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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25984
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Your options are:

- Use modern terms
- Use antquated terms
- Use generic terms
- Use invented terms

If you really think about it, that's all you have to work with. However, there's a wide palette of ways to mix and match these approaches to add flavor.

My recommendation would be to research the correct term for the historical dress. Once you have the most precise historical equivalent you can find, ask yourself "is this good enough?" If it is, then great! If it isn't, then its time for you to invent a term for your particular gear.

Once you have this term, treat it somewhat like you would a character. You'd never assume that the reader knows that Alice is a curious sort of girl, why assume they know that a Shalwar Kameez\* is a type of loose trouser? Teach them the ways of your clothing.

This is a great opportunity for that overused phrase: show don't tell. You don't have to give a definition for every clothing word you use. Instead, show them. At some point, when your character is wearing Shalwar Kameez, and spills wine, say he spilled wine on his trousers. Back and forth utilization of the proper name, generic terms, and description will build up the nature of the clothing industry in your world almost for free! It's how we learn the meaning of words when we are children, and it works at any age!

_\* I chose this particular article of clothing simply because its a name that is not typically known in Western cultures. I, myself had to [look it up](http://islam.about.com/od/dress/tp/clothing-glossary.htm), so if I actually got this clothing term wrong, my apologies!_

Original score: 5