hand-spun, and hand-dyed, and hand-picked, and...). Voluminous skirts may have economic and social implications - not the least of which being a suggestion of great wealth. – Jedediah Dec 05 '18 at 17:43
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    @chasly from UK - tying up skirts tends to be fairly quick (you just pick up two handfuls of fabric from the hem at the bottom, and knot them together, generally at your hip, so it stays out of the way). It’s also very easy to undo in a hurry. But you’re right, it can need retying/retightening fairly frequently if you’re moving around a lot - although it’s very simple, just as if you were adjusting a shirt you’d tied around your waist. – user_629957 Dec 05 '18 at 21:26
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    @KeizerHarm - slits in dresses do risk making the legs visible, so it’s perhaps not an ideal solution if they wish to avoid indecency in their society. Your witches could wear leggings underneath their dresses (something I’d advise for any self-respecting witch who intends to spend time upside-down in a dress ;-) ), which gives the added benefit of being able to tuck one side of the dress in at the waistband for ease of movement. This could be easily unhooked if others are around, and might just look like lifting a skirt a bit to avoid tripping. – user_629957 Dec 05 '18 at 21:30
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    @Jedediah - that’s a very good point about fabric. Cheaper fabrics tend to be the coarser/heavier ones, and in a temperate location such as Sumer, I’d imagine that wealthier individuals would wear lighter, finer clothing, rather than the thicker, heavier fabrics more typical of colder climes. Purely from a comfort perspective, I’d imagine they’d opt for looser clothing rather than skintight items - and a skirt loose enough to allow you to use stairs should provide enough freedom of moment for reasonable acrobatics, from my experience! – user_629957 Dec 05 '18 at 21:35
  • @KeizerHarm How about sawed in strings (not sure of proper name for these)? Something similar to this picture: http://n1s1.hsmedia.ru/2c/13/6e/2c136e82800d480379c362499e2a0ff9/539x539_0_652a69b5ccf0888b6ec8d1e8860a2cde@539x539_0xc0a8393c_15830078111370472747.jpg , but with fixed ends at the bottom and loose ends somewhere around waist. – Alissa Dec 07 '18 at 13:25
  • @Alissa great solution! – KeizerHarm Dec 08 '18 at 14:49
  • Also @K.Price thank you for all of your thoughts again! :D – KeizerHarm Dec 08 '18 at 14:49
  • And you too @Jedediah! – KeizerHarm Dec 08 '18 at 14:49
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Men in that era wore similar clothes. Have your women do what the men did.

Girding Loins

enter image description here

Jedediah
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Japanese martial arts often use a Hakama to obscure the movements of the feet and legs, preventing an opponent from understanding the nature of the offensive/defensive moves based on the posture of the legs and feet. Knowing which leg is forward or which foot is carrying the weight would be a great advantage in planning the countermove or defence for a martial artist.

Your witch coven is likely in the same sort fo position, wanting to obscure their abilities until the last possible moment to achieve surprise. A Hakama-like garment will look very much like ordinary outerwear, until suddenly it doesn't....

enter image description here

Hakama in a standing posture

enter image description here

Hakama in a fighting stance

enter image description here

Hakama in action

Thucydides
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    I've done Iaido (which uses Hakama) and can confirm from personal experience that it allows for almost entirely free movement. – Tom Dec 07 '18 at 11:17
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Here is a marathon runner in a long dress.

https://youtu.be/j-U6uv7zEhs?t=38

https://youtu.be/j-U6uv7zEhs?t=267

Note that she also wears sandals!!!

With regard to acrobatics, modesty is a problem. Either they can gather up their skirt as suggested by Jedediah or they can use a split skirt. These items appear to be a normal skirt when walking normally or standing but allow more extreme movements when necessary.

https://www.thelittlebazaar.com/m/Clothing/2995-henna-green-skort-palazzo-skirt.jpg

chasly - supports Monica
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They could borrow an idea from Victorian women and use a Skirt Lifter:

Victorian Skirt Lifter

The picture shows an 1870 example, provided by the Portable Antiquities Scheme / British Museum. Their description (with my emphasis) is:

Victorian dress lifter. Dress lifters were used to prevent long Victorian dresses from trailing in the mud. The two circular discs would be placed around the hem of the skirt, and could be locked tight by the device at the top, which is decorated in the shape of a seashell. A cord was attached to the waist and threaded through the holes of the locking device. This meant that once the lifter had been attached, the skirt could be hoisted up or down without the need to bend or use hands to lift the dress.

The Wikipedia page (which hosts the image) further says (also my emphasis):

A skirt lifter [...] was a device for lifting a long skirt to avoid dirt or to facilitate movement. It clamped on to the hem and was attached to the belt by a cord, ribbon, or chain.

I can now see a line of advancing witches who – at the first sign of trouble – simultaneously start to raise their skirts in a manner akin to a Roman blind before leaping into acrobatic, foe-kicking action!

TripeHound
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