Fashion in the World of Avatar

Do not add military uniforms! This page is for civilians.

People of the Avatar world wear many different types of clothing and other accessories depending on the nation they hail from and their social status. The clothing ranges from the very humble attire 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 symbolizes 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


Fashion of The Air Nomads closely resembles that of Tibetan Monks. The colors that often appeared in the fabric are brown, orange, and saffron yellow. All of these colors are linked to the art of Airbending.

Clothing
Being based on the Tibetan Monks, The Air Nomads clothes were simple as the people of their nation lived simple lives. They tended to wear a lot of loose cloth, including cloaks, robes, and shawls. The monks also wear necklaces depending on their position in the high monk council.

Children's Clothing
Young Air Nomads learning Airbending wear orange shawls over long-sleeved yellow shirts. They also wear an orange belt, yellow and brown pants, and long boots that reach the knees. This is what Aang wears, although it is not sure if it was compulsory for all young Air Nomads to wear it, or if they had to wear similar clothing.

Monk Robes
The Senior monks who have become master Airbenders wore much longer robes than the children. These monks robes are in shades of yellow, orange, and brown, which again links back to Airbending.

Shaving


Shaving one's head is a tradition in Air Nomad society. Young boys who are 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 shave their bangs to reveal their arrow. The reason why Airbenders shave their heads is to feel the air better and because it tends to get it the way whilebending, flying, etc.

Arrows
The arrow on an Airbender's head signifies that he or she has mastered Airbending, and the flow of chi throughout the body. 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 engineering 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.

Gloves


Gloves have pointer finger and thumb separate from the rest of the mitten. This is probably for extra grip.

Fur Coats


Water Tribe clothing is typically a set of blue anorak and trousers. They wear thick fur coats due to the cold climate, with hoods and three-fingered gloves, however in "The Waterbending Master" Princess Yue was shown wearing five fingered gloves. Their armlets often show wavy designs, which resemble waves, and link to Waterbending.

Light Clothing
This type of clothing is generally used when traveling to warmer regions. When in the cold polar landscape, it is covered by thick coats. It resembles a kimono-like tunic, with split sides for leg movement, and fur trimmed leggings underneath. Lighter clothing comes in various styles. Princess Yue's lighter clothing is shown as a long dress with a purple color. She had no split sides on her dress like those of Katara's or Sokka's clothing.

Sarashi
These strips of cloth are wrapped around the body and worn under clothing, often used as undergarments.

Foggy Swamp Tribe
The Foggy Swamp Tribe use materials from the Foggy Swamp to craft clothing and accessories. These may include wood, leaves, and tree bark. Most wear leaf skirts, leaf hats, a shirt of bark, and wooden necklaces.

Hair Loopies


Hair loopies are traditional hair pieces worn by women and girls of the Water Tribe. Two locks of hair on either side of the head are fastened with clips onto the back of the head, hanging down more loosely than the other hair. In the Southern Water Tribe, these loopies are usually plain. But in the Northern Water Tribe, they are often braided into elaborate designs. Hair loopies are also Katara's "image".

Warrior's Wolf Tail
A warrior's wolf tail is a hairstyle used by male Water Tribe warriors. Sokka and the soldiers of the battle of Day 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, though Katara did not initially know the significance of it as it was simply an heirloom to her.

Make-up
In the Northern Water Tribe, make-up may be a luxury for the females, as only Princess Yue was seen wearing it. Her make-up had a pink color scheme. Sokka is also seen wearing warrior make-up in The Boy in the Iceberg.

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 Island 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, perhaps 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. Chong and his friends were shown wearing multicolored clothing in wild styles.

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 elaborate 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 gold trimmings, and elaborate designs and patterns. Men wear longer and more embroidered tunics.

Tattoos
Many Earth Kingdom citizens are shown with tattoos, such as June and The Boulder. Tattoos vary from person to person, but it is unknown how they got them.

Top-knots
Many Earth Kingdom citizens also have a type of top-knot. Men of the Earth Kingdom usually 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 wears 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 protruding 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 - Upper class people in the Earth Kingdom may wear glasses, for example, the Earth King Kuei.


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


 * Necklaces - Earth Kingdom necklaces may be made of flowers, gold, jewels, and wood.

Make-up
It is used by the Kyoshi Warriors when they used their uniform. The warriors use it to try and mimic the make-up of the Avatar Kyoshi. In Ba Sing Se there is 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, clothed in a yellow shirt with a green coat and a skirt; along with a belt and a green necklace. Such dressing is based off of real Chinese Manchurian emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

King of Omashu
The King of Omashu is dressed in similarly elaborate clothes as the Earth King. They usually sport a green hat, 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
The Fire Nation is the only nation to prosper because of the war. However, there is a major gap between the rich and poor. Citizens and rulers of the Fire Nation wear colors ranging from black, red, yellow, gold, grey, brown and even as far as white. The different classes in society wear different clothes a sign their social status. Throughout the series Ty Lee has a color of pink on her clothing.

Commoners and Peasants


Most of the commoners and peasants live in the outer 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 extreme poverty has engulfed the town. At the Boiling Rock, 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 guidelines. The Fire Nation School that Aang joined has a uniform consisting 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 further enthusing the range of colors of clothing available in the Fire Nation. Zuko naturally 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 designed 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, and also the Royal Armor. However, in times of mourning white clothing 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 Princess of the Fire Nation is brought up with a life of riches. The clothing of the Prince and Princess of the Fire Nation is 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 when 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 Lord's 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 similar to the cape worn by her husband the Fire Lord.

Fire Lord


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

Phoenix King


When Ozai proclaimed himself the Phoenix King, he wore elaborate clothing, 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. Royalty and nobility wear elaborate headpieces and golden necklaces. While the less well off wear headbands and less elaborate headpieces.

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.

Headbands
In Aang's school uniform disguise, he can be seen wearing the sash marked with the school's logo as a headband to hide the arrow on his forehead.

Headcraft


When Toph uses a disguise in Fire Nation, she buys a new Fire Nation style headcraft. Not much different from the regular Earth Kingdom style headcraft, except gold color dominates the headcraft.

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". Suki, Katara, and Toph could also be seen wearing Fire Nation styled necklaces in various episodes of Book Three.

Make-up
In the Fire Nation, makeup 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 nails are darker red.

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, which resembles ancient Chinese fashion.

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. 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.

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. Years later it was shown to be kept by Iroh, who passed it on to Zuko.