Guh. Playing with the swamp puppies :D

One of the first things about costume design (especially costume designs for film and 3-d modelling where they can be very complex and detailed) is it needs to visually inform the audience about the character (their social standing, financial situation, climate, ect.) and this singular item of clothing can tell you A LOT about simon

It has very obviously been repaired and stitched back together multiple times, there are obvious seams and holes around the fabric that makes it clear it was a rush job, this implies many things to me combined with the small bit of backstory we get about simon (others can probably pick up even more tbh costume design is all about interpretation) fabric is precious and getting new clothes is either rare/ not worth it so repairs are important (makes sense considering the quiet rapture and edens 'were all gonna die' mentality, why put in the labour to make new clothes when we're all going to die?) maybe Simon's been in a lot of fights/ combat situations as the cuts seem clean and straight through (due to the length of the shirt I don't imagine it's been cut at those angles after the damage has occured otherwise it would be much shorter) maybe Simon learnt basic sewing in Eden to repair his own garments instead of wasting time handing them to others explaining the rushed and raised look of the stitches (made for strength not appearance, the thread is even a different colour in some places) what I find most interesting is the black fabric around his upper arms and the square on his chest, the chest part specifically looks to be underneath the rest of the fabric as stitches go right through it without the square becoming warped around the stitching (this could also mean this repair is very new and was placed under the rest of the fabric for some reason, Simon has not yet been in a situation after this repair that would involve stitching around the square) what makes this so interesting to me is it looks purposely placed! The square is almost perfectly centered (if a little lopsided which would make sense if we're assuming Simon's sewing these himself) and the arm bands are at very similar spots on both arms but Eden doesn't exactly seem like a place that cares for patterns/ the appearance of clothing (again the 'were all going to die mentality' why put designs on clothes if we're all dying out?) the placement makes me think it's more sentimental to Simon specifically (perhaps the fabric came from the clothes of someone close to him (maybe his mother?) and after their death he sewed them in symbolic places (around his arms and in the center of his chest (kinda like a hug? Or just close to his heart in general) to remind grieve/ remind himself of them (maybe it could also be symbolic of Simon being chained by his guilt in a way the bands around his arms are incredibly straight and kinda look like restraints))

It almost looks too big for him? The shirt covers his hands (and looks even longer at the beginning of the film when he has his gloves on too) and while the bottom of the shirt is curled it also looks really long this implies some things for me, maybe this shirt belonged to someone else (or multiple someone else's) and Eden is recycling item of clothing after people die (probs to feed the tree, before turning the bodies to mulch their clothing is taken and distributed to preserve the fabric? The hole near the neckline almost makes it look like it's been stretched out which makes me think multiple people have worn it) or maybe Simon made this shirt himself and stitched it together to purposefully be longer so when he stitches it up he doesn't have to waste fabric to make it fit him? (Eg: if his shirt rips in the middle and has to stitch it back up it's long enough to not become a crop top after a few repairs) Which would make sense given it fits Simon's chest and upper arms fairly snug but is overly long in the lower arms and bottom hem (which side note the bottom doesn't look to be hemmed to me? That looks like a raw edge imo which also makes sense if Simon's sewing this himself)

The sweater looks like the scratchiest thing in the galaxy the wool looks itchy and gross the threads you see in the holes of the sweater look thready and coarse which could lead back to the 'fabric is important and recycled for multiple people' thing, comfort isn't a main priority people just need to be warm and covered from the elements, but this also could be a more symbolic thing, as we see in the scene when Simon takes of his shirt that sweater is directly against his skin (well besides his little harness but I'm going to talk about that more in my next point) which seems really uncomfy to me, if the shirts as scratchy as it looks I imagine that is NOT comfortable to be directly against your skin which could be symbolism for guilt of some description (self punishment, why should I feel comfortable when I've hurt so many others? Why do I deserve comfort?) while also being another way to show how limited Simon's clothing choices are, most people would wear an undershirt for sweaters in general (especially if it's cold) but Simon's not which could say he doesn't have access to an undershirt

What makes all of this extra interesting is when you compare all these factors to Ava's character design

Ava's clothing is dirty yes but there's no obvious seams and holes like Simon's clothes, she is also very covered up (implying to me that it is quite cold outside the iron lung and Simon just doesn't have access to warmer clothing) another thing about Ava is she has more conventional accessories, compare her ring and belt loop (chain??) thing she has on her left side to Simon's bracelet

For the life of me I cannot find a picture of Simon putting the bracket on but I remember it being like frayed cord which is the important part

While Ava's accessories look well made and purposeful (the ring looks like silver or metal and seems extremely well taken care of and shiny) Simon's accessories look like things he's picked up over the years (his headband looks like scrap fabric or maybe gauze? (Which I could talk more about because I wonder about it's purpose? It doesn't keep his hair out of his eyes at all which implies to me is sentimental or symbolic in some way) His gloves seem more practical than fashionable and his bracket is something he found in the iron lung itself) this tells us a lot about their differences both in social standing and in philosophy, Ava is able to afford/ keep and tend to seemingly rare items like rings and keychains while the rest of her outfit is covered in dirt and grime, it shows her social status above the other characters while keeping her in the same grimy and dirty universe, contrastingly Simon's accessories are dirty and seem like found objects, his headband is grimy his clothes are full of holes, this alone tells us so much about Simon and Ava and how they interact with their post apocalyptic world

Another thing is layers, both Simon and Ava have multiple layers on (which yes could imply the climate but) when compared to welder jack seems incongruous as a welder jack should be wearing the most layers out of any of the characters shown but from bts shots we know he's not even wearing gloves which made me think the layers are a symbolic character choice rather than a practical climate choice, Ava and Simon are the main characters, they both have extremely mysterious pasts and both seem to have a complex relationship to loss and grief (Simon grieves over the mere concept of someone else being trapped in his situation and seems genuinely upset by hurting jack, at the end of the film we learn that Ava was stuck on the SM-8 and herself has experienced the blood ocean and lost someone to it) while jack is more so set dressing to the story, he is a named character with one line who serves the purpose to show how Simon's fear and rashness and Ava's one tracked mind and lack of care for others hurts people around them, if Ava had told Simon that the camera was an x-ray he likely wouldn't have tried to use it to get their attention, if Simon hadn't used the camera neither Ava or jack would have gotten hurt, jack is set dressing to show how both Simon and Ava are harming people around them as well as themselves

What makes these clothing layers extra interesting is how Simons changes, throughout the movie Simon takes layers off becoming more vulnerable physically as he becomes more emotionally vulnerable, throughout the movie Simon reveals parts of himself to the audience, we see him grieve and cry and get angry but we still don't know who Simon is by the end of it (we don't know if he did blow up filliment station, we don't know how he got the nickname 'the butcher', we don't know his relationship to his mother ect.) which I think is symbolized by Simon wearing a harness under his shirt. When Simon takes his shirt off to clean his wounds we see he's wearing a harness underneath his shirt I believe this is a symbolic way to show the audience how Simon hasn't shown all of himself to the audience, in a way Simon is still mysterious and unknown so we don't see his bare chest, we see a harness instead

Comparing this to Ava who we never see vulnerable, Ava is constantly in charge she is above Simon in everyway so when Simon has shed his layers and reveals himself to the audience Ava remains strong and mysterious just like she is in the writing, the most we learn about Ava is from the SM-8s audio logs informing us that Ava has been to the blood ocean and lost someone close to her in it giving us some understanding for her motives but not fully illuminating them (was Ellie a friend? Lover? Sibling? Did Ava see Ellie die? Or did she manage to get saved from he SM-8 before she could confirm whether Ellie was able to be saved? Is that why she's doing this? Does she want the confirmation whether she killed Ellie somehow?) we don't know fully what happened which is reflected in Ava's character design, Avas outer layer is white (strangely similar to Simon's hood thing?) with a military like jacket and a black underlayer just colour wise this tells us a lot about Ava, maybe she's pretending to be good and kind (white) but secretly has alterior motives (black underlayer)? Maybe she is a good person with a dark secret? We don't know the true answer to Avas motives and personality which is one of the most fascinating parts of her the few vulnerable scenes we get of Ava is in the last half of the movie when Ava tries to save Simon and (I think crucial to this) we don't see Ava at all, which does make sense given the story and how it is shot but also makes Ava all the more interesting, we don't see the emotions on her face we don't see how she dressed in that moment all we hear is her voice as Simon claws his way to salvation and I find that fascinating