A New Take on The Old Republic costumes
Star Wars: The Old Republic typically has pretty good gender equality in their armors, but rarely there pop up some designs that are just old-fashioned. Not cause they’re 18th century tuxedos, it’s the double standard that’s old-fashioned… let’s just get into it.
Darth Sion Armor Set
I completely forgot about this guy cause I played Knights of the Old Republic 2 162 years ago, but Darth Sion is a shirtless angry man with scars(?), and this is his SWTOR armor set. I wasn’t too mad about the bare midriff in this since the dude version is bare-chested.
I was, however, and will continue to be, petty about the default for “lady equivalent of a shirtless man” being a literal bikini top. They had it so good with the back, but then dipped the neckline so far down in the front that it lost all of its support. There’s a reason sports bras have more than just an underwire.
(On the other hand, just adding a top means the pauldron isn’t nailed into her shoulder blade, like it is for the dudes.)
So my main effort went into adding the support back in, as well as giving her some girth. That’s my main complaint about the ladies in SWTOR: They’re all sticks! Even the “thicc” body type is miles off from the dude version. Granted, I didn’t give her the buff woman build I’d usually go for, but that’s because I was trying to prove a point; that the initial model wouldn’t have to change much to make her look like a fighter.
I also gave her some Sick Veins, cause that’s what the Siths get in SWTOR. (Where are my cool crackled-rock-scars, BioWare??) But I only drew that on one of the closeups, cause it was One of Those Days.
-Icy
Bold Hellion’s Armor Set
How anything about this glorified biker costume, male or female, says “armor”, I do not comprehend.
Since the dude version is also shirtless, I took much more issue with the suspicious dimorphism in how their bodies are depicted and gendered double standard in the cut of the costume, rather than with protective value.
It was one of Those Days, so I limited the redesign to giving the lady version a non-stick-figure body, which included replacing her teeny crop jacket with his, that also covered a lot more of her mid-section.
Basically my lowest effort redo so far, yet still just making her buff made quite a difference, I’d say.
~Ozzie