I've long said that if I could start any business, it would be one that made actually good videogame-themed clothing. There are places out there, sure, but for the most part we're still shackled to the dreaded 't-shirt with a screen-printed design' that, quite frankly, looks terrible on me.
I'm a nerd and a fashionista, darling, which means I'm constantly on the lookout for ways to make that Venn diagram work for me. There was the gorgeous (though expensive) Disco Elysium bomber jacket. More recently, we also had the also very expensive Tekken 8 designer sunglasses, which toe the incredibly fine line between cool and gaudy. The videogame merch gods may have finally nailed exactly what I'm looking for though, as Australian clothing brand BlackMilk is collaborating with my all-time favourite game, Final Fantasy 14.
The collection contains 12 themed pieces that show off the world of Eorzea and beyond. The announcement over on The Lodestone only shows a quarter of what's to come, but I'm already completely sold on what BlackMilk has cooked up. There's an oversized t-shirt featuring the Mothercrystal—yes, I said I don't like printed tees, but I do love oversized fits—and a gorgeous long-sleeved velvet dress featuring the map of Hydaelyn.
My absolute favourites so far, however, have to be the cactuar knitted co-ord set, with a sleeveless black mock neck and high-waisted miniskirt featuring my favourite green goobers sprinting across the desert. I am absolutely feral for the top in particular, and will fight whoever I have to in order to get it in my cart and onto my body.
There's also an absolutely stunning job stone maxi dress, which is so gothic and witchy I didn't even initially notice that the mesh had been carefully woven with every job stone in the game so far. It's the kind of dress I'd wear even without the delightfully nerdy additions. Come on, who isn't a total sucker for a dramatic sleeve moment?
You can check out the full lookbook online now, while the collection launches on February 3 at 1 pm PT / 4 pm PT / 9 pm GMT. You can sign up to be notified when the drop goes live over on the BlackMilk website.
