Does anyone have any tips on drawing unique clothing?

best to study historic and cultural cloths, get some architecture reference and defiantly study different fabrics and patterns. once you get a library you can 'pick together' parts for the creation of the cloths the same way you shop for yours.

Just keep in mind the characters style and understand what he/she would/wouldnt wear and 'how' they wear it.

Look at fantasy art sites-very cool designs and you can pick off pieces you like.
Buy a fashion/fashion design magazine- most helpful
Think about what you like- pirate? tribal? viking? horns?

Remember to just sketch down everything that comes to mind, most important is to make it look cool and coordinated. I've seen a goth-loli viking/rockstar with a chainsaw guitar that looked good because it was well coordinated.
(I have the pic to prove it)

Keep the character wearing the clothes in mind - if they're likely to wear mini-skirts, give them a mini-skirt. Beyond that, I'll just repeat the above - look at fashion magazines, historical clothing, keep in mind major themes (Asian or Western? Ninja, pirate, goth-kid, soldier?) and then just sketch and sketch until you've got a grip on how you want the character to look.

If you want to look at different historical clothing-periods, wander over to Wikipedia. They've got this awesome History of fashion [en.wikipedia.org] thing. Also, Clothing by nationality [en.wikipedia.org]. Very nifty.

It kind of has to reflect their personality. If they're dark and brooding, make their armor look the same, if they're easily angered, try pointy armor. And don't underestimate the power of a well placed glowing ornament on their armor. I recommend taking a look at gear in certain video games for some inspiration, I reccomend Hellgate: London's characters for some awesome looking armor.

I think about what characters would wear a lot. What time period the story is suppose to be, what materials and accessories might be available. I like drawing clothes that have things like skuff marks, holes, crude repairs and things that make them seem "lived-in."

Wow, these ideas were really helpful. Thank you.

Frostflowers
If you want to look at different historical clothing-periods, wander over to Wikipedia. They've got this awesome History of fashion [en.wikipedia.org] thing. Also, Clothing by nationality [en.wikipedia.org]. Very nifty.

On behalf of a friend, I thank you for these links.

mlai

Frostflowers
If you want to look at different historical clothing-periods, wander over to Wikipedia. They've got this awesome History of fashion [en.wikipedia.org] thing. Also, Clothing by nationality [en.wikipedia.org]. Very nifty.

On behalf of a friend, I thank you for these links.

Your friend is welcome. :) I'm just glad to know that I won't be the only one stuck in the web of Wikipedia. :P