Does it matter what your characters wear in your story?
This might be a debatable point, depending on what genre authors are writing in.
A detective story? Probably not something that needs mentioning, although you'll notice that the victim's clothing is always mentioned. What the detective wears, however, is not generally of real interest to the reader.
How about a horror story? Here, clothing takes on more interest as the reader is encouraged to experience the story rather more visually. The bad guy becomes a scarier character if we can picture him, and his clothing choices help us to do that. Equally, the people who suffer at the hands of the bad guy are easier to visualise if we know what they're wearing.
Imagine the classic horror story scenario, a group of young people on a vacation to a cabin in the woods, by the lake. As soon as we are guided, by the writer, to picture the girls in their shorts and tees, and know that the bad guy is watching them from the woods, we can feel the tension rising inside us. Now add in a scene where they slip into their bikinis for a dip in the lake *are they crazy, they're staying in a cabin by the lake and they're in a horror story!* and we are really feeling it. We now feel their vulnerability completely, because of what they're wearing.
When it comes to romance, with a little heat, for older women (my writing genre), what my characters are wearing is of the utmost importance. Without the visuals created for my readers, by my descriptions of my characters' clothing choices, the resultant pleasure of my story will be diminished.
Perhaps it's a hot, sultry, summer night... Immediately I'm picturing my character and what she might wear for her experiences ahead. I want my readers to picture her too. I want them to also picture themselves in the same scenario. So I start to build her wardrobe, from her choice of sexy lingerie to her little, strappy, summer dress. Or maybe it's a pair of tiny cut-off denims, with no underwear, and a halter top. Her footwear is also a consideration. Lace-up ankle boots might look cute but they don't come off easily in a sexy scenario, so maybe she wears a pair of flip flops.
If it's an evening in a bar, and I want my readers to picture a more sophisticated scenario, I'll dress my character in perhaps a pencil skirt with a slit. But if I don't mention the stockings, how do my readers know she's wearing them? Is she wearing a low-cut blouse? What about her lingerie? Is it a push-up bra so that my male character notices her cleavage? And what about him? We need to picture him too, to feel drawn into the story so that we feel the craving. With a little guidance we can imagine this handsome guy offering to buy her a drink. He's dark, his tan set off by the white of his business shirt, his tie removed and top button undone. We can almost reach out and touch this guy, who's clearly gone to the bar for a drink after work.
One of the reasons that I include a fun blog page in each of my stories is directly related to my belief that clothing matters in really feeling and picturing the story.
I want my readers to be able to picture my characters when they read the story and, if they so desire, I want them to be able to re-create the look themselves, for their own fantasy scenarios.
Whether they just want to feel sexy, after reading a hot story, or whether they want to take things a step further and explore role play with their partner, I hope my fun blogs encourage them to do this.
So, does it matter what your characters wear in your story? Yes, it certainly does if it's in a Honey McGregor story.
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