What visiting foreigners notice first about Adantri fashion is the color--no color is prohibited, and there seems to be no regard for what other cultures would call `harmonious color combinations'. This appearance is partly false. It is true that the Adantri love color, and lots of it, but they do not deliberately seek out clashing combinations--however, a person of any class and caste will buy the best articles of clothing he or she can afford, and on any important occasion (even just to go to market, sometimes) may wear all his best clothing, regardless of whether the different pieces go well together. Those who can afford a coordinated outfit will have it and wear it as such, but the lower- and middle-class people are much more numerous, so it is their often startling color combinations which first catch the visitor's eye, rather than the carefully designed works of art worn by the wealthy. As a side effect of this situation, there are some people, usually of the lower financial and social brackets, who have developed a taste for clashing colors, and now there are cloths woven, and embellishments planned which actually aim at such a visual discord.

What visitors notice next about Adantri clothing is that it is almost never plain. Every method that may be used to embellish a piece of fabric or an article of clothing--stripes and plaids and brocade, embroidery, beadwork, appliqué, fringe--will be used to produce pleasing variations in color and texture and the way a fabric looks in motion and at rest. If you want to be conspicuous in Lirith Kai, dress plainly.

Children are normally clothed in scaled-down versions of adult wear.

In Lirith Kai, there are several major `fashion zones' where different styles of clothing are the norm. In the An-Kiu Valley which forms the largest part of Lirith Kai, clothing styles have an Oriental flavor; this includes the cities in which arenas 74 (Daiyla Kiv), 75 (Jade Mountain), 78 (Lin Tirian), and 79 (Miroi Chang) are found. Dal Shang (DM 65) on the Trier coast is the port-of-entry for all things Alastarian and this includes clothing styles; the clothing worn there is more varied in style than elsewhere in the Empire. Simtakka (DM 76) lies beyond the mountains on the Western Slope, and there the standard fashions are modified by the more barbaric garb of the Plainsmen. Mazgourrah (DM 77) is not in Lirith Kai at all but in the neighboring lands of Ratan; the clothing style there has more resemblance to the Middle Eastern than to the Oriental. More detail on the clothing styles is available on request.

Hair: Adantri of both sexes typically wear their hair to mid-back length, although women may wear it longer if they can afford the inconvenience. The only respectable person who wears shorter hair is a soldier in a heavy-armor company, who will normally have hair cut to jaw length, as being more manageable under a helmet. Both sexes, but especially women, wear their hair up or confined in some fashion--loose hair means loose woman to most Adantri. (For a woman to remove her hairpins in the presence of a man is considered to be the first step in a seduction.) Either gender may wear braids, or a pony tail, or have the hair done up into a more or less elaborate `knot' and held with pins and combs. Convicted criminals who are entering a period of enforced service to the state have their heads shaved.

Cosmetics: If asked, most Adantri will say that cosmetics are only used by pink flower artists, actors, and foreigners. In practice, this is not so, but the assertion points up the fact that obtrusive use of cosmetics will generally lower one's social standing.

Artificial color used around the eyes is generally more acceptable than lip coloring. The use of colored lacquer on the fingernails, which is impractical for anyone engaging in physical labor, is highly regarded and is a sign of wealth and leisure, as are nails of inordinate length.

Perfume: The use of scents is common among both genders in the more wealthy levels of all castes. These may range from distilled and specially blended essential oils to simple herbal sachets.

Cleanliness: The Adantri have a very high regard for cleanness, and one who is voluntarily dirty will be regarded with opprobrium. All residences above the lowest will have some provision for bathing, and the residents are expected to use it; public bathhouses (some for mixed sexes, and some for one or the other sex only) are common.