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Yeah, true. There’s always a point when if you add anymore it’s just useless faff that’s slowing the scene down. Should probably qualify my statement from earlier by saying I do like there to be an actual point to it, not just having it there for the sake of it (mostly). Most obvious one is for characterisation purposes, though now I think about it I’m struggling to recall any stand-out examples of having done it this way in my work so far, lol. Don’t I feel silly. Anyone got some tips to pass along in that regard?

Legit. See, yeah, that’s the kind of detail I like to go into. Not just describing what something is, but what it actually looks like. I feel like that’s what really gives a description life instead of just being a list. Have heard from some that it can make my writing somewhat dense as a result, but eh. I like it that way. Same principle applies, thinking about it, with characters’ whole appearances. Not just clothing, but I like trying to dig into their whole look, how their face looks, their body, the whole thing. Especially if there’s something about them that means they’d stand out from the norm. Films or games or whatever might make a go of it, but you can go so much deeper into these things with prose. Kicking myself now for never getting around for figuring out any particular ways that Miranda could’ve stood out, appearance-wise, from normal humans in the story I mentioned the other day. Anyone have any ideas, just out of curiosity? Or indeed any thoughts on describing characters’ whole appearances. Faces are definitely the one thing I struggle the most on myself, if that helps.

I didn’t actually try to describe it in that case, but I probably should. I might use a phrase like “...demi-bras, which left everything above the nipple uncovered.”

I guess for me it really does depend on how necessary the detail is for the story. I tend to like to leave a good bit to the reader’s imagination, so if I’m talking about a male character in an everyday setting, I might mention that he wore a blue linen shirt, open at the throat and with the sleeves folded back, over a pair of tan chinos. (Yes, business casual, sorry...) It’s a pretty generic description, and the reader can imagine the shade of blue they like best, whether or not it’s a buttondown collar, if the tails are tucked in or hanging out, or if the chinos are pleated or flat-front. Now, if I was describing a bondage collar, I might say it had a black leather gorget, lined with silk, with a gleaming d-ring for a leash on the front, and so on. That sort of kit really does need more detail, in my opinion, if you have a certain position or image of the bound character that is crucial to the story. Or you can just go for the wrists tied to the headboard with an old school tie, or the belt from a bathrobe, if you want fast and dirty, and get teh characters naked as fast as possible to avoid having to describe clothing. Women’s clothing, unfortunately, tends to be ridiculously fussy when it comes to suggestive/revealing/sexy wear. The dress you linked above? It could be described as a clinging, highnecked sheath with cutouts down the front, or perhaps with strips of fabric criss-crossing her taut abdomen to reveal tawny skin. Google fashion sites, like Des suggested, and try to find ones with descriptions of the clothing to get an idea of ways to get it across to a reader.

On the FOURTH day of Christmas, a true love ought to give: FOUR scammers getting baited and losing their gift cards THREE busted spammers’ modems TWO broken spammer’s modems1 ONE spammer’s head in a pear tree 1Credit to @BronxWench for the second line

Suppose the best question is how much detail do you want? Need to know it’s 60% cotton / 40% polyester? A chapter, a paragraph, a sentence, or a few words? Gender (identity) matters too. For boys, “green T-shirt” is likely sufficient to get an image. For girls, lace, frills, buttons, beads, zippers? I tend to view it from the perspective of another character, what’s the first couple of things that are noticed? Outer garments, shirts & jeans being the biggest targets. For younger characters, the shirts might often be promotional, so an orange Safari World T-shirt, for instance. Underwear matters for lesser dressed characters. Of course, if the character is wearing their “LUCKY” socks/underwear, describe that! Or, simply dress a 4-year old in a Batman T-shirt and they’ll be unafraid! Another source of ideas, catalogs, if you can find them.

My friend and frequent beta Jomahawk has been helpful to me in pointing out when I’ve failed to describe clothing (and especially lingerie) in sufficient detail and in making suggestions about what characters should wear. I’ve also done a certain amount of googling to learn more about the varieties that bras, panties, bikinis, etc come in. And just googling “unusual sexy outfit” or something like that can give you ideas.