a deep(ish) dive into video game fashion & why it matters

what video game has your favorite (or least favorite) costume design? mine is obviously Fallout 76 (for the Sheepsquatch mask, of course)
✩ s o c i a l s ✩
instagram ➭ @lovejessicablair lovejessicablair?hl=en
tiktok ➭ @luvjessicablair www.tiktok.com/@luvjessicablair?lang=en
twitter ➭ @luvjessicablair luvjessicablair
✩ business inquiries ➭ [e-mail]
✩ channel banner by: Misha clowstaff
mishalukova.com
✩ videos you should watch:
-We Need To Fix Black Hair in Video Games - The Blessing Show: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppbTnJZ8brqLpMk&ab_channel=KindaFunnyGames
-Why Fashion in (Most) Games Sucks, and Why You Should Care
kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqOao62ZrLStlck&ab_channel=GDC
✩ books mentioned:
-The History of Video Games” by Charlie Fish www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-history-of-video-games-charlie-fish/1137594241
-The Video Game Debate: Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Video Games www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-video-game-debate-rachel-kowert/1128474144
-Gaming Representation: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Video Games: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gaming-representation-jennifer-malkowski/1124658651
✩ sources/interesting articles
-Fashion and Costume Design in Electronic Entertainment -Bridging the Gap between Character and Fashion Design by Thomas Makryniotis
-“The History of Video Games” by Charlie Fish
-"Why Fashion in (Most) Games Sucks, and Why You Should Care" kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqOao62ZrLStlck&t=1414s&ab_channel=GDC
-www.pbs.org/newshour/science/study-tracks-31-year-history-of-female-sexualization-in-video-games
--en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Valentine
-“Activision Isn’t the Only Gaming Company With Harassment Problems” www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-03-11/activision-blizzard-has-harassment-problems-so-do-sony-ubisoft-amazon
-Leveling Up Representation: Depictions of People of Color in Video Games" www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/leveling-up-representation-depictions-of-people-of-color-in-video-games/
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)
-www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/03/online-gaming-racism-youth-extremism-mental-health/70721986007/
scholarworks.arcadia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1416&context=showcase
-www.wired.com/story/black-character-history-video-games/
-"Video games still need better Black hairstyle options” www.polygon.com/23617333/kinda-funny-games-character-creator-black-hairstyles
-www.theverge.com/2019/8/27/20835249/game-developers-sexual-assault-publicly-accused-allegations-metoo
-www.theverge.com/2019/8/27/20835249/game-developers-sexual-assault-publicly-accused-allegations-metoo
-Activision walkout: www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/59959/1/why-the-video-game-industry-needs-unions#:~:text=Kerri%20Moynihan%2C%20a%2032%2Dyear,and%20harassment%20against%20female%20employees.
-www.cnbc.com/2020/08/14/video-game-industry-grapples-with-murky-track-record-on-diversity.html
-“The reason Mario Wears Overalls” www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-New-Super-Mario-Bros-Wii/Volume-1/2-The-Reason-Mario-Wears-Overalls/2-The-Reason-Mario-Wears-Overalls-210759.html
-www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/59959/1/why-the-video-game-industry-needs-unions#:~:text=Kerri%20Moynihan%2C%20a%2032%2Dyear,and%20harassment%20against%20female%20employees.
-“Fashion in Games: Why It Matters 2” www.gamedeveloper.com/design/fashion-in-games-why-it-matters
-scholarworks.arcadia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1416&context=showcase
✩ music ➭ a lonely cherry tree by Pix kzbin.info/www/bejne/emavZGmAebCriJI&ab_channel=Pix
-trippy trip trop by Pix kzbin.info/www/bejne/apmnYmZtmdZjrsk&ab_channel=Pix
✩ time stamps
0:00-2:02 intro
2:02-5:38 a brief history
5:38-14:11 costume design
14:11-18:48 why does any of this matter?
18:48-22:29 identity & representation
22:29-30:56 the problem with video games
30:56-32:28 final thoughts/outro
#costumedesign #videogames

[@TrickyNano]

Whenever Jessica posts long videos you can find me jumping up and down in joy

[@lovejessicablair]

🥺💗💗💗💗💗

[@iim4xii129]

Just like when you were "jumping up and down in joy" on your uncles' laps constantly as a kid.

[@beepwrld]

it never even occured to me until watching this that there could be dress-up/fashion games that aren't just for kids (because I only ever saw them and played them as a kid) and now I want that... so bad. Amazing video as always Jess!!

[@lovejessicablair]

honestly I never really thought about it before either and now I’m pissed they aren’t really a thing 😭 definitely need someone to work on that asap! also thank u my love :”) 💗

[@happytofu5]

​@@lovejessicablair Game Dev Here who loves Fashion and will think about this. What kind of gameplay would you wish for besides the obvious dressing up? A fashion show?

[@wearepublic]

In terms of fashion games; Fashion Dreamer on Nintnedo Switch and Dress to Impress on Roblox are genuinely the only two I can think of! And I work in gaming!!

[@aBurningMay]

this was such a fun watch. i really love games that allow A LOT of customization. An obvious favorite is the sims games (i like the range of customization best in sims 4, but the other sims games has their own unique features i love more than the other). Lately i got into fortnite as well, i was surprised at how much i would love the silly skins in the game! im sad that most of it has to be bought, but as an adult it is not super hard to aquire the skins i truly love/want. Some honorable mentions for games i liked regarding fashion: Sea of thieves, Skyrim, Baldurs Gate 3, Zelda breath of the wild, Red dead redemption 2. Some of my most hated fashion in games.... dead by daylight!!! gta 5!!!!! the witcher 1..... 💀👎

[@lovejessicablair]

love skyrim and I’ve owned red dead 2 for years now and have yet to fully play the game 😭 this might be my sign to actually give it a try

[@aBurningMay]

​@@lovejessicablairthe story of rdr2 is possibly the best i have ever played, and i really like the style of clothing it has🫶 personally i usually dont like to play as male characters, but it was surprisingly nice to play the storymode even though u had to be a man! he was such an enjoyable character though, totally worth it :P the fashion is serving major cottagecore vibes 💪🤠 (especially for the female fashion)

[@missfeisty]

I feel like the killers in DBD end up having the best fashion customizations when compared to the survivors, for sure.

[@aBurningMay]

I agree@@missfeisty , it's a shame that you can only see your skin when you mori people...

[@bubblesthepanda]

As someone who wants to design video games in the next few years, this was incredibly valuable! I've been exploring my own fashion tastes and attitudes towards my body in my adult life, and I've been a gamer since my childhood. I'm definitely bookmarking this for when I start getting into character creation/customization. :D

[@lovejessicablair]

aw that’s so cool and I’m so glad I could help somehow! good luck!!

[@slothbunny3382]

Some really great fashion games are the Nintendo new style boutique (or snazzy styler in the us i think) I would highly recommend it for people who’s favourite part of a game is character customisation! ( I haven’t tried the switch version yet but that one is called style dreamer and is slightly different from others in the series ❤

[@nikifunke1376]

this is so well researched! props!

[@lovejessicablair]

thank you my love!

[@nikifunke1376]

@@lovejessicablair you're very welcome also the topic is very interesting!!! :)

[@missfeisty]

I have been really enjoying your longer form content! This topic on video game fashion is something I haven't found many people talking about, and it is super fascinating. I also finally watched your vampire video the other day and I really enjoyed all the research you did for that one as well. 😊

[@lovejessicablair]

aw thank you so much!! :”)

[@oliverjoukowsky4451]

While it’s not a dress up game, the newest hitman trilogy (world of assassination) has tons of different suits with different themes that add a level of dressing up and personalization. It’s also cool how disguises on the levels actually have gameplay elements too, as they give you access to different areas and actions

[@sukiwah]

resident evil definitely has some outfit options throughout the series that clearly stem from the male gaze but the image example you used for jill in the costume design chapter were mods, not in game options provided by capcom! still something to talk about within the gaming community but its not her actual character design. great video though, i love your content overall and was very excited to see this is in my notifications today! also final fantasy has got to have my favourite character design of all time!! ff7 and ff10 especially, nomuras need to add an impractical amount of belts to everything makes me very happy. shout out to guilty gear as well. with fantasy fighting games, i think if you're going to have sexy armour and outfits, you have to at least be equal with it and i think ff and gg does a reasonably good job at that! every game is a dress up game to me at the end of the day

[@lovejessicablair]

yeah sorry, I should’ve added some text that mentions that! I added the mod outfits cause I read that Shinji Mikami (one of the creators of Jill) said he wanted to avoid sexually objectifying Jill but it still kinda happens in later games (with the tube top/mini skirt outfit) and definitely happens within the modder/gamer community. I should’ve added a little note about that but thank you! I’ve never played any final fantasy games but I wanna try them one day :”)

[@sukiwah]

@@lovejessicablair yeah that makes perfect sense, i figured that was the angle with the later chapters context! thank you for clarifying though!! i would def try playing any final fantasy game, i think you’d like many of the character designs! :]

[@greekvampy3690]

I like residents evil 2 on x box I wish they had more then 2 caricatures to pick form I also wish u could customize them I would like to see an open world resident's evil

[@caleschip]

tysm for this video! i love how you brought up the sims 4 as well, because its definitely my most played game and i just make pretty sims and never play with them a lot of the time lol. there's a new life sim that's in development right now called paralives, and a big thing for me in games is a lot of customization and diversity when making characters (and if you saw my cc folders for the sims games you could tell lmao). paralives seems really promising so far with all their customization and i can't wait for it to come out.

[@lovejessicablair]

oh I’ll def check out Paralives when it releases!!

[@korkinalina]

I played Sims exclusively for customisation. Made a character, build and decorate the house and that's it

[@lovejessicablair]

that’s so real

[@MarissaIsh]

absolutely obsessed with your attention to detail 🥹🥹

[@hambone.fakenamington]

Oh man! genuinely stoked every time i see a long form video from you! i don’t mean this as a bash to other content creators, but there’s not many who get popular for short form content that i would be interested in seeing video essays from, but jess you always have such a great presence and talk about the exact types of things i want to see deep dives of.

[@lovejessicablair]

aw you have no idea how much that means to me!! thank you so much my love 🥺💞💗💕💞💗

[@AshleyIsArtsy]

As far as fashion games go, I've got literally over 70 hours over the past two weeks in Fashion Dreamer for the Switch! The body type options aren't amazing but the rest of the character creator I'm genuinely impressed by and the ability to make your own "brand" of clothing means you can make any of the items in the game whatever colors you want. You also unlock a bunch more fun and fantastical character options as you befriend the NPCs which I think is a nice touch! The gameplay can be pretty basic but it's definitely filled the Flash dressup game shaped hole in my heart lol. Great video!

[@jenniferperry202]

the myscene flash site was so elite

[@IzuAurora]

As a sims girlie and lover of myScene games and stuff this made me so happy 😂♥️ And also interesting ! There's so much that goes into character costumes and design and so much is done by purpose even though they might seem random.

[@alpaccc6764]

Great video! I think something that exemplifies your point is that Bayonetta was designed by a woman and several women were involved in her development which i feel is why she serves more than just feeling like plain boring "sexy" (since it feels like men can't even sexualise characters in a visually interesting way, costuming is usually pretty basic)

[@lovejessicablair]

I did find that when I was researching and idk why I didn’t mention it! (I think it was maybe cause I was a little brain dead from staring at my laptop so much) but thank u for pointing that out!!

[@GijsWitkamp]

Regarding that actor at @10:55: it is actually Tom Cruise! Specifically from the movie Legend, which was a huge inspiration for Link's character and the Zelda games in general :)

[@lovejessicablair]

that makes a lot more sense! for some reason I just couldn’t find a definitive answer, a lot of people also speculated it was River Phoenix :”)

[@snybies]

I´ve really grown to like Stardew Valleys simple designs due to the distinctive colours each character gets, and I weirdly enough adore outfits like Heather Mason´s in Silent Hill 3, though that game isn´t a game about fashion, at all.

[@lovejessicablair]

games don’t have to be about fashion to have cool costume design! also yeah I do really like SV’s simple designs, but I personally don’t love the clothes making mechanism :”) I’ll still play for 3 days straight though

[@snybies]

@@lovejessicablair I agree about the actual clothing options for the farmer is limited, which is why I've been loving searching for good cc on nexus mods. Stardew is such an addicting game. :,)

[@Krustykat27]

i love the sims you can be whatever you want and make yourself your dream life and dream house

[@SockPuppetTalksYT]

i love this vid. keep up the great work!

[@lovejessicablair]

ty angel

[@SockPuppetTalksYT]

@@lovejessicablair AHHH OMG YOU REPLIED I LOVE YOU SM PLATONICALLY

[@joaquitooooo]

Great video!💗

[@bibibibabidibou5081]

Keep Slaying queen ❤

[@shinywave]

The outfits in Final Fantasy 14 are off the charts and the reason I keep playing 🤩

[@bee__soup]

Excited for thiisssss!!!!

[@lovejessicablair]

💗💞💕💞💗

[@SIRKISSHY]

love this! ✨ i want more lol

[@Dabbycatt]

I still have the biggest crush on Shego ❤

[@HelennaRose]

Thank you for this video. I also love sociology! This was an awesome and educational video ❤

[@umudov11]

I think it's beautiful ❤

[@misslydiawashere]

Shout out to MovieStarPlanet, the game that single-handedly inspired and cultivated my love for fashion!!

[@xdoriandanger]

Conan, all the way. Options are fabulous even without mods. There are even fashion contests in the community. With mods, I appreciate being able to have such beautiful ethnic hair choices as well. There is also a mod for body scaling, so I get to be plus-sized. Love it, love it!

[@lovejessicablair]

I’ll have to check it out!! thank you!!

[@mysunflower2006]

omg a jess video and it's my birthday🎉best day ever❤❤

[@lovejessicablair]

aw happy birthday angel!!! 💗💗💗💗

[@mysunflower2006]

thanks sweetheart♡♡♡

[@kittyfriend9888]

the sims bustin out and sims 2 for ps2 were the ultimate for fashion

[@lovejessicablair]

I have a ps2 so I’ll def be checking those out 🫡

[@linnealager6146]

The video game has come a far way when it comes to representation the last... 5 years or so? As a gamer girl I am actually very impressed and happy with this. The new baldur's gate and last of us being only two examples. Also... i love my almost naked female characters.

[@Lizzykizzy123]

The way ur mii looked just like you😂😂❤

[@nikfiendluvr666]

Y'all ever play The Urbz Sims City for PS2? Fashion and subculture are my two biggest interests, so imagine my excitement as a child when I find this game centered around exactly that. Still lives in my head til this day

[@lovejessicablair]

I haven’t but I’ve watched an Urbz play through and I loved the different factions/sub genres of style!

[@Oliver-765]

I'd totally forgotten about my scene till you showed it

[@lovejessicablair]

forgetting about MyScene is sacrilegious I think

[@Oliver-765]

@lovejessicablair Oh absolutely, the real question is what the correct penance is.

[@burpquorsa402]

ugh i love the bioshock series and wish it was much more diverse (more so in the sense of the oddball characters like the big sisters, daddies, and little sisters..other poc characters besides like 4) i played the second game a lot when i was like 8-9, i've beaten that game over and over. but one thing i really remembered loving was the little sisters having different colored dresses. if i could mod/recreate bioshock as i know now, i would make all the little sisters look different. id make some new concept work for the big sister models, similar to how theres different big daddy types. have some characters that i would've loved to see represent me when i was small. id go buck wild for a 2024 remake of bioshock with more in depth plot, and visuals to show for it

[@lovejessicablair]

I’ve never really played Bioshock but my bf loves that series! manifesting a remake with everything you wish for 💞💕💗💞💗

[@madbut]

more gaming vids like this pls!

[@ArcanineGirl]

My favorite video games are Persona 5, Final Fantasy VII, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. I'm a big turn based game fan and I highly recommend all these games. Paper Mario is a great place to start if you have no to very little experience with turn based RPGs. I also found and played a wonderful little indie game called Super Lesbian Animal RPG. It has cute anthropomorphic animal characters and a really amazing and wholesome story with a banger sound track.

[@zequinhaslover63]

i like to play a fashion game called SuitU❤

[@Maria.0.1]

Mom wake up, Jess just posted a long video

[@Acehigh-Jenkins]

Loafs purrs! 💜💜💜💜

[@Jasmine-qt3us]

I ❤ JESS

[@kel.sharpe]

This video is absolutely fabulous ~ you did a stellar job!!! 🫶

[@lovejessicablair]

aww thank you so much!! means a lot 💗💗

[@linnealager6146]

Ah, I loove bayonetta. Her sexy outfit actually fit's her personality. She was designed by a female artist that is incredibly talented. Changing bayonetta to a non-sexy character would imo take away a huge part of the game's soul. But, sexy female characters in games are all still slim. We have to fix this.

[@Katiesgotmail]

Loooooveeee

[@nicholefern5183]

❤

[@nadiadlc]

never have i ever, felt so seen from you rambling about the struggle of the sims 4 cc 😭🫶

[@lovejessicablair]

my bf always tells me to just delete some CC and I refuse 😭

[@nadiadlc]

@@lovejessicablair NO CAUSE EVERY PIECE IS IMPORTANT!! 🤧