This is actually my third time playing because I would delete it after I get really bored or to make more space and then when I get the game again, it would start over since they dont have a very long life span. I used my gems to buy them outfits for some of them and the characters who had them died in the second time around. I suggest that you should be able to keep the outfit that you had already purchased after they die. But if not, then whoever is reading this, make sure you remove the outfit that you bought before that character dies because you wont be able to get it back.
?pandalisa? about Village Life: Love & Babies, v2.6.9