Fashion

In the future of Cyberpunk, style is everything. What you wear can determine everything about you. Not everyone can afford the best styles, nor can anyone throw on an outfit and look good in it. Style in Cyberpunk is as much a skill as it is an art. In some cases, certain people can never pull-off certain styles — a smelly, unkempt gutter-rat would never look professional in Businesswear, while a high-level Corporate person would look out of place in Generic, and only the hard-edge can carry the Edgerunner look.
There are three broad eras of fashion: The pre-Fourth Corporate War era of ; the post-Fourth Corporate War era of ; and the era of .
==Cyberfashion==
It's hip and aware to have high tech grafted onto your body somewhere. If you can afford it, you probably have at least a couple of "enhancements"; a few software chips installed in your nervous system to interface with your computer, remember your appointments (the ever popular Daytimer™ chip for example), and improve your raquetball reflexes. If you're cybered up you probably have interface plugs to operate computers and vehicles mentally. Maybe your eyes are cyberoptics with a recording function and the latest iris tint (polychrome is in this year), or your hearing is boosted to better hear the gossip in the Executive Lounge.
If your job involves some type of security or combat function (and most occupations of the 2000's have at least some type of combat aspect), you probably have two or three types of combat software, as well as plugs and interfaces for a smartgun. As a Solo, you may have had one or more limbs replaced with cyberware prosthetics, allowing you to hide a variety of tools and weapons in your body, as well as giving you an edge in speed and strength.
As a cyberpunk, you're going to want to get your hands on the best of this exciting and expensive new tech. And expensive is the word. The average enhanced character with, say, one cyberoptic (Targeting scope & IR enhancement), a reflex boost, one superchromed arm with a .25 cal submachinegun, interface plugs and chipware for Martial Arts, Rotorwing Pilot and Handgun is an investment of tens of thousands of euro.
Of course, the ambitious Punk already knows at least twenty-five ways (most of them illegal) to raise that sort of paltry sum.
==Styles (2020)==
All prices are in Eurodollars (eb). Leather or its equivalent increases the cost of some item by 50-75%. The cost of an article of clothing is the base cost (average quality generic fashion), times the style and quality (see below).
Article 	Cost
Pants/Jeans 	20eb
Miniskirt 	30eb
Long Skirt 	55eb
Shorts 	10eb
T-shirt 	10eb
Long-sleeve Shirt	20eb
Jumpsute 	50eb
Dress 	50eb
Top/Blouse 	15eb
Gloves 	20eb
Long Gloves 	30eb
Tank Top 	10eb
Vest 	25eb
Tie 	20eb
Scarf/Bandanna 	15eb
Shades 	5-50eb
Hat 	5-25eb
Leather Chaps 	60eb
Jacket 	35eb
Long Jacket 	40eb
Long Heavy Coat 	55eb
Tunic 	25eb
Leather Tunic 	75eb
Sweater 	20eb
Belt 	10eb
Leather Belt 	15eb
Shoes 	15eb
Halfboots 	15eb
Boots 	25eb
Kneeboots 	40eb
Toboggen Hood 	10eb
Ski Mask 	15eb
Trenchcoat 	125eb
Cloak 	50eb
Short Cape 	75eb
Long Cape 	90eb
Style 	Cost	Quality 	Cost
Generic Chic	x1 	Below Quality 	x0.5-0.09
Leisurewear 	x2 	Average Quality 	x1
Urban Flash 	x2 	Good Quality 	x1.5
Businesswear	x3 	High Quality 	x2
Edgerunner 	x3 	Designer 	x4
High Fashion	x4 	Superchic (Personal Design)	x7
===Generic Chic===
This is the stuff you would find in mega-stores and mallplexes. It's one step beyond plain jeans and t-shirts — minus the cotton. Cotton and other natural fibers are luxury items these days. Generic clothing is 100% synthetic, modular, recyclable, and very common. This is fine for casual wear, but you'd better plan on donning something with a bit more bite, if you want to score.
Who wears this?
Mallplexers, kids, average college types, beavers, junior model wannabees. Ronin who don't care much about fashion or don't like attention, and older folks who don't care much for fashion anyway. In other words, people with an eye for style, but very little money to fill it.QUINTANAR, D. Chromebook Volume 4. 1st ed. Berkeley CA: R. Talsorian Games, 1996
===Leisurewear===
Athletic wear is a version of Generic clothing with more style and pizzazz, tending towards the chilled look. Imagine sweats being taken to the level of designer jeans. Wearers usually don't have something to prove but do enjoy interestingly decorated and upbeat fashion with more originality then Generic - but not as much glitz as Urban Flash. An example may be the type of clothing '90's athletic stars wore on their days off. These are the clothes most TV ads will try to sell you.
Who wears this?
College kids, young professionals, Movers out of the town, hip street Ronin, Bohemians. Not the ultra-chic, but people who like to look good while recreating or partying.
===Urban Flash===
Video jackets, color-shift fabrics, cammos, leathers, metal trim, logo-wear ... the wildest wear around. Chromer and Boostergang stuff. Rich mallplexer kids and Edgerunner wannabees wear this usually. It is all flash and no subtlety, with skin-tight and see-through styling. Although transparent plastic panels are not exactly what you'd wear into combat, they are pretty frosty out on the town if you don't mind attracting a lot of attention. The latest fashion trends appear on the street in Urban Flash mode first.
Who wears this?
Image-conscious mallplexers, dance club sluts, Chromers and metal-heads, vidstars and other minor celebs, senior gang members, and Ronin who like attention or don't care what you think anyway.
===Businesswear===
Suits, semi-formal dress and other pricey, natural fiber attire. Ties are mandatory with this stuff. No combat Edgrunner would be caught dead in these clothes; on the other hand, a good Mover or Corpzoner wouldn't wear anything else. Fixers in large organizations, some Rockerboys and a few Corp enforcers wears these, Babes go for guys in suits and dudes watch Corp-ettes wearing those frosty silk business skirts.
Who wears this?
Almost all Corps, respectable security operatives and Corp bodyguards, Eurosolos, real uptight types. You know — people who make good targets.
===Edgerunner===
Recently come into its own as a discernible style, Edgerunner is more then old surplus miligear, a bit more subdued then the glitz of Urban Flash, and not as status-conscious as Leisurewear. You have to be pretty damn cool to wear this stuff and not look like a poser wannabe. (This requires an intimidate and wardrobe/style skill-check for newcomers to pull off.)
Edgerunner is predominated by stylishly functional gear that looks armored and/or combat ready, without being olive-drab miligear. Edgerunner style uses synthleather, metal hardware, and padding in flat, non-reflective colors that don't attract attention in the Combat Zone. "Tough!!" is the adjective most used by those young urban gangers who can't afford it, nor pull it off when they do wear it. This look is rather intimidating and "biz-only," so don't expect to draw the opposite sex to you while wearing Edgerunner (unless they're into that sort of thing). Of course, its designed to look better and better the more use you get out of it — the more bullet holes and slash marks, the chiller it is. Try patching it up with materials of differing styles and color. On anything else, it looks like you couldn't afford to get it done right, but with Edgerunner style, you advertise your abilities — you show that you're at home in a high-tech dance bar, or facing down gutter-scum in the 'Zone.
Remember, this stuff is an attitude in itself, so expect street punks to screw around with you more if you don't look like you should be wearing it. And they may try to kill you just to get your jacket...
Who wears this?
Edgerunners of all types who don't mind advertising, rich kids who think they're Edgerunners, and some Gangers who've taken down a Ronin who wasn't as good as he thought.
===High Fashion===
This is the stuff that you see all the super-glam models wearing. This is what Urban Flash and Generic Styles try to imitate year after year, but High Fashion features quality materials and workmanship that is second to none. The superwealthy don this clothing, and most Braindance and Vidstars wear it as well. If you're not wearing High Fashion — or Urban Flash that's imitating High Fashion — in the trendiest clubs, you're nobody.
Who wears this?
Middle- and upper-class Euro-types, glam-rock stars, supermodels, trendy Corps, Goldenkids, Media celebrities. etc.
===Bag Lady Chic===
This is the embodiment of anti-fashion. Where most styles emphasize looking expensive and stylish, this one is about looking dirty and ragged. Clothing is made of recycled bits of tattered scraps, arranged in mismatched layers. Hair is usually made into dreadlocks or made to look tangled. Makeup is used to appear dirty. Oddly enough, wearers are not typically dirty and unkempt. The point of this style is not to be dirty, but to appear dirty.
Who wears this?
Bohemians, eccentric weirdos, anti-fashion malcontents, people trying to keep a low profile or naive affluent people wanting to look like they are "slumming it."
===Minimalist Fashion===
In a world where people treat their bodies like sports cars to be customized and modified to fit one's personal needs and tastes, and to parade for everyone to see, folks are not shy about their bodies, especially ones with a lot of alterations. On top of that, years of sexual exploitation in mass-media had desensitized people to nudity. In this environment, people can strut around in the nude without anyone batting an eye.
This style is about dressing in little or no clothing. This could be limited to jewellery and accessories, scantly-cut lingerie, ripped Tarzan-styled loincloth or even one loose article of outerwear. Such articles and accessories are about highlighting ones body. They are usually reflections of other, more popular styles; everything but Businesswear, Edgerunner and Bag Lady Chic, but with Urban Flash and High Fashion being the most common.
Who wears this?
(... so to speak.) A common phase for teenagers who received cosmetic surgery for the first time and wish to show off their new look to all their friends, along with those who became "Exotic" for the first time. Beyond that, there are people who, as a personal preference or a professional requirement, are active nudists.
===Exotics===
Bodysculpt jobs that emphasize the alien or inhuman are known as "Exotics." Vat-grown tails, furred skins, hooves, animal-like faces and ears, cats' eyes and other semi-human features are the highlights of this style. Exotic fashion is incredibly expensive, time consuming and usually a hobby among only the very rich and very bored.
Who wears this?
Entertainers who desire a particular look, wealthy individuals with a sexual "furrie" fetish, or expensive prostitutes who accommodate exotic sexual fetishes.
===Naturalists===
Although rare, there are people who reject cosmetic and cybernetic alteration, as well as synthetic materials. This can range from people who limit their views to medically necessary alteration and material availability, to staunch technophobes. What they all have in common is a respect for a more-or-less natural appearance. This view could even include cosmetics, but that is rare even for this fringe outlook.
If they could have it their way, food and clothing would be "all-natural", but such things are rare and expensive, so most are forced to live like everyone else. Those who do seek out "all-natural" clothing tend to buy them at outlets that make them in particular ways (usually lacking in the style and flash of most conventional clothing). As such, they tend to look drab and old-fashioned. Such outlets are rare and generally cater only to a curtain clientele.
Who wears this?
Hipsters, new-wave hippies, religious fundamentalists, and extreme health-nuts.
===Clothing and Costs===
==Styles (2045)==
In the Time of the Red, clothing is wildly varied. You take what you can get and sometimes even the biggest bankroll can't score you that cool cyberjacket (with the lighted collar) that you're drooling over. Even so, fashion tends to follow trends, most of which we have listed here; each style tells other people on The Street about the kind of image you project.
Fashion Trend 	Style and What it says About You	Market Value
Bag Lady Chic 	Homeless Ragged Vagrant 	x0.5
Gang Colors 	Dangerous Violent Rebellious 	x1
Generic Chic 	Standard Colorful Modular 	x1
Bohemian 	Folksy Retro Free-Spirited 	x1.5
Leisurewear 	Comfort Agility Athleticism 	x2
Nomad Leathers	Western Rugged Tribal 	x2.5
Asia Pop 	Bright Costume-like Youthful 	x3
Urban Flash 	Flashy Technological Streetwear 	x3
Businesswear 	Leadership Presence Authority 	x30
High Fashion 	Exclusive Designer Couture 	x250
NOTE: "Market Value" denotes the average cost of individual items (bottoms, tops, jacket, etc.) based on the typical cost of Generic Chic clothing and apparel. This is not a uniformed cost adjustment. For example, Bohemian clothing cost the same as generic, but it is the accessories (jewelry, eyewear, etc.) that add to the overall cost.
The following are the cost of Generic Chic clothing:
Bottoms	Top	Jacket	Footwear	Jewelry	Mirrorshades	Glasses	Contact Lenses	Hats
50eb
(Costly)	20eb
(Everyday)	50eb
(Costly)	20eb
(Everyday)	50eb
(Costly)	20eb
(Everyday)	20eb
(Everyday)	10eb
(Cheap) 	10eb
(Cheap)
===Bag Lady Chic===
The homeless call this "what they need to survive". These are real rags, not some designer label. Beyond low cost, this type of clothing makes an excellent disguise - an ordinary vagrant on the street rarely gets a second glance.
 
===Gang Colours===
Most gangs have their own styles, but generally their clothes tend to be cheap and durable with patches and colours showing their allegiance. It’s a bad idea to be wearing gang colours of a gang you aren’t in, as gangers know their own. Wearing another gang's colours on someone’s turf is a good way to get beat up.
===Generic Chic===
This is the basic stuff you can buy for cheap from any store. The kind of stuff that a majority of people you run into wear.
===Bohemian===
In recent times a resurgence of 1960s fashion has occurred. It involves artsy clothing like flowing skirts, oversized collars, flower print, and oversized glasses. Its wearers have an eccentric vibe. 
===Leisurewear===
Clothing designed for a workout, like tracksuits, yoga pants, hoodies, and spandex. Its preferred by people who like to keep active.
===Nomad Leathers===
One part Mad Max, one part Wild West. It consists of leather, of course, as well as jeans and cowboy boots. They’re primarily worn by Nomads. Looks rugged and agressive.
===Asia Pop===
Fashion imported from mainly Korea and Japan. It consists of colourful, costume-like outfits. It’s the height of youth fashion in Night City, so people rarely take adults that wear it seriously.
===Urban Flash===
Modern, colourful clothing with built-in technology, inspired by the kinds seen in music videos. Lights, lcd screens, glowing neon. It’s currently in with the hip crowd. 
===Businesswear===
 
The type of fashion that Corporates enjoy, and also usually mandatory. The classic suit and tie hasn’t changed very much over the decades. Depending how the wearer carries themselves, it ranges from boring to exceptionally sleek. 
===High Fashion===
Only the finest clothing from exclusive boutiques, featured in the finest fashion magazines. Only the truly rich can afford it. People will start kissing up to you just because of the brand you’re wearing, or mug you depending on the part of town. 
==Styles (2077)==
Fashion in 2077 has fallen into four distinct styles.
Fashion Trend 	Slogan
Entropism 	Necessity over Style
Kitsch 	Style over Substance
Neo-Militarism	Substance over Style
Neo-Kitsch 	Style and Substance
==Reference==
Category:Cyberpunk 2020 Subcultures
Category:Cyberpunk RED Subcultures
Category:Cyberpunk 2077 Lore