i haaaaave to ask. do you have anywhere specific you research fashion for character design? Ive been trying to get better in that aspect myself but the only place i know is pinterest and she is not helping me at all... she rotates the same thing to me over and over again and I have no idea where else to look, as unfortunately i lack knowledge in any of that so im just wondering because im lost as hell i think my map has water damage
tbh, it depends on what you're going for!
if you want my best character design fashion tip, your most important starting point is going to be your cultural and economic research for your character, unironically. while i can point you towards street fashion/magazines/runway accounts (and i will), none of it will mean anything if you don't know how to use it!
establish where your character is from, how old they are, what their background and occupation is, what economics status they are, etc etc. when you are designing fashion for a character, you need to think about what is accessible to and around them and their lifestyle; after all, a homeless 30 y/o cashier isnt gonna be running around in pristine gucci and red-bottom heels, and a 20-something businesswoman can't show up to work in hand-me-down jean overalls and weather worn sandals. determine the things they need and their personal interests, as well as the cultures and geography that may effect them, and then you can start getting into flavor.
now, the really fun part, flavor!! this is where you can pull from your avant-garde inspo for things like shape, silhouette, texture, and more! on tumblr, i really like the blog @/fashion-runways for whatever new and old releases they have on their archive. i also like digging through different aesthetic and subculture blogs on here and twitter bc sometimes they'll have a curation of a certain aesthetic i'm going for (for example, i pulled from a few different coquette blogs and the neopolitan tag when I was researching for Nancy's redesign, and I dug through old hot topic tags/photos and 90s punk/alt/metal stuff for Caesar's redesign). familiarize yourself with different subcultures! they have history, and their language can help you curate looks.
fashion magazines new and old are also a HUGE resource!! FRUiTS was one of THEE japanese street fashion magazines back in the day, and a lot of current street fashion trends now pull from that - you should absolutely look into that one! For historical fashion (primarily 80s-00s), check out some old Sears/Macy's/etc catalogs for clothing in that time! if you're young you may not know, but ppl used to order clothing from magazine catalogs via calling before online shopping became any kind of accessible lol.
additionally, theres some really great fashion creators who know WAY more about fashion history than I'll ever understand lol. HauteLeMode on youtube/instagram/tiktok does fashion roasts and is super funny and awesome, and johnmvilla on youtube/instagram/tiktok does some great fashion coverage and is an art historian! theres way more than that, but i interact with their content the most.
besides that,,, just screenshot and save stuff you find interesting. if you like the color scheme or cut of a jacket on someone, put it somewhere so you can return back to it. i have a few different folders on my pc just for inspo stuff ive saved over the years.
ultimately, art is history, and art is political. fashion is just another form of living history and politics. your fashion should reflect the history, culture, and choices around your character.
long-ish tldr but figure out who your character is and what they have access to, figure out historical and cultural fashion influences by researching things of those time periods, get into online spaces revolving fashion so you can access resources like blogs/magazines/videos, and save whatever you find important so you can refer back to them later.
