got curious bc of ur Jaehee headcanon post and wanted to ask… what’s your take on her personal style? Or what do you imagine she would try once leaving C&R?
My GOD, anon, I completely forgot about this ask!!! I'm so sorry. A lot is going on right now.
I talked about what I think Jaehee tries and what she eventually settles on here. I think she tries a LOT of stuff. My MC character generally pays very little attention to what's 'proper', so that goes double there. Notions of what you 'have' to be are hard to shed, but I think Jaehee does experiment. Heavy, dark makeup. Alt-ish clothes. Frilly things, like she was a little girl again. A 'femme fatale' style. I think this is all in good fun, some of it she enjoys from the start, some of it she's self-conscious to wear at first, and then feels better about it. It's a good experiment to get her in touch with all aspects of herself, of which she has many. But for long-term... A lot of the stuff that looks good in the mirror is uncomfortable, or becomes uncomfortable after an hour. The stuff that is little more than a sports suit or a pyjama can be nice and cozy once, but makes her feel depressed in the long run. And I don't think she enjoys the unsolicited attention (and the exposed feeling) the sexier or more alt styles get her (saying that as someone pretty alt, hehe). I don't really think she enjoys a lot of eyes on her. And that's a good thing, I think. The good ending for her is not becoming a neverending performance. It's reminding her that she, too, is a person. A person with flaws. A person with feelings. With desires of her own. A person who deserves to just live, not live up to something every second of the day.
I still think her preferred style is practical, but with a flourish. I can't see her being happy and herself going in a frilly-feminine direction, simply because of what kind of person she is. She's hands-on, she's actionable, and she needs comfortable clothes to be that way, clothes that don't easily ride up, that don't cut into her underarms, that have good coverage but are fit for the weather, clothes that have pockets, clothes that let her run and hurry, clothes that don't catch on everything, that she doesn't need to worry about adjusting all the time. What I think changes, and what I think is a GOOD change for her, is that her clothes become non-restrictive. The soft fabrics. The loose lines. The wider neckline, the top buttons undone. None of that tightlaced armour not letting her make a proper step or hunch her back, nothing choking around her neck. Nothing cutting into her belly (of which I think she has a normal amount), nothing leaving deep grooves in her flesh when she comes home for the night. Clothes that let her breathe. Clothes that let her relax. It's a symbol of her liberation, and it's the embrace of that radical notion that she, too, deserves comfort.
I do think she accessorises. I do think she likes to get a bit playful. I do think she likes trinkets, and she'd also wear her fangirling on her sleeve (or, you know. On her bag). I think she grows out her hair — mayhaps not as long as in her GE CG, but I think she's really comfortable with shoulder-length or slightly longer: something she can do up easily and with some fun scrunchies or pins, and that she can braid just a little, but that doesn't require a ton of maintenance and untangling.
In my eyes, Jaehee is good, kind, and heartfelt, but she's also serious, no-nonsense, and hardened. She needs to relax and feel the rain on her skin, but she also wants to chase her dreams and make a happy life for herself and her beloved. I like to have her dress in a way to reflect that. I know I've drawn her little, she deserves more than that