I think she meant to give tips in general not specifically about her character design. Plus your criticisms, while not invalid, were kinda unnecessary.
She meant to start a conversation which i continued. May not have been the desired direction though still relevant. And criticism is always necessary. This is an art community that helps each other grow.
I typically go for the first attempt, but I usually don't draw a character until I have a really good idea of what they're like. I don't just draw characters for the heck of it is what I mean. Probably still not the best method but I think I've done alright with it so far. For the two main characters of my comic, I came up with their designs years before actually doing the comic so I've refined them in subtle ways since then.
Left is the current design and the right is the design from 3 years ago. I originally went more with a Dracula look, for the hair, but scrapped that idea and just gave him a more generic looking dude short haircut. I think it's fitting though. He is a bit of an everyday man's man. Also sorted his eyebrows out and gave him more eye catching clothes. Admittedly most of the design changes are just me learning how to draw better.
Recently got into watching sewing videos--especially with a lot of historic costumes (like Bernadette Banner1 type stuff) and it really helps to understand the construction of clothes when creating character designs. It's given not just a lot of inspiration, but also understanding of different types of corsets--who would wear them--how would they lace them--how are these sleeves made--are they lined? I never really thought much about the structure of under-clothes of clothes much, of the interlining and the way you have to use interfacing to make lapels stay at a certain angle. I never thought about stitching and how lace is applied and how people get clothes to be appealing. But now I think about it a lot as I draw. Really handy stuff, highly recommend (also sewing is very soothing to watch).
I definitely agree with doing motion poses instead of static ones. I get so bored with static standing poses so usually my character designs start off in motion.
Sometimes I wish we used words for what they actually mean.
This is pretty much all COSTUME design and NOT character design.
Right, because that would be physical character design.
Almost ANY character can be easily picked out by their silhouettes, alone, once they are DRESSED.
The trick is draw your characters NAKED without all the extra 'hints' (capes, boots, jewelry, haircuts/color of hair, and any additional accessories). To show that you really are illustrating DIFFERENT characters with real physical differences besides the superficial.
Different CHARACTERS wearing the same costume and/or clothing should still look different.
And yep, even their silhouettes should look different.
If your character isn't naked when you're 'designing them' you're not designing a character.
I don't think that's necessarily the case. You can still account for the body of a character and any body modification (scars, tattoos, etc.) while also designing clothing.
A design tip from me is to consider doing line ups when designing a cast of characters. This way, you can see how they look next to one another. You can implement reoccurring elements if applicable and make sure no one looks too similar to one another through color, face and body shape, and clothing choices.
This is the greatest reach of all time. Clothing and costumes HIDE bodily details.
If you want to have a sleeve of tats that you must show off at all times, you can design a shirt with no sleeves, have them wear a vest and/or wear a regular shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
All of those choices are COSTUME related.
clothing choices are separate from the character design.
Self-modifications are considered personality traits.
They indicate a TYPE of character, not the character.
And to be more clear, when you ADD scars to a character you are developing a backstory.
Tattoos indicate a history. All of that goes with the personality part of the design process.
I can see where you're coming from, but how many people actually start with drawing nude characters? Because...that's never crossed my mind to start with characters in the buff.
While I appreciate the technical correctness of your statements, I would be pretty hard pressed to separate costume design from character design.
As far as I'm concerned, all of it is integral to creating a rounded character. What's the point of separating it all?
This is technically a contradiction. That was going to be my counter to the first part of your statement because I have a character with two sleeves of tattoos who does wear a tank top and vest that show off those those tattoos. but he also wears pants that hide the majority of his leg tattoos. But the clothing he wears strongly indicate the type of person he is. Now that's just one character in a sea of characters created by people around the world. But clothing are a very important aspect to character design(where it is applicable) And not only clothing will hide body details, hair can do that too.
I don't understand why you so vehemently want to separate clothing/costume design and character design, when the two often go hand in hand. For example, the Power Rangers. Yes, personality and backstory matter, but the main thing that separates the Power Rangers from one another are their costumes.
What's the point of separating it all?
You answered it already.
I appreciate the technical correctness of your statements
The reason you make a thread about TIPS is to alert people to things they don't ordinarily notice or know.
Things that are uncommon and important to help with growth for beginners and a reminder for the experienced and seasoned.
but how many people actually start with drawing nude characters?
The difference between how many do and how many should is what gives this thread value.
Fair enough, it is a tips thread.
I would be interested to find out, how many industry professionals do it with this method.
Regardless, it may be worth the time trying to separate the elements myself to see how much it helps. If it does...awesome. If not, at least I tried something new.
I've never designed a character nude first. I always design their clothing with them, and if I decide they're going to have tattoos, scars, or whatever, I draw that separately (I'd recommend drawing any tattoos separately anyway, so you can grab and warp them onto a body to save time). Their clothing is an important part of their design for me! What they look like in their underwear? Not so important.
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You mean to say, the MAIN thing that separates them in their COSTUMES is the color because the suits are all so very similar. Do you notice a 'similar difference' (yes, I meant that exactly as it reads) outside the suits?
All you are saying, which is semantics ---- someone is doing their homework and watching TV at the same time.
No one has ever done that. lol
Because someone switches back and forth very quickly does not mean the two are being done at the same time or one is a direct substitute for the other.
I never said you MUST complete ONE first before switching to the other.
Why are we getting so heated over character design and it's not even about controversial stuff
Truth be told, you don't design characters naked at first. Waste of time, unless it's a bust and you haven't figured out clothes yet/ they're mostly for NSFW. Why bother without clothes when the whole is what's going to be seen in your works, when you could be working on alternate outfits?
Clothing compliments shape, compliments mood, compliments the character's personality and social standing. Color, scars, etc, all ends up being part of the outfit as well. Unless they need to run in their birthday suit for a significant amount of time, why even bother to take these essential pieces of the character away? This applies even to characters that don't have a limited wardrobe, where you'll want to make a moodboard for what they'd wear if they were a real person, they're not going to wear literally anything and look good and unique in it.
Pixels on a screen that make the serotonin go up, but when they have the clothing, attachment also go up. Nothing to get angry over.
I make a lot of my character designs based on aesthetics and comparisons.
For aesthetics, I really like designs that have fluidity, so I might include flowing dresses/skirts, bell bottom jeans, or puffy shirts. But that's just clothes.
I also like a certain aura that oozes from my characters -- confidence in their poses, their actions, maybe even certain facial features that give off an air of confidence. That's kinda why I have a lot of designs with lowered eyes, maybe even sometimes combined with a smile and raised eyebrows.
For comparison, that's really based on if and when I'm doing a certain era (like say, the 70s, or the Victorian Era). Usually, I make the first design based on prior knowledge, along with the aesthetic I want. Then, I do more research, find more references, and redo that design to be a bit more accurate. I pulled this tip from Scott McCloud himself, though he uses this tip with drawing a bike before and after using a reference:
I think you're swapping DRAWING and designing.
How can you draw an outfit on top of a character without knowing their shape first?
This is the quote that many are getting hung up on- and why? Because DRAWING costumes is where many are thinking the character creation process starts (and I bet for some, end).
No need to argue about what you believe or choose to do with your comic(s).
Soon as we start to give advice to OTHERS, we are assuming a different role.
You are not saying, this is what I do.
You are saying, these are some best practices.
If you research comic and comic art critiques, you will see how much of the feedback is about beginner artists skipping the basics and jumping ahead to do what more advanced artists do.
For instance, the problem with capes is that many artists forget to draw/outline/imagine/sketch an actual BODY under the cape. So does the word naked mean full naughty bits? lol
So should we draw the figure or the costume first?
I would hope anyone's first sketch of their character involves their general body shape as the most important thing to get going first.
No one is saying you can't make changes, but sheesh.
Characters select clothing.
Clothing does not create character.
That my tip for the character design process.
You don't have to agree.
I think there's a misunderstanding 
I guess most (if not every artist!) artists first draw the shape of a character/does a gesture drawing and add anatomy on top of that AND THEN draw the clothes.
I don't think that people would skip the "body shape" part and go straight into clothing, unless they are extremely experienced and take shortcuts, because they can.
So, they are designing the body of a character first, even if it only remains a loose sketch.