Robes and Other Clothing/Magical Technology

[jodel at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 45738

But we HAVE a reasonable starting point as to what wizards (and witches) are 
likely to wear under robes. And it ain't medieval.

Can't recall exactly where in Rowling (possibly one of the "school books") it 
was stated, but wasn't the date of 1697 given as the point at which the 
Wizarding World finally secluded itself from Muggle society and went into 
hiding?

Up to that time, most magicals would have tried to blend in with the Muggles 
around them (with, no doubt, some notable exceptions). Since that time, there 
would have been very arbitrary and uneven adoption or rejection of Muggle 
stules. 

For example: 18th century fashions look pretty much of a muchness in their 
basic shapes up until the last 20 years or so to our eyes. There was a lot of 
variation in hairstyling and silly ways of poufing out one's skirts, but the 
underlying bodice/skirt/sleeves for women and breeches/waiscoat/coat for men 
seems to have held remarkably steady. And it grew fairly smoothly out of the 
styles which were worn at the turn of that century. Consequently, by around 
the end of the 18th century, I suspect that mosty wizards and witches would 
have dressed like rather eccentric country people, woefully out of fashion, 
but still dressed in a manner somewhat recognizable to Muggle eyes. Some of 
the Muggle trends may even have crept into usage over the first 100 years 
without anyone even being all that much aware of it. (Both Muggles and 
magicals were largely turned loose to create their own styles at that point 
in time. Apart from a few tailors and dressmakers patronized by the Courts of 
Europe the fashion "industry" was still fairly rudimentary.)

The 19th century would have been where the styles really started diverging. 
The Muggle fashion industry had really gotten off the ground by then and 
communications were good enough to have most of the international "jet set" 
all pretty much in step with one another. It needs to be pointed out that it 
was the 19th centruy in which the largest divergance existed between 
"clothing" and "fashion". Where, during the 18th century a certain number of 
Muggle style innovations had plenty of time to creep into wizarding usage, in 
the 19th the styles came and went too quickly for anything other than the 
basic materials to make very much of an impact. I suspect that the 19th 
century saw mostly an adoption of the Muggles' new machine-spun threads and 
machine-woven fabrics which were plentiful and cheap rather than Muggle dress 
styles, per se. I rather suspect that the mental image of wizarding society 
one should be carrying around is not all that far off of, say, Arthur Rackham.

It is probable that the steady if small influx of Muggle-born wizards and 
witches served as the primary source of exposure to Muggle trends. But it 
certainly seems that someone in the WW has been paying attention, since the 
WW has adopted some Muggle concepts, even if it implements them magically. 
For one, so long as the Floo network was 
in place it is unlikely that anyone would have thought of launching the 
Wizarding Wireless network pimarily for entertainment. 

One crutial thing that we do NOT know, is just when the charmed quill that 
records all magical births went into service. And who thought THAT one up, 
and WHAT kind of situation was going on which allowed it to be implemented? 

Because, right there, you have what was probably the single most 
paradigm-changing element to have been introduced into the wizarding world 
since the great seclusion. Because the ONLY purpose which that quill could 
have served, that was not already being served quite adequately withihn the 
community was to identify *every* Muggle-born magical child born within its 
sensory range. Was it the fact that the enclosure act was driving people out 
of the countryside into the cities and creating such a flury of 
cross-breeding that the resulting sudden rise in the number of magical births 
was making it dangerously difficult to keep their concealments in place? This 
is why I have a gut-level conviction that the quill was a piece of Magical 
technology which went into effect concurrant with the Industrial Revolution. 
Because that period was one in which Britian had a population explosion in 
general, and the general stiring up and recombination of the available 
genetic potential, the higher birthrate and the beginnings of getting a 
handle on reducing infant mortality are all elements which would have 
contributed to a porportional increase of magical births within the general 
population, as more potential parents who were carrying incomplete sets of 
wizarding genes began marrying each other and reproducing. Given the 
generally crowded and unsafe conditions that the working class Britton lived 
in during the Industrial Revolution, I would imagine that the (perhaps 
newly-formed?) Accidental Magical Reversal squad was being given a real 
workout and targeting potential trouble spots may have become a priority.

-JOdel