We personally think about these things when formulating a CS template. Our current RP (linked in signature) has three separate templates for characters belonging to different factions and rather than merely have a point labeled "Appearance" the relevant point on each template has a full question.

Each template approaches it in different ways. Most players tend to either go for one set of clothes or go all-out into a wide wardrobe. To give an example from one of the templates:
[quote]As a prisoner, your wardrobe is limited. When you were captured, how do you look and what clothes do you have on now?[/quote]


Considering the scale of this RP, sheets are a necessary element. Few people can keep track of intricate details of around thirty different characters.

We are also demanding of our players to provide sheets of a certain "quality", sometimes providing leniency towards those who have yet to evolve as far as others on what they can plausibly write.