Marian wrote:The cotton one probably, if I had to pick, that silk dress doesn't fit any of my characters personalities and they'd feel awkward and overdressed in it. (Though most of them would feel a little silly in the cotton dress too. Most of mine who have gotten away from hide clothes wear pants anyway because a skirt is impractical for someone who travels or works all the time.)
And MAelstrom already posted what I was going to say. If cotton is harder to produce it should be more valuable, if not it's the trader's faults for not explaining how much time it takes to make and insisting on a fair price.
I've noticed that people in the game are very fact-oriented. You can hype up a resource or tool to make it look like it's worth more than it really is, no matter how good a roleplayer you are...everything with a practical use in CAntr traded after calculating the amount of days it took to gather and process it versus whatever it is you're tradign for, why should cotton string or rope be any different?
As for clothing, you can't caluculate how much it's worth out based on the description because that has to do with individual characters and what fits their personality, not the facts. If someone really really wants cotton, say they just have to have a cotton robe or toga, they'll pay more for it, and somebody else could have a farmer who wants a pair of hemp work gloves way more than sissy cotton or silk ones.
While what you say is true, what is it you use to decide whether a particular sort of clothing is right for that character's personality and for the utility of a particular item, say dress vs. pants? The description.
My characters also determine by their personality what they want to wear, regardless of cost, but most people won't go by that. I have a char that prefers silk to cotton and one that would prefer cotton to silk.
Most players will go by the description first, and unfortunately, many just go by the description, not a combination of the description combined with the character's personality.
But of the two dresses, most people will probably go for the silk over the cotton. I would choose the silk if the character was complex and preferred looking rich and sultry. I would choose the cotton if it were a character of simple wants and needs that only wanted something nice and soft to wear. The description of the silk dress though, is more appealing to the visual eye though. If it were me choosing for myself, as a player, rather than based on my individual character's personalities, I'd choose the silk.
Just making sure I understand the question here before I try to offer up a means to address it.
That's a chemise vs a full dress.