I'm not sure what this is called so I can't even come up with a specific thread title

Hello, I'm new to ActionScript3 (ActionScript in general actually). I'm making a simple avatar creation/dress up game as multiple sources say this is one of the easiest things for beginners to do. After reading/watching both general AS3 tutorials and ones geared towards making this kind of game I still have a major question I keep coming back to that I'm not even sure how to put in a google-friendly phrase (hence the weird, un-descriptive thread title).

I'm trying to figure out how to search for information on keeping color choice consistent despite object change (in the case of a character creator: clothing, hair, etc).

For example, say I have 4 kinds of top (tank top, t-shirt, turtle neck, hoodie) and 4 color variations of each one (black, blue, green, red) for a total of 16 possible choices. Each kind of top is one movie clip with the color variations on a new frame. There are two sets of buttons - one set to select style, and one set to select color.

How do I make the color choice remain despite changes in style? If a user chooses the color green, how do I make the clothing stay green regardless of whether they then click through the tank, t, turtle, or hoodie choices? As I have it now, when changing clothing styles it defaults back to the first frame of each movie clip (ie the black color choice). When googling I've gotten stuff about color sliders/pickers but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. I want only to offer the colors I have predefined since they're actually moderately detailed illustrations imported from photoshop.


I don't need the entire spoonfed answer (since I have no idea if I'm asking a lot). Just a point in the right direction would be awesome.
Any advice on what this kind of "thing" (for lack of a better word...) is called in AS3 or how it is handled so I could google it or focus on the specific areas I'll need to study to make what I'm thinking of would be very helpful.