You want to be able to describe the form of the character under the clothing, without baking that form into the article of clothing itself.
1) Best practice for tailoring is to make cloth 'portable' so that anyone, regardless of body shape can wear it. Therefore, don't include body shape details into the clothing @worn. This makes sense.
2) If you want to show the body under the cloth, we have an option for that with transparency, however, it shows the full nude and isn't always apparent that the cloth item is designed with this in mind when shopping for a clothing item in second-hand avenues. It would also require you to change your @nakeds every time you wanted to change an article of clothing or layer. Additionally, this requires that the person is aware of the intent of the clothing's design, which is not going to be apparent for most secondary market users who have no direct connection to the tailor in question. Not ideal.
Suggestion 1: Add gendered @worn messages, so that a male-presenting character isn't described as having womanly hips or a sizeable bustline when wearing a gender-neutral article of clothing, such as a tanktop. @worn is "Some general article of clothing description." @male_worn is "Some detailed clothing description befitting a male body" @female_worn is "Some detailed clothing description befitting a female body."
Pros:
-Works super well with the APPEAR command and disguising your character.
-Allows us additional freedom to describe our characters as one might imagine a form-fitting article of clothing might, without the huge disconnect if someone of the other presented gender wears it.
Cons:
-Additional tailoring messaging needed for tailors to write out.
-Additional DB bloat of tailored messages.
-Change not retroactively affecting existing garments, which are all gender-neutral for the most part.
Option 2: Allow an additional, specific, person/body specific message. Normal @worn still required. Optional @detail_worn not required to @finalize an article of clothing. Example: @worn tanktop is "A black fitted tanktop that hugs the curves of the body well with it's stretch-fit synth cotton." @detail_worn is "The fitted tanktop and stretch fit of the synthetic cotton highlights %p defined six-pack." Allow the OWNER of the article to freely switch between the @worn and @detail_worn with a verb.
Pros:
-Less need to write out messaging.
-If the article doesn't fit your character's appearance, have a tailor refit the @detail_worn, OR simply toggle the verb to the generic @worn.
-Puts additional freedom in the hands of the end user of a garment.
Cons:
-Added DB bloat over existing clothing.
-Not retroactively changing existing clothing's messaging.
-Not nearly as detailed as having specific gendered @worn messages.
Please discuss.
