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i play a character who considered very stylish, and fashion is important to her. but I have no idea where even to start looking up what's considered fashionable or how to describe such things, and while I glean a few things from the art, I'd like to expand the possibilities of what she wears (at least in my head). where do I start looking and what even do I look up? "fashionable clothing" tends to only get me shopping results. she's a modern character, so stuff with modern clothing would be useful.

related to that, are there any books (or comics or manga) that have descriptions/depictions of modern, fashionable clothing? or non-fiction books that talk about current trends or something like that.

is it helpful to describe stylistic elements in tags, like if everything is coordinated (her nails match the bow in her hair)? or is stuff like that better left to only brief comments and not much emphasis placed on it? (my most recent rp characters were the type who would wear uniforms, basically, so having a character who would make conscious decisions about her clothing every day is a new thing.)

This depends on who you ask, I think, but fashion is an evolving thing and what is fashionable today might not be next year or even next month (or the opposite where what was a faux pas is now fashionable, like the recent trend of socks in sandals), while old trends can also make a comeback many decades on. Plus, some places are far ahead or behind others in terms of fashion; if your character is from a less trendy area, what is hip there might already have become outdated elsewhere.

Personally, I would prefer the descriptions of what clothes a thread partner's character is wearing to be minimal, instead of you trying to "force" something that doesn't come easily to you. Good dress sense (coordinating aspects of the outfit to match, like in your example) and fashion are also not necessarily the same thing. Instead, consider what kind of clothes fit the character's personality (what colors she favors, does she have practical shoes to run in during action scenes, does she prefer loud designs or a more modest look...) and background (eg. nouveau riche might wear expensive or branded pieces to flaunt their wealth while old money don't boast like that).

Of course, it may also help to have the good ol' backside-covering measure of a note in the character's journal saying "[character] is a fashionista but the player is less so" as well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/1gax4uz/ was an interesting discussion I came across lately that might be of reference to you!

Instead, consider what kind of clothes fit the character's personality (what colors she favors, does she have practical shoes to run in during action scenes, does she prefer loud designs or a more modest look...) and background (eg. nouveau riche might wear expensive or branded pieces to flaunt their wealth while old money don't boast like that).

As someone who writes fashion conscious characters, and others with very distinct senses of style, this is pretty much what I do.

former!high-fashion retail manager & fashion historian nerd here! so, to start, ask yourself a few questions:

how old is the character, where does she live, what's her body type, what type of work and/or hobbies does she do, and what types of friends does she hang out with?

searching for current fashion trends by age, locations, and by subculture can help you narrow down your focus so it isn't so staggeringly enormous.

you can also search for charts of just wtf particular cuts & styles of clothing items are called, which is insanely useful to reference! don't know what the hell a D'Orsay pump is, or a hobo purse, or a peplum jacket? you wouldn't be the first to ask, at all.

if you're playing from a visual canon, start breaking down her & others' outfits. hunt down similar styles online, and see how other people would wear them. find out what your plurk friends' personal styles are, or trends they love/hate.

in the end, a lot of players like to just link images of what their characters are wearing vs writing it out in detail, which is valid as hell and worth considering for yourself, to make it easier. I'm super-pro digging into fashion trends and history because I find it fun, but don't feel like you gotta stress yourself out for authenticity!

hi! I play two characters from the same fashion-adjacent canon, and i'm going to use them as as examples of some things you can think about.

FAST FASHION AND TRENDS.
A is very trendy. she buys big cheap hauls of sweatshop clothing that matches what is popular on social media and picks out some outfits to show off. a big closet with high turnover.

B is more about her own sense of fashion. she looks at couture trends and fashion shows for inspiration and buys items that are expensive, made ethically and well. she has a "capsule wardrobe": a small group of basics that can go with statement pieces that might be more of the moment.

COLOUR, CUT AND VIBES
A dresses to look good on camera; she wears impractical clothes that highlight her best features - low v, high heels, short skirts, racy panel cutouts - and they are often bright and eye catching. she chooses colours based on what is trendy, wears pieces that clash, and will often have the same item in multiple different colours.

B wears a lot of neutrals: beige, white, grey, etc, with maybe one or two complimentary brighter colours, or matching coloured accessories. all her clothes are tailored, even her tshirts and simple dresses, and they usually convey a clear purpose: business wear vs gym clothes vs clubwear, for instance. she is comfortable wearing flats and pants, and relies on the high quality materials and choosing clothing and colours that flatter her specific body and colouring.

RESEARCH
i think once you've thought a little about what "kind" of fashionable your character is, you should go look up clothing sites that they would shop at. eg I would browse Shein, ASOS, harajuku blogs, and fashion tiktok for character A, while character B i might look at Vogue magazine, couture brands, runways, celebrity fashion. once I have some keywords about what I want I also plug them into pinterest to have lots of images to browse.

TAGGING
i use info posts in my journals to do "fashion visuals" and describe my character's appearance and some outfits. in tags i tend to do an initial description with some highlights i think would catch the other character's attention, and also keep in mind outfits throughout the thread (i.e. a character wearing heels might have trouble running in an action thread).

/r/fashion might be a good starting point for finding an outfit style you think works for her, it's mostly outfit picks from redditors rather than inspo from celebrities/influencers so it's more about what would actually be available to a modern character (i find sometimes pinterest inspo boards are too much about couture fashion than what is realistically available)

If you're looking for visual ideas, I think the "Fashion Illustration Book" and "Soleil" by Tanaka have a pretty wide variety of modern fashionable clothes and outfits.

If your character's outfit is relevant to the scene, a description could be helpful, but I think its still best to keep it relatively brief. ex: "A is wearing a fully coordinated black and pink outfit; just looking at it, one can tell it's pretty pricey." "B walks through town, wearing a stylish outfit with bold colors, topped off with a dramatic wide-brimmed sun hat." etc so on. No need to get too specific or detailed, IMO, other than to give a general feel of how they look. I personally have a collage of various clothing/outfits as part of my character's general info post to kind give a general idea of what their fashion sense is like.

I suggest getting a pinterest for inspiration and just tagging your character's style, perhaps even like looking up fashion terms (such as ruching, eyelet, the difference between Sateen and Velvet, etc) and then go from there.

The Pinterest though, definitely the best way to grab inspiration for aspiring fashionista muses.

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