Hi Effie, I know what you mean about a lot of patterns looking similar. I sometimes find that when you look at the colour drawing/ photo on the front, its very difficult to see the actual structure. What I find useful is looking at the back of the envelope, often there is a line drawing, so you can really see the exact structure of the design, see exactly where the seams are, where the waist line sits, are the darts, pleats etc, and then I can more easily see if the style will suit me.
When you make up a garment so much of the final look will depend on fabric pattern and the "body" of the fabric will determine how it drapes and sits. Previously, I've made up the same pattern with very different fabrics, and achieved very different looks.