July 20, 2020
How do you decide how to dress your characters?
Let’s get one thing straight. My characters are full-grown adults and they get themselves dressed without my help, thank you very much.
That said, I will admit to influencing their choices once in a while. Help them get out of the rut and update their wardrobe as needed.
Take Gavin, my wolf-shifter male lead in Wolves’ Pawn. Here’s how he was dressed when Dot first laid eyes on him:
She felt eyes on her again as she hung up the hose. “Nice bike.” The deep voice seemed sincere enough.
“She’s okay.” She glanced over at the man pumping gas into a jeep across 
from her, and grinned. He was all alpha male. The short buzz cut made it hard to tell, but she thought his hair was brown to match his eyes. His broad shoulders strained the seams of the tailored light blue cotton shirt he wore, and his chest appeared to be all muscle, no fat. He had a strong face, and stubble on his chin. She avoided the urge to scan the rest of his body. Dot caught a glimpse of a second man, almost as good-looking, seated in the passenger’s side of the jeep. Another day, another time she might flirt with the guys, but not today, not now.
Like most of us, what my characters wear is based on their occupation. Gavin is the son of a businessman, works for his father, and is expected to represent the business and the pack even in his off-hours. On the other hand, Dot, the female lead, changes her wardrobe and appearance throughout the book. She even gets to wear full costumes when she works as a character at an unnamed theme park. What a great way to hide in plain sight!
Some of you may have seen this snippet before, when Dot allows one of her theme-park friends to design an outfit for her.
Gavin couldn’t believe his eyes. Her hair was bleached white, shaved on the sides, with the top about two inches long and dyed bright pink. She wore a sleeveless camo-colored T-shirt, and tribal tattoos decorated her upper right arm, while a bright pink bandanna was tied around the left one. Her cargo pants were also of camouflage material, another bright pink bandanna hung from one of its loops, and the belt she wore had a strange metallic decoration. On her hands she wore a pair of pink fingerless gloves, and on her feet, a pair of black combat boots.
Gavin wondered if her socks were bright pink too.
Then you have Harmony, my sweet down-to-earth ex-librarian, who, through the course of the books, has become clothing-conscious. She’s moved from a daily wardrobe of jeans and casual blouses to a variety of costumes depending upon the need. She’s even learned how to “change” her facial structure with the help of friends and a lot of videos on the internet.
Here’s how her transformation started
I giggled as Lando adjusted the support stockings. They hid the thick bandages he had wrapped each leg with to make them appear fatter. “Luckily it’s getting chilly outside,” he said, handing me a heavy sweater. “The more layers of clothing you wear the less you resemble yourself.”
With the foam form strapped around my belly, I thought I had plenty of padding already. It was designed to give a man the concept of the extra weight women carry when they are pregnant, but mostly it made me look fat. The over-sized dress with the huge Hawaiian flower pattern exaggerated the effect. Under all the foam and extra layers of clothing, it wouldn’t be long before I started to sweat.
The gray wig was a nice touch too. It was hard getting all my hair to stay under it, and thank heavens the curly hair hid the lump my bun made. Lando worried the makeup he had applied didn’t fill my face out enough, but he did the best job possible with his limited supplies. He hoped the huge glasses he’d found would help. The plain thick glass meant I still needed my contacts. The ugly white nurse’s shoes were a size too big, but with the thick socks they fit just about right.
A cane was the last accessory. To put any weight on it, I had to lean forward. He stood back, nodding and admiring his work. “Well, I think that’s it, Aunt Martha,” he said grinning.
That may have been the first time Harmony got into costume, but it wasn’t the last.
So, how do I dress my characters? I imagine what is in the closets of people I know based on their jobs, and those are the clothes my characters get to wear. Except when I want them to have a little fun and escape the confines of the expected. Hopefully, it then becomes fun for the reader, too.
Knowing the kind of books some of the other authors on this hop write, it’ll be interesting to see how they dress their characters. You can find out, too, by following the links below.
Until next time, stay safe!
July 20, 2020
How do you decide how to dress your characters?
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Physicality AND clothes is often the route. Clothes only for a character we won’t or don’t describe. Or the character painting with dialogue “I’m sick of bikinis and suntan oil spreads” tells you who she is AND what she probably looks like without making a point of detail. She assaulted her hair with Cat’s pinking shears tells you how crazy her hair looks. “Librarian” works all by itself.
but it’s so much fun to build up this image of ‘the librarian’ then have her throw on a multi-colored wig and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt to hit up a bar and do some undercover work. 🙂
It’s never a bad idea to lead a reader in the wrong direction – by creating an image at odds with the reality.
Or as Harmony says :
The Chief and Freddie still looked puzzled, but Drew’s face cleared and he laughed. “That was you? How many personalities do you have?”
“Only one.” I tapped my forehead. “Everything else is just a big kid’s version of dress-up.” Born out of desperation, not fun or playtime.
I loved your comment about your characters choosing their own clothes. You definitely have fun writing, and it shows.
It counters all the times I take myself too seriously.
So you know someone who dresses like harmony in real life? 🙂
On her ‘normal’ days, yes. When she goes undercover, I let my imagination take over. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say I let HER imagination take over!