Emerstarian dress

The Duke of Osterland wearing a maud with his clan patterns in 1892 by Emerstarian artist Johann Gustaf Armundssen.

Emerstarian dress is the traditional attire worn by men and women in Emerstari; specific styles or variations are sometimes considered the national folk costume. The colors and patterns on clothing in Emerstari are often based upon one's clan and familial affiliation. Emerstarian clothing is often made by a local tailor or a seamstress or other skilled craftsman.

Brakladder (formal and semi-formal wear)

Brakladder, meaning good clothes, consists of the most formal levels of Emerstarian dress, all of them traditionally based upon the outfits worn by the gentry and peerage. Tweed (Emerstarian: tvaldt), especially in herringbone patterns, wool (Emerstarian: ul), and linen (Emerstarian: hør) are the conventional materials in all Emerstarian dress but especially in brakladder, all being native to the country unlike cotton, which, first imported into Emerstari in the 1750s, is seen in the less formal levels of dress with the other materials.

Mådkladder

Lorens Olaf Ekkeloff, Duke of Hogland wearing slektentrys with his måd diagonally over the shoulder and over the back in military-style.

Elsian bonnets, named for Queen Elsa Frederikke Leijonhuvud, differ from Sallian bonnets because of their more rigid form which was added to accommodate for women's hairstyles. As a result of this, though, it eventually became a unisex item of clothing, first adopted to be worn by men by the Royal Emerstarian Army who began to outfit soldiers with it in the mid-nineteenth century.

Mådkladder, which translates to maud clothes in Emerstarian, is the highest level of formality in Emerstarian dress, named after its primary feature in both men's and women's clothes: the måd or maud. The maud is a large piece of cloth with one's clan pattern on it; by men, it is usually wrapped around the shoulders with the excess either being equal on either side and left to hang or being wrapped around the arm and elbow of one's weak hand's side, but in some regions of Emerstari, it became worn around the waist and eventually developed into the kilt. By women, it is wrapped over the shoulders and clipped at the neck by a brooch, usually one with a clan or familial engraving of some sort, to become a cloak. Outfits of this level of formality may be found at weddings, funerals, or otherwise important gatherings.

Men's mådkladder consists of, from top to bottom:

• A Sallian bonnet (Emerstarian: Salleshatte) in clan patterns with a red and white cockade, which will be taken off once inside.
• A maud wrapped around the shoulders, unless a frock jacket is on, in which case it's wrapped around one arm, or it's being worn as a kilt (Emerstarian: kjelte) and is wrapped around the waist.
• A black, brown, or gray double-breasted tweed frock jacket, which is usually taken off once inside of a building (and the maud is then wrapped around the shoulders unless it's being worn as a kilt).
• A matching-colored high-cut single-breasted tweed Karlian jacket.
• A matching-colored high-cut tweed single-breasted waistcoat with buttons in the same color.
• A white shirt with a turndown color, cuffs, and cufflinks with a necktie in clan patterns.
• A belt with a belt buckle engraved with your clan or familial seal or a sporran with your clan or familial pattern. Members of the peerage or landed gentry and leaders within a clan may hang a scabbard off their belt with their slektensvård inside.
• A pair of high-waisted slektentrys in clan patterns unless the maud is being worn as a kilt, in which case pants are not worn.
• A pair of knee-high socks the same color as the shoes.
• A pair of flat full brogues in black with black tweed or brown otherwise.

Women's mådkladder has fewer items of clothing in total and consists of, from top to bottom:

• A Elsian bonnet (Emerstarian: Elseshatte) in clan patterns with a red and white cockade or simply red and white cockade pinned in the hair.
• A maud wrapped over the shoulders in clan patterns, clipped with a brooch that is engraved with a clan or familial seal in front of the neck.
• A dress of varying sorts, quite often in red, blue, or white, traditionally ankle-length but sometimes calf-length.
• A pair of flat or high-heeled open brogues, which were traditionally black or brown due to technological restrictions but now are sometimes colored to match the dress.

Flatsjakke

A pair of white, high-heeled, open, leather women's brogues.

A man's brown, flat, full, leather brogues.

Flatsjakke, which translates to flat coat, is the second-highest level of formality in Emerstarian dress. It is much like the mådkladder in many ways, but it lacks the maud, and unlike the Karlian jacket, the flat jacket does not have a cutaway in the front for emphasis on the belt buckle or sporran. Additionally, slektensvårds would not be carried in flatsjakke. Outfits from this level may be worn to dinners, holiday church attendances, or at hospitality and office jobs which require such formality.

Men's flatsjakke may consist of, from top to bottom:

• A Sallian bonnet in clan patterns with a red and white cockade.
• A black, brown, or gray high-cut single-breasted tweed flat jacket.
• A matching-colored high-cut tweed single-breasted waistcoat with buttons in the same color.
• A white shirt with a turndown color, cuffs, and cufflinks with a necktie in clan patterns.
• A non-decorative belt, if needed.
• A pair of high-waisted slektentrys in clan patterns.
• A pair of knee-high socks the same color as the shoes.
• A pair of flat full brogues in black with black tweed or brown otherwise.

Women's flatsjakke may consist of, from top to bottom:

• A Elsian bonnet in clan patterns with a red and white cockade or simply red and white cockade pinned in the hair.
• A dress of varying sorts that extends at least to the knee if not the calf.
• A pair of flat or high-heeled open brogues.

Degskladder

A portrait of an Emerstarian fiddler of the early nineteenth century in contemporary flatsjakke.

Degskladder, which translates to day's clothes is considered the least formal out of formal Emerstarian dress. Degskladder lacks the outer jackets which are seen in the more formal options for men, and for women, it allows for shorter dresses than ankle- or calf-length and the option of skirts. Degskladder may be worn to regular church attendances or to events such as a birthday.

Men's degskladder could consist of, from top to bottom:

• A Sallian bonnet in clan patterns with a red and white cockade.
• A black, brown, or gray high-cut tweed single-breasted waistcoat with buttons in the same color.
• A white shirt with a turndown color, cuffs, and cufflinks with a necktie in clan patterns.
• A non-decorative belt, if needed.
• A pair of high-waisted slektentrys in clan patterns.
• A pair of knee-high socks the same color as the shoes.
• A pair of flat full brogues in black with black tweed or brown otherwise.

Women's degskladder could consist of, from top to bottom:

• A Elsian bonnet in clan patterns with a red and white cockade or simply red and white cockade pinned in the hair.
• A blouse of varying colors with or without a bodice over it.
• A dress or skirt of varying sorts of any length; though, ankle- length may be seen as too formal.
• A pair of flat or high-heeled open brogues.

Gångskladder (work, outdoors, and semi-casual wear)

An Emerstarian jockey wearing a Fiskmannsjakke in a 1903 illustration.

Gångskladder translates to walking clothes in Emersatarian and is the level of dress one, especially men, may wear to work or while outdoors, hunting or fishing or camping. It may also be seen being worn at one's home during the daytime. Unlike in brakladder, there are not definite set levels in gångskladder, but common items will be listed below for men and women.

Although the maud and its offshoot, the kilt, are today seen as a formal item of clothing in Emerstari, it shares its origins with two similar yet less formal items of clothing: the skogsfelt and the gångsoverfelt. The skogsfelt, meaning forest blanket is a large maud worn either in the place of pants or over pants with the excess around the shoulders, making it similar to the formal maud, but it is made of sturdier and warmer cloth as it is meant to be used as a blanket of sorts while scouting, hunting, or camping. The gångsoverfelt, meaning walking over-blanket, is a cape that's worn over, usually a man's but sometime's a woman's, coat that may extend either to the elbows or to bottom of the back; it is often associated with coachmen who wore it during poor weather.

• 

  Skogsfelt

• 

  A full gångsoverfelt

• 

  An elbow-length gångsoverfelt

Men's gångskladder is vaguely similar to men's more formal wear. Button-up shirts, which are found in more formal wear, are commonly worn; though, there is more variety in color and pattern than plain white. Polo shirts have, since the 1960s, also found a place in Emerstarian gångskladder. Slektenstrys, or clan-patterned trousers, which are also found in more formal wear, are commonplace as well, but denim jeans and khakis are worn as well, generally fully over the leg because shorts are seen as casual in Emerstari, worn only in the height of summer or during tasks or activities which warrant them.

Women's gångskladder is also generally similar to women's more formal wear and consists of dresses, skirts, blouses, and etc.; however, gångskladder allows for the length of dresses and skirts to be knee-length or even shorter in some cases. Since the 1970s, women's gångskladder has taken inspiration from men's fashion, and shirts have pants have been introduced.

Brogue shoes are traditional Emerstarian items of footwear and are seen in brakladder as well as in gångskladder, but gångskladder also allows for the wearing of other styles of shoes, even non-leather options such as tennis shoes.

Lettskladder (casual wear)

Lettskladder, meaning light clothes, light being used in terms of weight or pressure, is the group of clothes in Emerstarian dress that may be worn in private with one's self or one's family. It has even fewer prescribed qualities than gångskladder; this is partly because it consists of items of clothing that are also seen in gångskladder that are worn more casually. T-shirts, sportswear, sleepwear such as pajamas, underwear, and women's lingerie all may be considered lettskladder.