Describe An Item Of Clothing

If you're trying to learn how to describe vesture in writing, you're probably like me:

You've only pretended to know what organza is. When y'all're shopping for yourself, you know what yous similar but you don't know how to describe it. And ninety-nine percent of the clothing descriptions in your first typhoon are merely "jeans." I become information technology. Article of clothing description is something I accept to actively choose to create, too. Information technology's non an attribute of character design that bubbling upwards naturally from the depths of my artistic soul. And as a reader, goose egg bores me like an entire paragraph of detailed clothing description.

But I've also noticed that artful clothing description does make a character, a setting, and even a moment more engaging. It'due south all in the arts and crafts.It's skilful that you're here to acquire how to draw clothing in writing, because it's a powerful tool. What your character wears reveals where they come from, how they rank in club, how they want to be perceived, and even how they feel about themselves.

These shallow details aid the states get pretty deep on character.

The proficient news is that attire is not merely important, it's as well kind of fun when you lot beginning digging into information technology. You find that it'due south about more than throwing out fashion terms and listing manufactures of wearable. It'south about building a life and a world, and that is something you can exercise.

Let's talk well-nigh how to use clothing description as a storytelling tool, how to dress your character for their personality and setting, and how to make apparel interesting to anyone. Because it really is possible.

Items of clothing laid out in an organized pattern: striped shirt, scarf, camera, watch, belt, phone, sunglasses, boots, and purse.

Why Clothing Description Matters

1 very of import aspect of describing attire well is agreement why you're describing it in the first identify.

What exactly are you trying to communicate near the character, setting, or situation?

The answer to this question gives y'all a ton of clarity. You suddenly know which details to include, which to leave out, and whether to phone call it a "blood-red cloak" or a "goji berry wrap.

"Let's have a wait at how clothing description indicates your character's identity, goals, and civilization.

Person wearing round sunglasses, white platform shoes, jeans, and a button-up shirt with a geometric pattern sits outside a cafe holding a bouquet of yellow flowers.

Apparel That Fit Your Character

Those of us who don't become all jazzed about writing clothing descriptions often fail to consider that a good wardrobe has layers.

I don't mean camisoles and cardigans. I hateful what your character wears provides a clue to how they run across themselves, how they want to be seen, and even how others see them.

Clothing description besides presents an opportunity to play with dissimilar points of view. Maybe your grapheme heads out on the town wearing a "daring leopard impress jumpsuit," only to have their best friend immediately enquire where they got the "kitty costume."

When you use clothing to ascertain who your character is, call back that information technology tin besides clarify how they feel about themselves and how they fit into the world around them.

Here are some archetype characteristics you tin can draw out through clothing clarification.

Status

Conveniently, a lot of high status positions come with outfits or accessories that telegraph a person's position in the bureaucracy. This includes things like a airplane pilot's uniform, a tiara, or a Pink Ladies jacket.

But condition can be communicated in more than subtle ways, as well. 1 of the starting time things I learned when I moved to L.A. is that writers do non dress "professionally" for big meetings in Hollywood. Every bit a friend told me, "Wear jeans and glasses and have a favorite pen. Otherwise they won't have you lot seriously as an creative person."

What are the rules of your character'southward world? What's the respected "uniform," and does your character wearable information technology?

Ability

It's fun to play with power in wear, because it'southward a relative concept.

One character might demonstrate their power by showing upwards to prom in a designer gown. Another might claim power by striding in wearing torn jeans and a tank tiptop.

‍Both can lose clout merely by the way their peers respond to their wardrobe choices.

Play with the question of presentation and power! It's a good fourth dimension.

Identity

A band t-shirt. A velvet scrunchie. A pair of starched Wranglers. A vintage polka dot clothes with a sweetheart neckline.

I'd exist willing to bet each of these items immediately brought to heed a semi-clear graphic symbol. If you stopped to think about information technology, you lot may even notice yourself imagining things as specific as age, hobbies, and ambitions.

It really doesn't take much. We naturally link wear and identity, which is why wardrobe is such an effective tool for building a vivid character.

Wealth

This one is elementary, correct? Give your wealthy character a pair of Louboutins and wearing apparel your non-wealthy characters in hand-me-downs.

That works. But it tin also exist fun to play with the confidence and ease that comes with wealth.

Your trust fund character might exist completely confident showing upward to a party in lath shorts and flip-flops. Meanwhile, the character who works ii jobs while going to school full-fourth dimension might scour the Goodwill rack for a designer tag to help them fit in at the aforementioned party.

Emotion

If I'm wearing lipstick with no plans of going out, 1 of two things is happening:

I'm in a keen mood or I'thousand feeling similar I take zero command over my life and failure is inevitable.

What your grapheme wears can tell united states a lot well-nigh how they experience or how they desire to experience. A cocky-conscious kid tries to disappear inside their oversized sweatshirt. An anxious college student buys a flower crown in the hopes of feeling young and gratis at Coachella.

Dress can betray our greatest joys and our deepest insecurities. So take fun with that.

Clothes That Fit Your Character'south Goals

As I write this, I am wearing jeans that are too big, a gray t-shirt I inherited from a former roommate, and a pilled hoodie from a lighting vendor that works with my friend'south husband'south company.

Given that I am writing lonely in my apartment, you might rightfully conclude that my goal is to be comfortable.

Simply put me in a chore interview wearing the same outfit, and you'd probably starting time making new guesses about my intentions. Am I trying to accident the interview? Impress someone with my indifference? Slog through another meaningless day in a world where nil matters?

Or is condolement just that of import to me?

Wearable tells your reader a lot about your character'southward goals and motivations within a given scenario.

Which of these article of clothing types is your grapheme most likely to reach for when starting their twenty-four hours?

Sturdy Wearing apparel

This includes items like steel-toed boots, heavy denim, or tech-forward, snag-resistant superhero spandex.

If sturdy is a peak consideration, your character might exist expecting trouble or run a risk. Maybe a chip of both. They're probably less concerned with how they look (unless they desire to look intimidating) and more concerned with things like survival or victory.

Bonny Apparel

Is your character trying to attract positive attending? So this is their category.

Peradventure they're hoping to impress the absurd kids or please their parents. Maybe their goal is to entice a mate. Or it could be that they want to be overjoyed past their own image when they look in the mirror. Either mode, their goal is to be desirable, whatever "desirable" means in this situation.

Details about fit, cut, and material go a long fashion when describing the wear of a grapheme who longs to concenter. Non-visual senses are big, too. Think touchable fabrics and the light odour of lavender lather.

Comfy Clothes

Perchance your character is snuggled upwards in their fleece pajamas while the blizzard rages outside. Or they could exist frantically running errands in leggings and a t-shirt.

Whether information technology'due south a matter of indulgence or survival, feeling good is a deeply relatable goal. Assist your readers experience the relaxed, organic cotton or the memory foam slipper, and they'll feel your grapheme's priorities deep in their own souls.

Stealthy Clothes

This is a fun one. Does your character need to hide? Sneak around? Blend in?

Stealthy clothes bring to mind burglars clad in black outfits and soft-soled sneakers. Merely the definition of "sneaky" depends on your character's situation.

Practise they need a ghillie suit to blend into the natural environs? Or are yous writing a spy character who dons Lululemon to infiltrate an upscale yoga studio?

Protective Clothes

Is your central conflict a life-or-death situation? Odds are, you've got a character who dresses to stay alive. Think armor, bulletproof vests, and bandoliers.

Your character might also have a job or hobby that requires protective clothing. Whether it's a beekeeping conform, climbing helmet, knee pads, or sun-protective textile, what your character wears provides a clue about what'south at stake in the coming scene.

Two Mongolian falconers dressed in fur, hats, and colorful pants ride on horseback with their falcons.

Clothes That Fit Your Grapheme's World

The starting time time I joined my family for our biannual Minnesota fishing trip after moving to L.A. from the Midwest, I found myself constantly losing my aunt and mother.

Every fourth dimension we got separated in a public infinite, I discovered myself in a body of water of mature women with the same haircut and pastel tops. I never thought of there beingness a uniform for Midwestern ladyness. It took leaving the Midwest to recognize it.

But that's the case wherever you get. Our wardrobes are influenced by our age, geography, culture, hobbies, and a million other aspects of our worlds.

Fifty-fifty the non-conformists are influenced past societal norms. The surrounding culture dictates what they tin can't habiliment if they desire to exist seen as gratis-thinking individuals. (Huh.)

All this to say: at that place is substantial storytelling power in a coral "Life is Skillful" t-shirt.

Here's how to describe habiliment in writing to show your readers the world to which your character belongs…

…or the world they're desperately resisting.

History

Clothing is one of the easiest and most immediate ways to institute an historical setting. If your protagonist is donning a tri-cornered lid, loosening a corset, or strutting through town in a new toga, your reader has a skillful sense of time period.

Or at least they know what century they're in.

At present, if you write historical fiction, it's important to research the habiliment of your chosen era. More on that in a bit.

Resources

Clothing reflects the resources available in a specific fourth dimension and place. When describing vesture in writing, consider:

The time period of your story. (Has denim been invented all the same?)
The geographical location of your story. (Would people living in this surface area have access to leather goods?)
Your character and community's financial resource. (Where do they buy their clothes? How long exercise they need their clothes to terminal?)

Yous can also employ this aspect of clothing description to pigment a bright moving picture of the globe y'all imagined. Would the style designers in your fantasy novel make utilise of dragon scales? Are the characters of your dystopian novel forced to make do with burlap and mud?

Geography

Where does your story take place?

The answer can guide yous towards certain fashion trends to inspire your character's wardrobe. The geographical setting might suggest that your characters are expected to abide by strict rules for modesty or are celebrated for being wild and costless.

And of grade, location provides a clue for what it takes to exist comfortable in the world of your story. If your character comes dwelling and immediately sheds three layers of downwards and fleece, I'thou going to presume they're not in San Antonio, Texas.

Values

Do your characters care deeply nearly looking respectable, or are they more agape of putting on airs? What matters more to them: fashion or function? Do they strive to be humble before their god or do they want to spend this ane and only life as their bold, ostentatious selves?

What is the prevailing value in the society of your story? Do all your characters cover it? Who'southward your rebel, and how does their clothing reflect their defiant spirit?

How to Depict Clothing in Writing Without Dragging Downwardly the Story

Hopefully, you now have more wardrobe ideas for your characters than only "ruby shirt, bluish pants." Just what virtually the process of actually sharing these details in your novel?

Allow'south talk about how to describe clothing in writing organically. Like all forms of exposition, your goal is to evangelize this information without pulling the reader out of the story. We're trying to avoid, "Isabell gazed out the window, and by the way, she was wearing a white terry cloth robe."

Hither's how it'south washed.

Focus on Building the Scene and Character

Showtime and foremost, recollect that clothing description is still storytelling. Y'all're not infodumping. You lot're working essential details into the narrative at the moment when they are about relevant.

Information technology's okay if Todd's checks his designer watch 3 pages after yous mention his silk necktie. The reader does not demand the total outfit in one go.

Also behave in mind that not all clothing descriptions take to be presented as "She put on x" or "He was wearing y." Yous can draw your reader'due south attention to an item of vesture by having your character describe on their jeans or dabble with their collar.

Characters can likewise comment on or react to one some other's wear, every bit long as the substitution reveals something near the world or relationship.

Don't Testify Everything

Our imaginations can do a surprising amount with just a few central details. If you tell your readers about Nanette's light pinkish cardigan and cord of pearls, you don't take to say much about the shoes and skirt and silk blouse. They'll see it automatically.

Select the most striking details and movement on.

Apply the Senses

One reason wearable descriptions can starting time to feel like a tedious laundry list (meet what I did there?) is considering we go stuck on what things look like. But in that location is so much more to the feel of clothing than that.

Tell us how the wool of your protagonist's sheath dress scratches the peel on the underside of her arm. Mention the familiar swooshing of the neighbor'due south tracksuit as he runs past the house every morning or how the aunt's jacket ever smells like cold air and pine needles.

Textile, Fit, Quality, Colour

If you're good at talking clothes, you can sit this one out. Only for writers like me who get stuck in the "white socks, green dress" rut, here's a quick reminder:

Details virtually cloth, fit, quality, and colour are super effective when information technology comes to creating a sense of character, place, or moment.

Amorphous jeans. A scarlet pantsuit. A four-layer, bubble-gum pink taffeta skirt. The only cloak in the world fabricated with silk spun by the true cat-sized spiders that alive in the forbidden mountains.

These images all go a lot farther than "white socks, green dress," and most of them don't require a lot of extra words.

Brand It Significant

Consider whether your character's attire might serve equally a symbol, highlight a theme, or represent a conflict.

Maybe they're wearing an article of habiliment that once belonged to someone they've lost. Or they'll be living off soda crackers and peanut butter for the next calendar week considering they drained their checking account for a suit to impress at their task interview.

What would "high stakes wear" look similar in your story?

Allow the Clothing Tell a Story

Really, the topic of this article is not how to describe clothing in writing as much as it is how to tell a story with wearing apparel. Because like all other character details, information technology's not plenty to pigment a picture. The image you create has to play a role in the narrative.Consider the grapheme arc. Who is your character at the beginning of the story, and how can you lot wearing apparel them to establish their "normal"? How practise they alter, and how does their wear reflect that modify?

Enquiry!

Be specific and accurate. In other words, research.

If you write historical fiction, you're probably way alee of me. Yous're already obsessing over hat styles and what the undergarment situation was at the time of your story. Not to pile on, simply don't forget to make certain you know which materials were—and weren't—available in the world of your novel.

And if you don't write historical fiction? You're still not off the hook. Make sure you know what'due south hot and what'due south not in your specific setting, as well as what specific words the locals would use. Are they overalls or coveralls? Sweaters or jumpers?

Go it right, and you transport your readers to a vivid world.

A screenshot of Dabble's Character Notes feature with a photograph of a man and a clothing description. — Fun fact: You tin can search for photos right from your Dabble Graphic symbol Notes. Already take a flick that represents your character? You can add that, also!

Fiddle with Depth

If there is one affair I hope you take from all of this, information technology's that none of this is about describing what a grapheme looks like. Not really.

Sure, it helps your reader to know how yous flick a grapheme. It makes for a more entertaining read. Simply your reader is going to picture show something whether you guide them or not. The reason we fuss over physical descriptions is not because it'south and then important that the reader's imagination gets information technology right.

It'southward because concrete details are incredibly constructive in communicating abstract concepts. In writing, the clothes kind of exercise brand the (hu)man. Fashion photographer Bill Cunningham said, "Way is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life." Try applying this philosophy to clothing descriptions in your writing and run across what happens.

What does your graphic symbol article of clothing to experience safer in their globe or in their own pare? How does their attire reverberate what they want, what they fright, or where they're going?

These are deep questions. And if yous need a identify to organize your circuitous responses, I recommend Dabble's Character Notes characteristic. Y'all tin keep track of your grapheme's signature fashion, upload photos, note how their style evolves, and keep these ideas correct at your fingertips as yous write.

Non a Dabble user? No problem! You can try all Dabble'due south premium features for free for fourteen days. But click this link and don't even think about touching your wallet. You don't need it to sign up.