People with custom outfits... How do you make it look good?

naturebased

I cant seem to find anything i like that goes together well, my guy just ends up looking like a potato or two things i really like individually dont go together etc... is there any tips to help me put something together?

Septimus_Magna

Have a look here. Many good outfit designs, sometimes with a description of the styles used.

I usually pick a chest piece to start with and choose other pieces that suit the look that I am going for.

Nemesis7884

imo for me personally the trick usually is

combining different armor weights from the same style and if i mix different styles, i usually keep 1 style and only add 1 or 2 pieces from other styles...or use some more base armor styles

if you mix too many too crazy high lvl styles the whole concept usually looks too "busy"

Saucy_Jack

I tend not to mix and match actual armour and armour motifs; I generally just mix and match actual outfits and styles from style pages.

RogueShark

I hate making outfits. But I spend forever on one and once I'm happy, I tend to use it for a loooooong time.

Like Septimus_Magna said, I think starting with the chest or a particular piece you really like works the best. Chest is a good one to start with, but I've designed an outfit entirely around a helm before too. Find a piece you really like and want to use, then just go through the options in the outfit station and see what looks good. Being able to preview motifs even when you don't have them yet is a nice feature and can help you know if you like how it dyes/etc before even buying it.

Edit: Playing around with dye helps a lot too. If items don't dye the same (which happens infuriatingly often), or if you can't use different dyes to apply the same uniform color, it can end up looking really bad. Keep in mind that pieces that dye differently can still go well together if you have different shades of the color you want to use. A lot of times, going a shade darker/lighter will match the colors of another piece.

Elwendryll

1) Always make sure there is minimal clipping or floating pieces. Taking pieces of the same style can help. It will also depend a bit on your character's proportions, and the personality equipped.

2) Have a theme in mind, it will help you choose what to pick. So many styles are available.

3) Use only a limited amount of colors. Alternatively, use pieces that don't alter the color when they're dyed.

4) Mix armor weights.

5) Use hats or other cosmetic parts, skins, personality...

6) Try again and again until you're satisfied of the results. You may get bored and want to change in a few weeks/months.

With time, you'll get good at making outfits that will earn you compliments, you'll just know what pieces work better for what you want to achieve.

Here's one of my current outfits as a bonus:

idk

Saucy_Jack wrote: »

I tend not to mix and match actual armour and armour motifs; I generally just mix and match actual outfits and styles from style pages.

Are you being saucy?

Integral1900

I would approach it this way, bear in mind that these days I go story first everything and every other consideration second

1 What kind of character is it, how does their class or race play into this, for example an assassin or a nord berserker

2 Take screen shots of characters you see other people using that inspire you and try to recreate them, as you do so you may find a combination you like that is a mix of your efforts and theirs

3 Remember that in outfit system screen you can use every motif in the game including those you don’t have, you just can’t save it

Danikat

Firstly remember that 'looking good' is subjective. What I think looks good may be what you think looks like a jumbled mess. The only important thing is that you like how your characters look.

I start with a general idea of what that character would wear: Would they want to be fully covered or have hands/arms/feet etc. exposed for greater mobility? Would they wear heavy armour or something lighter? Would they have it custom made, or use whatever they could get their hands on? Any specific racial styles or motifs I want to include? Then I go through all the available options, starting with either things I know I want to use, or with the biggest pieces, and then match everything else to it, keeping the overall 'theme' in mind.

Sometimes that's fairly simple: my crafter wears a mix of ebony and glass heavy armour, because his first priority is to protect himself and his second priority is to advertise his work (in-character, I'm not expecting other players to know or care that he's using those motifs). Sometimes it's a bit more complicated - my khajiit mainly wanted something which balances protection with freedom of movement and wasn't just khajiit racial armour, so I spent a lot of time previewing different pieces and choosing my favourites from the available options, I think at one point I wrote down all the boot skins with open toes and then compared them to narrow down the selection.

Finally remember that dyes can help tie the whole thing together and make it look like a consistent outfit instead of random separate pieces, but dye in this game affects different materials in different ways. Some show the colour better than others, some are dull or faded, some are shiny, some have gloss effects in different colours etc. so you may need to experiment with a few similar dyes to get it all matching.

FrancisCrawford

I use the PTS for testing outfits.

I use the five main pieces from the same armor set and weight, plus unobtrusive shoulders and no helm.

Even then I rarely come up with something I much like.

Recent

Here's one of my current outfits as a bonus:

[/quote]

That is stunning 😍😍😍😍

TheShadowScout

naturebased wrote: »

People with custom outfits... How do you make it look good?

Trial and error.
Mostly playing around a LOT with things in the outfit system, then spending a lot of gold and time on getting those motivs that look promising from some guild store (or farming in case of the less rare daily drop motivs), spending more time and gold making them into an outfit while playing with the dyes to make things match, and then spending even more gold again to replace bits when something looked better in the outfit editor then it did when in motion in the game...

In the end, you might eventually get the look you wanted. But like mentioned... there will be lots of "error" in your trial-ing before you get to something you can feel satisfied about.

I mean, take a look at one of my characters current "Wardrobe":



...you think I made those right from the start? Nah... that is literally -years- collecting outfit pieces, reworking outfits numerous times, adding some when I get an idea and want a "swamp armor" or "snow armor" outfit... and those too took dozends of attempts to get to the looks I actually feel happy with!

danielclarkb16_ESO

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

imo for me personally the trick usually is

combining different armor weights from the same style and if i mix different styles, i usually keep 1 style and only add 1 or 2 pieces from other styles...or use some more base armor styles

if you mix too many too crazy high lvl styles the whole concept usually looks too "busy"

I think this is really good advice, I always like to have 2 or 3 pieces on my outfit that are of the same style. The outfit just tends to blend a bit better.

I'm also with the people who say focus on an armour piece you really like and build around it. Some of my best outfits have been designed using this method.

I'd also maybe have a theme in mind before you design the outfit. That often helps too.

This is my latest outfit, done using the methods I described above.

RD065

I found some places online that tell you what they did and loosely follow that. At times I do it myself and you'll be surprised how much better you can make it look just using some dyes.

wolfbone

simple. I dont have any rules, they're just a waste of time.

Nyladreas

Elwendryll wrote: »

1) Always make sure there is minimal clipping or floating pieces. Taking pieces of the same style can help. It will also depend a bit on your character's proportions, and the personality equipped.

2) Have a theme in mind, it will help you choose what to pick. So many styles are available.

3) Use only a limited amount of colors. Alternatively, use pieces that don't alter the color when they're dyed.

4) Mix armor weights.

5) Use hats or other cosmetic parts, skins, personality...

6) Try again and again until you're satisfied of the results. You may get bored and want to change in a few weeks/months.

With time, you'll get good at making outfits that will earn you compliments, you'll just know what pieces work better for what you want to achieve.

Here's one of my current outfits as a bonus:

That looks amazing! What is that helmet? @Elwendryll

CMDR_Un1k0rn

I never mix and match my outfit styles. I always use the same style book, and only that style book, for any given outfit.

Now, might I mix and match weights within that style? Yes, absolutely.

Some armour styles look incredible with a mix of weights from their own book. Redguard style is a very good example. Nord, as well.

Now. Colour. My advice. Don't go too bold. While I have no objection to people making their character look like a clown, make no mistake. I am thinking that you look like a clown if the outfit is rather... Gaudy. This may be what you were after and that's fine.

Personally I prefer muted, simple colurs. My Ebonheart Warrior outfit uses exactly the same colours as the Ebonheart Archer Guards in Cyrodiil. I've done it so well that a player has actually mistaken me for an NPC before when I strategically placed the character.

My Riften Sellsword outfit will use basic leather and steel colours, and unpainted wood for staves and shield.

Same goes for my Undaunted Delver outfit that I plan. Just simple, understated colours.

That's the theme from me. Less is more.

MartiniDaniels

Well, how outfit "fits" heavily depends on height/weight/race/personality etc. Something may look great at static in outfit preview screen, but might turn out awful in movement. At average it takes an hour to create first version of outfit and then several corrections as you use it to receive what you want. I usually follow this steps:
1. Select fitting chest piece
2. Select legs piece which connects properly with chest piece. Quite often you may find awesome fitting leg piece but unfitting chest, and may select another chest (same style but another weight for example..)
3. Select other pieces to match legs/chest.
4. Dyes. There is very nice "randomize dyes" button. Just mash it to get color combination/idea you like and then manually adjust dyes on pieces where randomizer worked bad.
5. Save and run around. Most probably you'll see some problems immediately or after hour or two. Adjust to them. Sometimes adjustment will lead you to entirely new chest piece or entirely new outfit

From my experience, chance to receive really good custom outfit to which you may stick for years are low, maybe something like 25%. So only way to get what you want is to keep trying.

Mysanne

BaiterOfZergs

Large part of it is creativity and wanting your character to have a certain look , customization has always been one of my favorite parts to games. I’ll spend an hour just creating a character if a game has a good creation system.

Tigerseye

naturebased wrote: »

I cant seem to find anything i like that goes together well, my guy just ends up looking like a potato or two things i really like individually dont go together etc... is there any tips to help me put something together?

As I said, on the thread I made about there being no Jephrine daggers, it is normally a process of elimination, as much as anything else.

The choice of things that; a) have a nice design, b) look good with other things, that also have a nice design, c) suite your character and d) dye well is normally fairly narrow.

So, pick one thing you really like and then go from there, rejecting most of the things you consider, as you go and hope you end up with something you, at least, don't mind.

Tigerseye

Oh and definitely be prepared to mix and match.

Unless you are not fussy, at all, you will almost certainly need to do that, to stand a chance of ending up with something you both like and that suits your char.

Especially if your char is female.

Many of the armour styles do not flatter females, or even fit the female form properly.

Although it is probably thought of as a relatively safe route to take to just pick one style motif and stick with it, it is (unfortunately) extremely unlikely that you will like all parts of a certain motif enough to want to use all of them and nothing else.

It's like anything - look for shapes and motifs that go well together; not, necessarily, that match each other exactly.

Mix like with like, to an extent - organic shapes with organic shapes, ornate with ornate, minimal with minimal etc..

But, at the same time, don't be afraid to contrast and tone down a more ornate, or glamorous, look with more simple, earthy elements.

Or, alternatively, to make a simple look more exciting, with more glamorous parts.

If you stick to just one look, or feel, in the same outfit, that is when you will normally start look either a bit OTT, or a bit too boring and safe.

Which, of course, some people may be happy with, but I'm assuming you're probably trying to go for something in between the two, here.

Tigerseye

Danikat wrote: »

Finally remember that dyes can help tie the whole thing together and make it look like a consistent outfit instead of random separate pieces, but dye in this game affects different materials in different ways. Some show the colour better than others, some are dull or faded, some are shiny, some have gloss effects in different colours etc. so you may need to experiment with a few similar dyes to get it all matching.

This is definitely one of the main problems with mixing and matching.

Sometimes you can find a different dye that looks similar enough and sometimes, you can't.

The further away from each other the two are (in terms of distance), the more you may be able to get away with them being a slightly different colour.

Tigerseye

My latest effort, by the way:





As you can see, I am really not afraid to mix and match motifs.

There are six different motifs here; seven if you count the daggers.

It's not perfect, but it'll do.

sudaki_eso

Most has been said already, i just want to add one thing: Colors can make quite a difference - dont underestimate the power of colors

Donny_Vito

Decent amount of time at the outfit station, and a good sense of fashion!

Honestly, it's all personal taste. You may think someones outfit looks amazing and they might think it's 'meh' -- or vice versa.

Grianasteri

Firstly, and perhaps most frustratingly, early in an ESO career you will have very limited access to the bewildering variety of style motifs available, which obviously limits your options. Time and experience (content completion) unlock these (or you can purchase some in the Crown Store).

There are plenty of other areas which can improve your results...

-I find that often having a theme or specific look that I am aiming for initially, can help focus my efforts and narrow down the options I am considering.

-Trial and error can be a huge part of successful outfitting. I have spent countless hours at the Outfit Stations! Changing individual items again and again, changing the colours and shades, trying to make things match and look good together.

-Colours deserve a mention in and of themselves. What colour something is can drastically change how groovy it looks. Some of the rendering and detail on some styles is poor, but in some cases colours can mask this and improve things, for instance.

-Put simply, an eye for fashion can help, what goes well, what doesn't, a creative flare, an expressive trait etc. Im not sure that can be taught but I am sure it can be improved with practice and time. What is sure, is that some people lack these!

-A technical tip... its often good to start with one bit of armour you really like and want to use, then build around it. Often this is the chest piece, but not always - Ive picked hands first then build from there before, for instance.

-Another tip, it is often worthwhile selecting the same combination of two of the same motif, and putting them on for shoulders, hands or feet... these can tie an outfit together really well because of course, the armour is designed to go together. This still leaves loads of room to get creative with the rest of the outfit (head, chest, legs, belt and weapons).

-Patience. Honestly, as I mentioned I have spent literally, countless hours outfitting, and a LOT of gold.

Happy outfitting!

Mix

Experiment!

I also love to hit the random styles button just to see what goofy combos it comes up with - sometimes you luck out and notice 2 pieces from very different styles that actually look great together.

I usually start with my character. Is she wearing a skin or body/face markings that I want to show off? If yes, which chest/leg styles cover less of the character body to showcase the skin or markings. If no, I often theme on events or content or match a mount (or all 3 lol). Right now I am using the Pre-Order Seigebreaker horse and my outfit is themed to match the horse + cold environment and incorporates the style pieces I got during the prologue quest.

When I get a new motif I sometimes make an outfit of just that motif with the three weights mixed (unless I really dislike a certain slot and then fill in with something else).

Since we cannot "hide" shoulders yet and most are rather obvious I do often pick a shoulder style I like and build from there - if you are going to have outrageous shoulders might as well flaunt them!

My current outfit:

SickleCider

Simple tricks I use!

1. Think about the silhouette of the character. A quick way to make a strong silhouette is to have areas that are looser (or bulkier) and areas that are tighter. You might have a tight top and a more billowy bottom. This isn't a hard rule, but variation in apparent mass can really help set a character off. Look at @danielclarkb16_ESO 's outfit, and note how the tight pants and tassets are offset by the large pauldrons.
2. Look for small details in pieces that echo each other. The filigree on a fabric or leather might echo the carving in a metal piece. Some pieces might have a similar fur trim. Similar visual motifs in pieces can create a cohesive image. A caveat: be cautious of using too many of the same exact shapes, though. You might end up with something that looks redundant. It's good to have a soft shape (ex: a circle) that contrasts a hard shape (ex: a diamond). It adds visual interest.
3. If your outfit has a lot of patterns and details, there should be an area where the eye can rest. I feel like @Elwendryll 's outfit illustrates this well. There's a lot of detail on the top, so the eye has a place to rest on the "coat tail," which is mostly smooth and simple. @Tigerseye also creates a clear area of rest--the bare belly!
4. Now, let's talk about colors, my favorite part! Try to pick a simple palette. My rule is three to four colors: 1. A neutral (white, grey, black, a brown or tan, or a low saturation color), 2. two accents (usually in the same "temperature," but not a hard rule) 3. sometimes a fourth contrasting color, to highlight something I want to draw attention to (ex: say your outfit is warm colors, browns and reds, and you add a cold color like turquoise to a piece to highlight it). Make sure that one of the accent colors gets carried throughout the outfit, to keep the eye traveling over the character's silhouette. If one of your accents is gold, for example, you may want a little bit of gold on almost every piece. Make sure the eye moves from the head, to the shoulders and waist, to the hands, to the feet, and back.

Vevvev

Hours, upon hours, of constant tweaking, unlocking of dyes, getting new motifs, and making sure everything fits. Sometimes it drives me insane when 2 different motif pieces take the same dye in 2 different ways so I end up having to find a different piece or dye.

daim

I usually pick one or two armour pieces I like and build the outfit around that. The dyes are of course a big deal in it all and the more you have available the easier it gets. When using dyes you might need several shades of the same color to make a nice look as different pieces as we all know might dye very differently and with that in mind you're able to blend several motif together.

So start simple and build up from that.

Also with my main characters I like to "evolve" my theme so I don't completely rework it: