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Some context:

You are traveling to somewhere temperate (55-85 Fahrenheit )in the past, at some random time, post 1000 BC, pre 1800 AD.You do not know where, save that it is in Europe, or a similar area culturally. You will not have language problems. You can only have one outfit, but you can bring accessory pieces to modify things. The goal is to attract as little attention as possible.

Requirements:

  • Should not instantly appear as high class (No blue silk or purple lace, etc.)
  • May appear foreign
  • Should be practical for daily activities
  • Should cover a full outfit, not just a few components.
  • Should provide solutions for both men and women.
Tanzanite Dragoness
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    Good question, tough to know where to start researching. Trouble is the difference between what you'd need in the south of Spain in the height of summer and Scotland during winter, technically temperate - maybe 50 celsius difference, possibly more with wind chill and rain or snow. Narrowing it a bit would help greatly. – Escaped dental patient. Dec 03 '18 at 23:15
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    The temperate zone could throw you anywhere from South America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, or Northern Australia. Time and Location are going to be key. For example, apparel normal in Australia isn't going to be the same as apparel in Egypt. Also anything you are unfamiliar with will appear foreign... and some countries would be extremely isolated rendering the foreign from another country point moot. – Shadowzee Dec 03 '18 at 23:54
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    For me this looks like a story set in a world - our world - and not like an actual worldbuilding. Also "Should provide solutions for both men and women." most of the time, in most of the places this is not possible for one outfit to work on both genders, making this unanswerable. "Should be practical" is purely opinion based. – Mołot Dec 03 '18 at 23:56
  • I meant two different outfits, and there are may similar questions on this site. It is asking how to set up my world so that I can make my character make sense, – Tanzanite Dragoness Dec 03 '18 at 23:58
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    The goal is to attract as little attention as possible. This falls under the time traveller's number one rule : stay away from people. – StephenG - Help Ukraine Dec 04 '18 at 00:04
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    Practical is opinion based. Not appear high class is opinion based, too. – L.Dutch Dec 04 '18 at 00:24
  • "at some random time, post 1000BC. You do not know where, save that it is in Europe, Asia, Northern Africa or the Americas." Clothes suitable to Northern Germany in the winter in 1000 BC are substantively different from clothes suitable to China in the summer in 2000AD. – RonJohn Dec 04 '18 at 00:38
  • RonJohn, I specified temperature, and fixed the set time a little. I am looking for things that might be modified to work. – Tanzanite Dragoness Dec 04 '18 at 01:29
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    Just because you have specified the temperature and time doesn't mean it isn't too broad. 45-85 Fahrenheit is roughly 5-30 Celsius. That temperature range by itself will demand an adjustment of clothing. That is a huge difference and can be the difference between a thick jacket and jeans and shorts and a Tshirt. It would be more uniform if you just brought some gold which is basically the universal currency of the earth and exchange that for normal clothes. – Shadowzee Dec 04 '18 at 02:21
  • What are you doing anyways? Why time travel back at that time period? If you're going to be, unseen like a silent assassin then I think modern camo will do, maybe bring also a guillie suit for a more complete vanish specially in the grassy areas, but... if you're going to be, for example a merchant, you "can" kill other merchants too right? or trade your clothes for their clothes, or BUY it! – Mr.J Dec 04 '18 at 02:32
  • VTC, too broad to have a definite answer. – Mr.J Dec 04 '18 at 03:30
  • What about wearing a time machine and many little drones? Your time machine is an enclosed vehicle you stay inside and you send out tiny little drones disguised as birds and insects to watch and listen to the natives of your era. That would also help with https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/125522/would-germs-brought-back-in-time-by-a-time-traveler-threaten-to-kill-the-populat?rq=1 – M. A. Golding Dec 05 '18 at 19:38

6 Answers6

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Your safest bet would probably be about the lowest class citizen - wear natural fibres in some shade of brown, and you’ll not get too many odd looks. However, what classes as ‘natural fibres’ will vary from location to location - and that would be enough to draw suspicion, given the breadth of the locations you specify.

Dressing as a member of a religious order could be handy for much of Europe, even into North Africa and Asia, depending on the period - certain mendicant orders originated well back before the 1000s, and continued into the 1800s. However, that still doesn’t account for your BC years or significant tracts of Asia and the Americas.

Perhaps your best bet would be to wear some type of rough, brown, unkempt natural fibre (haircloth, undyed wool, hemp, etc.) as a makeshift robe/dress/generic body-covering item of clothing, cover yourself in a fair amount of mud, and pass as a reasonable beggar in a number of societies, regardless of time or place. But even that isn’t perfect - the parameters are just so broad, even the colour of the mud or the type of wool you choose could get you singled out.

user_629957
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Skip clothing altogether.

With such broad and mixed requirements, you are unlikely to be able to blend in any society of the destination time at all. Nudity, however is universal.

You can pull a terminator and steal someone's clothes when you get there.

The Square-Cube Law
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Stealth suit

Since you have time travel, technology isn't a problem. Being hidden is the only answer with the limitation posed.

Clothing varies so much from place to place and over time that there is no magic outfit that will fit in.

As a result, not fitting in and drawing attention is actually the best way to fit in and not draw attention.

Chances are you'll be a foreign race anyway so immediately you don't fit in no matter what you wear and actually wearing local clothes can make you stand out more. As a result your best bet is to look foreign and plausible of which a trader is your best bet. A red silk shirt and fancy clothes make you look like a rich foreign trader which is a plausible reason for you to be virtually anywhere and look as well as act nothing like the local population.

Thorne
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(W)arming Jacket?

Apparel is not normally my forte but thought I'd give it a try.

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My thought was inspired by the gambeson, which was often used with additional protection sewn onto joint areas as seen above.

Start with a thin under layer of long-sleeved shirt and pants. However, the shirt and pants should be filled with snap fastener sockets. This would allow you to pop on big swatches of thick padding and a hood for colder climates. You might also be able to lengthen the shirt into a pseudo-greatcoat with the add-on padding if need be. Throw in gloves and boots to finish the outfit. You could add a set of dyes into the accessory list if that is a concern.

The end result would probably look like studded leather in practice, except with sockets instead of studs.

nullpointer
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You dress based on your job description.

You currently have not indicated you purpose what is the purpose of your time travel. To me, that piece of information may help you decide what apparel do you actually need to wear.

  1. IF your a assassin: then modern military tactical gear is required, along with all the modern equipment you need. You might bring a lot more less because you want to be "unnoticeable".

  2. IF you just want to learn more about them: Then you can already foresee what might they maybe actually wearing with just a google search (or maybe perhaps something near). Choose the apparel that would fit the description of a "townsfolk" then you're good to go.

I think number two(2) is for general usage since, you can also became a adviser for a certain leader using clothes as simple as a townsfolk, or just plain immersion.

Another thing to note too is, you can bring gold, then buy clothes from merchants or to anybody who you meet. Pay them gold for their clothes and you're good to go.

Mr.J
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    Foreseeing what a specific culture would wear doesn't really answer the question, as the point is that the clothing must satisfy a multitude of cultures at once rather than any specific one. – Bewilderer Dec 04 '18 at 02:51
  • @Bewilderer its not indicated in the requirements, what are you saying. – Mr.J Dec 04 '18 at 02:54
  • The point of the question, as I see it, is that the time traveler does not know when or where they are going to end up, and as such needs to be able to be able to blend into as many cultures as possible to decrease the likelihood of suspicion. – Bewilderer Dec 04 '18 at 02:57
  • @Bewilderer then you're wrong, as the requirement said "May appear foreign" number two highlight. So you can basically wear ancient Egyptian apparel in a freezing american winter and tell them you're from Egypt. – Mr.J Dec 04 '18 at 03:03
  • @MrJ I meant that you can seem a bit odd, but that is taking it a bit too far. Also, I had it as you are testing something and don’t know where you end up. Furthermore, you have to be inconspicuous enough to the merchant in the first place. – Tanzanite Dragoness Dec 04 '18 at 03:24
  • @TanzaniteDragoness you're getting nowhere then, since if you are testing something and went to somewhere you dont know, you can immediately become an odd ball, say for example, you dressed up as a typical jewish commoner, BUT you ended up in America, your now an odd ball. Another example is, you dress up as a American, then you end up in Africa, you are still an oddball. – Mr.J Dec 04 '18 at 03:30
  • The point is to find a way of making something versatile so you can pass for either. – Tanzanite Dragoness Dec 04 '18 at 04:14
  • @TanzaniteDragoness simple answer, you can't. – Mr.J Dec 04 '18 at 04:27
  • I actually found a passable solution, at least for women. An undyed muslin dress with changeable waist, neckline, sleeves, and length, with various shawls and pins to adjust things with. – Tanzanite Dragoness Dec 10 '18 at 03:37
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Since you come from a time where time machines are a reality, why not explore some futuristic apparel?

As an underwear, you'd wear some ultra thin thermo-regulating smart cloth. This way, you won't have any issues with very hot/cold, humid/dry weather. Note that an astronaut's space suit is already doing that, except that it's not ultra thin and needs a big battery.

As for the outer layer, you would have some fabric that can take any shape and color you want.

Of course, if needed, you could also use the fabric as an invisibility cloak to become nearly invisible (like predator)

The AI assistant that's implemented in your retina would automatically choose the best outfit to minimize suspicion.

This kind of "magic" fabric and invisibility cloaks exist in research labs

https://www.fastcompany.com/3045349/magical-fabric-could-let-you-change-clothes-instantly

https://www.tokyotimes.com/japan-invents-invisibility-cloak/

Fred
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