1) Jewelry and glasses on my sims is fairly rare. If they have an SO with one of those as a turnon, I might then use it. Obvious makeup is also rare but subtle makeup (eyeliner, lip gloss) is pretty common for both men and women. I like eyes and lips to stand out.

2) Sometimes I keep whatever Uni outfit they age into. Other times, I'll redress them. Outgoing sims might show more, wear garish colors or strange outfits. Shyer sims may wear normcore clothes. But a shy playful sim may wear something colorful, yet modest. Just depends on my own whims too. I rarely do more than one outfit per life stage, not counting the first change if they age up into something yucky.

3) I try to make them distinctive. Two or three may have the same hairstyle; then they all have to wear different outfits. I don't have a lot of CC in my game. >500 MB usually and a fair percentageof that is for hacks as well.

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regulary, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?
I change their clothing regularly if I think the sim is interested in fashion/stylish/like dressing themselves. I have some "single outfit" sims too, and that's intentional rather than me being lazy, they usually tend to be the sloppy and/or practical sort who can wear the same kind of thing everyday and not be bothered by it. But most of my sims wear about three different everyday outfits in their adult lifetime, and then there are those rare aforementioned special snowflakes who wear the same thing their entire lives because they *bonded with the shirt* or the flaky fickle ones who get an outfit change daily, chosen lovingly according to their moods and diva sensibilities. I don't use much makeup. Except for face defining sort, I put those on every sim because facial structure is everything. Some natural looking lip balm/eyelashes, maybe. Noticeable makeup gets put on temporarily, and is removed after a while. Jewelry pushes my lazy button and since there is so little variety of it in game, I don't bother with it. Same thing with glasses, I either put that on Sims in CAS or never. Let prescription contacts be invented!

2nd question: Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the enviroment they live in?
I agree with other people that it's more about the feeling I get from the sim rather than their personality points, but those have an influence as well. One true hobby might also play a role, as well as aspiration. But since it's more how I view them, a serious sim might end up wearing something wacky because they're dorky underneath or an outgoing and playful sim wears immaculate clothing just because it impresses their social circle even more/gets taken more seriously and it makes perfect sense to me. Sims have three dimensional characters, don't ya know.

3rd question: Do you mind having sims that looks very similare or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?
I almost never end up with similar looking sims, which is weird because I know other people have much more gigs in clothing than I do. Using separates for everyday helps a lot, so many different combinations. And I do have tons of default hairs. Sometimes I do wish that I didn't limit myself to default hair just to get two different shades of brown hair rather than one. Oh well.

1. I hardly ever give my sims jewelry. I can never find much I like. Makeup I just keep simple and neutral so it doesnt matter what age they are, it always looks nice.

2. Yes. I try to match hair and clothes with environment. My "poorer" sims dont have fancy hair do or fancy clothes. My "richer" sims may have a nicer hair style or nice clothes.

3. I try to make my Sims look unique, but sometimes I fall in love with certain hairstyles/clothes and I dont want to use anything else.

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regulary, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?
They change when it's appropriate to. Particularly as they mature, but a lot depends on their family. Lucy Burb's mom is a fashionista, so Jennifer puts makeup on Lucy while she's still a child, for example. Once Lucy's grown up enough, she rebels against her mom and goes without.

2nd question: Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the enviroment they live in?
Yes, all of that. Both the social environment and the natural environment--Pleasantview is warm year around, Riverblossom is cool year around, a sim who retires from Riverblossom to Pleasantview will desperately need to change her wardrobe.

3rd question: Do you mind having sims that looks very similare or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?
I use the tons of cc. Peni makes me look good at facial recognition. I rely on clothes and hair to tell sims apart. If I play with less cc, I need to have fewer sims. Heather Huffington and Lana Mann threw me for a loop the other day, showing up in the same dress. Lana's an elder, Heather's still in Uni, I'm playing Junior at his store and thinking, wait, Lana stayed home, she can't be here, I've never had a sim left home when sending the active household to a business show up at it before, but no, it was Heather, not Lana at all.

Okay, Heather would tear her hair out in clumps and despair if she knew she'd been confused with an old lady with a lumpy nose!

Almost all my women wear makeup, even though I never wear any at all. It's a convenient turn-on to indicate a strong preference for females, as facial hair indicates one for males. I almost never have a completely clean-shaven guy.

A lot of my sims, especially Fortune ones, roll regular wants to buy jewelry, so I'm always on the lookout for custom. Most people make custom jewelry as an "accessory," though, which is a different turn-on; but that's why we have tools that recategorize. If I bin an accessory as jewelry, it will fill the want and hit the jewelry turn-on, which is two reasons to use it a lot.

I'll change out jewelry fairly regularly, but because of the weird things I do with faces, some of my sims can be very hard to fit with glasses. Since I've worn glasses since I was seven, I like to see sims wearing them, too. Between those two things, I'm likely to find a set of frames that works with a face, and never change them unless the sim has a major lifestyle change.

I know a lot of people will go to a lot of trouble to define a "middle age" and add wrinkles and so on. I don't do that very often; but I do like to occasionally give male sims progressive balding (though not as much as I'd like; not enough different balding hairs available!), and middle age is often marked by a change in look, including the acquisition of glasses.

1.Clothes change at birthdays and very seldom at any other stage. I like my Sims to wear comfy clothes, so I will pick something the moment I start playing/ making them. Sometimes a new cc outfit might not look as good in the game as I thought it would, and then I will uninstall it completely.I like them to have one or two extra outfits for special occasions, so I might change outfits for a big dinner party and back again after. I am far too lazy to bother with jewelry, so I ignore it when it comes to turn-ons/offs.
2. Hair - I try to find a style that looks good with the face - the shape, whatever. Hairstyles do not change very often in my game, but since I sometimes send Sims to the military first, their hair will be short while they are soldiers. I like to send all the Sims to the military first for a variety of reasons. Once out, I will give a potential rock star a different look than a scientist or architect. I would love lots and lots of balding hair! Elder males are often bald in my game, and some elder females (depending on how snooty they are) might get a fancy updo. Those that seem happy in the military stay, and keep their hair short until they retire, because it works well for me for Sims who do not have a career related LTW and the hours are easy.
3.I do not find it hard at all to telll Sims apart - there is always something that sets any Sim apart from the rest, even townies. However, I like to dress my Sims in cc outfits, and I do not use defaults, which mean that my own Sims (premades or CAS) will stand out among the rest at a community lot.

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regularly, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?

I change mine fairly frequently for teens, young adults and adults; somewhat less so for toddlers, children and elders. I like seeing some of the CC I've collected on my Sims. I don't see much of a point in downloading it otherwise. There is no schedule how often I'll change clothes. Sometimes, they'll wear the same thing for several Sim days/my playing sessions. Sometimes, I change more frequently ... twice or even three times in a play session (which can last from 1 - 2 hours). There really is no rhyme or reason in my selections.

2nd question: Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the enviroment they live in?

Not necessarily. Sometimes, I'll go opposite to their personality. I imagine that my Sim might want to impress someone/walk on the wild (or tame) side/try something new. Or they aren't what they seem to be.

3rd question: Do you mind having sims that looks very similar or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?

I used to fuss about it. Not now. Almost all creators out there have some sort of similarity in almost all of their Sims; if not in the facial details, then in the overall mood and appearance. I can usually pick out what famous Sim creator did what Sim. And quite frankly, I think some players try way too hard to make their Sims different, and the results can be a little strange.

Strangely, once I stopped fussing over making my Sims different, and with the help of non-default facial templates, skintones, face masks and skin-matching eyeshadow (different shadows treat the eyelids differently), my Sims look much more distinct from each other. I like to use a few light facial lines and detailing as they get a little older (many of the Chagasi masks are really helpful here), but as discussed in a previous thread, almost all the wrinkles I've seen and many of the age-defining lines out there look like the Sims painted them on their faces, like a bad theater makeup job, like dirty smudges, or resemble the Sim equivalent of a shar pei ... particularly the Maxis wrinkles. Look, I'm getting on in years, but I do NOT look like a shar pei!

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regulary, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?

I change clothes at particularly significant events such as house moves, marriage/divorce, or the Sim completely changing their outlook on life. I accept the choices when growing up unless they seem inappropriate (No, High Princess whose house colours are blue and white, you are not going about town in a grey and green ensemble that EA saw fit to grow you into, especially given that you are too vain to wear something that hides the ends of the long hair you're so proud of!)

2nd question: Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the enviroment they live in?

To a certain extent. Ruling families always wear their house colours unless there's some good reason why not. They are also usually (but not always) dressed fairly ornately once they reach teen - unless their personalities are such that they'd prefer modest attire (e.g. High Princess Jones VI, who spent much of her childhood helping the servants because that was what she liked doing, much to the dismay of her parents, and therefore preferred a simple blouse and dress, or jumper and trousers).

There are three religions in SimHampton, each with their own colours for its clergy - blue for those following Psuedotyr, white or yellow for Valgoni (and all their followers) and black for many of the BaneForce's clergy (though some negotiate exemptions). Clerics of Psuedtyr prefer saris (women) and shirt/jumper-trouser combinations (men), and a particularly liberal Sister-Cleric might even prefer a green or purple sari to a blue one.

Sims working in a Spaceport have a blue uniform (that used to be green), while Sims working in prisons have a green uniform (unless their name is Celiné Chii; she has permission from the High Princess to wear her clerical attire instead). Both involve shirts and trousers, with the latter adding animal accessories of the appropriate colour (green dragon-like tails are all the rage right now, but the specific accessories go in and out of fashion). Prisoners wear the same as the guards minus the accessories while in prison, while those on probation wear anything except green so they can be easily distinguished from staff and escaped prisoners. (Note that probation in SimHampton isn't quite the same as probation in the real world; they're allowed out of their cells and can do almost as they please with their day, but they are obliged to live at the prison until probation is passed).

Other Sims do not wear things inappropriate to their personality and circumstances.

3rd question: Do you mind having sims that looks very similare or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?

I expect some to look similar and others to look very different. There's quite a bit of CC, but having specific ideas of categories of Sims who's dress similarly helps. I try to ensure people with the same clothes do not have similar hair without good reason, to avoid mistaken identity.

I play BACC, and if there is no clothing store in town yet, they're stuck with what they grow up in, unless there are hand-me-downs from an older sibling. Or if I seriously can't stand whatever it is (that puffer vest is high on my hate list), I'll allow them to "find an old piece of clothing up in the attic."

If there is a clothing store, they're stuck in what they grew up in until I can send someone down to the store and buy them something nicer.

Hairstyles I change as I like, if I find a new CC hair that suits their face better, or if I just get sick of the old style.

I always play with CC - I have particular weaknesses for custom hair, custom skintones, and custom wallpaper. But I am a serious CC collector. Had to train myself not to put it all in the downloads folder if I'm not going to use it right away. (I have a separate folder outside the game for "CC I like but don't have a use for right now.")

My sims always look different because I sculpt the faces of a pair of sims (dice, or hit randomly on a slider), breed them, and actually play their child or children. I'm happy with the results. Also I use facial templates (see: CC addiction), because some of the default facial features annoy the heck out of me.

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regularly, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?

Rarely. With Sims I create myself, they generally live their entire life stage in whatever was picked out in Create-A-Sim. With Sims that are born in-game and/or age up, if what they grow up in is hideous or silly, they'll go shopping for default clothing as soon as possible, and that's more than likely what they'll have for that life stage. Exceptions are for when I download something different from here (rare), or sparingly for another reason (I once changed a teen Sim who flunked high school and got fired from their teen job to an all-red outfit, but that was a rare exception rather than how I normally play).

2nd question: Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the environment they live in?

No.

3rd question: Do you mind having sims that looks very similar or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?

Honestly, when twins are born who are both the same sex, I tend to make them look as similar as possible.

@SusannaG Don't forget the sewing machine, they can make their own clothes with that.

Yep. I use harder skilling, though, so it may be a while before anyone's good enough at sewing to make clothes. (I also use extended lifespans, so it evens out.)

I've removed harder skilling now since my kids and teens life revolved around it. Double life spans weren't matching up with how long skilling took. It took my sims a lifetime to reach clothes sewing level, but an elder who has been working on it all her life could be a seamstress for others in your town.

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regulary, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?

As far as jewelry, the same sim can wear the same earrings forever before I change them. There's a lot of CC in my glasses department, and it's slow to wade through. When it comes to hair, clothes, and make-up, I tend to change looks as sims get older. I like there to be a couple of different outfits to switch through. They can change looks multiple times throughout one life stage.


2nd question: Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the enviroment they live in? Yes.


3rd question: Do you mind having sims that looks very similare or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?

I do like there to be variety. It does bug me a little bit if some sims look incredibly similar cc free. I do agree with a previous poster that different sets of skintones can really make a difference, as different ones can alter how the face appears. I would also definitely say make up really helps out. I like nosemaks for this, freckles, moles, stuff like dimples, chin clefts, face lines, etc. When I didn't have a lot of CC (and by this I mean 1 GB and under. I didn't have a lot of clothes and miscellaneous things), what I did have was make up, skins, and hair.

my sims usually get made over at least once per season and always when they age up.
yes ofc all of these things factor. example pleasure sims like to dress comfortably so one of my female pleasure sims wore long loose fitted colorful dresses, she delighted in the senses and always wore jewelry and make-up. a new mother might wear a t-shirt with jeans. another sim was a writer and she basically wore jeans and things with bare feet because she rarely left the house.

all of my sims look very different. i wouldn't say that i use a lot of cc to achieve this. i have clothing of different styles, and a wide selection of hair (this is due to Maxis no supplying enough kinky, curly or braided hair)but i've seen some people that only play with face one and layer different piece of extreme CC on their sims to make them look different. i try to be careful in my breeding and breed sims with very different faces from each other. i've also spent a long time playing and have cultivated my own stable of pre-mades to populate my neighborhoods. also to elaborate on my answer to the first question each sim has a look that is unique to their aspiration, personality and life style. I don't consider a variety of clothing options to be a lot of cc. everyone is different and i try to reflect that.

1. I change their look based on their personality and their current point in life. For example, in college, a sim may experiment with dyed hair, while they revert back to their original color when they become a parent or when their job demands it.

2. Their clothes should first and foremost fit their personality (LTW, aspiration, points, etc.) and the 'feel' I have about them. Some sims will wear more colorful clothes, others wear more formalish clothes. Of course, their style can change drastically throughout their lifetime, as they change themselves. When they're a kid, their parents might pick out their clothes, for instance, and when they're jobless, they might walk around in slacks for a while. Secondly, clothing should always be - to some extend - weather appropriately. So no sweaters in summer and no tees in winter.

3. My cc-folder is huge and if/when I am starting to confuse two sims, I will give one of them a make-over using christianlovs gussy up. I do not mind, though, if two sims in my hood have the same hairstyle but with different outfits and accessories.

1. With clothes, I can't really bother. Children and teenagers mostly keep what they get when they grow up, and if I buy a new outfit for an adult, that's mostly what they stay in until they grow old. With hair, make-up and jewelry, I might play around a little every now and then if I feel like it, but often they get their signature looks and stay that way,
2. I go on my gutfeeling and the general vibe I get from the sim. So based on their personalities, I guess, but I'm not putting that much thought into it, just "this feels right".
3. As long as I can tell them apart, it's fine. Some hairstyles I really feel like it's -that- specific sim's hairstyle, and then I can't bring myself into using it at least until said sim is dead. Otherwise, not really something I think about. Although, since I downloaded most of my downloads when I was 15 or 16 or so, there are a lot of different versions of male dishevelled haircuts with sideswept bangs going around.

1. I play with a lot of facial details like nose masks and freckles and these get put on my sims when they become toddlers, this stays the same for their whole life. I start putting make up on my sims when they become teen, sometimes not until they're adults. My sims tend to change their styles pretty often, so a teen sim might experiment with really heavy eye liner that is really smudged and wonky, they might have super glossy lipsticks and bright glittery eye shadows. When they become adults their make up tends to get a bit more natural or at least less wobbly and inexperienced looking When sims get nearer to their elder age, I start adding wrinkles to my sims.

2. Clothing changes at least every Spring regardless of how long the sim has had their current outfit. A lot of my sims will change clothes for each season and their are some sims who change their clothes even more often. I play a bacc in a forest hood with no roads, so I tend not to use heels because they'd just sink into the grass irl. Different sims have different styles, I have one sim who wouldn't wear a skirt unless she was at a wedding and she usually has her hair in a ponytail and I have another sim who wears many different styles of clothes, but she prefers pastel colours and she loves to have her hair long and worn down. I love to use the seasons tool of changing hairstyles per outfit and I usually have a messier hairstyle for sleepwear, hats for outerwear and long haired sims will usually have their hair up for athletic and swimwear. I also have a sim who has her formal hairstyle set in a different colour each time because I feel she would dye her hair often and seeing her show up to a wedding with neon pink hair helps me remember to change her everyday hair to match.

3. I only have a small population in my hood at the moment, but generally I don't mind if sims have the same hairstyles or clothing, as long as the sims in question don't have both the clothing and hair the same. In real life it's pretty common to see groups of friends wearing the same dress with different shoes and accessories, or to be out and see someone in town with the same hairstyle as yourself. I'm the same with names, the larger my hood gets, the more likely I'll have sims have the same names and have sims wearing the same clothes. Just like in real life some names get to be more common than others and clothing that's newer and in fashion will be more popular.

I've never been good at changing my sim's appearance. Only when they grow into a new life stage, because they usually get random hair etc. that I don't like. And so many sims grow into sweats (why!!)! When I start a new family I always plan each family member's style though, and download something nice for them to wear... just to make them a little more custom looking. I think I've only ever played one sim that changed her hair and clothes occasionally. Going from long hair to short, then slowly growing her hair back in several stages.

.. most sims in TS2 tend to look a little bit too Barbie like, even though I try my best to make them look individual.

1st question: As far as makeup, jewelry, hairstyle and clothes goes - how often do you change these on your sims, like regulary, or do you not bother and let them wear the stuff they get when growing up (with minimal fixes)?

I change hair and make up on my female Sims a lot, like almost every day in game. My Sims wear everyday clothes to work, so my female Sims will dress according to the type of job they have. Teenage Sims will dress according to personality and sometimes depending on their parents - for example, teenage Sims with strict, traditional parents will wear modest or plain outfits and teens with younger or more absent parents may wear more risque outfits. My male Sims get less attention but they still get a few outfits and usually a makeover when they transition to a new age group. My ladies get a new hairstyle often - I like ponytails or buns for leisurely days at home and a more polished hairstyle for work or for my more high maintenance girls.

2nd question:Do you try to match their clothes and makeup/hair to their personality, lifestyle or the enviroment they live in?

Yes! A tomboy or a nerdy Knowledge Sim may dress in sweats or baggy pants, or a nice pair of slacks with a button up shirt, while my Romance Sims or my Pleasure Sims may prefer a mini dress, a belly baring crop top or micro shorts. As I mentioned above, my Teen Sims' outfits are based in part on how I imagine their parents to be - a strict parent isn't going to let their kid leave the house in a black mini skirt, pumps and bright red lipstick!

3rd question:Do you mind having sims that looks very similare or do you make all your sims appearance different. IF you were not using tons of CC, how do you do it?


I like for ALL of my Sims to look different. I play an Uberhood and many of my walkbys are Sims that live within the subhood so that way Sims that live in the same areas are more likely to know each other. I like being able to tell who is who on sight and sometimes it's fun to see a Sim wander by in some cute ensemble that I spent 10 minutes putting together before moving on to another household. I also like the versatility in the appearance of the Sims in TS2, something that I feel is greatly lacking in TS3 and TS4. Also, I have a large amount of CC hair, make up and clothes, so it's very easy for me to make my Sims look even more distinctive and more "themselves" than it would be in a vanilla game.