Basically do you have periods in your gameplay where you use the assets present in the game and/or custom content to simulate the tastes of your sim population changing over time?

I noticed I've started doing it for clothes with my current neighbourhood once I've introduced the Fashion Design CC career from ModTheSims. I don't have any hard and fast rules for it, but in general Sims in the higher levels of the Fashion, Music and Show Business careers tend to influence the way other Sims dress and wear their hair in my neighbourhood. I also tend to have teenage new generations of teenage Sims develop their own styles, which I tend often spread among friend-groups.

Just now Bohemian Chic is becoming popular among female adult and teenage Sims in my neighbourhood, while a short-lived revival of the classic "Gothic" look is disappearing again among teenagers and long hair and beards are popular among adult males.
It's rather random with me how long those "trends" last, they can last from 1-4 seasons, or longer and not every Sim will follow them.

Anybody else doing something like this? If so, what are the current trends and fashions among your Sims?

Not in my current hood (so far), but it's happened on and off in other hoods. There was a fashion for poodle skirts somewhere at one point, and when the Sim who'd started that trend grew up, quite a few people followed her adult choice as well, while poodle skirts fell out of favour among teens. Certain hairstyles have come in and out of fashion, too; usually if somebody gets a makeover, others will try out that style in front of the mirror, and keep it if they like it.

I thought I was the only one who did something like this. I don't put as much thought into how fashion spreads, I just pick based on what I like at the time and what fits the personality. It's weird because I don't do it on purpose it just sort of organically happens. For example, a year ago (about three years sim time) was nothing but '80s New Wave that then morphed into this sort of early '90s neon colors look over the summer. Recently, I've been on this pop-punk late 90's/early 2000s kick with lots of tattoos, think Gilmore Girls if everyone was really into My Chemical Romance circa 2004. It's weird, I didn't realize that I was following a sort of pastiche of real trends until I wrote it out like this. I think it's just a coincidence that I was going in chronological order but I guess if I keep following this trajectory I'll hit the 2010's sometime this year! I can't wait for hipster fashion.

That being said, there are some things that do either stick around weirdly that don't fit that mold. I really like hippy interior design so everyone's houses have really tacky wallpaper and/or wood paneling. Also, I really like fantasy content but I don't play much fantasy so sometimes there's just someone walking around with fairy wings, or hooves, or whatever.

Well, given that I've always hated fashion and made a point of not following trends, and I'm playing a prehistoric-fantasy game that isn't meant to reflect or parody modern life, my first response was "no". But, thinking about it for a while, actually I do... just not usually with clothing styles. My Sims don't care if deer skin is in and bear fur is out this season. They're too busy surviving.

However, I'm into language, so I sometimes have periods where a certain type of name becomes popular for babies. This was most obvious when I started playing that hood and it was still a third-rate alphabet legacy - the first two generations born in the founding house were given "A" and "B" names. Then the hood sort of outgrew legacy play, and I dropped the naming scheme. More recently, about five or six moons (year equivalents) of game time ago, I had a group of newcomers from a distant land enter the tribe. As a nod to their heritage (they were born in another Simmer's Test of Time hood) I named the first few children they had by combining the names of the kids' grandparents, and for a while other parents named their babies that way too.

Yes, I know I'm a nerd.

Interesting to know that other people do similar things with Sim Fashion!
Oh yeah, the poodle skirts are definitely due for a comeback in my hood soon, probably after the current generation of teens grows up. The greaser jackets already had their huge comeback last generation.



I love what you do with the names! It's really creative!

clothing; no particular style/pattern/etc.

naming; tend to give Veronaville descendants Shakespearean names. other pre-made neighborhoods; generally base those names on the (first or last) names of their parents.

Oooh, I love this question!

Kind of - I would say that since my CC comes from a variety of very different sources, it's possible to stratify it a bit by style... Now that's something to think about! Teens wear brighter colours on the whole, with the kids in Loste especially favouring bright pastels and lighter shades, while the Maclandon kids wear darker colours and more denim.

Sims on Uni campuses dress in a lot of stuff from Alway's sims. The young men are fond of baggy, lose trousers rolled up at the hem, and big clunky trainers with loose, tucked in t-shirts. Big stompy boots are also common among the boys, and the girls are in cropped tops, skinny jeans, off-the shoulder, loose sweaters, etc.

Adult sims vary - in Loste they tend to wear culots and shorts, tees and light dresses, and heels are more in evidence. In Maclandon, they're more often found in long-sleeves, jumpers, and denim, and on the whole skew towards flats and trainers in most weathers.

I also pick their primary outfits based on the current season, and I dress them according to the overall temperature for their region. Maclandon has the standard five seasons, since it's sort of mid-atlantic, while Loste has two summers (summer and autumn) autumn (winter) and then spring. In Loste, they wear lighter jackets or jumpers with scarves and raincoats in the autumn because it's wet and cool, but not cold. In Maclandon, they wear down jackets, heavy overcoats, snow boots and scarves, because it does snow.

I love the idea of famous sims inspiring others to copy their hair or clothing styles!

There are certain fashion trends and fads that go through my hood for individual sims - for instance, Lilith Pleasant currently has a kind of 'alternative' look, but my intention is that she will start working for Natasha Una somehow (debating either babysitter or employee at her Cheese Emporium) and slowly develop her style into more of a 'hippie' look.

It is not with precise intention, but some families have a colour in common and every sim has his own shade (i.e. Capp = red, Monty = blue, Dreamer/Goth = dark purple) or some details like that AM on the verge to becoming elders often rediscover "the bands of their youth" and wearing t-shirts with motives of The Rolling Stones, Beatles and AC/DC. And all the primary outfits are based on season, with the exception of plant sims who feels comfortable with naked legs even in the snow (to reach more sunlight in my headcanon).

Wow. This is interesting. For me, not at all. Never. Nada. Never even thought about it.

I hate fashion IRL and have too much OCD to ever be able to pull something like that off. It's why I have people wandering my neighborhood in bikinis and knight costumes, clown outfits and evening gowns.

it sounds like fun, though.

Not really, but I'm going to implement this now. It'll give me an excuse to keep 456 recolors of a single outfit - if a lot of Sims will be wearing it, it'll help to have some variety. What I really wanted to do was follow real life fashion trends (it's the 80s in my hood, and I'd like everyone to wear things from that era, but finding a good selection of MM stuff that I like for every era is going to be difficult), so this is a great alternative to mark the passage of time.

Clothing is usually a free-for-all ordeal except for families that are specific to one sub/culture. Everyone from the Nhw-Wr 'hood wears modern Egyptian clothing, which is heavily influenced by western fashion (surprise). The Babybat family wears mostly black, red, purple and dark blue. They're the Gothic family of my megahood. The Rivas family wears a lot of Jock and Nerd fashion. Cargo shorts, letterman jackets, etc. But other than that the other families usually wear clothing based upon their character.

Names are typically themed by family subculture as well. Babybat is a derogatory term used in the Gothic subculture to refer to people whom are new to the scene. Rivas fits well with both a Nerd, and Jock, archetype and with it's Spanish influences to suit as the family is of Spanish heritage.

Time in my game doesn't really change. It's stuck in an alternate universe where it's forever 2005. Although there are 2008/9 songs on the radios and 2010 cars to drive, but like I said, alternate universe where chronology is distorted where a 2010 car can be made in 2005.



Huh. I thought I was the only one having nostalgia for that subculture and time period.

huh, I would have thought that in the dystopian hood you have (the one inpsired by the Hiandmaiden's Tale irrc?) the government might dictate what various groups of Sims are allowed to wear... No regulations as far as that goes?

Psychosim had lots of stuff on their blog that would work well in a neighborhood like that. I don't know how many of the links are still good though.

Not really, though I do use clothes to show age on babies, toddlers and kids. The younger versions of those ages get more younger-looking clothes and color combos, while the older version get clothes that make them look a bit older, and I dress all sims after personality. Other than that I keep to something that fits somewhere along in early 1990s to late 2010s for most of my sims. I'm not hung up on fashion in my game, so as long as the clothes look somewhat modernish, it's fine.

I use CC to show age, season and personality, I've never done trends.

I think of my game more as a TV show than, say, an actual city. There's a "style" so to speak.

It helps get me less irked when quote unquote ~broke~ simmies walk around looking like they're in a fashion show. I just shrug it off thinking they're like the actors portraying my characters. This especially makes sense with the limited body types.

Still I like to go for realism and accuracy, which is why a teenage girl having to take care of her twins, go to school, and work, isn't going to be wearing clubbing clothes 24/7.

I dress sims in certain "groups" similarly - soldiers wear similar outfits (and recolors of the same outfit); so does law enforcement officers, those in the culinary career, those in the medical career, mad scientists, etc. That has been inspired by playing the vanilla game for a long time with not enough options to choose from, but I kept it up because it is easier for me to see who works together at community lots (and should be invited to join the outing ).

Most of them do own another outfit or two for special events, like a date

The very rich normally look a bit more glamorous (I think) than the ordinary sims - since they often have maids and gardeners, they can walk around in suits/ fancy dresses/ high heels at home - they may have more outfits to choose from when they go camping/fishing!

Oh, that one's the exception. There are all kinds of rules about that one. Although, the women have taken to rebelling. Some tim ago, I downloaded some gowns, but I guess I didn't get the mesh. Anyway, the gowns are all flesh colored, and since I don't use Barbie skins, they are realistic. BUT, they meet the criteria of the neighborhood since I pretend they are just designs on the dresses. When a woman wears those, I pretend Krankor and the Chicken Court are all offended, but can't figure out a way to ban designs on the dresses.

Smorbie, it sounds like you are missing the textures for those gowns, not the mesh. Are they texture referenced to anything else?

What kinds of rules do you have set up in that hood, by the way? I'm planning a dystopian uberhood and could use some inspiration

I do trends in groups only. For instance, a cult would wear certain clothes. I don't do hood-wide trends, though.

As for the naked clothes, there is a strong possibility that the outfit was slaved to a missing master texture. (I used to do this constantly, and still sometimes mess up if the creator doesn't specify the outfits are slaved, or I miss seeing that.) I'll use my cult as an example. I have different sexes and ages in different gowns for ceremonies. While slaved outfits save download space, they can be a small problem if you want adults wearing yellow gowns and teens wearing green gowns, and the master is the adult gown. Not a huge problem. You'd have to download the green gowns for adults if you want your teens in green. If you want elders in purple, and the purple is also slaved to the adult gown, you'll have to download yellow, green and purple for adults.

Males and females fall in the same category. If instead of yellow for both men and women, you want men in red and women in white and the outfits are slaved to the male, you'd have to download red and white for the male. If a specific color is the master mesh, you'd have to download that color too, of course. You should have quite a spectrum by the time you're done!

I don't deliberately start this, but if I notice that my "random" hairstyle changes, or choices of clothing/headgear in new Sims, follows a pattern, then I will consider it A Thing and make it a fashion. At the moment, there's a fashion in SimHampton for wimples. Yes, wimples (in a game that isn't set at a particular historical point). A couple of years ago it was braids with a coloured headband (with the colour marking whether one was setting, following or behind the tread at a given moment). At some point I think graphic tees were fashionable among male Sims too.

Thanks. I have no idea where I got the mesh for the gowns, so they will just have to remain really ugly, disturbing outfits. :3

I was looking for the rules for the hood to link for you. I've written them somewhere on here. I think they might be way back in the "what's happening in your hood" thread. I don't really want to high jack this thread, so I'll try to really be brief. If you want more details, I'll be more than happy to elaborate if you p.m. me.

Please don't take offense (some have), but this is a handmaid hood. It started as just that, but has evolved into something much different.

There are five layers of society

The first is the Court. Lord Krankor heads it and is supported by His nobles and minor royals. They are called the Chicken Court. They live sequestered in their own hood. They pay NO taxes and may wear whatever they please. Women may not work, even if they are royal.

The second most important is the military. They live in the main hood. They also pay No taxes and may dress as they please. However, all males born to these people must join the military. Women are not allowed to work. They are required to stay at home. They may not shop or visit a community lot. (That's easy because I don't play community lots at all).

The third most important group is resides in the Professional Districts (business districts). Only heads of household (HOH) who are college graduates may live there. Members of the family, including adult males do not have to be college graduates. The women may not work, shop, or visit community lots. They may not order food or hire anyone by phone. They may, however, wear modest slacks. No sleeveless outfits, low necks, or exposed bellies. Taxes are assessed at 10%. Each family member holds a 10,000 simoleans (NR) exemption. Animals, pets and farm critters alike, are given one 10,000 exemption no matter how many you have. If you have one dog, you get the same exemption as a farm owner with many herds.

The fourth section of society lives in Workers Districts. They are assessed at 90% for taxes, but do receive the same exemptions as the Professional Districts. Women must wear dresses, the only exemption being a long dress-like shirt with leggings. No low necks or sleeves dresses. Women may not work.

Finally, we have the lowest of the low, the prison colonies. The males may work IF they had a job at the time of their banishment. Otherwise, they are not allowed to secure a job. The children do not go to school. Only males work. Deliveries may not be made. No pizza or groceries. Again, no one can go to a community lot, so the family has to learn to live off the land. As time has gone on, some of the families have opened stores selling their crops or clothes and furniture they made. Once sent to the colonies, the family remains there forever. Once a year, on his child's birthday, Krankor MAY forgive a family. That family is allowed to resume life in whatever district their status allows. Occasionally, a genie, fairy, or witch, will cast a spell allowing them to move back.

VERY rarely, a family sentenced to the colonies will escape and run. This is very expensive because they have to get new identities and melt back into one of the districts.

Hood wide, women are not allowed to work. NPC's are exempt because they are part of a special class designated by the Chicken Court. This allows households to have nannies and maids without breaking the rules.

In no hood may girls go to school or college. Their job is to learn to keep a household. Women are not allowed to gain skills by reading. Nor are they allowed to read for pleasure. They MAY, however, play games on a computer or watch television.

There is, of course, a lot more to it, including a back story involving a war with a neighboring hood. There was a nuclear exchange on the other hood. My handmaid hood, Downton, was not nuked by suffered a series of chemical attacks that rendered men and women almost incapable of children. Thus the handmaids. there are many more rules for those, but they aren't necessary if you just want to create a tiered society.

Gosh, I hope this made sense. We can chat more if you want. Just p.m. me.

My sims do not have fashion trends.
Unless you count castaway style, that seems popular.

Not really. I have sooooooooooooooo many different aesthetics that I like, which makes my entire Sims world interesting because you have a mixture of so many different clothing, furniture and decorating styles. You can look into one of my neighborhoods and see a 50s styled house with a family that looks very era appropriate next door to a super modern mansion full of vampires.