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While in the privacy of her own home, in the company of those of her family,
a Free Woman will often affect a fairly relaxed and comfortable mode of
clothing herself; indeed, under such conditions and behind the closed
doors of her household it would be not only difficult for a Free Woman
to wear the strictly moderated and highly ornate garments of her caste,
it would be simply ludicrous. She is, after all, a Gorean woman, well
accustomed to the scanty fashions and brief garments worn by both the
men and women of that savage planet. In the pleasure gardens of her home
a Free Woman dresses for attractiveness, comfort and functionality, and
some of her outfits can be revealing to say the least. However, once beyond
the safety and protection of her house walls she wisely dons garments
which are more suited for platonic interaction with the dangerous men
of the cities: the infamous Gorean Robes of Concealment.
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The Robes of Concealment worn by Free Women in the high cities are elaborate
affairs, and are subject to the dictates of the current fashion in her
city. They can be highly personal modes of garb, cut and fashioned in
countless ways and in numerous styles, according to the whims and desires
of the wearer and the restrictions imposed by local sumptuary laws. Nevertheless,
they universally have these things in common: They consist of several
layers of thick, opaque cloth. Normally opaque hose are worn beneath them,
and gloves, to insure that no part of the wearer's body is visible. The
typical garments worn by a Free Woman of the high cities includes a shaped
and fitted brocade gown with an ankle-length hem and a high collar which
reaches to just below the chin. Atop that is worn a loose fitting robe
to further conceal the lines and shape of her body. A quilted or brocade
headpiece, similar to the Arab kafiyeh, is worn pinned or buttoned in
place to cover her head, and drapes to the shoulders. The various veils
are then attached over the wearer's face through the use of pins and ties,
completing the ensemble. A Free Woman may wear slippers or even close-fitting
boots beneath her robes, and it is also the custom for women of extremely
high rank to wear ornate platform shoes which increase her height by as
much as ten inches. Such adornments as those are normally worn only within
doors, however, since they are exceedingly difficult to walk in over uneven
surfaces. A wealthy Free Woman typically wears much jewelry, consisting
of brooches, medallions and chains of office and rank, rings and armlets.
Many Free Women are very careful about wearing wristlets and bangles of
precious metal, however, or even close fitting necklaces and especially
ornamental "chokers." Such jewelry is thought by many to be
an ornamental derivative of the collar and slave-bracelets of a kajira,
therefore it is almost never worn by the suitably cautious Free Woman,
and under no circumstances will a Free Woman wear any sort of jewelry
or even a tied scarf about her left ankle, since the left ankle is universally
acknowledged by Goreans as the "slave ankle," and any sort of
adornment there by a Free Woman is unthinkable. Her avoidance of such
jewelry is part of her ongoing effort to distance herself from women who
have fallen to bondage.
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