Fashion in the World of Avatar

People in the World of Avatar wear many different types of clothing and other accessories depending on their nation and socal status. This clothing ranges from the very humble clothing worn by Airbender monks to the elaborate robes worn by the Fire Lord.

A notable fact of fashion in general is that each nation will wear the color that symbolises their native element. The Air Nomads wear oranges and yellows, the Water Tribe wears blue (the exception being, the Foggy Swamp Tribe who wear green, probably due to the green color of the water in the swamp), the people of the Earth Kingdom wear yellows and greens, and the people of the Fire Nation wear various hues of red, as well as black and gold, and white for mourning.

It should also be noted that many of the clothing seen in the show derive from Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea etc.).

Air Nomads


The Air Nomads could be seen wearing orange, saffron yellow, and brown clothing.

Children's Clothing
Young Airbenders wear orange shawls over long-sleeved yellow shirts, an orange belt, yellow pants with brown on the back, and long boots that reach the knees.

Monk Robes
Senior monks wear longer robes in shades of yellow, orange, and brown.

Shaving


Young boys to be trained as monks have shaven heads, while monk elders grow beards and mustaches. Female Airbenders do not fully shave their heads, but only on the front to reveal their arrow.

Arrows
The arrow on an Airbender's head signifies that he or she has mastered Airbending. This is an emulation of the natural arrows on the heads of Flying Bisons, animals revered by the Air Nomads who can naturally Airbend, and are believed to be the inspiration for the first Airbenders. Apprentice Airbenders have no tattoos. In order to receive the tattoos as well as the title of a master, an Airbender must pass the thirty-six levels of Airbending along with engendering a new technique.

Water Tribes
The citizens of the Northern Water Tribe and the Southern Water Tribe wear blues, purples and whites in their clothing.

Fur Coats


Water Tribe clothing is typically a set of blue anorak and trousers. They wear thick fur coats due to the cold climate. They can also be seen wearing three fingered gloves.

Light Clothing
This is generally used when they are not in the Tribes. It is worn under their fur coats. It resembles a kimono like tunic, with split sides for leg movement, and fur trimmed leggings underneath.

Foggy Swamp Tribe
They generally use a hat made only with two leaves, a green skirt, green and white bandages on his arms and legs, and wooden necklaces.

Hair Loopies


Hair loopies are a type of hairstyle worn by Water Tribe females. In the Northern Water Tribe, women are seen wearing a similar style, consisting in elaborate braids instead of regular loopies.

Warrior's Wolf Tail
A warrior's wolf tail is a hairstyle used by male Water Tribe warriors. Sokka and the warriors at the battle of black sun can be seen with them.

Betrothal Necklace
In the Water Tribes, it is essential for a man to give a special necklace to whom they want to betroth. Both Princess Yue and Katara can be seen with these blue chokers.

Make-up
Used only in the Northern Water Tribe by the Princess and the warriors.

Earth Kingdom
Those residing in the rural areas often wear clothes similar to those of peasants. Royals and the wealthy, as illustrated by Toph Bei Fong, as well as the rest of the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, usually wear robes similar to the Manchurian-Chinese Qipao, especially during parties and events. They sport an array of greens, browns,golds, yellows, and many other colors that have an earthy feel. In kyoshi Islad however, the citizens appear in blue attire.

Outside Ba Sing Se


Outside Ba Sing Se, there are mostly farming communities. People wear dark green and brown, prehaps due to the color of crops and farming soil.

There are variations however. In the episode The Cave of Two Lovers, Song and her mother are seen wearing clothing derived from a traditional Korean garment, a hanbok.

Inside Ba Sing Se
Ba Sing Se is split into three different rings so there is a much greater variation of clothing.

Lower Ring
In the poor and crime-stricken lower ring, women and men wear brown and dark green clothing, putting emphasis on their low position in society.

Middle Ring
In the middle ring, clothing has lighter shades of green, and more elaborate styles. Women have dresses lined with a bit of gold or yellow, and men sport braided hair and more eleberate tunics. Women have more elaborate hairstyles, decorate and piled up in a beautiful chinese fashion.

Upper ring


Due to the great wealth of the upper ring, women and men wear the most extravagant styles of all. Their clothing is usually a lighter shade of green, with golden trimmings. Men wear longer and more embroidered tunics.

Top-knots
Many Earth Kingdom citizens also don a type of top-knot. Men of the Earth Kingdom usually just wear a green ring around their top-knots.

Hats
Peasants and farmers tend to wear conical straw hats, developed to keep shade as large an area as possible and thus practical for working in the sun. The upper-class of the earth kingdom mainly wear traditional Chinese coronets known as "guan"; these vary in style immensely, and indicate social rank and wealth - some of the characters seen wearing them include Lao Bei Fong and several guests at the Earth King's party in City of Walls and Secrets. Chin the Great wears an especially elaborate one called the Tongtian Guan, which in ancient China were reserved for top officials. Mayor Tong wars a Fangjin, a rectangular hat for lower officials, while Pu-on Tim wears a putou , a rounded black hat used by scholars. The citizens of Chin Village mostly wear wushamao, large hats with two oval flaps portruding from the sides. The women of Ba Sing Se wrap their hair around elaborate supports and ornament them with flowers, similar to the fashion of the Manchu Qing Dynasty of China.

Ornaments

 * Glasses - Some people in the Earth Kingdom wear glasses, like the Earth King Kuei.


 * Headpieces - Used by the Kyoshi Warriors and Earth Kingdom Generals.


 * Necklaces - There are some necklaces made of flowers.

Make-up
It is used by he Kyoshi Warriors when they used their uniform. The warriors use it because they try to mimic the make-up of the Avatar Kyoshi. In Ba Sing Se there are a special place dedicated to make-up, the Fancy Lady Day Spa.

Earth King


The Earth King wears a green hat with the Earth Kingdom emblem, a yellow shirt with a green coat and a skirt. He also wears a belt and a green necklace.

King of Omashu
The King of Omashu wears a green hat. He wears a green or purple dress and rings on his fingers.

Fire Nation
Fashion in the Fire Nation mimics traditional Chinese elements. Layers of various colors, coats, and traditional pieces of armor are common elements in their style, as in Chinese traditional clothing.

Clothing
Citizens and rulers of the Fire Nation wear colors ranging from black, red, yellow, gold, grey, brown and and even as far as white. The different classes in society wear different clothes a sign their social satus.

Commoners and Peasants
Most of the commoners and peasants live in the outher islands of the fire nation so they are far away from the major towns and cities. They wear simple non decorative clothes, usually a dull shade of red. A prime example of this is the river village Jang Hui where exteme poverty has engulfed the town. In the Boiling Rock prison all the prisoners wear a simple red top and bottoms. Both Zuko and Suki have worn these clothes.

School Uniform
Fire Nation schools follow strict Uniform guidlines. The Fire Nation School that Aang joined in The Headband uniform, consisted of brown pants or a skirt and shirt, a black and red vest, and a red sash marked with the school's logo.

Swimwear
Fire Nation swimwear is quite the same as one would expect. However, the style seems to be linked back to their native element. Azula, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee were shown wearing the Fire Nation insignia on their bathing suits in "The Beach". Whilst Azula Zuko and Mai wore red bathing suits Ty Lee sported a white bathing suit futher enthusing the range of colors of clothing available in the Fire Nation. Zuko naturaly only wore shorts whilst on Ember Island. The beach wear that they later wore to Chan's party was very similar to the clothes that they wore to the beach but they were desinged for warmth.

Royalty
The Fire Nation royal family is the richest and most powerful family in the Fire Nation and perhaps the entire world. They wear the most elaborate of clothing which usually is a shade of red. However, in times of mournings white chlothing is worn. Ozai, Zuko and Azula were seen wearing this type of clothing at Azulon's funeral which also happened to be Ozai's coronation as Fire Lord.

Prince and Princess


The Prince or Princes of the Fire Nation means you are brought up in alife of riches. The clothing of the Prince and Princess of the Fire Nation are also very elaborate. For military matters, such as war meetings and battles, Zuko and Azula wear formal armor, at least from season three onwards. This armor is black and deep red, with gold trimmings. Zuko and Azula both wear gold flame pieces in their top-knots while they wear this armor. While not in public or in an important war meeting, the Fire Nation royals usually wear more comfortable robes as seen in many of the early episodes of Book 3.

Fire Lady
Being the Fire lords wife she holds a lot of power in her country. The clothing of the Fire Lady is unknown as no living Fire Lady was ever seen in the series, though it can be assumed she wears an elaborate dress similair to the cape worn by her husband the Fire Lord.

Fire Lord
The Fire lord is the sole ruler off the Fire Nation. The Fire Lord wears a long, robe like cape as the ultamite sign of their power. In additon to his luxurious robes he also wears the Fire Lord Headpiece which is the shape of the Fire Nation insignia.

Phoenix King
The ruler of the world was supposed to be the Phoenix King. He wears the most elaborate of all clothing. Ozai who was the only Phoenix King in the series wore a helmet and armor. The helmet was gold and it had a jewel implanted on the front of it. The armor Ozai wore was also very long and slender, with a cape that extended down to his feet.

Accessories
Along with their clothing Fire Nation citizens also wear many Accessories. Royality and nobility wear elaborate headpieces and golden neklaces. While the lees well off wear headbands and less elaborate headpices.

Top-knots
Top-knots are the official hairstyle of the Fire Nation, worn by both men and women. Fire Nation citizens often wear decorative headpieces in their top-knots.

Zuko and Azula have both sported three-pronged headpieces in the traditional flame shape. While in the Earth Kingdom, Azula wore a simple red headpiece, but she later replaced it with a golden one upon returning home.

Headbands
In Aang's school uniform diguise, he can be seen wearing a headband to hide his arrows. Headbands might represent part of a school uniform and such, because only the students seem to wear them.

Necklaces


The red and gold necklaces are common among women of the Fire Nation. Both Azula and Ty lee have worn necklaces to Chan's party in the episode The Beach.You can also see Suki, Katara, and Toph wearing Fire Nation styled necklaces in various episodes of Book Three.

Make-up
In the Fire Nation, make up appears to be a luxury, as only royalty and nobility have been seen wearing it. Examples would be Princess Azula and Mai. Azula's make up and lipstick has more of a reddish color, while Mai's is black and fairly depressing.

Headpieces
Headpieces are worn by many people in the World of Avatar to adorn their otherwise bare top-knots. These headpieces range from the very humble headpieces worn by normal citizens to the golden five-pronged headpiece worn by the Fire Lord.

Fire Nation citizens often wear decorative headpieces in their top-knots. The headpieces are only decorative, however, and are in no way a rank of royalty.

Fire Lord Headpiece
The Fire Lord's Headpiece is an ancient royal artifact of the Fire Nation, meant to be worn by the Fire Lord, the absolute ruler of the nation. The headpiece is shaped like the Fire Nation insignia, except it possesses two additional prongs to make it appear like a crown. It is worn in a top-knot. The royal headpiece has been passed down for many generations of the nation's history from each Fire Lord to the next. The Fire Sages initiate the crowning ceremony. The crown has been worn by at least six Fire Lords, Sozin, Azulon, Ozai and Zuko, and two of which whose names remain unknown.

Crown Prince Headpiece
The Crown Prince Headpiece is an ancient royal artifact of the Fire Nation, meant to be worn by Heir to the Fire Lord who can be male or female. The crown has two prongs, as opposed to the five pronged headpiece of the Fire Lord. The headpiece is crafted into the shape of the Fire Nation insignia. The headpiece was passed down from generation to generation, until it was inherited by Prince Sozin, who gave it to his friend, Avatar Roku. Roku kept it, and wore it for the rest of his life.