Way back in Stormblood, I had the idea that, in-character, Alahra was going to retire from adventuring after the events of the 4.0 Main Scenario. I wanted a way to explain a potential main job shift, since I wasn’t sure I was going to keep playing Ninja even back then. In her retirement, I imagined that Alahra would still keep up with combat training and meditation, a good fit for Samurai, which I thought might be my new main. I had a casual style in mind for her canon glamour, too—something along the lines of the Fuga Haori but with less tail clipping.

That switch to Samurai never actually happened, and I went back on the idea of Alahra retiring, since I couldn’t imagine her coming out of retirement to go world hopping for Shadowbringers. I kept the glamour idea in the back of my mind for much of the last expansion, though, and with this year’s Moonfire Festival, I finally had the centerpiece I needed to make it work. The three new Moonfire Happi were almost exactly what I had in mind originally, with the White one catching my eye in particular. Since I’ve been leveling Monk (which is just about done as of writing), I thought it was a good time to finally figure out the look.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Glamour Components (Requirements: Monk 1, Female)
Weapon: Tarnished Makai Fists
Head: Reading Glasses (Dalamud Red)
Body: White Moonfire Happi
Hands: (Tarnished Makai Fists)
Legs: Cropped Fireglass Leather Slops
Feet: Lady’s Clogs

The Fuga Haori’s tail problem was a big part of why I never got around to putting together my original glamour idea. The new Happi, however, avoids the worst of those issues since it’s noticeably smaller and hangs much more closely to the character’s frame than the Haori. The color scheme is also much more Alahra’s style, with white, black, and red featuring heavily in a lot of my past glamours for Monk. But the Happi is also rather outside my normal wheelhouse: it’s not really a good fit for thighboots, so I had to leave my comfort zone a bit to figure this one out.

I’d seen a few people pairing the other colors of the Happi with the Quan from Stormblood to great success, but found they didn’t play so well with the white one, which I was committed to using. Instead, my first attempt was to replace those with the Ramie Trousers of Striking (in black), but those didn’t really fit the casual vibe I was going for. After that I tried the Anemos Pacifist’s Gaskins, but those required thighboots (I went with the Sky Pirate’s Boots of Striking, which were much too heavy). Other options for trousers or shorts I could find were all too high in the waist, until I thought to try out the new Fireglass Slops.

While I was loathe to drop so much gil on them, they proved to be the perfect fit once I thought to combine them with a pair of sandals, with the Lady’s Clogs having that perfect casual vibe to complete the look. All that was left after that was to figure out a pair of gloves or jewelry for the Hands slot, but I also had to figure out a good pair of light Monk weapons, and the Makai Fists gave me exactly what I needed, covering two slots in one. (For Samurai, I’ve been using the new Far Eastern Maiden’s Armband, though I much prefer the look with the Monk-specific hand gear).

Of course, I’m almost level 80 on Monk, and at least from a distance I’m a huge fan of the new Artifact set for Shadowbringers, so this one will likely soon be relegated to a “leveling” glamour for this expansion. However, since all of the pieces outside of the weapon work for every class (and with the armband to serve as a backup for non-Monk classes), I think I’ll be keeping this one on a glamour plate for a long time for roleplay purposes if nothing else.