Salem

What does the clothing bonuses mean? What do they affect? Do the bonuses mean its easier to learn new skills and proficiencies or do they raise them?

What is the "number of artificer slots"?

Example of clothing from wiki.

"Admiral's Uniform
Skill(s) required:
Embroidery & Silk
Seamanship
Object(s) required:
Sea Island Cotton Cloth x4
Required by: Objects None Structures None
Clothing
Equipment Slot: Coat
Difficulty: 25 to 0
Proficiency Type:
Arts & Crafts
Cloak & Dagger
Hammer & Nail
Sparks & Embers
Perennial Philosophy
Number of Artificer Slots: 5"

Clothing exists for the purpose of having artifacts attached to it. Every artifact gives a bonus of some sort. The main end goal is to make a set of gear that gives you awesome combat powers.

Artifacts and Clothing are each associated with different proficiencies, and when there is a proficiency match you get a bonus to your chances of successfully slotting the artifact based on your proficiency level. More overlaps let you bring in more proficiency bonus power.

Difficulty is a minimum and a maximum value on clothing and artifacts which combine to give you your "Probability range" for successfully slotting an artifact. When you have no proficiencies or no matches, then you are working with maximum difficulty (high chance of failure), but when you have high skill levels and lots of matches to use them with, then your difficulty inches closer to the easy end of the spectrum

More powerful artifacts have higher difficulties whereas better clothing has lower difficulty and lots of slots.

Math time: What's the probability of successfully filling all 4 slots in a piece of clothing at 70% each attempt?
Answer: Depressingly low! You'll have plenty of material for Raggy Dolls.

So without artifacts all clothes have the same (zero) effect?

What clothes should one look for as a beginner? High or low difficulty ones? I really wish there was a tutorial or tool tips for this in game.

thanks for your input though.

Without artifacts, all clothes do is look pretty (or ugly, depending on the clothing. I'm looking at you Jute!).

There are two main categories of artifacts: Work and Combat

As a beginner, you will want to focus on Work artifacts, of which there are 3: Enforced Seam (digging), Feathered Brooch (digging/chopping), and Buckskin Inlay (chopping).
You will also only have access to the skills and materials to be able to make a few items of clothing. My first set of clothing was chock full of Enforced Seams to boost my diffing power when I was flattening my land. Later with metal shovels, digging bonuses become less valuable and you want to focus on Tree Chopping.

"Work Clothes" are all about cramming in as many Feathered brooches and Buckskin Inlays as possible onto your clothing, with any leftover slots being filled with Enforced seams.
Which clothes do you use? Whatever you can get! Look at the proficiencies of the artifacts you will be using though to get an idea of which clothing will be the better choice for slotting them to. Needle & Thread is generally useful.