For my bachelor thesis I conceptualised, wrote, illustrated, and designed the book “Weltenschneider,” a creative’s guide to worldbuilding costume design. An English translation is in the works.

After publishing Zaivy Luke-Aleman and I’s article The Art of Dressing Cultures in the Worldbuilding Magazine’s 1st issue of 2020, I regularly got asked to expand more on the topic. With an overall shift in the public’s awareness on costuming and historical clothing, the time felt ripe to write more thoroughly on costuming in speculative fiction than I previously had.

Weltenschneider (trsl.: world’s tailor) explains what worldbuilding is in the first place, what aspects of culture and story themes can be conveyed through clothing, how to encorporate them, and the different strengths and limitations of various media in depicting clothing. It also dives into different construction methods and gives an overview on materials and fabric types as well as dyeing methods and other embellishments.

While it is not definitive, it is meant as a jumping-off point for any creative tasked with worldbuilding costume design and provides tools and encouragement to do further research depending on the project at hand.