In the lead up to Stormblood, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to perfect pre-expansion glamours for the two new jobs, Red Mage and Samurai. I never really got where I wanted to be with either of them, and as a result of all that trouble, I’ve spent hardly any time thinking about glamours for Dancer and Gunbreaker. But that changes now! A patron asked me not long ago if I’d worked out anything for Dancer yet, and that got me thinking on things.

From the get-go, I knew I was going to want something long and flowing, akin to Lyse’s second Stormblood outfit, which meant my thoughts first turned to pieces like the Thavnairian Bustier (a natural choice, given Dancer’s Thavnairian origins) or the Eastern Lady’s Togi. Neither of those felt particularly battle ready, though, and since there’s an off-chance Alahra ends up a Dancer main in Shadowbringers if I’m not happy with the way Ninja plays, I wanted to make sure I could be satisfied using whatever centerpiece I decided on for the Main Scenario.

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Glamour Components (Required Level: BRD/DNC/MCH 60)
Head: Archaeoskin / High House Cloche
Body: Makai Markswoman’s Battledress (Rolanberry Red)
Hands: Blackbosom Dress Gloves
Legs: Bridesmaid’s Tights (Jet Black)
Feet: Archaeoskin / High House Halfboots

That led me to one of my all-time favorite body pieces for Bard, the Makai Battledress. It’s rare that I like gowns and robes in FFXIV as much as I like this one, and it seems almost tailor made for Dancer to me now. It works in just about any color, so I knew it would provide a lot of flexibility for matching with whatever other pieces I chose, too, which is always a very welcome bonus for any body choice.

From there, I had almost no ideas, outside of not wanting to duplicate either of my glamours that used the Battledress before. Both previous times used Bard-specific gear, of course, which made things a little easier: I didn’t have a choice if I meant for the look to work for Dancer! For starters, I thought I might want some flowers somewhere in the look, which led me to try on the Blackbosom Dress Gloves, which don’t actually display their flowers thanks to the Battledress’s long sleeves. I really liked just the little splash of color from the ribbons, though, so I decided to keep them and went with Rolanberry Red on the dress to match.

From there, I decided a pair of shorter boots or dancing shoes would be more appropriate than thighboots (for once). At first I went to the Far Eastern Beauty’s Boots, but as ever, their unfortunate “two-tone” dyeing pattern sort of ruined their potential, since the lighter shade stuck out like a sore thumb through the gown’s front slit. Other options, like the High Summoner’s Boots seemed a little too plain, and so I thought to fuss around with Leg options instead to hopefully guide my footwear choice more clearly.

After failing to find any shorts or trousers that I liked alongside the Battledress, I thought to try out something with tights, ultimately settling on the Bridesmaid’s ones largely because of their simplicity of colors. With those in place, the High House Halfboots made the cut, since they blended better with the tights than the Songbird Boots, which were my first choice. The Halfboots also made me consider the High House Cloche, which I like well enough to keep for now (though I think it’s perhaps the element most likely to change if I keep this glamour for my first forays into Dancer come Shadowbringers).

Unlike my previous efforts with Red Mage and Samurai, I actually think I’ll keep most of this one for Dancer unless we get a surprise Mog Station addition that’s perfect between now and the launch of the expansion. The Battledress is simply too perfect, and I can’t see much of anything topping it. At most, I’ll end up changing some colors around or swapping in a corsage for the High House Cloche—minor changes that won’t really warrant a wholly new glamour. Next on my list is Gunbreaker for Lynahra, I think, though I’ve also gotta figure out final glamours for most of my 70 roles, with only Ninja and Monk/Samurai really feeling done.