Dressing characters?

RicoLouis

RicoLouis

Really Really Experienced
I am curious. As a writer how much time do you spend describing what the characters are wearing. I find for myself I will sometimes go into great detail describing what a girl is wearing as far as how it fits certain body parts and such. Especially when I first introduce a character but other times I will just do a short one sentence description such as she wore a crop top that hung loosely from her large tits and a pair of tight ass jeans that hugged her ass. I tend to go this route especially if more then one girl is in the scene but find myself trying to think of them wearing different outfits so I have to think a little about what I want them to wear and how it might affect the scene such as possible down blouse scene or even a nip slip. I am just wondering how much other writers put into it.
 
I find that it's usually worth at least mentioning outfits. If you're writing erotica, the reader will often be interested in what characters are wearing. Additionally, there are logical reasons you might want your audience to know in advance, such as if another character slowly undresses them, if there's a wardrobe malfunction, or if the character ends up in a situation where their attire is inappropriate, like high heels on a hike.

Particularly in erotica, describing clothing is greatly enhanced by the active voice. Focus not just on what is being worn, but how it is being worn, how it interacts with the wearer's body, how it reacts to the environment, and how the character seems to feel about their outfit. For example: "Alice walked over, wearing a shiny strapless red dress that reached the floor but barely covered her chest." could be "Legs hidden by a floor-length skirt, Alice seemed to float over, her red dress shimmering in the light. As she approached, she shyly pulled at the strapless neckline, which was struggling to stay north of her nipples on its own." That said, sometimes that level of detail is unnecessary; giving the reader a vivid image of Alice's dress is pointless if she's about to lose it.
 
insertnamehere said:
"Alice walked over, wearing a shiny strapless red dress that reached the floor but barely covered her chest."
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I read that first sentence and thought to myself, what's wrong with that, that's how I write all the time!

insertnamehere said:
"Legs hidden by a floor-length skirt, Alice seemed to float over, her red dress shimmering in the light. As she approached, she shyly pulled at the strapless neckline, which was struggling to stay north of her nipples on its own."
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And then I read this and was like, ohhhhh, I see!

Needless to say, excellent tip, thanks!
 
I think I'm probably in the minority here and especially on CHYOA where it makes so fucking sense to describe characters well. But I find I'm generally very lazy about character appearance in general because my conception of them often changes as I spend more time with them. I guess clothes are kinda part of that.

But of everything I usually pay the most attention to clothes, mainly since it often winds up being functional to the scene because it's getting taken off or put on or frantically searched for by an owner who just got caught in flagrante delicto. I think I do wind up paying attention to that because I do my best to be scrupulous about continuity shit. It really gets on my nerves when I've been writing along and suddenly realize I have a couple taking off her bra twice (mid-sex, the classic setting to put one's bra back on). Oops. No she wasn't double deckering them.

I would say my usual practice is to describe clothes (or appearance) when they're relevant for story reasons and mostly ignore or treat them like props otherwise. If somebody's wearing something that would read out of character for them. If someone's clothes make no sense for the context. If they're coming off. Or going back on in a hurry. If I need someone to have pockets or not have pockets. If I want something for characters to do while they talk. Otherwise I guess I leave it up to the reader to imagine something that feels suitable to them for whatever the characters are doing. (I guess at least they can usually trust that all the penises and boobies and whatnot stay in the right places and are only subject to plausibly organic movements?).

Every once in a while I try to do better about describing things other than facial expressions or vocal tone or posture, and there'll be casual mentions of nebulous shit like "sleep shorts." <--- insert reader's favorite girlie sleep shorts I guess? but I usually wind up getting on some tear where I forget and then I don't feel like going back and threading in shit about how cool the female lead's whatever whatever outfit component was that the characters just threw on the floor because it was getting in the way of her being rawdogged all to hell.

In summary: Clothes are an occasional generally minor barrier to characters getting satisfactorily rawdogged fast enough and I dispense with their physical description as much as possible. :D
 
I have recently realized that I really should spend more time describing the characters. Their clothes, looks, general posture. Sometimes I feel like it would slow down things and I'm not sure how much the readers care for (especially when clothes are often soon removed) but I really should spend more time on this for a change.
 
Is it weird that I have spreadsheets of costume plots? And some research data, images of various types of clothes -- particularly the kinds I don't normally wear (and therefore don't fully understand).

I haven't yet fully dedicated myself to that work, and it doesn't all show up in my writing (yet), but it's definitely part of the long-term goals.
 
RicoLouis said:
You know I have written scenes of guys putting necklaces on girls and such but never of it getting taken off.
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"Washcloth" almost has "clothes" in it! You could do it! :D

zankoo said:
Is it weird that I have spreadsheets of costume plots? And some research data, images of various types of clothes -- particularly the kinds I don't normally wear (and therefore don't fully understand).
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Not weird by my reckoning. I think we all have some stuff that we need to tinker with its, dunno what to call it, notation structure? to organize the way we think about and grasp it. Like prepping yourself an idea menu to order from or something. There are so many little details you can use when you're trying to walk a line between virtuously show-don't-tell-ing and getting bogged down in the weeds. Not that I can pretend to be organized about this? Cough pinterest. hahah
 
RicoLouis said:
Don't be silly. Generally when a guy gives a girl a pearl necklace she needs another girl to help her get it off which I have written about before.
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Jesus. Obviously mornings aren't my shit because otherwise I feel like my "stuff to do with cum" rapid access database is better stocked than that shit I said earlier.
 
gene.sis said:
Jewelry! Won't somebody please think of the jewelry!

Does that count as clothing as well?
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Wedding rings when they're not with the person who has the matching ring.

Or when they are, but they didn't introduce themselves as an interracial lesbian married couple who happen to be supervisor and subordinate doctors in a hospital.
 
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Zingiber said:
Wedding rings...
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The original Joy of Sex (Alex Comfort, editor) makes much of long, dangling earrings as an all-day sensual experience for the wearer, caressing their neck at every turn or tilt of the head.

The Joy of Sex's illustration sequences of sex partners show clothes that are light and loose with plenty of space to reach into them to touch the skin.
 
RicoLouis said:
I am curious. As a writer how much time do you spend describing what the characters are wearing.
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When I first introduce a character I might dwell on their clothes, particularly if I am describing them as seen by a point of view character who is attracted to details which suggest how they relate to that person.

Dressing for the weather or for an outdoor activity, as part of setting the scene.

Clothes to show, emphasize, or remind writer and reader of a character's style or persona in the story or the scene. From "When the Cat's Away", Sally Walker as a "sporty mom" type with her white running shoes, shorts, and polo shirts; Naomi "Bernie" Bernstein with her denim overall shorts and T-shirt to show "granola dyke on a summer day".

For teasing or an in-public sex scene, clothes are part of the business of the action. The miniature golf (teasing) and cinema (public sex) sequences with the group of gal pals in pool boy Joe's storyline in Slut World come to mind as chapters where I've used all of these.

Slut World's quick vignette style with new characters introduced frequently inclines me to describe clothes more often than a longer plotline.

I am not much of a plotter.
 
I hit it when what they are wearing has a direct effect on the story.

In one scene, I describe how a pair of space marines dress to stereotype, to impress a pair of novice scouts.

Later, when they need to look respectable in public - a few chapters later - I again describe how (and why) they do that, and to what result.

I leave a lot unspecified. I describe one person in passing as "wholly respectable in business attire". I describe a favorite teacher as wearing "tidy but not particularly stylish clothing." Later, at home, receiving guests, the same character "had changed into somewhat nicer clothes, a blazer over a blouse, but was her same cheery self".

So unless someone is in narrative focus trying a new outfit, for a reason, I instead use a general description of the impression they make overall.
 
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