You Really Don't Need These Clothes
In fact, most people ride in their own everyday clothes, and you'll be perfectly fine if you never buy a single bike-specific article of clothing. However, some kinds of clothing will be more comfortable, more functional and safer than everyday wear for riding, and this site is here to make you aware of these options.
Bike-Friendly Apparel
You don't have to dress like a superhero in multi-colored spandex just because you're riding a bike (unless you want to). However, there are good reasons for some of the clothing you see on riders. Some have to do with comfort, some have to do with safety. Both are important.
Helmets
If you value your brains, wear a helmet. It may look dorky and feel funny for a while, but by far the most frequent kind of bike accident is the rider losing control and flying 
over the handlebars, and for this, a helmet works really well! In addition, studies show that properly fitted helmets reduce head injuries by 85% in all kinds of bike accidents.
Helmets all have to meet the same safety standards, so it makes sense not to spend a lot of money here. Fit is the most important thing, however, and more expensive helmets will have more sophisticated fitting systems (which will feel and be more secure). Some even have bug nets to keep unwelcome visitors from dropping in. The helmet should have plenty of vents to allow air to flow through. A bill is also good, to keep the rising or setting sun out of your eyes. White is a good choice for color - it is very visible in traffic (plus it goes well with every other color, if that's important to you).
The material in many helmets which protects you from a fall is a plastic foam. It is designed to absorb the shock and break to save your head. For this reason, any flaw in the integrity of the foam makes the helmet dangerous, since it won't absorb enough shock before breaking. Even if you drop it or whack it sharply, the protection could be compromised and the helmet should be replaced. Foam also breaks down under ultraviolet light (sunlight) over the years. You should get a new helmet every three or four years to assure you still have adequate protection.
Shirts
Shirts should be bright. Your upper body is the most visible part of you in traffic, and you want to make sure all the cars around you know you're there. The bright, multi-colored shirts many bikers wear are actually not best. Up close they look nice and bright, but at a distance of 30 yards, the many colors actually have a camouflaging effect. A single colored shirt has greater visibility and communicates the shape of a human body better. Consider this: 10% of the population is color blind to red - they see it as black.
If you're just going to be riding around the neighborhood, any shirt material is OK. But if you're riding fifty miles or riding ten miles really fast, you'll want synthetic "technical" fabrics which wick away sweat. To parrot a 
ubiquitous commercial slogan, "cotton is the enemy."
If you might get caught out after dark, even with a bright shirt, consider some kind of reflective vest. They work great, they're light and they pack down small.
Jackets
When it comes to warmer clothing, layering is the answer. Just make sure the sweat-wicking layer is on the very inside and the bright layer is on the outside. Get a bright jacket or use your rain jacket. Between the two layers you can use regular clothes, like t-shirts, sweat shirts or fleece.
Pants
Again, for a little cruise after dinner, anything works. But after fifty miles, you'll feel every single seam in your pants and underwear, especially after they get a little sweaty. Those Lycra biking shorts are constructed without seams where you sit (and no, you don't wear regular underwear under them). They also wick sweat well and fit tightly on your leg. After my first fifty mile ride, my legs were raw on top from my loose shorts scraping the skin with every stroke of the pedal. Since then I wear tight Lycra biking shorts under my regular shorts - now I get pockets and comfort! Some riders, especially mountain bikers, prefer baggy shorts, which include their own tight Lycra-like lining.
Long pants tend to get caught in the chain and get dirty - you can find reflective Velcro bands to keep your pant cuff (the one on the side of the chain) tight against your ankle.
Gloves
Your hands can get pretty sore after leaning on them mile after mile on a road bike. Or if you have those hard rubber grips with lots of texture. Many bikers wear biking specific fingerless gloves, some with gel inserts in the palm or other fancy stuff. They help. Plus, if you go down, you usually reach out with your hand to cushion your fall, which can lead to bloody palms if you don't have gloves.
Shoes
With shoes, anything goes. People ride with hiking boots and flipflops. Sandals are very popular. Athletic shoes are perhaps most common - just make sure you double or triple tie your laces so they don't get caught in the sprockets. Footwear with a relatively stiff sole works better. When it's time to get serious, of course, you'll probably want clipless pedals. Those are shoes with cleats on the bottom which hook to the pedals. These give you more power by keeping your feet straight and on the pedals and by allowing you to pull with the opposite foot on each stroke. They even make them in styles which look like regular shoes.
Socks
Cotton doesn't work too well for long distances. Blends and artificial fabrics are OK. Wool, which holds heat and resists water, is always a good alternative for any cycling clothing.
Rain Gear
If your ride is going to be short enough that you can beat that thunderhead back home, don't worry about rain gear. But for the rest of us rain is a natural part of the biker's world. A good waterproof rain jacket is important, particularly one with breathable fabric (like Gore-Tex) and good size zippered vents under the arms to let vapor from sweat out. It should also be bright yellow or safety green (maybe with reflective stripes), because cars have a harder time seeing you in the rain. Alternatively, I have friends who use garbage bags and punch holes for their head and arms.
Many bikers don't worry about rain pants, especially if they wear lycra shorts or tights - it's the torso you want to keep warm and dry. But if you want rain pants, the same features which work in a jacket also work in pants. Often it's the cold, not the wet, which is the problem. In that case, pants are good.
A footwear option is waterproof socks, sacrificing your old sneakers to the weather if it rains.
Helmet rain covers seem especially smart - it's very irritating to have rain coming through the helmet vents and down your neck. It sort of defeats the purpose of the rain jacket. But any way you look at it, if you ride, sooner or later you're going to get wet. You just need to fend off the worst of it and keep a good attitude. It'll dry up soon and you'll forget you were ever uncomfortable.
About Those Superhero Costumes...
You know, the ones the road bikers wear. Most road bikers are into speed, so this clothing works for them - it's tight, so it's aerodynamic, and it's bright, so it's visible to drivers. However, for recreational riders, there are some shortcomings. The tightness and brightness looks sort of silly if you're walking around in a store or sitting in a restaurant. And recreational riders often do this sort of thing during a day of riding. Also, there aren't any pockets!!
One good answer is to buy athletic wear which is not bike specific. You can still get bright colors and "technical" fabrics, but you can also get shorts and shirts with pockets and a more comfortable fit that look more like regular clothes. Your clothing will still be functional, but you won't draw stares and giggles, and you'll probably spend less, too.
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