The ability to choose and wear clothing in Grand Theft Auto IV is a feature similar to that of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, albeit much less complex.
Access to various outfits is absent in The Lost and Damned, but is reintroduced in The Ballad of Gay Tony, where a simpler wardrobe system more akin to those found in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is used.
GTA IV[]
Basic outfits[]
In GTA IV, there are three different clothing chains, with a total of four stores, in Liberty City. However, the shopping experience of clothing in GTA IV has changed from GTA San Andreas - rather than outfits loading from the changing rooms, the player approaches clothes racks or shelves to try on the various articles of clothing. Already-purchased clothes can be re-purchased for immediacy's sake (i.e. the player will not have to go back to a safehouse to don the item).
With the exception of the medical scrubs (see below), clothing has no influence on gameplay with the exception of comments from girlfriends; unlike in previous GTA games, changing clothes does not lower the player's Wanted Level.
Female clothing and accessories cannot be purchased the story mode. However, limited female clothing and accessories is available in multiplayer mode. Players can still find some non-interactive retailers showcasing female clothing and/or accessories on their window displays.
The range of clothing offered can be categorized as follows:
- Hats;
- Glasses/Sunglasses;
- Tops;
- Bottoms (pants); and
- Shoes.
In addition, unlike GTA San Andreas, players do not have the option of removing their top, bottom or shoes.
The three clothing retailers in GTA IV include:
- Russian Shop: opened after the mission Three's a Crowd. Located in Hove Beach, the Russian shop sells cheap "street" clothing, in styles popular in post-Soviet countries. This is also the only shop where hats, glasses and sunglasses can be purchased.
- Modo: opened when Algonquin is unlocked. There is one location for this store, in East Holland. Modo sells casual and sporting clothes.
- Perseus: opened when Algonquin is unlocked. There are two outlets, in Middle Park East and The Exchange. Perseus sells suits and exclusive clothing.
If the player happens to be hit by a vehicle or dies with headwear (hats, glasses, ski masks) on them, the headwear will most likely fall off their head or vanish. The player will have to go back to a safehouse in order to reapply them.
Additional outfits[]
Several additional clothing sets or parts are awarded to the player after completing specific missions or specific actions; these stay in the player's wardrobe after their respective missions are completed. They include:
Image | Name | Description | Unlocked after |
---|---|---|---|
Liberty Sanitation Department outfit | Green Liberty Sanitation Department (LSD) jacket, as worn by LSD workers, complete with a brown knit sweater underneath, light blue slacks (identical to those worn on the Scrubs outfit), and Hinterland boots (the same shoes from the player's default outfit). | "Taking in the Trash", during which the player wears the outfit posing as a garbage truck driver. | |
Hospital scrubs | Hospital scrubs (as worn by doctors, nurses and orderlies in medical wards), consisting of a green shirt, a white long-sleeved undershirt, light blue slacks (identical to those worn on the Scrubs outfit), white tennis shoes (identical to those sold at Modo), a stethoscope around the neck, and a nametag bearing Niko Bellic's headshot. | "Flatline", but only if the player takes the outfit from the hospital dressing room, allowing them to disguise as a hospital staff member. Those who opt not to take it will have to tend to more police attention, in addition to not obtaining the outfit. | |
Balaclava | Black three-hole mask. Although it is a mask, it is categorized as a hat, however, unlike a hat the Balaclava will not disappear when the player enters a car, and also be worn under a motorcycle helmet. If the player dies while wearing the balaclava, the mask will be removed when the player respawns at a hospital but will still be available from a safehouse's wardrobe. In addition, the Balaclava will turn white if the player begins to bear visual wounds on their body, possible as a result of a glitch.
The mask is similarly worn by Packie, Derrick and Michael during "Three Leaf Clover". It is also available in the player's skin in the multi-player mode of The Lost and Damned in different colors. |
"Three Leaf Clover", during which the player wears it in a bank heist. | |
Albanian biker jacket | Zipped-up white and black cafe-racer jacket with an Albanian gang emblem at the back. Wearing this outfit in areas such as Hove Beach will prompt gang members to attack the player. | "I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots, and Your Motorcycle". The player wears it at the start of the mission. | |
"Happiness Is...Land" sweater | A navy blue sweater bearing "Happiness is..." backed by the Statue of Happiness in front and "...land" at the back. The sweater is a retexture of the sweaters available from Modo. This piece of clothing was available in Crate Drops during the Independence Day Special in GTA V, though it had the 'land' part of the sweater removed so players could put crew emblems on it. | Picking up the jacket from the floor near on the uppermost portion of the Statue of Happiness's pedestal that is accessible by foot (in front of an inaccessible door leading). The sweater is wrapped in a plastic bag, and bears a pricetag with "Sale" and "$8" written on it (which has no bearing as the clothing is free of charge). The player automatically wears the sweater once it is picked up.
Wearing the sweater will not clear the player's wanted level. | |
Claude's outfit | A black cafe-racer jacket with green cargo pants and black-and-white crepe-soled sneakers, mimicking the outfit worn by Claude in Grand Theft Auto III. The individual items of clothing are merely recolors or existing outfits from clothing stores: The jacket is a retexture of the Albanian biker jacket and the cargo pants is a retexture of those sold at the Russian Shop, while the shoes are identical in form to the tennis shoes from Modo. | "The Holland Play", but only if the player chooses to kill Playboy X instead of Dwayne Forge, obtaining Playboy X's Penthouse as a result. The outfit is only available from the penthouse's wardrobe. |
Fingerless gloves in GTA IV were prominently featured in official pre-release screenshots and videos but they are not acquirable in the game. The gloves were merely shown as teaser; even the screenshots for the PC version show Niko wearing the gloves. The model and texture of the gloves exist in the game, and can be worn only by spawning them using a trainer or modification.
Helmets may also be donned by the player character when they ride a motorbike; this is possible when the player does not immediately control the motorbike after getting up. After getting off a bike, the player character will automatically discard the helmet after around five seconds, unless the player character gets on a bike again soon enough.
The Lost and Damned[]
In The Lost and Damned, Johnny Klebitz's only outfit consists of a black Lost MC leather jacket, a black button down dress shirt, grey jeans, and black biker boots. The player has no ability to change the outfits. Johnny does not wear helmets when riding motorcycles, due to his biker lifestyle.
The Ballad of Gay Tony[]
In The Ballad of Gay Tony, Luis is able to change his clothes but cannot purchase additional clothing. Instead, six pre-set outfits are already in the wardrobe in the beginning of the game. They include:
During the L.C. Cage Fighters activity, Luis will be depicted with an outfit based on the default outfit, with the jacket removed, exposing the white undersweater in full. A black variant of the brown Perseus suit, complete with an earpiece, will also be worn in the game's Club Management activity, and it will be then delivered to the safehouse upon completion of the first Club Management session (sans the earpiece). Helmets worn by Luis when riding motorbikes are depicted as heavy duty variants more commonly found in motorcross racing (although in a pre-release screenshot, a helmet from the original game can be seen).
Trivia[]
- In GTA IV and TLAD, Luis is shown to wear black sneakers, but in TBOGT, they were changed to the white tennis shoes also available in GTA IV.
- Originally Johnny could presumably wear two outfits – one that he wears in GTA IV and one that he wears in TLAD and TBoGT.[ref?]