Admiration Medley

Stunveldt Island by Naelin

The island of Stunveldt is populated by a mix of scalies, waterland silkies and segmented societarians which inhabit the sparse woodlands, the denser jugles and the coasts respectively, making for remarkably distinct demography in each area.
Despite this sharp difference, the Stunveldti share a strong sense of tradition and unity which are embedded in customs like the Admiration Day, a celebration done once in the life of each person to mark the day in which they are considered accomplished in whichever profession or life path they have chosen.
The Admiration Day (also called the "Day of (person's name)") is focused on celebrating the individual, and the most important part of it is the reveal and fondling of the Admiration Medley, an impressive, bizarre outfit made of dozens upon dozens of distinct pieces of fabric which, together, form a gigantic collage of tactile and visual textures that the celebrated individual wears on this (and only this) day.

The day of Admiration

"Son, you can be the most compassionate of death doulas or the humblest of teobrew farmers, it is all the same: If you have worked, you deserve your story to be told"

— A Stunveldti mother to her self-deprecating son

Peer pressure

While there isn't a specific age for a person to get their Admiration Day and the "expected" period varies wildly by profession, there is an increasing amount of peer pressure as the person ages to "get accomplished enough" to gain their day. Becoming a self-made professional is sometimes discarded as an option, as it makes getting the recognition needed more difficult.

As they grow professionally, the people of Stunveldt are observed closely by their mentors to determine the moment for considering them accomplished, usually defined as the point in which they have learned all there is for them to learn, and only fine-tuning of their craft is possible.
When this is achieved, the mentor and sometimes the community agree to celebrate the person's day. This is considered the most important celebration in a Stunveldti's life, and it usually involves their whole community.

The celebration occupies the whole day and consists of loads of music, dances and food, especially hot chocolate and sweet baked goods. Once the main meal has passed, the celebrated person retires to change clothes, and then comes back to the most important part: The unveiling and fondling of their Admiration Medley.

Fondling of the Medley

After the medley is revealed, the guests will approach the wearer and touch the different parts of the outfit to admire the textures, sounds and shimmers it produces. The piece will be commented on and admired, and people will usually try to identify patches of fabric and guess the original owner.

"Come on, touchy the fishy."

— Someone encouraging a child to touch the medley of a waterland silky

The Social Rules

During the Fondling of the Medley, the normal social boundaries about personal space and physical contact are bent. The assistants are intended and encourage to touch the Medley to feel and admire its different textures, and so the celebrated individual may find themselves with a dozen of hands running through most of their body.
While the crotch area and any uncovered portion of the body are left alone, the person must brace themselves to be touched anywhere else. This activity in this specific day is considered entirely non sexual nor intimate, and anyone found getting overly enthusiastic would have themselves being unceremoniously thrown out of the party and possibly vetoed from future ones.

The composition of a Medley

A Medley is composed of several pieces, all intended to be interconnected and interacting with each other to form a full outfit.
The pieces are a mix of structure materials, ornaments, and dozens upon dozens of pieces of fabric, of which many would have been part of clothing items in the past.

Admiration medleys have created a niche for its tailors in Stunveldt. While general fashion design is not much of a thing on the small island, some renowned tailors made a name for themselves by specializing in the design and confection of the best medleys.

Weeks or even months before the day of the party (or years, in the case of the close family members), the celebrated person is gifted with trinkets and pieces of clothing from their family and friends: It is customary for family members to offer a very loved piece of clothing to become part of the medley. In some cases, a parent will divide an expensive or very loved clothing article between each child.
Once the person has gathered all of the heirloom pieces they want to use, they start working with a tailor on the design. These are all different, some people focus on textures and sounds while other focus on looks, some search for harmony on the designs while others' Medleys will look as if someone threw glue and materials directly over the person.
Overall, the most traditional Medleys look for an appearance of fluidity and weight, which some people describe as "Looking as if the person had just come out of a very colourful muddy swamp".

Symbolism

The Medleys are highly symbolic pieces not only as a way to mark the wearer as the central point of attention but also in the way the pieces are arranged and acquired. People make the overall shapes more delicate, sharp, wavy or voluminous to represent aspects of their personalities, but there is also an array of very specific ways to send messages across using the placement of the gifted pieces. Here are some of the examples.

Detail	Meaning
Fabric placed in shoulder pads extending outwards.	A symbol for the one that gifted the piece being a positive influence in the wearer's life. "You make me bigger".
Fabric being worn as a scarf/around the neck.	Represents a feeling of warmth and comfort while being around the person that gifted it. "You are my shelter"
Fabric placed between the shoulder blades.	The person that gifted the piece is considered a weight being carried. "You are a burden"
A gifted piece of cloth covering the genitals.	This may be interpreted as having a strong sexual desire for the person, or that the person is a prude that shuns their behaviours. "I have the hots for you"/"You are a killjoy"
A very flamboyant piece worn over the crotch or butt.	This may be used as a way of telling that the wearer is an overtly sexual person, or that they expect to get laid after the celebration. "Ask me how this texture feels"
A gifted piece worn in the chest close to the heart, or in the hands.	This is used to indicate that the person is loved, especially in a romantic context. "You are my heart / you always hold my hand"
A piece being worn in the legs, especially if it is made of many gifted pieces of cloth sewn together.	A symbol of strong friendship, representing that these people give them strength and support. "You help me stand up and keep going"

A Medley's Destiny

Medleys are intended to be used once. However, as they are very expensive to make most people turn them into heirlooms given to one's child that the new owner will make changes or additions to them to incorporate the gifted pieces.
A medley usually benefits from this repurposing, as several instances of remixes and additions turn them into gigantic, impressive pieces of art that a poor family couldn't afford in one go.
On the other hand, disposing of a medley after one use is used as a symbol of ostentatious fortune, and rich people may wear the medley a second time when their bodies are disposed of after they die, or they may turn the medley's destruction into an attraction of the Admiration's Day, by shearing it in front of everyone and gifting little pieces as mementos, or even burning it. Some people even had prepared the medleys for this specific purpose, by filling small hidden pouches of the outfit with kernels, gunpowder and other stuffing that would explode and be shot out as it burns.
A medley's destiny is a source of a lot of social discourse: On one hand, they are intended to be used once, but on the other hand, only rich people can afford to do so, and as the culture of Stunveldt is one of close-knit communities and sharing of resources, this is frowned upon by many as wasteful. While some small groups delight themselves with excitingly explosive outfits, most are happier wearing an item with even centuries of little histories in its scraps of fabric.

Medley Blueprints by TJ & Naelin

Item type

Clothing / Accessory

Raw materials & Components

All kinds of fabrics and meshes

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by Iuliia Boiun

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A touchy-feely day

The Day of Admiration is an extremely important celebration for the people of Stunveldt, and as such, there is a lot of social pressure to commit to it. This doesn't sit well with people that are very introverted or that value their personal space, especially those that dislike physical contact.
In many cases people just endure the party, as dropping it would generate a lot of disapproval, and sometimes a forced "surprise" celebration put together by their family (Complete with a surprise Medley).
Some people work around the issue by making Medleys that extend outwards as much as possible, forming a physical barrier that protects them from being touched, and filling the areas closer to their bodies with unattractive textures.
However, in more recent years, people started bringing the topic to light, and some sparks of leniency and respect are becoming more common around the island.

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by Iuliia Boiun

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Destiny's Guts

The Admiration Medley is one of the cards in the deck of Destiny's Guts, a traditional narrative game from Stunveldt.
Drawing it during a round makes the narration go into character-focused exposition, whereas drawing it as a Destiny makes the theme be focused on the main character and the great things they accomplish.

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by Iuliia Boiun

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Sights, sounds and feels

Visuals are not the only aspect to enjoy in the medleys. The outfits are intended to be heard and touched, as well as seen. To manage that, some people have added inventive features to their medleys, such as the following:

Sand glued to the fabric in patterns

Shoes with hollowed platforms that hold beads inside

Segments filled with dried leaves that make crackling noises

Flowing gauze that follows the person's motions slowly, like a dance

Shiny beads encrusted in the fabric in intrincate patterns

Glinting buttons at the seams

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Dividers on the right column by Iuliia Boiun. Original picture here.
Background picture "Adjamé Market" by Eva Blue