"OEH! Shopping! For a partayyy?! What was she gonna wearrrr!?"
"A black, thight fitting dress with straps falling off her shoulders and a necklace hanging around her neck with these cute dangling stars, a shiny glittery panty with rhinestones and nine inch heels to match the laquer handbag definatly from a designer brand and a pair of these braceletts with black and white stripes so her eye make-up wouldn't be too far off with the thick eyeliner she drew on and ---,"
"He stood there in the room. Hair slicked back in this sexy way with his turtleneck and matching slacks. His hands were endored with these silver rings matching hil Rolex watch and the rims of his obcious fake glasses."
Ughhhhhhh.... I love fashion..... But there's a thing called: Viewers imagination!
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Okay, to explain:
We all love a good outfit and even better if the writer has written up one matching you prefered style in such a nice way!
But...
That means it isn't the prefered style of like, 99% of the other readers!
"Make it so that every reader can insert their preferences inside of the story. Rather than giving them a complete rundown, just give them something overall and they'll fill in the details themselves. That way, you satisfy at least 80% of your readers."
This is what's been told multiple times by writers and teachers as a way to improve stories.
Now, for the rambling....
Most of these outfit descriptions are so over the top! EVERY FREAKING DETAIL gets its whole paragraph and damn don't even start me about people describing why *insert name* has to wear these specific pieces of clothing because of *insert stupid reason totally not a quirk to the character*
And it's ridiculous how often people write out these outfit pages! I mean, yeah, I'm all for showing off your prefered style, but why do so for EVERY DAMN CHARACTER adn for EVERY IMAGINABLE SITUATION NEVER HAPPENING IN REAL LIFE?!
You don't have to emphazise your main love interest is a hotty. And no, the main character will look stunning in her ballgown even without you describing every fold of fabric as if you've sewn the whole goddamn thing yourself!
Half of these outfit descriptions don't even make sense!
It's all a matter of what you like and in what time period you write!
And don't get me started to the Pinterest inspo pictures attached to every beginner's fanfic or in name of your "creative writing style" *Insert sparkles...*
I mean, yeah, obvious... That's what YOU as a writer envisioned for your main, but come on... Most of it isn't even comfortable to wear to your "Totally normal coffee shop job which is totally not every girl her clichè starters/poorgirl's job" (Again, another tantrum for another chapter)
And why does it need to be like, aestethic and clean? All those outfits are either worn by fashionable people getting paid or shredding their paycheck only to look good and don't represent like most of the normal population.
Shoo Shoo outfit pictures! You're not welcome here!
Last but not least; it doesn't drive the plot. Unless you write a superhero story, then by all means, go ham on the spandex!
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So, what to do if you want to describe your character's fashion style?
- Snippits! Don't describe everything, but give a global description.
Like "They wore their favorite jacket, that one they got on sale on a busy shoppingspree."
That tells you more about WHY it's a favorite and will let the reader fill in their own interpertation of THEIR favorite jacket for the character or even better; their own! So you feel closer to the main!
- Describe details, but ONLY details.
How "she fumbled with the lace on the bottom of her garment."
- Fabric knowledge!
You don't need to know all by name, but we all know exactly what we mean when we tell others about "that itchy wooly sweater." or that "sensual flowing satin nightgown." What makes it feel or experience for the character. Way more powerful than telling them the color of the piece of clothing.
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Writer's confession:
T^T This was my guilty pleasure as a teenager...
I'd LOOOOVE describing outfits to people and I definatly was the queen of pulling the clichès categorizing people based off their clothes.
Because I was and still am a fashion feint myself, but only for alternative stuff!
Growing older means getting better perspectives and now I love all kinds of fashion. Still, when writing, I really try to steer off of the ramble-paragraph about how I like my love interest to wear such 'n so.
Cause... I can dream, but I don't need to project my ideals onto my readers!
(Although I wish my partner would wear my clothes suggestions more often. Oh well...)
So yeah, I wrote pages on pages, describing ALL character's outfits down to their hairstyle and shoelaces.
YOU ARE READING
The rambling of a writer
Fanfiction[Me, complaining and contradicting all and everything written in every fanfiction created.] No hate, Just me, rambling about different topics in Fanfiction writing. Why? Because we all start somewhere, am I right? The good, the bad, the rightout cli...
