When Should You Write Clothing Descriptions in a Script?

A question asked on Script Frenzy, today resulted in me writing this answer to it. The question asked, explained that this was their first time writing a script and they were not sure if clothing descriptions were suppose to be included in the script or not. Below is my answer to that question:

I only describe clothing when it is IMPORTANT to the story. I write plays so the costumes are going to be determined largely by the theaters budget and what they have in the store-room. As a general rule, I'll say enough about the clothing to "set the mood", for example - if one character is wealthy merchant from the 1400's and wears fine robes, I'll say just that: "the wealthy merchant from the 1400's who wears fine robes" and leave it open to the theater's interpretation as to how to show that this is a wealthy merchant from the 1400's and wears fine robes.

While I do a lot of different types of writing, from fiction to non-fiction and short stories to novels, it is scripts that I write more than anything else. Mainly I write three types of scripts: "funny animal" comic book shorts, short plays for small theater, and large scale full production dances/ballets/belly-dance scripts.

So far in this year's (2010) Script Frenzy I have written a 10 minute short and a Three Act-Seven Scene Tribal Ballet. In each one there is a character, whose clothing is IMPORTANT to the plot and thus required description.

In the first one, I wrote:
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On The Edge - Cast List
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The Narrator: A man/woman who stands at the side of the stage and tells the story to the audience.
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A Lost Traveler/The Man: A man who has been traveling a long time. He is lost and thirsty and tired and wants to find a place to rest for the night.
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Far-Darrig: A small man with long gray/blond/white hair who wears a long red coat, a tall red hat, red gloves, red leggings, and red boots. Though he looks human, he is a faerie trickster-being.

Do you see how I left the clothing of the first two unmentioned, but the third, was described? That is because the third, Far-Darrig, is a specific character from folklore and he ONLY dresses in one certain way. He's a strange little man, a leprechaun who has shunned his people and wears red instead of green as a sign of his rebellion against them. In EVERY story every written about him, the color of his clothes in an integral part of the plot, and sets him apart from the rest of his people.

So, in this instance it is VITAL to the plot that Far-Darrig being dressed as described above. Why? Because the word Far-Darrig MEANS "a male faerie who wears a long red coat and tall red hat"; the word Far-Darrig translated literally into English says "The Red Man" or "The Red Leprechaun". Far-Darrig is a trickster from Irish folklore, and the color of his clothing always plays a part in the tricks he plays on humans, so when put on stage, the actor who plays him, MUST be dressed head to toe in red, otherwise the story losses it's meaning and the Far-Darrig becomes nothing more than an ordinary troublemaker and is no longer the rebellious Leprechaun that uses the color red to trick Humans.

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In my second play/dance, The Pearl Necklace, there are a lot of characters, but they are described quick. For example the play starts with a dance scene which I described as "sailors dancing on a ship's deck in the 1940's". Instantly you know how these guys are dressed, with no need for a description from me. As long as the audiance knows these guys are sailors on a ship, it doesn't matter if they are US Navy, vacationing yauhters, or swashbuckling pirates. all that matters is they are sailors and they are on deck of a ship, so how the producer translates that is up to them.

In the shipwreck scene, the waves are acted out by actors "dressed in gray-blue streamers that move like water as they dance wildly around the crew". Again - this is open to interpretation. As long as the audience knows that the there is a storm at sea and these dancers are the angry waves tearing the hell out of the ship and drowning the sailors, it does not matter what the clothing looks like.

The main characters are described as: "a pale skinned fish-man who wears no clothes" and "a shipwrecked girl whose dress is in tatters and barely there". Again - both are open to interpretation. All the audience needs to know is that the guy is a biped sea monster and the girl is shipwrecked on his deserted island. Costumes are left up to the producer once again.

Throughout the ballet, only ONE article of clothing is specifically described: a pearl necklace. It is important to the play/dance that she is NOT wearing it at the beginning, but that when she wakes up on shore she is wearing a VERY LONG string of pearls that reaches to her knees, which she has never seen before.

Throughout the ballet - in EACH SCENE of EACH ACT - the necklace is VISIBLY SHORTER. The audience notices this, but the girl does not --- not until the very last scene when it is now a tight chocker that is strangling her and she can't get it off.

The Pearl Necklace is given descriptions throughout the script, because the necklace itself effects how each scene plays out, and in the end, is more of a character than a simple prop.

But other than the necklace itself, the rest of the wardrobe is left open to the interpretation of the theater.

As a general rule, clothing is only mentioned in a script if the plot requires it, otherwise, the writer leaves it up to the producer to decide what the cast should wear.