I’d imagine they would look pretty similar since at the end of MN it said that King Frank and Queen Helen’s 2nd son became king of Archenland. It’s very possible that they’d have a difference in armor maybe and over time after establishing territories had formed their own coat of arms. That’s the only thing I can think that would be different.

If I was designing costumes for the Archenlanders, I would probably start by looking at the traditional costumes for various mountain dwelling cultures from around the world.

For example, something evocative of the Basque region of Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains, with the Romani Gypsy type influences might be interesting to see on screen.

Switzerland perhaps feels a bit too modern with most of its visual imagery, but I do like the idea of emphasising Archenland's comparable status as an often neutral party in Narnia-world affairs, by having some sort of Swiss influence in the design.

Norse mythology, as well as Russian Influences also feel like a good starting place - essentially anything with lots of furs for the cold weather and rugged terrain of the mountains.

That said though, I might be tempted to go for a completely non-European mountain theme such as a Tibet or Nepal type design theme.

Posted by: @icarus

Switzerland perhaps feels a bit too modern with most of its visual imagery, but I do like the idea of emphasising Archenland's comparable status as an often neutral party in Narnia-world affairs, by having some sort of Swiss influence in the design.

Why all of a sudden am I having visions of Archenland's main exports being chocolate, watches, muesli, army knives...  

Posted by: @icarus

That said though, I might be tempted to go for a completely non-European mountain theme such as a Tibet or Nepal type design theme.

That'd definitely be less expected and visually interesting, but as @daughterofthestar said, Archenland was founded by the second son of Narnia's first King and Queen (according to the book; Lewis's later timeline has a different story), and the two countries seem to have always maintained friendly relations, so I can't imagine there'd be any major cultural differences that would lead to the Archenlanders developing drastically different styles of clothing from the Narnians. Not to the extent of them looking like they came from opposite sides of the world, anyway. Unfortunately Archenland is a bit under-developed as far as Lewis's world-building goes and there's not a lot to go on in the canon, so to speak...

I just had the thought of looking at Pauline Baynes's two illustrations of King Lune in HHB, and rather intriguingly, she draws him wearing something like a turban on his head with a crown on top, and very long, flowing, decorative attachments on his sleeves (which can't have been very practical when riding a horse, as he's doing, or rather is about to do, when we first encounter him!). I'm pretty sure we don't have any illustrations of Narnian royalty looking like that. Perhaps Baynes felt that the Archenlanders needed to look a little more on the exotic side?

@courtenay 

And we thought Calormenes were on the exotic side.  

I don’t think CS Lewis gave much description about Archenlanders, though it might be safe to say they were fair, given that Cor and Corin are described as being fair-haired. 

I've read some suggest that the Archenlanders should have a bit of an Irish vibe since green is a color associated with both Ireland and Archenland. 

Posted by: @col-klink

I've read some suggest that the Archenlanders should have a bit of an Irish vibe since green is a color associated with both Ireland and Archenland. 

Just wondering, whereabouts do we see green associated with Archenland? I can't remember, off the top of my head, any references to this in HHB (the only book where Archenland features significantly in the plot), but it's a long time since I last revisited that particular book. 

@courtenay the wall around the hermit's hermitage is green and King Lune and his courtiers are dressed in green when Shasta first sees them. The book also emphasizes how much green the characters see when they first come to Archenland though that's probably more about the North in general than that specific kingdom. 

@col-klink Oh yes, I'd forgotten that detail about King Lune and his men. I just checked the book, though, and it specifies they were in "green hunting-dress", so it's not certain that green is a heraldic colour for Archenland, just that it's what they wear in the royal hunting party. A few chapters later we're told that the "great banner of Narnia" is "a red lion on a green ground", but I don't think there's ever a description of the banner of Archenland or its heraldic devices.

The Hermit's wall is described first as a "green wall", but then more specifically as "a high wall of green turf", so that's implicitly its natural colour, not paintwork — whereas the Hermit himself wears "a robe coloured like autumn leaves". I'd guess the intended effect there is of someone who lives close to nature, as the Hermit indeed does.

Meanwhile, yes, I also get the impression that the emphasis on how much green our heroes see in Archenland has a lot to do with the fact that they've just crossed a huge desert and that they've lived all or most of their lives so far in a very hot and dry country, so the green is a big contrast!

Archenland and its people are just some of the many things we as readers would love to know more about, but Lewis never developed them beyond what was needed for the particular stories he was writing. I remember as a young reader being slightly disappointed at first that Shasta / Cor and Aravis didn't settle in Narnia itself, but of course, plot-wise, Shasta needs to discover he's the long-lost heir to the throne, and that wouldn't work at this period of Narnia's history (because it's during the reign of the four Pevensies, and none of them have children). So it's just as well Lewis had already invented a friendly neighbouring kingdom to the south of Narnia (Archenland first gets a mention, and a positive one at that, in Prince Caspian)! But this one story (HHB) is the only one where we see anything of it. Archenland would make a great setting / topic for new continuation stories if Netflix does decide to do that, but I'd rather they focus on the canonical ones first and hopefully do a good job of them!! 

How about these sorts of costumes from the mountain nation of Andorra?

Posted by: @courtenay

Archenland and its people are just some of the many things we as readers would love to know more about, but Lewis never developed them beyond what was needed for the particular stories he was writing.

I actually never wondered about Archenland that much. It just struck me as Narnia 2.0 without the cool fantasy elements like talking animals. That's not a knock on this topic, of course! Anyone doing a visual adaptation of The Horse and his Boy is going to have to be interested in what Archenland culture looks like.

Posted by: @col-klink

I actually never wondered about Archenland that much. It just struck me as Narnia 2.0 without the cool fantasy elements like talking animals. That's not a knock on this topic, of course! Anyone doing a visual adaptation of The Horse and his Boy is going to have to be interested in what Archenland culture looks like.

Oh, they certainly will!  

@jasmine_tarkheena have you seen pictures of the stage show of HHB, which is still being toured by Logos Theatre?  Hope you can see this one  - in the centre are King Lune and Queen of Archenland, with their twin babies. 

@coracle 

 I've seen pictures of the production online. I think Archenlanders looked similar to the Narnians.

The other four are Kings Peter & Edmund, and the babies' nurse (blonde)  and Queen Susan I think.