The authors describe how to clothe synthetic actors and the animation of clothes and how to animate these clothes on the basis of a physically-based elastic surface model. Just as a dressmaker does, they first cut several polygonal panels from 2D rectangular planes and then transfer them onto 3D surfaces around the actor. These cloth panels are then seamed to each other and attached to the actor's body by a set of forces, so that a suit of clothes is created. Second, given the external forces, such as gravity and wind, they test for and prevent the collisions between the clothes and the actor's body, and among the clothes themselves. They calculate the changes in the shapes of the clothes with the movement sequences of actors, so that the clothing is also animated