Quote - just an fyi, clothing designs are not covered by copyright.  as such, you don't have to worry about using real clothes as reference and inspiration.

i think that this problem is the same as short male hair.  everyone has pretty much the same vague idea  of what fantasy or sf clothes kind of look like, but as far as i can tell people are deadly specific and wildly divergent about what's "normal" and "average."  it makes much more sense to say, "i'd like this outfit or something like it made," than to reference concepts that probably mean something entirely different to someone else.

 

Precisely the case. There's a lot to be said about being specific. I mean, what do people 40ish wear? What about the 40 yr olds who dress 'young'. I wouldn't begin to know where to start if I were a modeller trying to bring this to life.