The importance of clothing

As an artist with an AA degree for fashion design, I can say that clothes are the most important part of a character’s design. I will be showing my process from a fashion designer’s perspective (not a character designer). A person’s clothing reflects their emotions, personality, income, culture and environment. This will be a quick overview on how to design a few outfits for your characters.

Know your character

Before you start sketching your ideas and concepts, you need to consider who your designing for. For example, describe your target customer. Here’s a few points to get started:

• Age

• Gender

• Income

• Environment

• Lifestyle

• Hobbies/interests

If you do not know who your character is, you will not have a difficult time narrowing down ideas. All of these points are going to determine the style and accessibility of clothing. For example, a young adult who earns $17 per hour would NOT be able to afford an entire closet of Gucci. Unless your character has magical powers in a setting, this would not be logical.

Brands and Markets

Brands do NOT = Market. Clothing brands are going to be the names of mass produced companies Here’s a few examples of common accessible brands/retailers:

• Madewell

• AdriannaPapell

• Tahari

• Zella

• MaxStudio

• RoddandGunn

• Penguin

• Uniqlo

Markets are both the price ranges and styles of clothing. This is only an overview, so I recommend doing some research if you want more detailed explanations. Market examples (Numbers are for a general guide):

• Budget/Massmarket:$5-50

• Moderatemarket:$50-100

• Contemporary:$200-500

• Bridge:$500-1,000

• Designer:$1,000-5,000

• HauteCouture:$10,000+

 

 

The second part of the market is your target customer’s style. A common mistake I see is calling the brand their favorite style. While it is a fashion style it is NOT their market. For example, the Techwear brand is in the futuristic streetwear market and Zella is in women’s & men’s activewear market. Make sure you know the difference between the brand and market before styling your characters.

 

- Activewear

- Menswear

- Womenswear

- Petites

- Juniors

- Streetwear

- Ready to wear

- Genderless

- Maternity

Fabrics, trims, and closures

Knowing the types of fabrics, weave and fiber content is vital to designing clothes. You do not have to go into detail of every single fabric but it is important to know your chosen fabrics and how they drape. Fiber content does NOT = the name of the fabric. A common mistake is calling silk a fabric when it’s actually a satin or chiffon. There’s a lot to the science of fabric but as long as you know the drape of a fabric, it will help you design your garments. Here’s a general list:

 

Fabrics (names):

• Gabardine

• Chino

• Poplin

• Brocade

• Charmeuse

• Chiffon

• Voille

• Denim

• Swimweartricot

Weaves (how the yarns are held together):

• Plainweave

• Basketweave

• Satin

• Twill

• Tricot

• Jacquard

Fibers(what it’s made of):

• Cotton

• Hemp

• Polyester

• Rayon

• Wool

• Silk

Note: real silk begins around $70 per yard

Technical Flats

There’s two styles of laying out your concepts: sketches and technical flats. The example above contains technical flats. These aren’t required for any character design, however these are important to show the construction of the garment. Most often my professors would ask “how do they get into it?” which is vital for clothing. If you can’t put it on, it is not functional. Technical flats should contain all details such as stitching, gathers and closures. If you are sending your design to a seamstress, they will need to know where to sew. Here are a few options for closures:

 

- Lace ups

- Hook and eyes

- Snaps

- Buttons

- Invisible zippers

- Railroad zippers

 

 

Sketches

Notice the difference between a page of technical flats and sketches. Once again, there is no rule to this and it is just a method of preference. When you are sketching your ideas, a few other things to consider:

 

• Hairstyle

• Season

• Event

For this character I have designed three outfits for her. From left to right: special event indoors, casual outfit for spring, recording outfit for fall. What do these say about this character:

 

- Combines modesty and youthfulness with the short hems

- Has a profession to pay for moderate/contemporary styles

- Half of the hair tied gives a clean and casual appearance

Make notes when after designing your characters to see if their clothing matches your vision for them.

Always draw seams

A common mistake when drawing clothing is forgetting the seams especially around the armholes. They are extremely important as it shows the construction of the garment and the type of fabric that is being used. Knit fabrics will have less seams because they stretch. Woven fabrics will have more seams because they do not stretch. These also affect the silhouette for your character. The image above highlights the princess line on the Clip Studio 3D model. Why is the princess line so important? It is the most curved area for darts and seams to be placed for clothing. If your fabric does not stretch, it will need to have a seam or dart around that area.

 

 

Seams vs darts

A seam is used to connect pattern pieces in garments. Seams will be shown as lines connecting the pieces together. The tailored shirt sample above shows seams using the princess line. A dart is used to create a more fitted silhouette. Darts will be shown as a lines that do not connect two pieces together. The skirt sample above uses two darts that give the skirt a fitted appearance.

 

 

Other notes for garment construction

- Boustier stops at the waist

- Corset goes below and cinches the waist

- Knit fabrics stretch, less seams

- Woven fabrics do not stretch, more seams or darts

- Normal vs fisheye darts

Once again I recommend researching the different styles of tops, dresses, collars, shirts, skirts, pants, jackets etc.

 

Here is a brief list to start your search:

 

Sleeves

• Raglan

• Kimono

• Quarter

• Puffed

• Gathered

Collars for shirts/lapels for jackets

• Basic

• Mandarin

• Winged

• Notched

• Convertible

• Sailor

Skirts

• Pleated

• A-line

• Mini/midi/maxi

• Quarter/half/full

• Tiered

Accessories

Accessories are another part of a character’s outfit that refines their story to make it cohesive. Take into consideration if the clothing is functional. Does it have pockets? If not they may need to carry a bag or purse. Do they have a wealthy background? Add some gloves for a refined and clean look. Are they into jewelry? Design some earrings, necklaces or bracelets. The types of shoes will also reflect their background and should compliment the overall style. Are they going to work? Give them wingtips or penny loafers.

Inspiration from objects

Maybe you want to think outside the box and get inspired from non clothing items. Study a few objects and transfer those shapes or colors into your designs. I recommend sketching the original object to get an idea of the lines and shapes before moving into the garments.

Croquis sources

A croquis is not required for designing clothing but it definitely makes it much easier. A simple google search has plenty of free croquis resources. Clip Studio’s 3D model is also a perfect base to use as your croquis. You can either sketch on the layer above the 3D model or sketch a few poses to keep in your folder.