They're just suggestions, but they're usually suggestions that make sense.  They're presented the way they are because it lets you give a pretty good summary of a character in five quick traits (Epiphany the Hocus' got fetish vestments, an innocent face, burning eyes, and a bony body.)  Sure, it's not a perfect picture, but it gives you a pretty good idea of the kind of character you're looking at-a-glance.<br/><br/>I'd encourage everyone to summarize their character in terms of the look bits (generally, gender, style, face, eyes, body), and to look toward their playbook's suggestions as a guideline, though they're not hard-and-fast laws.  Make the character you want to play, just make 'em Apocalypse World-y.  Feel free to add more texture than that, too, but it's not strictly necessary to have a huge summary of the exact cut of the character's jawline or just how high her cheekbones are.