For Ankhani: Ari Costume Designs

[Acyl]

Ankhani:-

Well, as I promised, here's some ideas for possible costume designs for Aritisa. At least that's how I think you spell her name.
I'm not actually sure.

If I understand correctly, she only has, what, one costume design currently? \o_O/ This must be rectified! Okay, I wish also my brain were
more in gear, but, this is just random rumination. Pictures thumbnailed and linked for size, yo.

Legacy Chain-inspired Mage



Alright. I'm REALLY not sure about the colour scheme here, but this is a combination of elements I've been toying with. You can use
the Jewel and Ring chest details on a robe, y'see. I don't see that being done very often. With the right shoulder pads, you totally get a sort of
Legacy Chain effect, yeah? You could probably also put a Full Mantle cape on this to increase the stuff on the upper torso. Again, colour probably highly
variable here, I don't actually like the black and gold that much...but I figured something metallic is a good idea.

Another concept here is making the trim of the main robe body the same colour as the primary, so it looks less overtly Asian in appearance,
yeah? More seamless and one-piece. The last conceit is using a pencil skirt with the dagger pattern for the bottoms, which further extends the robe
look.

Figure this isn't a bad way to do a 'mage' sorta outfit.

Techno Fury



I've been kinda fascinated with how the camo stripe pattern melds with the swirl chest detail, and how THAT all goes pretty well with
cyborg gloves. I don't see camo stripe and swirl chest detail used very often, also.

The face piece here is a cyborg 2 detail with elf ears coloured gold - that also creates a rather different look, I think, seems like
it's one continuous piece of gold metal from a distance.

Black and White Assassin



This one a few of you might recognise. I've been messing with this black/white jacket look for some time now. This costume is an obvious
cousin of Battery Acid's disco look, and to a lesser degree Space Mage's party dress, but developed in a totally different direction.

I really like this version. I like the idea of using the Desire pattern under the vest to...totally change how the vest jacket looks, really. High heeled boots
also complete it. The belt is sorta variable. The costume works with a black heavy studded with white studs, or a black heavy leather (the buckles and such
come out white anyway). This is the jewel version, which gives some colour to the costume and adds a focal point. Whether that's good or bad sorta depends;
I think the jewel version would work better if there's also a red eyeglow aura of some kind for visual symmetry. That said, the idea of having uncovered
and piercing eyes over the half-face mask is pretty compelling also.

...

Ari is Ankhani's Elec/Elec Brute, her concept is...I dunno, she's some kind of demon or demigoddess or nether plane thingamijig bound to a physical
vessel in a Thorns ritual gone wrong or somesuch. I think she wanted to evoke the whole Fury feel, if I remember correctly. I'm sure Ankh can elaborate on
it more.
-- Acyl

[Bob Schroeck]

Mm. The Mage outfit doesn't do anything for me, but the other two I think are winners. I'd be hard-pressed to chose between them were they for one of
my toons.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ankhani]

Well, you have the concept about half right. Ari is a demon bound into an unwilling host in a Thorns ritual gone right. (Don't see to many of then do ya?) The problems come later when one of the Smelly Bathrobed fools oversteps his bounds
and breaks the seals keeping her under control.

As for the costumes, I rather like the Techno Fury one, and would probably use the B/W Assassian look to, but I was fiddling in the costume creator myself,
and came up with something kinda similar (Using the Patent Leather.) Plus I have a personal grudge against those High Heel Boots, just in and of themselves
(They look awful bulky and clumsy.), not as part of the costume. I'll post up a pic of said costume once I get one..
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Acyl]

The trick is this, really, for me - you need a boot piece on that costume, ideally, which is white and black. It's a visual balance issue. You want a
mostly white set of footwear to go with the white jacket. On the other hand, I don't think a PURE white boot is a good idea, it still needs the black for
definition.

The high-heeled boots create a clean white thigh and a black foot piece. There's not many others that do that. Sinister does, but that looks even more
chunky which is not ideal for this costume. The boxing boots are possible, but likewise a bit large and a vet reward you don't have access to in any case.

Vanguard-sans-pad might work, however; I haven't tried that. It's also possible you could do something with a black/white pattern on top of one of the
regular boot meshes, or possibly even the thigh-highs.

I'll note that the 'visual balance' principle works reasonably well when designing costumes...and generally for any sort of artistic composition,
really. Either you want to balance colour and detail-rich areas - if you have one such area, then you need another - or, alternatively, specifically throw that
out of the window and create a costume which is meant to focus the eye on one bit and one bit ONLY of the costume.

The B/W assassin costume is an example of balanced elements, the techno fury black/gold costume is different, that's meant to draw the eye to her head and
upper torso quite distinctly. It would in fact be acceptable for that one, I think, to have pure black boots.
-- Acyl

[Sofaspud]

Acyl: Justice, sans plate?

Also, I like the look of the black and white, but in my opinion, the belt needs more definition. Not white; that'd destroy the flow. But perhaps a dark
grey, just something to offset it against the black background.

Or, reverse it. Make it the same deep red as the jewel, and make the jewel black.

Just my 2c.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[OpMegs]

Well, mostly unrelated, but I figured that I should at least make mention that I blatantly stole one of these concepts. As always, having Acyl tailor for one
gets you great results. This concept's been looking for a costume for a while:


---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Acyl]

Good call on the hair and boots, Ops - that makes it work a lot better, I think.
On the subject of costume variations...I was dinkering with the gold-and-black techno fury look - the middle one in the original post - and came up with this:

I mean, you can see how I derived THAT costume from the starting point, yes? But it's also a totally different costume. One I'm considering for the Inv/DB tank I plan to play...but I could go a different direction. Not sure yet.
Anyway, that's how I work. Once I've established a core theme or concept that works...I start coming up with variations on the idea. This is basically what happens when I consider cyborg/tech pieces on black/gold. I KNOW that the colours work, I know that tech armour elements on a tight black outfit with face bits work. So what else can I do in that area?
Similarly, I've got a couple variations on the robe concept. I may post that later, but the servers are down for maint now. Might be useful as an alt looks for you, Ops, or at least give ya ideas anyway.
-- Acyl