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Q&A Details: How do you describe a character's clothing in a story?

There are many ways to approach this, but here are a few thoughts I had reading your question: Definitely use "football jersey" rather than "football shirt" Describe not just what the clothing is...

posted 6y ago by ArtemisPondering‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T07:50:10Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33021
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar ArtemisPondering‭ · 2019-12-08T07:50:10Z (over 4 years ago)
There are many ways to approach this, but here are a few thoughts I had reading your question:

- Definitely use "football jersey" rather than "football shirt"
- Describe not just what the clothing is but _how_ it is - does it fit tightly, or is it loose? Are the colors bright or faded? Does it appear worn-out or dirty, or freshly washed?
- Pay attention to how the character is running, and describe it in a way that says something about the eyes through which you're seeing him run. Does he sprint, charge, jog, or pant, etc?
- try to avoid using adverbs a lot (like "boldly" - if you have others in surrounding context, this one could probably go).

Hope this is helpful!

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-02-04T17:00:44Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 2