So, I had one more glamour with the Eastern Socialite’s Cheongsam in me before I start moving on to other things. I mentioned last time the idea of using it alongside the Halonic Exorcist’s Boots for my casters, especially since I needed to do something about the last caster look, which was decidedly outside of Alahra’s normal wheelhouse. The Cheongsam seemed a natural fit for Red Mage in particular, but my first experiment at putting the gown and class together ended up at a White Mage glamour instead.
Of course, I wanted to try to do a few different things with this one, since I’ve already used the Cheongsam twice. Since I’m also working on shifting Alahra’s primary color over to black (or at least darker colors) to be thematically appropriate for the coming of Shadowbringers, I decided I’d be trying the gown in Jet Black this time (which I was probably going to have to do to use the Halonic Exorcist’s Boots anyway, though I could see a case for them with some shade of red, too).
Glamour Components (Required Level: BLM/BLU/RDM/SMN 57)
Weapon: Manipulative Moggle Mogfoil
Head: Eastern Socialite's Hat (Jet Black)
Body: Eastern Socialite's Cheongsam (Jet Black)
Hands: Far Eastern Noble's Armlets
Legs: Bunny Chief Tights
Feet: Halonic Exorcist's Thighboots
So, with the gown and boots in place, I had to figure out everything else. Right away I noticed that I didn’t like the way the Eastern Socialite’s Gloves worked with the Halonic boots, so I swapped in the Halonic Exorcist’s Gloves to begin with. Those didn’t really have the right sort of elegance for the Cheongsam, though, and I found myself at a loss as to what other gloves to use in their stead. Long gloves were out of the question (though if there a longer pair in the same sort of style as the Socialite’s Gloves, they’d be perfect), and the Socialite’s Gloves are really the best in their class as far as style goes.
To give myself some room to think on that problem, I started fiddling with leg options instead. My first thought was to do something with thigh high stockings, since I’d tried and failed to make that work for Scholar before. Casters don’t have as many natural options as Scholars do, of course, but I thought something like the Bridesmaid’s Tights might work. While they did look mostly all right alongside the Halonic boots, I wasn’t entirely happy with them, so I kept exploring. Mostly by chance I landed on the Bunny Chief Tights, which I liked instantly. I’ve found very few opportunities to make use of them, so I was glad to find another!
From there I moved onto the headpiece. I’ve been toying with the idea of using a Red Cherry Blossom Corsage ever since I picked up the Socialite’s Attire, and at first I settled on using that. But once I remembered that I wasn’t going to be using the Socialite’s Gloves, I realized I could instead use the corresponding hat (since I try to use no more than two pieces of a given set together at once). Like the Gloves, the Socialite’s Hat is probably one of the best of its kind, and I’d been itching for a good chance to use it.
And that left me with just the gloves to figure out. I spent a good long while combing the Market Board, my retainers, Glamour Dresser, and Armoire for something better than the Eastern Socialite’s Gloves. I couldn’t find anything I was happy with, though, and I was nearly about to break my soft rule on set usage when I remembered the Far Eastern Noble’s Armlets, which I’d considered using for my White Mage Cheongsam glamour but ultimately decided against. I’d moved the Armlets over to my inventory due to space issues and since forgotten about them, but thankfully they were the perfect fit!
This one will probably be my last Cheongsam glamour for a little while. As much as I love it, I can’t see it working for most of FFXIV’s other jobs. I have been thinking about using it for Monk or Samurai at some point, since I do think it could work for both of those jobs, but for now I’m not sure at all what I would actually use it with, so that’s going to have to wait. Next on my list is probably to take another stab at a new Ninja glamour, as I’m not settled on the cutscene viability of my last one. We might be some time away from the launch of 4.5 just yet, but I’m always the most fussy about Ninja glamours, so I need to get started early!
Fashion Ninjutsu 