For me, it's hard to beat the default unique duds most companions come in, but I've got to do something with all of the other unique apparel I find. And some of the less unique apparel just looks too cool to let it go to waste. Cait will always get the Grognak Costume, Hancock and Preston look equally snazzy in the Minutemen General's Uniform + Lieutenant's Hat from Ironsides. My pirate queen gave her first mate MacCready the Submariner's Uniform.

Settlers get different duds depending on their role. Shopkeepers I'll give pre-war business outfits, not necessarily clean ones. Farmers generally keep their default apparel, and guards and provisioners I'll equip appropriately for combat.

I like your idea for Preston. I think I'm going to do that too, although he can't have the general's hat. That's mine

Whenever I take MacCready out I remove his awful outfit and that tragic hat and put him in your basic Gunner apparel with armor bits on top. It's so much nicer. I take Danse out of his PA and put him in either Kellogg's outfit or a BOS uniform (not the orange one) with BOS painted combat armor. He always gets patrolmen glasses and a military cap. I'd love to give Deacon a variety of better armor, for his own protection, but I'd want to do that in the editor so it's going to have to wait.

i like to put the original Concord bunch, once they get to Sanctuary, into Gunner gear of various kinds, with Leather armor bits on top and some of them get sunglasses. I leave Mama Murphy alone though, cuz her kooky outfit is so perfect.

Every female settler in my game is dressed in road leathers and carries an assault rifle or a laser rifle.

The females have jobs like running the stores or pulling security or manning the artillery.

The males wear a harness, are unarmed and toil in the fields.

Candy (my character) created a dominatrix run world.

One time I gave Mama Murphy a Sequin Dress and she turned into a golden age lounge singer. >.>

Can you get Danse out of his Power Armor before his special quest? I like that idea. So far I've given Deacon the Silver Shroud costume and he's never switched out of it.

Okay, I might have to try that!

I play on the PC so I do it as soon as I pick him up with the console. I don't do BB because I don't like the aftermath so I don't know what you can do with him after (I only did it once and was like and it was before i decided to try to get him out of PA).

Fred's companions get a PA frame for extra carry and sometimes they even get the odd weapon.

If you're rolling with Fred, you should know what you're about- firing a few distraction shots, then taking bullets, while Fred kills everyone.