Do you have any tips on designing arcana masquerade outfit? I really need ur help >_<
Masquerade outfits are first of all, formalwear: suits, gowns, and other elaborate outfits. What would your character wear to a fancy once-a-year ball? It’s an opportunity for the character to dress their best and flashiest (Lucio might be less bright, but the gold filagree is more detailed than his other outfits) Despite hiding their faces, they’re designed to show off the character and their style.
One crucial aspect of masquerade outfits is theming. Each one represents a character and the symbols they surround themselves with. This is most obvious with the masks, which is what I’d recommend starting with. They come in a variety of styles, from only covering the eyes to hiding the entire head with draping veils, but they’re all animal-themed.
Lucio’s is a good example of how much they can tell about a character. It’s white and gold, showing off his classic colours and love of flashy wealth, it’s a dog to show his connection to Mercedes and Melchior and that, as well as covering half his face, shows how he’s half the Fool. It also draws inspiration from the Phantom of the Opera, alluding to his more dramatic nature and even how he spent years haunting the Palace.
Portia’s is one of the best for how it connects to the rest of the outfit (despite never being worn in her route). They share colour schemes, bow details, and floral patterns, making them feel like a cohesive costume. Similarly, Muriel’s shares the blue and white colour scheme, as well as the patterns, though in gold rather than white to distinguish it.
The devs are open about drawing inspiration from all sorts of cultures and times to design the characters. Nadia’s resembles modern runway fashions while Portia and Lucio are definitely traditional outfits, though tweaked to be more unique. When designing an outfit, think about what inspirations you’ve used to design them originally. Also, while modern fashions are good inspiration, it’s helpful to look at classic ballgowns and suits to get something which feels like it belongs at a masquerade ball.
The devs haven’t shown off much concept art for masquerade outfits so I can’t say much about their process, but it’s good to explore different concepts and colours to see which you prefer. For example, Portia’s was going to be more classically formal with a different hairstyle and Nadia almost had an opposite colour scheme.
tl;dr: Get a distinct theme (usually an animal and tarot card), colour palette, and pattern to design a mask, then create the outfit from that, drawing on different cultural/historical formalwear for inspiration
