Though this post is arriving a little bit after the fact, January 1st marked the second anniversary of my in-game wedding with my partner. We actually met outside of FFXIV, though she used to play and eventually decided to join me on the game. Several months later, we hitched our characters on New Year’s Day—after a bit of a mix-up, as I had originally intended to do so on New Year’s Eve! But it worked out wonderfully. After the addition of anniversary ceremonies, we waited to see if we could have our next ceremony on the very day, and we were lucky enough to snag a reservation for that evening.
Of course, I had to figure out something to wear! For our original ceremony, I didn’t do anything special, wearing the wedding attire without even dyeing it. This time I decided that I wanted to do something a little different. Since this ceremony is described in game as a renewal of vows, rather than a full on second wedding (despite the fact that the actual cutscenes and such treat it exactly the same), I didn’t think Alahra would get out her wedding dress again. She would, though, want to look the part and try to match her attire to the decorations in some way.
Glamour Components (Required Level: BRD/MCH 60)
Head: Scintillant Circlet of Aiming (Colibri Pink)
Body: Eastern Socialite's Cheongsam (Pure White)
Hands: Claws of the Beast (Colibri Pink)
Legs: Bridesmaid's Tights (Pure White)
Feet: Bootlets of Eternal Passion (Colibri Pink)
In the past, I think finding a solid dress for something like this would have been difficult, since other options like the Ao Dai or Eastern Lady’s Togi don’t look very elegant on a miqo’te. The new Cheongsam, though, is pretty close to perfect for what I had in mind. The only small detail that didn’t quite work is the red of its flowers. Pink would have worked much better, since that was the color we chose for the flowers and new “fabric” option for the ceremony (which affects all of the drapery and a few other things throughout the chapel). It does have one pink flower, though, which was enough for me to take the gown to the ceremony.
Since the Cheongsam doesn’t have much pink of its own (and I didn’t want to just dye it entirely pink), I looked to accessories to add a little bit more to match the decorations. I’ve rarely had opportunity to use the Eternal Bootlets, which I’ve always liked, so they were an auto-include from the start. Even if I’d used them a thousand times, they would have been perfect, though: purely white with just a little accent of color for the buttons and ribbon. Of the three choices, the Aiming version of the Scintillant Circlet paired best with the Cheongsam, since its jewelry is silver rather than the gold of the Scouting and Striking ones.
Since I never got around to getting the False Nails from the Ananta Beast Tribe Quests, I went with the Claws of the Beast instead (reminding me that I should probably do those quests at some point before Stormblood is over). I’ve always preferred them for Alahra anyway, since my headcanon is that her tribe keeps their nails sharp as a defensive measure. They’re a little “aggressive” for the ceremony, of course, but I used them last go-round, and I couldn’t find anything else I wanted to use instead. My original idea had been to use one of the wrist corsages, but none of them are pink, making that idea unworkable for what I needed (next time I’m going to insist on red flowers, I think!).
Finally, I had to figure out a pair of tights. Well, I didn’t have to, but I wanted to, since I think the Eternal Bootlets are best used with tights. The corresponding Eternal Tights didn’t really fit in with the Cheongsam, with their prominent garters standing out far too much. I would have loved to use the Songbird Skirt, but the tights on it go over the Bootlets, which looks pretty silly, and so I went with the plain old boring Bridesmaid’s Tights in the end. They’re rather more simple than what I wanted, but my options were somewhat limited, and they seemed the best given those constraints.
While the end result wasn’t really intended for general use, I liked it enough that I think I’m going to keep it for at least a little while. I was due for a new Bard glamour, anyway but haven’t had any specific ideas for it in some time. I do think I’d need to modify the look a bit to make it fit a more adventurous style, though, and I may end up doing so sometime soon!
Fashion Ninjutsu 