: Re: Is it important to describe how the characters are dressed? One thing that I never mention in my stories is how the characters are dressed. Well, except when they are being described for the

@Chiappetta298

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Like most things, it really depends on what kind of story you're writing and what effect you want to achieve. I can think of an example on both sides of the metaphorical clothing descriptor coin.

There's a technique present in older fiction where the author will lengthily go through the description of a character's outfits, gardens, or houses in order to express the personality of the character or the nature of the setting as told through objects and people. Parts of Chapter 2 and Chapter 7 of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas are good examples of this. Applying this type of long, seemingly inane description to somebody's outfit at various points in the story can serve a few purposes-- expressing the personality of the character with the way they dress, expressing their role in the setting (Do they stand out? Do they look like the average person? What does this say about the character?), and even delving into their backstory (Are they wearing some kind of antique, maybe?). This can all be done without the character saying a single word, but you run the risk of being long-winded and dull. There's a reason many modern novels have shied away from this approach.

Then there's the Chekhov's gun approach. Or, I guess in this case, the Chekhov's socks approach. If you have a description somewhere in your work that Chekhov's socks are neon blue with backlighting, then those neon blue backlit socks had better alert the cops during his climactic midnight chase scene with their outrageous luminosity. There's no reason to describe "her brown hair with a fresh flower in it" or "his cleanly hemmed trousers" because that isn't going to save them from the nuclear blast later on in the story. This is a really minimalist approach. Let the readers think what they want until you mention otherwise.

I personally like it when authors use a combination of both. I'm thinking of Atonement right now (I don't have the book on me) when Ian McEwan describes Cecilia's dinner party dress. If I remember correctly, the description doesn't have a point besides for essentially saying "Cecilia is like, really hot right now and totally knows it, guys, like, daaaang." But, hey, it works and it gives you a visual image for why Robbie is interested in her. And again, if I remember correctly, the book doesn't have much else describing things clothing-wise, because there wouldn't have been a true effective purpose behind those kinds of descriptions in the rest of the novel.

So, in conclusion, describing a character's clothing is only as important as the purpose you give it.

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