Feel

Orderly, Imperial, Regal, Roman, Byzantine, Art Deco, Geometric, Solid, Strong, Prosperous, Straightforward, Functional

Influences

Late Roman Empire, early Byzantine Empire, the ideal of “order” from the fantasy genre applied to garb, fantasy Dwarves.

Visual Reference

https://www.pinterest.com/veilguardlarp/vauldan-empire/ (a Pinterest board for garb and aesthetic inspiration.)

Vauldan Color Swatches

A Dwarven Commercio and follower of Tekatli. Note the purple arm wraps, and the golden clavii stripes down the front of the tunic/dalmatica. Art by Asa Benjamin, at typhros.tumblr.com

The same Dwarven Commercio, now with a cloak bearing a tablion. Art by Asa Benjamin, at typhros.tumblr.com

TL;DR

• Color palette is a mix of blacks, whites, yellows, blues, and purples (especially purples). Avoid browns, reds, and greens if at all possible. Cream- or natural-colored fabrics are acceptable, but imply a level of poverty compared to bleached-white clothing.
• Materials are primarily linen and cotton, with wool only used for cloaks and overtunics or winter clothes. Brocade, velvet, and silk are regularly used in clothing for the wealthy. Leather is common as accessories and as armor, but not in garments. Furs are only used for trim, and even then most Vauldans prefer woven or brocade trim over fur.
• Basic garments are a tunic or tunica (preferably with clavii, vertical stripes going down from the shoulders) and simple pants if the tunic’s hem ends above the knees. A dalmatica (overtunic), usually with roundel and clavii decorations, is worn over the tunica if another layer is needed. Roundels tend to be straight-sided polygons, not circles.
• Signature garment(s) are a purple bracer or a purple cloth wrapping on one or both forearms. A cloak with tablion decorative panels is also a uniquely Vauldan garment, though it doesn’t replace the bracers/arm-wraps as signature garb.
• Headwear tends to be either a circular hat with fancy brocade trim or a scarf or veil of pale lightweight linen, held on the head via hairpins or a metal circlet.
• Feminine garb generally involves a longer tunic/tunica/dalmatica than masculine garb, and femme-presenting Vauldans tend to prefer veils instead of hats for their headwear.
• “Fancy” garb involves using more expensive and extravagant fabric and adding as much fancy trim and embroidery as you can to the basic tunica/dalmatica/cloak combination.
• Common decorative designs include geometric motifs, tools and professional symbols, and heraldic animals (particularly winged lions, rams, and phoenixes).
• Armor is based heavily on classical Roman armor, particularly the subarmalis under-layer and lorica segmentata plate armor. A subarmalis is seen as acceptable everyday civilian garb for current or retired Legionaries, even in situations where heavier armor wouldn’t normally be socially acceptable.
• Weapons are warhammers, crossbows, and various lengths of sword shaped like the historical gladius. Blocky and angular maces are very common as Rods wielded by mages. Shields tend to be large and square, similar to the Roman Scutum tower shield in appearance (if not size).

Vauldan Color Swatches