Apex Book Company

We all have an opinion about clothes. And about how clothing is used in fiction–everything from Vonnegutesque simplicity to Dickensian overload.

So, how important is description of dress as character development? As a costume designer (I’m a bit biased here), I’d say it is very important. When developing character for the stage, the costume decisions are extraordinarily important- it will define how a character moves and her comfort level, as well as setting up an instant communication with the audience. Now, in fiction, there is not the same sort of visual connection- the audience does not literally see the character, instead the reader must imagine the character. So, it behooves the author to set up the visual context as soon as possible.

This does not mean that one must introduce every single character with a glut of descriptors–that would be tedious and silly. But when choosing adjectives and descriptive indicators, think about the appearance of the individual in question. Beyond just height, build, hair and eye color, and complexion–does she prefer pants to skirts, does he abhor ties, does she love high heeled shoes, does he like to wear hats. There is a big difference between a girly-girl who loves her heels and can’t leave the house without make-up and her more practical, tomboyish friend who throws on a pair of jeans and some clogs and she’s ready to go. Already, the reader is beginning to formulate an opinion on each of these characters, starting to associate one or the other with herself or someone she knows.

Of course there are pitfalls here as well–the overdone. It seems that every urban fantasy protagonist has a trusty leather jacket or perhaps a duster or even a ubiquitous trench coat. Once considered edgy and original, these garments have become as cliché as an archaeologist in a fedora. What’s an author to do? Well the first and most obvious choice is to select another item–there is a lot of fashion out there and perhaps this fella still wears his old high school letterman jacket- that’s ripe with possibilities! Is he mentally/emotionally trapped in high school? Does he connect to that time of his life most strongly? Is he too poor to afford another option? Is the jacket special in some way: magical, enchanted, blessed, lucky, etc? The possibilities suddenly open up and a story that has hit a speed bump suddenly has new life and interest. Heck, now I want to write some story about a thirty-something guy and his lucky, magical, letterman jacket.

Use clothing to your advantage. A great resource for styling your characters (or yourself) is Polyvore.com (DISCLAIMER: I am not going to be held responsible for the hours lost playing with Polyvore! It is awesome and addictive, and yeah, proceed with caution, my friends!). You can create fashion layout collages from images of clothing and accessories from all over the internet. It’s great fun!

So, we’ve talked about what to include, but not how. This is the tricky part. One needs to introduce appearance as organically as possible. “She flipped her blonde ponytail tied back with her favorite Hello Kitty scrunchie and pulled on her brand new Twilight t-shirt from Hot Topic over her True Religion blue jeans.” That is a bit much, but the idea is sound. But a pitfall is that this sentence is loaded with brand names and trendy items. Hello Kitty will never die, but will Twilight still be relevant when this piece goes to print? And unless one is a fashion aficionado, True Religion jeans might not have much impact (for reference, they are a popular brand

that costs upwards of $200 a pair). These kinds of details can paint a picture of a trend-obsessed teenager big on brand names, but the trouble here is the opinion of a person of that nature may not be shared by the author and the reader. A reader might scoff at a silly girl who loves Twilight and Hot Topic and overpays for blue jeans when the author meant to showcase this character in a positive light.

This is where good beta readers come in to play! A good first reader will be able to give the author valuable feedback such as “What the heck are True Religion jeans?” and upon hearing the answer exclaim, “Why would she pay that much for them? She’s in high school, where did she get that kind of money? Her parents don’t have the money to spend $200 on jeans? You just said she was the middle child of five in a household just getting by!” Oops. There’s a big mismatch happening. This is nearly as bad as describing an outfit that specifically has no pockets and then having your character slip his wallet out of his…? Also please note–men’s clothing nearly always has pockets. Women are expected to carry purses, plus pockets add bulk to the body and are usually placed on the hips and butt–you see where this is going–hence the ladies have fewer pockets. But I digress….

And if one is going to have characters belong to specific social groups that dress in specific ways, please do some research. “Goth” and “Steampunk” are huge categories with dozens of interpretations and variances. Same thing with rappers, punks, rockabillies, fashionistas, gamers, geeks, etc. Facebook and LiveJournal are full of interest groups that would be more than happy to lend a little help to the author looking for authenticity and consistency. Trust me on this.

Now, go forth, my darlings! Go forth and create complex, interesting characters from head to toe- or from goggles to striped socks, from fedora to loafers, from plaid headband to red patent peep-toe pumps! And remember, under these circumstances, shopping is considered research!

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saramharvey

Sara M. Harvey teaches fashion and writes fiction in Nashville, TN. She has the number of the Fashion Police on speed dial, just so ya know. She is the author of the three part Apex steampunk series The Convent of the Pure with the second book (The Labyrinth of the Dead) due later in 2010. She is also the author of A Year and a Day.

Sara’s web home can be found at sites.google.com/a/saramharvey.com/www2/.

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