Question:
The ACHE has a fairly uniform clothing style, but the outside world doesn't. What is your character's personal style? How, if at all, does it change based on situation? What would your character wear if he or she could get away with it? What first impression does your character's style give to others?Answer:
Lume's style has gotten a little eclectic over the years. She usually wears comfortable clothes in warm earth tones and other neutral colors (soft ochre, red-ish brown, sage green, dark brown, dusty rose, soft gray-ish blue, and the like). She never wears skirts or impractical shoes. Recently she's taken to wearing her black combat boots everywhere she can possibly get away with it (since they've saved her from elemental aura damage more than once now). Depending on normal ACHE footwear she might have reluctantly left them behind on this run, but she would not have been happy about it. t
Lume is of the opinion that clothes should be practical and comfortable first, and when you may have to kick someone in the head, skin tight pants and a long trench coat are not practical (stupid movies). She tends to wear clothing that stretches and has enough ease in it to let her fight. This means mostly long sleeved ladies t-shirts (or less fitted button up shirts if she needs to wear an armor vest) and relatively roomy pants (dark colored jeans or slacks depending on how respectable she needs to look). (I think she generally tops this off with an armored jacket but to be honest I can't remember what sort of armor she owns right now.) For a while she was buying men's clothing, but she got fed up with the waistline fitting issues she had to face.
She's had to accept that whatever she wears on runs will probably end up shot up, shredded, covered in goo, or all of the above. She generally saves her nice stuff for her time off. She also tends to wear darker colors on runs and lighter/brighter colors when not at work.
Secretly Lume does have a soft spot for rich fabrics like velvet and silk as well as skirts and fancy dresses, but she hasn't owned that sort of clothing since back in the days when she was living in her parents' home. The closest thing to a concession to this that she allows herself is a couple of pairs of silk pajamas that she only wears at home.
As far as first impression... when she's not running her clothing gives the impression of a young, somewhat eccentric professional woman on her time off. Her visible scars tell another story, but as long as she's smiling and non-threatening, most people tend to try to ignore them. When she's running her clothes give a more sinister and dangerous impression. She likes to think that when she's running others see her in as a more competent and deadly light. Since she usually isn't the one to talk to people, she doesn't worry too much about how they actually see her.