I don’t always think that clothes are an important part of a character but I do think that they’re extremely relevant for Rose, both who she is when the series starts and who she becomes as the series progresses.
As I mentioned previously, the show goes to great lengths to show us that Rose is a very normal girl living a very normal life. This had to be done quickly so that they could move on to the larger plot and the Doctor. They did this by jamming as much information about Rose as they could in two minutes and her clothes were a huge part of that first impression.
Our very first look is actually her pajamas. They’re literally nothing special: a white and gray striped tank top and grey pajama pants. The sort of thing that thousands, if not millions, of people wear to bed and around the house on lazy days.
And then we get the above outfit. What we wear out of the house is important. We might want to say that it’s not but the fact of the matter is that it is. How we dress affects the way that people react to us and this is doubly true for women. It’s not fair, but there it is. Women don’t get dressed for men but we are all very aware of the fact that whatever we wear is going to be judged and, as such, what we choose to wear out of the house is a statement, even if that statement is: fuck everyone else, I’ll wear what I want.
So, what does Rose’s outfit say about her?
Let’s start with colors. Her color palette is almost a monochrome pink: a medium pink hoodie with a light pink interior over a light pink shirt. I don’t count her baggy dark blue jeans and white sneakers in this palette because I feel jeans and sneakers have become neutral items when they are in their default colors. They are merely there because Rose needed shoes and pants and those were comfortable and would match whatever she chose to wear on the top half of her body. All of this shows us a young woman who values comfort and ease of use more than anything else. The jeans and sneakers are nice because she can throw whatever type of shirt on she wants and she knows that it will work. This, combined with the use of pink in both her room and what she’s wearing, show that she’s is complacent in her life. She’ll buy pink because she’s always bought pink because she’ll always buy pink.
The only color other than pink is the pastel blue of her hobo purse which also features a loud print splashed across its front. However, seeing as it’s a bag that we only see when she’s traveling too and from work, I feel it’s safe to say it’s her regular bag, not one picked specifically to go with this particular outfit.. Purses are not an accessory to be matched with a new outfit everyday for Rose; they’re a tool to carry her stuff in as she goes about her life and there’s a good chance that she carries this bag no matter what outfit she wears. Even the way she wears the purse, strap crossed over her front instead of hanging off one shoulder, speaks of comfort and convenience; it’s the way people who walk places and travel on public transit wear their bags because it means not only that it won’t slip off at an inconvenient moment but that it can easily be pushed behind or in front of the person if it’s someone else’s way.
Not only does this tell us a lot about Rose’s life but it’s also a great look into Rose’s own headspace when the show starts. This is the outfit of someone who prizes comfort and every day use over fashion. It is also the outfit of someone who isn’t trying anymore. She’s not trying to impress anyone, not even at her job*; she’s a woman just going through the motions of her every day life. It’s a wardrobe of someone who expects that, ten years from now, nothing will have changed, including herself, and thus there’s nothing to do but what she’s always been doing.
Rose is not just a normal girl who has nothing special going for her or about her. She is a normal girl who expects that nothing special will ever happen to her either and her wardrobe reflects that.
*It should be noted that I’ve worked in a store that looks very similar to Rose’s and there is absolutely no way in hell that you would be allowed to show up to work in jeans and a hoodie. However, I acknowledge that they were trying to get a lot about Rose across in a very small amount of time and that needs must sometimes.