orionnexus submitted:

Queen of Crows by johnsonting

Hello. I love this blog and I would love to hear your opinions on this piece.

The artist says that the picture on the left is for ceremonial purposes and that the one on the right is for actual combat. What’s your opinion of it all?

Well, it appears this is a personal artwork – so it doesn’t have the concerns that come with commercial, but it is kind of helpful for a discussion of ornamental/ceremonial armor.

It is true that armor intended purely for show allows for massive design freedom, sometimes they’re made from scratch and sometimes they’re regular armor given accessories.  This example has two issues with the overall design.

The first is that priority is for the ornamental version, not the practical version. Things like removable “not heels”, belly windows, kneecap windows, etc all reduce the overall integrity and value of the design.  On the battlefield they’re risking their safety to look good off the battlefield.  Such factors tend to suggest that the “real” armor doesn’t ever get used as actual armor.

The second is that the ornamentation doesn’t really say anything other than “I’m a sexy lady” – the same overall result could be obtained simply not wearing the torso armor or just writing “I am a sexy lady” across it in lipstick.

Serious military uniforms are, by necessity, designed for elegant simplicity a serious overtone.  Ornamental armor, traditionally, is more of an exercise in self expression, so it tends to feature the same sort of creativity and flamboyance as red carpet fashions.

Particularly if you’re from some world that’s a technological wonderland and your options vastly exceed those available to those of us stuck in reality!

– wincenworks