Female characters: high-waisted vs low-waisted skirts

As I've played various Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games, I've noticed that Tetsuya Nomura's female characters tend to wear very revealing outfits, most notably very short mini-skirts, but what I've become even more aware of is that the reason why these skirts appear to be "too short" is because many of these characters are wearing their skirts high-waisted (at the belly button). I've particularly noticed this with Tifa, as she wears what appears to be a sports bra (rather than a tank top) that only covers her chest and upper back, and a leather mini-skirt at the belly button, which is why it appears to only barely keep her hips covered. If you moved the skirt down lower ("low-waisted" or "low-rise" skirts and jeans tend to start just above the crotch and hips), then it would reach mid-thigh. While Kairi and Namine do not bare their midriffs, their dresses' "skirt" areas also only cover their hips. On the other hand, Yuna and Rikku (in X-2) and Shiki/Eri (from The World Ends with You) wear low-waisted skirts, and these skirts also only barely cover the hips, which means that these skirts are even shorter than those of Tifa, Kairi, and Namine. Rikku and Shiki/Eri are especially noticeable because they bare their midriffs, like Tifa does, but unlike Tifa, it's their entire midriffs, as opposed to Tifa baring only her upper midriff. If she wore a tank top that reached down to her belly button, and then moved her skirt down, her lower midriff would be bared, and her skirt would reach mid-thigh.

It depends on the outfit, even out of the scope on FF characters. I usually prefer low-waisted skirts to wear and view, because mid-riffs turn me on. I own a few high-waisted skirts though and they look damn good if they're pencil-skirts or something classy and sexy.

I personally would rather have the lower midriff (from the belly button down) bared, rather than the upper midriff. Baring the entire midriff, unless the character is either working or in a gym or on the beach, is unnecessary in my opinion.

I like my warriors to wear armor. It always baffles me how some of the girls fight in the clothes they're wearing.

Shiki is definitely wearing a mini skirt and that's sort of the point. The game was all about the biggest fashion district and mini skirts seem to be doing well as a fashion item. Rikku (X-2) also has a bulltrout short skirt but that was fan service.

I didn't look at many of Yuna's outfits in X-2 but her default is actually just hot pants so w/e there. Tifa's skirt is short but it's still longer than the others.

At the end of the day I think it is important to realise two things. 1) sex sells. 2) these characters have disproportionate bodies; their legs are much longer than their torsos, which gives the appearance of a shorter skirt. Not to say they aren't short, but it just makes it look worse.

True, the characters' legs may be longer than normal, but also remember the "height" at which they wear their skirts. Wearing a high-waisted skirt would place the start of the skirt at the belly button, whereas wearing a low-waisted skirt would place the start of the skirt just above the pelvis.

And when I saw Tifa, I realized that because she was wearing a high-waisted skirt with her upper midriff bared, she isn't wearing a tank top; she's wearing a sports bra.

As long as they aren't taken to comic book levels of absurdity, I'm not too bothered.

At this point, as long as the character designs aren't over the top I am a happy camper. It's not as bad as it used to be, but the billions of belts and zippers thing (or just one thing on the outfit that was visually distracting) was getting tiresome.

As for the skirts? I have no preference.

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Originally Posted by Sephex

At this point, as long as the character designs aren't over the top I am a happy camper.

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Actually, I'm starting to miss the belts, zippers, buckles, capes, sashes, scarves and beads in my FF. :(

Yes... sadly, definitely... to each his own... I, too, am a big fan of the "belt-look"...

I can see you've put a lot of thought into this, SuperMillionare.

I guess I did, Shlup, possibly because over time, I paid more attention to detail, and as I paid closer attention to detail, I began to notice these things.

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Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire

I guess I did because over time, I paid more attention to detail, and as I paid closer attention to detail, I began to notice details.

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Male characters: high-wasted or low-wasted pants?

An intentionally misspelled question because these days some NPCs really do appear to be "high, wasted" or "low, wasted"... but still, some male characters lately (particular bishies like Vaan) have been bearing their midriff as well. I believe Seifer on KH2 wears low-waisted pants. So where does your preference lie for the other gender, eh?

Personally, I don't mind male characters wearing low-waisted pants as long as I don't get "cracked" when they turn around or bend over. Never pleasant. Also, I hate characters AND real people whose underwear is exposed due to sagging pants.

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Actually, I'm starting to miss the belts, zippers, buckles, capes, sashes, scarves and beads in my FF.

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The robots that replaces won't be made of plastic and metal... they'll be made entirely of belts and zippers.

^Kuja.


Who, by the way, I'd still totally smurf.

Lightning has a belly piercing. She should just, like, cut off the midsection of her shirt and let it shine. I like belly piercings :D

In fact, I like midriffs, so low cut. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Mercen-X

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Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire

I guess I did because over time, I paid more attention to detail, and as I paid closer attention to detail, I began to notice details.

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Male characters: high-wasted or low-wasted pants?

An intentionally misspelled question because these days some NPCs really do appear to be "high, wasted" or "low, wasted"... but still, some male characters lately (particular bishies like Vaan) have been bearing their midriff as well. I believe Seifer on KH2 wears low-waisted pants. So where does your preference lie for the other gender, eh?

Personally, I don't mind male characters wearing low-waisted pants as long as I don't get "cracked" when they turn around or bend over. Never pleasant. Also, I hate characters AND real people whose underwear is exposed due to sagging pants.

Quote:

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Actually, I'm starting to miss the belts, zippers, buckles, capes, sashes, scarves and beads in my FF.

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The robots that replaces won't be made of plastic and metal... they'll be made entirely of belts and zippers.

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Yes, I've noticed that too, but it seems to be a bigger issue with female characters, since the majority of them wear very short skirts. The male characters tend to wear at least knee-length shorts, if not full-leg-length pants. In addition, some of these male characters, such as Vaan and Jecht, are also shirtless, and to show off the full torso, they would have to wear low-rise pants/shorts as well. Female characters, however, tend to wear very short mini-skirts that only barely keep their hips covered (not to mention that it also exposes their panties underneath). Furthermore, keep in mind that some of these female characters, such as Tifa (in both her default VII attire and her Crisis Core attire) and Rikku (in her X-2 attire) also do away with shirts, and only wear bras as their only clothing to cover up their breasts, since bare female breasts are not allowed (no such taboo applies to the male chest, though).

Personally, like you said, I also don't mind male characters (or female characters) wearing low-rise jeans or other pants, as long as their cracks and underwears are covered. And I also don't like baggy, saggy pants, either.

As for the belts and zippers, well, I've noticed that Tetsuya Nomura has toned those features down as well, but it still pops up from time to time.