LRC: Eventide Waltz

LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII CONTEST
"EVENTIDE WALTZ"
^{Click here for fullview of the original image}

This was a complete monster amg I felt super ambitious when I started out with it--

I actually haven't dabbled much in any FF/Square Enix (aside from KH1 and following my friend as she played Crisis Core and watching Advent Children) but I absolutely love Tetsuya Nomura's stuff. My clothing design preferences come from a range of influences, but most of them share some commonalities with the essence of Nomura's work.
I am pretty sure I won't win anything, but if it's a chance for him to see any of my work, it was motivation enough. Also churning out more art everyone can enjoy is always a bonus!

I wanted to do something intricately patterned so for some reason I turned to the lacy designs of Rune Factory for inspiration. Ended up with a tattered flower look, but it didn't work entirely... I made another version and eventually the final design was a hybrid of the two. I removed all the belts and decided to turn it into one of those ballgown type garbs instead of a battle dress.

The colouring took on a sunset colour scheme, with a starry circlet and bangle. I was pretty happy with the dress pattern and totally abused the skirt shape here as you can see-- (absolutely hate the banner format though, I'll post the full image as I drew it sometime soon)
Hence the name of this garb is Eventide Waltz. I really liked Eventide as an unusual synonym for sunset/dusk.

Opted out of doing a weapon, since I think that wasn't compulsory? I just wanted to do a really nice dress.

I'm really proud of how this turned out. It was worth all the hours ;u; Hope you enjoy it too and good luck to all the participants!

_{OH AND THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME BY THE STREAM!!!}


Time taken: 15h+ (?)
Lightning is (C) by Square Enix
Dress design is (C) by me