I started playing The Sims 2 recently after years of not playing it, and I had totally forgotten how much I missed having my Sims shop for clothes through the racks and actually having to pay in order to fill up their wardrobes. But what I didn't like about The Sims 2 clothing stores was the fact that the H&M Fashion Stuff didn't allow for its clothing racks to sell only the related fashions from the pack.

So, I would like for The Sims 4 to allow us to customize what the clothing stores can and cannot sell in terms of fashion. Perhaps an in-game clothing tool of some sort could allow us to create our own fashions, set their prices, and flag them as hot-sellers or clearance items. We could either create our own meshes or just simply design our own fashions, using the existing meshes. This tool may or may not be tied to CAS. Whatever the Sims purchase would be added to their wardrobes.

This system could also work for other kinds of shops, especially restaurants, but I just feel that it could totally compliment the Sims' fashion. Also, this system could allow us to create department stores for a one-stop shopping experience. If we aren't going to have a full-on OFB system in the base game, then, we should at least get to have some kind of customization for shops for diversity and realism.

What do you think? Any other ideas?

TS2 basegame had shopping for groceries, clothes, newspapers and games. OFB expanded that even further. TS2 type clothing racks would be fine and then they could expand later on into some sort of fashion designer career with a special clothes rack where you could store your designes. Also, I think it would be nice if we could set the clothing racks to sell only a certain clothes type, like everyday, or swimwear or formal and the clothes displayed changed their shape to represent that.

Yes! Assigning clothing type to the racks is an awesome idea! Like the different racks from TS1 Hot Date!

I realize it's pretty far-fetched, but I wish clothing could have style attributes associated with it, and our sims could have preferences. We'd have to be able to tag them ourselves, but how cool would it be to to see your Sim that prefers elegant, classic clothing autonomously buy something that fits that criteria? Clothing stores that fit a sims aesthetic tastes would be more appealing to that sim, thus allow stores to target certain markets.

it's kind of a silly idea, but I think it could be interesting and add some depth to our Sims personalities.

That is a neat idea! And I bet there's some possibility to it. The Supernatural magic mirror dresses sims in a certain style (note to self: find out how to add to the list of clothes it picks from). Wouldn't it be neat to have the option to have your sim "Auto-Dress...Punk" and they'd randomly throw on some clothes that are tagged accordingly? And if we get the Sims 2 style buying of clothes, it could pull from the sim's personal wardrobe. You might not even be able to auto-dress a certain style if you don't have enough clothing pieces. I can imagine accessories getting kind of strange with an auto-dress feature haha

These are all great ideas! And should EA ever decide to release yet another branded fashion pack in the form of an SP, that SP can come with a premade community lot (a la H&M) with clothing racks that would only sell whatever fashions that would come with the pack. I'm sure this would please the fashion company, since it's more of a proper promotional tool, and it makes EA money and makes it more realistic for the players. It'd be a win-win, really.

Also, for those who don't like these ideas, you can still have all of the clothing options in CAS and via in-game cheats. These ideas are really just for the playing experience. I mean, the clothing boutique that was supposed to be in The Sims 3 base game never made the cut. Maybe it can in The Sims 4?

It feels like I'm the only one who DOESN'T want clothing stores to come back. xD

It makes no sense that Sims own every single piece of clothing that they can change into anytime, anywhere. No buying, just an endless amount of wardrobe options. Not everyone should be able to afford it and personally I prefer my Sims to have individual wardrobes.

Thank you! Plus, each Sim having a unique wardrobe would be less cluttered, unique to that Sim, and easier to browse through clothes for just that Sim. Don't want Angela having Lilith's goth-inspired attire in her wardrobe, or vice versa? No problem! They can both have their own separate wardrobe. In The Sims 2, the wardrobe window applied to the entire household, spanning multiple generations. In The Sims 4, the wardrobe could be as unique as the inventory system from The Sims 3. This can allow for a new "donate clothes" interaction without affecting other Sims from the household. Maybe dressers and closets can both have this wardrobe system?

That sounds like a great idea! A donate option would allow the younger generation to own clothes as well. I would also like to see an option to delete clothes from a wardrobe (especially if they keep up with the tradition of giving us the monstrosity types of clothing at age ups).

Well I guess that's a superb idea!!

With the third sequel of the franchise in the works, you'd think that EA would finally get it right and actually have Sims no longer age up into unwanted outfits. We should, at least, have an option to choose their clothes from the get-go or simply "randomize." This will save us from having to direct Sims to the dresser or store for their first outfit of each life stage. Actually, this should apply to the townies as well to avoid having to see Sims walking around in unrealistically unmatched outfits. A motorcycle helmet, a Victorian blouse, a hula skirt, and tennis shoes are just not a flattering combination.