What Did They Wear?

Thanks to my career working as a dresser on Broadway, and in the wardrobe departments of film and television production, what a character wears provides a lot of context to drive plot and reveal character for me. What I learned in production, working in wardrobe, has helped my work as a writer, when it comes to using what a character wears as an important part of the story.

Let’s face it, in most circumstances, we HAVE to wear clothes. What we wear sends a message, and we are in control of at least part of that message (depending on economic and other factors). We can use that in our writing or other creative projects.

In a script, clothes are rarely specified in detail, unless the writer uses it with specific meaning in the story. The choices are made by the costume designer and the director. The actor may have input, depending on their status; at the very least, the actor has to be able to move in the clothing as needed for the action (unless part of the theme is the way the clothing restricts the character, such as having to wear a corset).

On a television series, each character has a “closet” made up of all the individual pieces and accessories worn by a specific character. The designer (sometimes with the actor’s input, often with a producer, showrunner, or director’s input) will decide how to mix and match pieces to show up again, in the tone of the character, as one would re-wear pieces in real life. Unless, of course, the character is someone who only wears an item once, in which case, let’s hope the show has a big budget. Each look is photographed by the wardrobe department to keep track. On set, once a scene is shot, photos are taken once “cut” is yelled, for continuity purposes. If a sleeve is rolled up in one shot, it has to match where it makes sense to follow through in the rest of the scene. The rest of the scene might not be shot for several days, so the photographs are vital to track where it was.

In theatre, the clothes are usually on a rack in the actor’s dressing room. There are fewer costumes because it’s a more finite time frame, but those costumes are worn 8 times a week (or for however many shows are performed by that actor that week). Items that touch the skin like underwear, tee shirts, dress shirts, etc. are washed after every performance (so there are multiples of them), but many of the other parts of a costume might only be washed once or twice a week, or sent out once a week for drycleaning. The costumes are rigged for quick changes (with large snaps, Velcro, breakaways, or whatever serves). The dresser is the actor’s partner in the quick changes, and it’s a close relationship, built on a combination of trust and skill. Looks are designed (by the costume designer, with director’s input) and documented, which helps when an actor is replaced by another actor. Like film and television, however, the clothing has to communicate with the audience in an instant.

The clothes communicate specific information about the character AND are a device to show the passage of time. As in, some characters change clothes on different days; a  character who remains in the same clothes over a period of days communicates specific information.

Clothes are a way of showing economic status. A character might change clothes more often to show they have more money and can buy/wear more clothing. Or maybe the character wants others to believe they have that kind of money, and that’s why they keep changing clothes. Or maybe they’re leading a double life. A character might have to purchase clothes in a thrift shop and resent it. Another character might have to or CHOOSE to purchase clothes in a thrift shop and relish the challenge of creating unique looks. A character might spend less on everyday clothes in order to save up for a piece to wear on a special occasion. A character might change clothes during the course of a piece to hide identity or to pose as a different character.

All of these choices convey different information about a character. Those details can be integrated into a novel or a short story as relevant and as supports the story/characters without becoming info dumps.

When I create closets for my characters in novels or short stories or serials or whatever I ask these 9 Motivational Questions:

• What is the image the character has of self?

• What is the image the character wants to present to the world?

• What is the character’s economic status?

• What does the character do for a living?

• What does the character do for fun?

• When do clothes reveal/support character?

• When do clothes conceal character?

• How do they help/hinder action?

• What is the effect of environment/weather?

Colors have different meanings, and different cultures use color differently. One culture uses white for weddings, while another uses it for mourning. There’s an entire psychology of color that can also play into the choices of your characters’ wardrobes, everything from the red power jacket to the mousy brown cardigan.

There are sensory elements to clothing:

• COLOR/DESIGN/PATTERN/LOOK

• TEXTURE

• SCENT

• SOUND

• RESTRICTION OR FREEDOM

• WEIGHT

How often is a character’s memory triggered by the scent of an item of clothing? It’s an often-used trope. Or the thud of boots versus the whisper of a slipper?

How does the character see themselves?

• Does the character have self- awareness?

• Is the character’s self-perception realistic?

• Is the character dressing to reveal or to conceal? Example: the more Sylvia Plath unraveled, the more committed she was to twin sets and neat clothes.

The image the character wants to present to the world

There’s a saying that goes, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”  Is this relevant? How does the image the character wants to project differ from the real self? Is that difference a choice? Does the character succeed in the presentation? Does the character try and fail? IE, the character tries to dress in high heels and miniskirts, but can’t walk; the character tries to wear beautiful clothes but always spills or tears them. How does that help drive your story?

Clothing always has a socio-economic context. Even in period pieces, it’s not enough to just research the pieces worn at the time; you need to understand the context of the pieces.

Some uses for clothing detail:

You can have a scene that gives painful detail of how a character gets dressed IF it reveals something about the character and serves the plot. Does getting  dressed for a funeral show grief? Relief? A combination? Does getting dressed for a wedding communicate fear? Joy? Resignation? When a character chooses clothes to meet an old flame, is it about a desire to impress? Desire for revenge? Pleasure?

Are you positioning the scene to show the character using the act of dressing as procrastination? As a way to “suit up” for combat, be it physical or emotional? As a way to soothe nerves?

The way you structure the scene and the use of language matched to action will do that, even if you don’t realize it. Choose wisely. But ask yourself: why does each detail matter? What does each active, descriptive sentence add to this scene, to the entire story, to the character? Don’t include all the details because you did a lot of research. Use them only if they reveal character or drive plot.

Some of these answers come naturally as I draft, especially the economic status, profession, and fun. First draft is splatter writing for me, so I just write. It’s in the various rounds of revisions that these questions become relevant. As with sensory detail, I try to layer them in.

It can be as simple as the way a character shoots a cuff to check his watch, or an entire paragraph of one character seeing another character dressed up for the first time. It depends on the needs of the scene.

Again, in whatever round of revisions I layer this in, I am likely to overwrite as I layer, then cut back.

How do you use clothing in your work? How do those choices affect the overall story?