Thoughts on your characters' wardrobes.

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Guy's clothes suck. Pants, shirt, shoes, maybe a jacket or coat. Not much else to detail really.

Women's clothes on the other hand ...... infinite range of styles, colors, accessories.

How far do you go in describing who is wearing what? Or not.

 

[NotWise]

I'll describe what a guy's wearing when he takes it off. His clothes don't usually play much of a role in the story. There are exceptions.

I'll almost always describe some aspect of what my female protagonist(s) wears, but I try not to go into detail. It's fairly common for me to research details like how closures work because the guy may need to work them. Women often put enough effort into their choice of clothing that their clothes reflect their character and their goals.

 

[TheRedLantern]

Guy's clothes suck. Pants, shirt, shoes, maybe a jacket or coat. Not much else to detail really

I'm so glad to hear someone else say this. I found myself struggling to figure out what the male characters would be wearing in scenes and how to make it varied. I thought I was just terrible at writing men (I am, but not for this reason at least)

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I'm so glad to hear someone else say this. I found myself struggling to figure out what the male characters would be wearing in scenes and how to make it varied.

I mean, you can into some detail, collared shirts, button down, tank, T, muscle shirts. Pants can be cuffed, cutoff, denim, dress slacks. Some guys get real fancy with their shoes. Then you can get into boxers, briefs, thongs, banana hammocks ... panties?

But most authors don't go there in any detail.

I might mention a suit or Tux, but not much more.

 

[PennyThompson]

I almost always describe clothes, usually grounded and casual and cozy, rather than fantasy-sexy.

My girls are often wearing leggings or jogging pants when they're not trying to impress anyone, summer dresses or skirts and cardigans when they are. Except for a drama club goth character who I always had a ton of fun dressing

My boys usually wear jeans (or yoga pants for the crunchy boy) and well loved band tshirts when they're not at work, slacks and oxford button downs when they're at work, preferably with the sleeves rolled up

My enby character prefers a big baggy hoodie and jeans, which is intentionally NOT sexy but leaves many things to the imagination

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Guy's clothes suck. Pants, shirt, shoes, maybe a jacket or coat. Not much else to detail really.

Women's clothes on the other hand ...... infinite range of styles, colors, accessories.

How far do you go in describing who is wearing what? Or not.

Most of my stories are in the MTF transgender space, so clothes play a big role in a lot of them. Detailed descriptions and the feelings they invoke in the MC. It's a girl thing, or a girl (Work In Progress) thing.

 

[StillStunned]

I have one WIP that goes into detail with the characters' clothes. It's a sword & sorcery tale, with the characters heading off to a posh event.

Avilia's description is 223 words:

She didn’t want to be here. The dress she was wearing was a perfect fit – trust Sligh to get it right – and Mrs Lana and her niece had spent an hour rubbing her with salts and oils until her skin held a warm glow. They’d turned her spiky hair into a shorter, tidier version that suited her and gave her a mature, elegant look.

Under other circumstances she’d have been very pleased with how she looked. Enough to make up for her earlier jealousy over the indigo silk. The dress she wore was a soft green that matched her pale skin, and the cut managed to give her curves she didn’t know she possessed. The high sandals and half-gloves had straps that wound up her calves and along her forearms. Through it all were woven fine strands of gold that shimmered and disappeared and shimmered again.

At her throat she wore a large golden pearl on a chain of stones that matched the colour exactly. Sligh had mentioned their name, but she hadn’t caught it. The same stones were set in the straps on her arms and legs.

Her forefingers, left bare by the half-gloves, were sheathed in articulated plates of gold. Subtle patterns in the metal showed flowers and birds. The one on her right hand held a sizable emerald as well.

Sligh's is only a third of that, at 78 words:

His own clothes fit him like the finest tailors in the city had spent a week making them. The formal kilt – short in the front, long in the back – and sleeveless silk jacket were of a deep gold that matched her jewellery. His shirt was a soft cream-coloured wool, and the boots that clung to his calves were a golden brown. All his buttons were gold and emerald, and on his forefingers he wore sheaths identical to hers.

It's difficult to come up with original formal wear for fantasy stories. Usually my descriptions don't go much further than woollen breeches and leather jerkins.

 

[NotWise]

I'm so glad to hear someone else say this. I found myself struggling to figure out what the male characters would be wearing in scenes and how to make it varied. I thought I was just terrible at writing men (I am, but not for this reason at least)

Most guys intentionally pay little attention to what they're wearing. Doing so is not masculine.

Men do pay attention in a situation where they need to be formal, and women notice when they do. Men's suits made with with high quality, tactile fabric will get a lot of attention from women. I used to wear a tuxedo to take tickets for a ballet company, and women's reactions often surprised me. I got touched a lot. Little girls would get big-eyed when they saw me and back up.

 

[MrPixel]

Guys' clothes can be part of the scene and can set a mood. I don't go crazy with it, but for instance, I just wrote a scene where the FC requested the MC wear his felt fedora on a date 'cause she said it was "sexy." He responded the hat really didn't go with the polo he was wearing, so he retreated to the bedroom to change into a long-sleeve buttoned shirt. The fedora was successful in setting the scene for the couple's picking-up another couple for evening fun.

Same goes for the MMC's "lady killer" outfit, a summer-weight light tan suit, also topped with his fedora. It captures the ladies' attention.

Of course there is a wide chasm between a button-down Oxford and a logo T-shirt.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Little girls would get big-eyed when they saw me and back up.

A 'Mr. T' Mohawk can do that.

 

[UncleJunior]

I'm all over the place. Depends on the story.

I started a personal challenge of writing stories that break the cardinal rules of erotic literature and "introducing characters by describing their wardrobe" turned into a pretty engaging "rich-bitch" story where a name brand gets dropped every three paragraphs. What was a terrible way to describe characters turned into a pretty good way to describe terrible characters. That one would be an outlier, but describing a character by describing their clothing works when the characters themselves are shallow and very surface-level.

Normally, I only describe clothing when it matters to describing something else. A kid with scraped knees will be wearing shorts. A woman with an impressive figure will have her clothes described as pertains to her figure. In a mother-daughter scene, the daughter wore jean shorts and a t-shirt to show of her flirty personality and mom wore it to show she was in competition with her daughter for the same man. The descriptions of the clothing revealed what they wanted to show and/or hide, expressing the differences of the characters in how they wore the same outfit.

 

[Nynah]

I write mostly in the E/V space so clothes don't often matter much there.

However, when I do describe clothes, sometimes I prefer to focus on how the clothes interact with the character's figure as opposed to just what they look like. A dress is a dress, but if you describe how it sits on a woman's body, you can enhance the teasing and eroticism. Does it expose her collarbone and if so, how much? Is it fitted to her body and if so, can you tell if she's wearing something underneath? How does it sit on her frame and how easily can you visualize her out of it?

I haven't written too much in the way of describing men's clothing, but I imagine if and when I do, I'd take the same approach. Like Penny, rolled-up sleeves are my weakness, so describing how far they're rolled up and if that enhances their forearms or biceps to any degree. I also love an unbuttoned dress shirt, so I'd detail whatever the male equivalent of décolletage is. Double points if a dressy vest in involved somehow, something about that unlocks a primal part of my lizard hind brain.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I write mostly in the E/V space so clothes don't often matter much there.

However, when I do describe clothes, sometimes I prefer to focus on how the clothes interact with the character's figure as opposed to just what they look like. A dress is a dress, but if you describe how it sits on a woman's body, you can enhance the teasing and eroticism. Does it expose her collarbone and if so, how much? Is it fitted to her body and if so, can you tell if she's wearing something underneath? How does it sit on her frame and how easily can you visualize her out of it?

That's where it gets REAL interesting. To short, too low cut, slit too high, too tight, too many buttons opened, too sheer.

 

[LondonLucy]

I like to describe what my characters are wearing (male and female), partly because I like clothes, partly because choice of outfit can be a useful way to express something about the character.

And nice to know I’m not the only one who appreciates a rolled-up shirt sleeve

 

[NotWise]

I haven't tried it, but you can probably get mileage from describing men's wardrobe mistakes.

I was going into work on a Saturday morning and was dressed in casual office. I had to stop on the way to the office for a friend's political fundraiser so I threw on a blazer on my way out the door. Got there, signed in, made my donation and met some friends who were looking at me a little oddly. The most stylish woman in the group looked me up and down and said, "We were just wondering who would wear a tan suit."

I was wearing the same tan slacks I wore to the office the day before. The blazer I threw on was tan. It looked like a tan suit. Around here it would have made good desert camouflage.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Guy's clothes suck. Pants, shirt, shoes, maybe a jacket or coat. Not much else to detail really.

Women's clothes on the other hand ...... infinite range of styles, colors, accessories.

How far do you go in describing who is wearing what? Or not.

In my story "The Maneater", the first-person female character describes in detail throughout the story how she selects clothes, jewelry, hairstyle, and even perfumes and poses for each occasion as she goes from event to event as her means of controlling the men around her.

EDIT (excerpt from page one):
After changing clothes in the lady's room, I left the office to meet my husband for drinks after work. The knee-length skirt, conservative blouse, and low-heel comfortable shoes I wore earlier were replaced by this asymmetrical neckline, pretty little black club dress, a right-side, one-shoulder style with a cutout exposing my cleavage and a slit exposing my right hip almost to where my panties would be, if I wore them.

I decided to go 'commando' this evening to tease my husband. I find it intriguing that men can get excited just knowing the woman they're talking to is naked under the dress. So, I try to play with men's imagination.

I'm trying out new knee-high, brushed black suede, four-inch heel boots with the dress this time. The gap between the boots and a skirt highlights the legs. So, I think these taller knee-high boots will narrow the gap to emphasize my toned thighs. And I wouldn't choose shiny suede or vinyl because it would distract from the skin of my legs.

My long, dark auburn hair was released from the athletic pony-tail band and now brushed free for my preferred flip over style. I bring most of the hair over my bare left shoulder, hanging beside my face for strategic use. It gives me a seductive look, and I can partially hide my face when coyly glancing to the right, ... which is usually to hide an involuntary smirk at something stupid. I'm right-handed, but I deliberately use my left hand to part my hair on the right to confuse people. They intuitively assume I'm left-handed. Such subtle body language mis-signals help throw others off-guard.

Adding a little mascara and eyeliner, contact lenses, along with a necklace dangling down to draw the eyes as a pointer to my cleavage, and I'm 'dressed to kill' before going to the Satellite Club.

When I came out of the elevator at the club's penthouse floor, I took a few steps in and to the left, stopping to pause with my right leg out slightly to expand the slit opening, exposing more of the thigh and hip. I only balance evenly over my feet when I want to send a dominatrix look to intimidate.

In college, some of my girlfriends said beauty pageant consultants taught them that girls should pose with one knee turned in and "Never show the inner thigh." It's for the demure, innocent girl-next-door look. But I'm not innocent. Posture and a pose send a signal. And my leg out gives the subtle suggestion of 'naughty girl, open, ready for action' to draw men's attention.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The entire story is about how she manipulates and commands the men around her.

 

[THBGato]

How far do you go in describing who is wearing what? Or not.

I don't bother, unless it's relevant to the plot e.g. Priya noticing Kate's legs but pretending to complement her jeans as she still hasn't admitted to herself how she feels; Lucy love-bombing Amanda with gifts of expensive lingerie; Luna mistaking Marama for one of the catering staff because she's in a black mini skirt and white shirt.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Luna mistaking Marama for one of the catering staff because she's in a black mini skirt and white shirt.

Major weak knees spot.

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[NotWise]

I've posted this elsewhere before.



I'd already worked out in my mind what Grace in my most recent story looked like, then I found this picture of her Actually, Grace is younger than Esther Abrami, but who cares?

Grace wore Esther's shoes to the New Years Eve party, with a body suit and blue jeans instead of bare-legged. The shoes only come up in a brief scene where the MMC scans the room and finds a couple girls admiring them. Grace can't remember where she got them. Singapore, maybe? But that dialog was edited out.

 

[txblush]

Men's accessories, watches, jewelry. Or the lack of one, like tattoos. Although I'll admit I created a character with one because I enjoy symbolism.

 

[TiberiusPrime]

Guy's clothes suck. Pants, shirt, shoes, maybe a jacket or coat. Not much else to detail really.

Women's clothes on the other hand ...... infinite range of styles, colors, accessories.

How far do you go in describing who is wearing what? Or not.

I've only concerned myself with describing what my characters wore in one story: Tom and Mary. And only because it took place in the early 1900s, plus it was integral to the story.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It depends on the story, in one of my more recent stories the FMC works in marketing for a swimwear company. Much of the story takes place on a boat or in the water so her wardrobe is relevant and advances the story.

In another the older FMC is getting ready for the younger MMC to come over and is trying to decide whst to wear. I explore her feelings in terms of "how long has it been since I got dressed up for a boy?" Later he tells her that he finds her style very attractive, a "sexy June Cleaver". So she works to "dress the part" of her new found sexuality.
Describing her clothes and decisions are part of developing the character.

 

[ronde]

I write enough description of clothing to let the reader decide what he or she wants to see.

Men wear jeans, pants, shorts, or swim trunks and T-shirts, button shirts, or maybe a wife-beater. Shoes and hats to fit the occupation or setting.

Women wear jeans, pants, shorts, dresses, or skirts and T-shirts, button shirts, tank tops, and bikini bras. Shoes to fit the occupation or setting. Usually no hat unless it's a cowboy hat or a ball cap.

Modifiers for either sex might include tight-fitting, loose-fitting, sheer, light, or heavy.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Guy's clothes suck.

I agree, and I worked with that in this passage when a female character is undressing a male:

“Undershirt?” she hissed.

“It’s cold today.”

She yanked up the hem, stretching to get the white cotton over his head. “Least sexy garment ever invented,” she grumbled.

 

[TheLobster]

Only if a character is meant to notice, preferably in a way that shows their attitude and/or attraction. Which incidentally means I'd probably spend more time describing male garment, since that's female characters would often pay close attention to.

I used the rolled-up sleeve trick once, and it certainly did work to showcase the casual, charismatic professionalism of the MMC, like @PennyThompson mentioned, which served to make FMC more attracted to him. I even made him throw his forearms wide, as an audience-capturing move during an academic presentation that you can often see in highlights from TED talks and the like Definitely worked there, because it also allowed me to highlight that he was notably older by focusing on the more veiny and sinewy shape of his hands.

Female clothing is quite difficult for me to describe in detail because not only I have to look up specific names rather often (ESL woes), but I also can't tell at a glance that the term I'm about to use would be familiar to readers. I wish someone had written a "Female Wardrobe 101" article in How-To