Fairy Treat- Fairy Clothes

There's all kinds of neat things in this book. I recommend it. :D
(P.S. If you have an interest in it I recommend all books really)

    Clothes are no small matter to fairies, who realize that clothing says a great deal about the wearer and has symbolic meanings. Some fairies prefer to remain naked, in the same way that some modern-day pagans, within closed rituals, prefer to be "sky-clad." They feel this is a sign that we are all naked before the gods, and shows respect for Nature.

Clothes as a sign of power

    By contrast, other fairy folk are very fussy about clothing, preferring the beautiful and the costly. In many cultures, clothes define the status and occupation of the wearer, and so are an outward sign of inward reality. We are freed from such constraints in the modern world, but fairies are well aware of the symbolic nature of all things. Some fairies, robbed of their clothing, are doomed to remain captive in the mortal world until they recover it. The good Persian fairy, the Peri, is one example, whose clothes signify magical power. 

    One story tells of a weary merchant's son, who rested from his travels by the shores of a lake. Four doves flew down and turned in to Peries before his eyes. They then shed their robes and bathed in the waters. The young man hid the clothes and, when they realized what had happened, the Peries were distraught. One of them agreed to marry him in order that the others might escape, whereupon he gave three Peries back their clothes, taking the fourth with him as his bride. They lived together for ten years, after which he went on his travels again, leaving the precious clothes with an old woman. When he was gone, the Peru persuaded the old woman to let her put her clothes on just for a minute--whereupon she immediately vanished from sight. 

    Many fairies are intentionally ragged in appearance, such as the brownies. However, if they are given clothes, they are so offended that they often disappear for ever. This idea is echoed by J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter books, in which a house elf is freed by the gift of clothes. To traditional house fairies, clothes are an empty gift conforming to human standards, not to those of Fairyland. 

The Significance of color

    Color is also an important consideration, with red and green being favorites. Both of these colors speak of the power of Nature: red being the color of blood (and of death, with which some fairies are linked), and green the color of leaves and grass. Irish Leprechauns usually wear green, (This is wear the book and I disagree. Leprechauns traditionally wore red, green is a new age thing) along with leather aprons, silver buckled shoes, and three cornered hats, on which they may turn upside down and spin. In fact, in Ireland green is so much the property of the Fair Folk that it may be unlucky for mortals to wear it. Some fairies even have green skin. Nature spirits are the types of fairy most closely linked to green and the world of vegetation.

    Red has magical connections, and witches are believed by some to have red hair and to wear red cloaks or caps. Red is also linked with death, and in prehistoric times corpses were often smeared with red ochre, to give them renewed vitality. And the sun, when it "dies," goes down in a blaze of red. Many fairies have red caps, or are entirely red in color. Red caps may also be associated with shamanism and with the fly agaric mushroom, which induces a trance.

Clothes as symbols

    Human clothes can also be used as a weapon to break fairy enchantment. When led astray by fairies while out walking (that is, "pixy-led"), the best thing to do is to take off your coat and turn it inside out, thus distracting the fairies long enough to escape. This may also be a way of marshaling all the powers of your conscious mind so that you can think logically.

    If troublesome fairies are disturbing your nights, place your shoes by the bed with the toes pointing outward and put your socks beneath them. Gloves are even more important as symbols. A glove thrown into a fairy ring will stop all the revelry, and one Cornish tale describes how a farmer called Noy threw down his glove at a fairy assembly, whereupon the entire company disappeared, along with the house and orchard. Many customs feature gloves, as a sign of intention or authority--"throwing down the gauntlet," for instance, was a medieval challenge, accepted if the gauntlet was picked up. The human hand has been the tool that has wrought many changes in the natural world--small wonder that the fairies are alive to the meaning of the glove.

    Nothing is just what it seems: All things have a meaning beyond their purpose, and naught more so than clothes. If humans will not realize this, the fairies will teach them.