Urchin Attire

Urchins wear simple, practical clothing. They prefer subtle, earthen colors such as browns, tans, and grays, and use nearly no leather. Their belts, gloves, and shoes (when they wear them) are made of hemp or canvas. The style of their clothes is in fashion with the culture of men or dwarves they live among, as they often purchase children’s clothes of the big folk. They seldom wear shoes, except in cold weather, as the soles are more slippery and make more noise than their own natural soles. The one traditional item of clothing most urchins wear is a reversible vest called a pacheena. Most often seen is a neutral, natural colored side that is utilitarian with pockets, however the reverse is decorative, usually with a decorative pattern that can be worn for occasions that merit dressing up.

One way to tell urchins apart in social standing and wealth is by the quality of their pacheena, for even the wealthiest urchin still wears muted tones for their basic clothes. The wives and ladies of the urchins spend their spare time working on the pacheenas making them works of art that show images of nature or even display scenes of urchin life and culture. The wealthier the urchin the nicer their pacheena, with more vivid colors, more elaborate needlework upon them, possibly even precious stones as the buttons.

Male and female urchin dress attire

Urchin Embroidery

While urchins are known for embroidering their dress pacheena sides, it is not the only things they embroider. They will, in fact, embroider pieces for other people - and they get paid well for doing so. Their small, clever hands and sharp eyes allow them to do needle and bead work in minute and precise detail.

They use metallic thread in their more expensive works. Nobles and wealthy merchants of the big folk will order items with metallic thread to flaunt their wealth. Some prominent urchins may show off their extravagant vests, but for most it serves as a way to carry and hide wealth - when the embroidered side of a pacheena is worn inside its worth would be hidden.

Some urchin embroiderers are said to be so skillful that they can infuse magic into items that they add their needlework. Spellcasters, or others that don’t wear armor, seek them out to add enchantments to their cloth items like robes and cloaks. The most common form of enchanted needlework is protection: an urchin can hide symbols of protection in the embroidery pattern, providing a +1 to one Saving Throw: Constitution is the most popular request to aid in concentration checks.