How often do you change your characters clothes?

[TonyEsp]

i been wanting to do it to give my comic a little more of charm, but i'm still having problem drawing a consisting face of my characters, that's why i try to keep the same hair and clothes to make them more identifiable, but i still want to do it here's my comic life inside the screen so here are my questions
do you change their clothes?
(yes) how often do you do it and why?
do you find hard to make clothes look fashionable?
can you leave a link to your comic?
(no) why not?
do you think clothes make the character?

[revisionstudios]

My characters change clothes as often as they would irl! So usually when it a new day in the comic or if I show them relaxing at home in their pajamas or something. Just whatever the situation calls for, really. I have a few uniforms for when they're at work, so that streamlines some of it, but I'm not at the point yet where my MC gets his uniform anyway. I personally tire of seeing and drawing characters in the same exact thing all the time, and it hammers home that they are, in fact, people. A link to my comic is in my profile!

That isn't to say it's for everyone. It's totally cool to have one main outfit for each character. A lot of comics function this way because it does hammer home character recognition and is easy to stick to. It assigns symbols to characters. Some artists change outfits every arc, some change them only for special occasions--it really varies and it depends what kind of comic you have as to if it makes sense or not.

Clothes are a great way to show who a character is. It's how they would choose to dress, after all, so even the simplest decisions reflect their personality. It's good to at least give each character a different style so it doesn't look copy-paste or bland! And when you change their clothes, you just have to make sure it's still something they, as a person, would wear.

I think the biggest thing that is holding you back in your art is lack of shape diversity. Right now you have to rely on color and hair/outfit styles for them to be recognizable because underneath it all, they're the same basic shape and all have the same face. Their faces are round and the eyes, mouth, and nose are all in the same style. I think if you want to start doing different outfits and hairstyles, your first focus should be on diversifying the actual base of your characters. Even if you just changed up some of the facial features for each person, it would go a long way!

[MissMagicGirl]

My characters changes clothes all the time. I used to go to fashion design school and I think that really effected how I draw and make characters.. Designing clothes for my characters is a big part of getting to know them and showing their personalities for me. All my characters has their own style and color schemes when it comes to how they dress.
I don't mind comics where characters always have the same clothes. But personally I could never draw a comic like that. The fact that they get new outfits keeps me very inspired while drawing ^_^

My comic here.

[dragonfly_kites]

My characters have variations in their clothes for sure but to help keep them identifiable I try and keep the color palettes of the clothes very similar to what they first appear in.

[punkarsenic]

I change Cath's clothes quite often, because yknow, real life and shit. its a good way to indicate time passing, esp in montage-esque sequences. but they always still to a fairly regular scheme - soft butch, practical, baggy, yellow to brown. this is just her personal style, which is more repetitive maybe than most because im autistic, and my personal experience of clothing is very simple and repetitive. maybe caths autistic too, i havent really decided yet.
por ejemplo




(fetus cath, had more access to resources so she was snazzier. also, it was summer)

balor, on the other hand, kinda has... no clothes. she has the stone armour Thing but any clothes would inevitably get burnt. she has a makeshift cloak cath got her, so she just wears that all the time. in the future, when she has a choice about the matter, shell prolly change clothes very rarely. shes a stinger to the point of self destruction.

a lot of other characters in the comic wear a uniform, hence little/no change in clothes - except when theyre out of uniform, which makes it obvious.

do you find hard to make clothes look fashionable?

bruv i dont even bother. i mean, if there was a character who was fashionable, then i would... but thatd be a question of drawing actual real clothes people wear in the real world. itd take more effort, bc i dont normally research my clothing choices i just... do it. and i do default to 'x colour top. jeans. done' because im the least fashionable person alive.

can you leave a link to your comic?

hokay?

do you think clothes make the character?

i think they can indicate a lot. people cant choose their bodies, but can choose their clothes - and if they cant, that says something, as is how they personalise them (and you always can, be it from sleeves rolling up to badges to legit cutting stuff up)
they dont make a character, but they show the reader a lot of what makes the character, if that makes sense.

[Evan]

do you change their clothes?

Kinda.

how often do you do it and why?

I make a comedy comic where most episodes are disconnected from one another, so they supposedly change every episode.

do you find hard to make clothes look fashionable?

No, their entire wardrobe consists of blank white shirts so no one can tell the difference between different shirts each episode.

can you leave a link to your comic?

Penciled | Tapas

do you think clothes make the character?

It really depends on the character. There's an actual psychological phenomena about how people perceive people based on their clothes (People generally prefer doctors to wear white lab coats over business casual clothes) and if your character has a favorite jacket or similar article of clothing, they might almost always wear that outside and that can become what your audience uses to identify your character.

[miesmud]

I'm terrible at consistency in my art style, and I change my characters clothes A LOT in my comic. Also their hairstyles change from time to time. Yet I think no one has trouble recognizing my characters. Not only because I try to give all my characters different haircuts, eyebrows (lol), colors and heights. I also give them specific taste in clothing.

I think they are easy to recognize because my characters all have very distinguishable styles. My main characters usually wears browns and blues, casual but classy. Most of his clothes are like clothes from shops like H&M.

My other main always wears comfy/sporty black Adidas inspired clothes. He's full adidas, even his undies and socks are from his favorite brand. No matter if he wears his hair up or down he is easy to recognize. He also has a work uniform, which is totally not his taste, but people still revegnized him because of the way he acts, (and his hairstle is kinda one of a kind haha).

I LOVE fashion, and I think my characters don't look too shabby.
To keep their outfit changes realistic, I try to re-use specific items, most people only own one winter coat, so my characters do too. Isaac only owns one pair of shoes and Logan has a favorite sweater that he wears more often than other sweaters. They wear sportier clothes when they are sporting, and comfier clothes when they are at home. Because most people have a specific taste, I try to keep their outfits similar to their other clothes. For example, Isaac would never wear neon-green. And Logan wouldn't wear shoes from any brand other than "Adios".

I don't think clothes make a character. Ways of reacting to situations is what makes a characters. But I do think clothing style is important to keep in mind, because everyone has a specific taste, and that is part of personality I guess.

[MichelleAntisocial]

So, first off I don't think its always necessary to have characters change clothes in a comic. I think especially when you're doing a comedy, or something that's not supposed to be realistic, it's fine to have your characters just have one outfit.. I understand your concern and I really dont think you need to change your characters wardrobes/hairstyles unless you really want to.

As for my comic, Stray Cats, it varies by character. Both of my main characters are (now) homeless, so they don't have a very varied wardrobe (though I'm considering giving Grey some sort of rat fur/skin coat or hat because that just sounds terrible). However some of the secondary characters (Skye, Mr. Matthews, Cynthia..) do have a variety of clothes. For Cynthia (who has only been in the comic in one scene so far), it's important that she have a diverse wardrobe as she is from money (and young). Any character that works has work clothes, ect. I don't change hair styles a lot (though Sabot's face is definitely getting furrier), but that's just a preference thing.

And to answer that last question: The clothes don't make the character, the character makes the clothes!.. or something like that.

[keii4ii]

My comic takes place in a society/era where most people don't own many sets of clothes. They don't wash their clothes often due to the lack of washing machines... On top of that, the main cast has been on the road for a while, so they've been wearing the same thing for the most part.

Anything beyond the ordinary gets expensive quickly (vibrant dyes, for example, or any patterns as they had to be painted or embroidered by hand). I've shown four recurring characters who own multiple sets of clothes including semi-vibrant ones, which means they earn well above the median, but I don't know how many readers picked up on that.

Aside from those four, most people wear the same types and colors -- off-white (most common and the cheapest), navy, dull dark green, brown. It's not super uncommon for someone to only have off-white clothes, so in such a case, you might not notice even if they changed.

eyebrows (lol)

Years ago, I traveled across the border to hang out with some artist friends. Just for fun we took close-up photos of everyone's eyebrows, and made a "match the eyebrows to the person" quiz for our other artist friends. One of them identified mine IMMEDIATELY, and said he's seen me draw similar eyebrows in multiple pictures. O_o; No one else could see the similarity, even after he said it.

[azureXtwilight]

do you change their clothes?

Quite a lot, Mike changed her clothes a lot of times. Basically like how normal people would with their look

do you find hard to make clothes look fashionable?

Pinterest helps a lot with that :'D

can you leave a link to your comic?

Yeah, it's Re:Set

do you think clothes make the character?

Yea, they do! Props and clothing can help to emphasise character traits and their background. For example, scruffy clothes can be used for poor characters, and lots of diamonds and bling for tasteless rich ones. Accessories can also be more literal extensions of your character's personality!

[ahhvecadoes]

I like having characters change their clothes, just like real life. I think fashion choices say a lot about a person, whether they think it does or not. I think it also takes a bit of balance to make sure the clothes don't define the character, that it only adds. I understand, though, why people choose to keep characters in one outfit, since keeping track of multiple outfits that rotate can be a bit daunting (especially for an ensemble cast!).

Honestly, I don't think it's hard to make clothes look fashionable! That's where references come in. Following fashion blogs or OOTD instagrams are great for inspiration. Not every outfit choice for your characters has to be the pinnacle of fashion though, just like real life. Some days I look really put together, other days I've just thrown on jeans and whatever clean shirt I have and call it a day.

There are several outfit changes so far in Heart Hex, and a lot more to come. Lee's main outfit in the first chapter is something I wish I owned.

[AmysGames]

I have a bad habit of always drawing my characters in the same outfits—in my first chapter of Aiiro No Kunoichi, you can see that the characters' outfits don't change (aside from one obvious instance) despite it spanning about three days time. That said, I decided to shake things up a bit by giving them different outfits in the upcoming chapter, and I'm hoping to make a habit of changing their outfits periodically in future comics.

That said, picking interesting new outfits for my characters has always been a challenge for me, maybe because I'm not a very fashion-conscious person myself. I definitely rely on Google for outfit ideas fairly often.

[spadesart]

The characters in SPIRE haven't shown any outfit changes yet but they're going to change them as often as they would if it were real life. since most of them are well over a hundred years old they kinda lose track of time easily and in turn tend to change clothes and hair less. they don't usually get dirty by sweating either since their bodies automatically adjust to the temperature outside (which is also why they usually can comfortably wear long sleeved and layered clothes most of the time) as a replacement for that (for like survival you know?)
Blaise is especially a mess and wears the same things for like a week straight usually. also Jack's suit is a uniform technically so he's used to wearing it a lot.

as for fashion, spire has a steampunky/formal kind of aesthetic going on and i always have a lot of fun designing clothes.

[ryoko]

I do change the clothes on my characters from time to time, but for long periods they do wear the same thing, but that's because they're traveling and it would be impossible for them to bring enough clothes to have new outfits everyday. Also, a couple of them have armour that doesn't change initially.

I've changed their clothes when they've gotten destroyed or if they're doing something that requires a change of clothes.

I find drawing clothes a challenge sometimes, especially since one of my characters likes frilly things. Most of the clothes that I need to draw for my characters aren't fashionable, they're functional.

comic link

I think clothes can help the reader understand your character's personality, the world they live in, their wealth or lack of it and can help the reader relate to them.

[JKNNKL]

OMG IF ITS FROM HNM I HAVE THE CAP OF THE THIRD PIC OF THE BROWN haired GUY LMAOOOOO

[Stickly]

Whenever they're expected to. Change to pajamas at home, change to gym clothes for sports, etc.

[heterodont]

Eh, I don't really change the outfits of my characters much at all? I give them outfits that fit their character/personality/backstory and try to make it as iconic as possible vs constantly changing outfits. I don't have a problem against it - I just much rather have them have One Iconic Outfit. Realism be damned.

I'm kinda obsessed with clothing and matching irl that it'd do more harm than good because I'd end up never getting anything done because I'm too preoccupied with deciding if x shoe would pair well with y shirt.

[AnnaLandin]

do you change their clothes?

For the main characters, no. Grassblades is about a homeless wanderer and the orphan who tags along with them; they literally HAVE no other clothes, and have to make do with washing/mending what they've got.

Some minor characters do get costume changes occasionally, though.

I do have some oneshot comics as well, but they don't have costume changes at all, since they take place over the span of maybe a few hours.

(yes) how often do you do it and why?

Sometimes, when there's a good reason for it! Like when I flash back to something that happened a long time ago, or if they show up in one scene, and then show up in another that canonically takes place days or weeks or more later.

Grassblades is set in a world where people in general have fewer sets of clothes to change between; it's a fantasy setting with no textile mills. So they change more rarely, and the variation tends to be smaller.

do you find hard to make clothes look fashionable?

No, not really! I have a metric ton of reference photos saved that I can go dig through and find inspiration, so it's not that challenging. It's like with anything else you learn to draw; you have to find out what it looks like first. You wouldn't expect to be able to draw a bicycle without looking at a picture of one first - it's the same with fashionable clothing.

It's a matter of practise, really. Just keep trying until you learn how.

can you leave a link to your comic?

It's right up there ^ but if you don't wanna scroll up - here's a link to all of my series.

do you think clothes make the character?

Not as such, no, but distinctive fashion and colour choices will make your character stand out, and help your readers remember them.

[NickRowler]

I do give my characters a new outfit for each new day. I sort of do it for a sense of "realism". Plus it helps show the passing of time. Coming up with new outfits is difficult tho.

My MC however always wears the same outfit even as a child. I did this for two reasons, 1) his name is Crow and his outfit looks like a crow, and 2) he is weird and stubborn. He's suppose to be childish, he's content with just doing what he wants even if that means not changing and growing up.

Here's my comic: Crow's Worth

[anitacomics]

To be able to change your characters' clothes you really need to have their face recognizable every time, so I'd suggest not to make them change until they're consistent. You can anyway try keeping their hair and main color always the same, and changing the shape of the clothes!

Changing their clothes often also requires that you remember and/or check exactly how they're dressed page after page, and this is another reason why most popular characters don't change at all: it's easier for the artist to avoid mistakes.

I layed out a set of outfits for my main characters based on their different activities: the school in DAWN OF THE DAD requires a uniform, so they must change when they're out chilling with friends, or at home, or they just woke up. I set a series of outfit that's roughly the same everytime, so for example the main character always wears dark jeans and a purple sweater when she's at home.
In short, they change but I don't need to decide how they're dressed everytime