At its core, fashion is simply a way to express yourself to society. The clothes you wear, the makeup you put on, and the face you were born with all affect how people perceive you. On a larger scale, fashion is a powerful industry, with many celebrities and designers living in luxury thanks to how they have presented themselves.
But the world of video games takes fashion to a whole new level of importance. The trope of gamers spending over an hour perfecting the look of their characters in character creation exists for a reason. Video games are a form of escapism, and looking cool is a huge part of that fantasy. While most video games will relegate fashion to mere cosmetics, some games take fashion much further.
The Dystopia of Fashion Police Squad
In Fashion Police Squad, the player takes on the role of Sergeant Des, a fashion police officer. In this universe, the biggest offense a person can have is to be deemed “unfashionable”. If you are seen as too flashy or too dull, then you will be forcefully turned fashionable as deemed by the government that rules the land. Fashion Police Squad obviously has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, if all the fashion puns and wonderfully cartoony aesthetics haven’t given that away. However, the setting is undeniably dystopian. You are essentially a state-sanctioned officer who puts down any notions of the “wrong” kind of self-expression. Regardless of why people dress the way they do, it should be their right to dress however they want.
Despite the drip that Sergeant Des is covered in, the fashion looks eerily similar to that of an elite Gestapo officer, an aesthetic commonly attributed to dystopian institutions. Think the likes of Commissars from the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40k or the commanding officers of the Empire in Star Wars. The reason for this look is simple: It looks dapper as hell on authority figures.
After all, fashion is authority.
Why does the player get to control how other people look? What kind of government can create weapons specifically tailored to give people the correct clothes? These questions are too heady for the light-hearted (and for the record, incredibly fun) boomer shooter. Even so, it’s a great premise that touches upon how much people judge others for not dressing how they like.
Boundless Self-Expression in Triforce Heroes
Another game set in a fashion-obsessed realm is Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes. Taking a break from the woes of Hyrule, Link answers the call of King Tuft of Hytopia to save his daughter, Princess Styla, from a horrible curse. When Link finally sees the “curse” inflicted upon Styla, it turns out to be the curse of being stuck in an unfashionable black leotard.
This is far below Link’s usual world-ending worries, but for the realm of Hytopia, this was a fate worse than death. To view it through the lens of the average Hytopian, what happens to Styla is akin to body horror. It’s a leotard that she can’t take off which prevents her from looking the way she wants. The curse is a strange yet terrifying form of fashion dysphoria.
Unlike the world of Fashion Police Squad, however, Hytopia doesn’t force its citizens to conform to a singular fashion style. In fact, it is a realm ruled by boundless self-expression. The main villain, Lady Maud, is the person who wants to impose her own sense of fashion onto its inhabitants. It is up to the player to stop her fashion fascism, and they do so with a whole bunch of colorful outfits, provided by the eccentric Madame Couture.
Hiromasa Shikata, the director of Tri-Force Heroes, explains in a Game Informer interview how fashion was baked into the game’s power fantasy. Pickups and items that granted new abilities are a staple of the Legend of Zelda franchise, and Shikata’s team wanted to communicate those powers through the game’s dozens of clothing options.
Each outfit provides a unique benefit to Link, but as Shikata explains, it isn’t as simple as “being more powerful”. Just as in real life, fashion should fit the occasion. As a bridesmaid avoids wearing white to a wedding, Link wears a cheerleader outfit if he wants to give the other Links more energy. The very fabric of Triforce Heroes’ mechanics is based on being powerful and looking good while doing it.
The Chic Politique of Dragon Age: Inquisition
If there’s any setting in video games that takes that philosophy of “fashion equals power” to its most extreme, it is the human nation of Orlais from Dragon Age: Inquisition. While Fashion Police Squad and Triforce Heroes do dabble in fashion dystopia, the games don’t take it nearly as seriously as Orlais does. In the Orlesian Empire, it is not enough to be powerful. They must embody that power in how they look to enemies and allies alike.
Despite other factions deeming them as “foppish”, Orlais remains the largest and arguably most powerful human nation in Thedas. The “Great Game” ensures that no matter who you are or where you come from, if you have the will, cunning, and beauty to rise above the peasantry, even the highest of nobles can kiss your feet.
Many players of the Great Game foolishly believe that fashion alone is enough to stand out, not realizing that their flamboyant attempts at individuality are pale imitations of the strong. The greatest players of the Orlesian court, Empress Celene and the usurper Gaspard, simplify their elegance, conveying how little they need to try to stand out from the rest.
As the Orlesian-raised mage Vivienne’s official character kit states, to dress for comfort or purpose is a scandal. Fashion and splendour are all that matters to a true player of the Great Game. However, it’s important to note that Vivienne is no fool. Beneath her fine silk hides steel, fitted to her form. When she steps over the mountain of corpses to reach the top, only her heels will be stained with their blood.
A Fashionable Finale
Whether it’s that gaudy pink camo on your knife in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, or the cutthroat politics of Dragon Age: Inquisition, fashion is a surprisingly important aspect of gaming. Far from just looking cool, fashion is the creators’ way of communicating an entire character’s essence with a single glance. The fashion dystopia is simply the most exaggerated, and strangely, most honest depiction of humanity’s need to look and feel powerful both in-game and out.
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