Apr
9th
2015
Easy Crowdsourcing Help Requested · 4:03am Apr 9th, 2015
Ladies and gentlemen, fillies and gentlecolts...
Recognizing the shortcomings of being, well, male, I have encountered a snag in a minor point of the draft of Chapter Twenty of Sunset Shimmer: Element Bearer. Perhaps you could help settle a friendly disagreement between me and my editor.
Here are my two questions:
1. What would you call the garment that Sunset Shimmer is wearing?
2. How would you describe the color of both the top and the bottom?
Thanks for your help! I eagerly anticipate your feedback... and you'd better agree with me! 
1. Blouse
2. Teal? Turquoise? And then the bottom part is pretty transparent, it seems. Like a see-through white, I think.
Without being able to see the back, I'd classify it as a halterneck top of some type, light blue with sheer yellow lining. The length seems to be in an intermediate range between dress and top, so it's harder to tell. I'll rewatch the video to see if I can get some better camera angles.
EDIT: I retract my earlier statement to classify the garment as a blouse with sheer shoulder pieces. It's not a traditional "run-of-the-mill" blouse, but it is a blouse. Best evidence to support this is at timestamp 1:52 in this video:
I still stand by my statement regarding the coloring.
I suck as clothes, but I'm going with 2963343 and saying it's a blouse*, and throw in cyan as another color possibility.
I think the lining* (that little flowy bit under the blouse) is either a weird kind of transparent white, or it is tinted yellow.
As for pants if those are included (you said top and bottom, I presume of the shirt/lining combo, but I'm adding pants as a bottom in case), I'd say they are blue jeans.*
*disclaimer: not a clothes expert
Sunset's definitely comparable to a phoenix.
It's gold-white.
Definitely a cyan blouse with a semi-translucent amber skirt.
2963343, 2963381, 2963412, 2963474, and 2963720 Thanks for weighing in. All joking aside, I'm certainly human!
I'll see if anyone else has a judgment to pass along before the draft finishes pre-reading/editing. 
2963554 Congratulations! I'll echo Master of Pie. Bringing up that silly dress assures your victory in this comment thread. Maybe.
2963917 I just saw your comment appear as I got ready to hit post! You bring up an interesting idea... Again, being male and in a profession where fashion is generally decided for me each day, I never thought that the *color withheld* top and the whitish thingy were separate items. Hmmm... Again, this is a very minor story point. Speaking of that profession, I need to go to work! Thanks, everyone!
2963554 Pft. Definitely black-blue. (I was waiting for this comment.
)
2963941
Gasp!
He got the reference! After failing so many times to get the reference when it was actually relevant! I'm so proud. 
Let it go... Let it go... Can't hold it back anymore~
Can't say much on the type of dress. But I'd definately call the main color of the dress cyan (I see that enough when printing) and the lower fringe of the dress a yellow gold.
2963941 Oh, I didn't think the skirt was separate - it definitely looks to be part of the blouse.
And don't worry, I'm a guy who doesn't get fashion much either. I just tend to notice visual details easily.
2964314 How does it feel to know that once again, you are right, and I am wrong? Bask in the glow of your victory, because I have text to change.
I'm only kidding about the angry part - but I do have to concede defeat (yet again). 
2964624 Thanks, now the 5-year old will start singing that one, too. She's been filling my head with her rendition of "In Our Town." The little girl loves villains and made me convert poor Lyra Heartstrings into Starlight Glimmer.
2965898 I'm glad you used the word "dress", but too many others have called it a "blouse." That's why IsabellaAmoreSirenix is gloating right now.
2966365 I'm good with some details and terrible with others - as you've seen, pop culture and ladies' fashion (even cartoon fashion) is beyond me. Oh, well!
2966619
Comforting. Me being right all the time ensures balance in the universe.
Oh, you better believe I'll be gloating as I edit Chapter 20, dearie. Thank you, non-color blind humans!
2966638 <grumble> This one hurt:
Color challenged, possibly... or is that there's so much of the color blue in my day-to-day life that I reject it on principle? This really is a feeble attempt to fight back, isn't it?
2966619 Eh, no one's perfect. My knowledge of both is like Swiss cheese - full of holes but generally good enough to get by.
2966619 Does she inspire you to write pony?
2967187 Thanks for asking.
I'd say that my daughter was an impetus for starting this story - the spark that turned into a flame.
Once I made the conscious decision to upgrade the rating from "E" to "T" following Adagio's break-in, Sunset Shimmer: Element Bearer became less of a gift to my daughter (at least not until she's old enough to read it and understand the plot without it frightening her), and more about the characters that have become so familiar.
There is a strong thread of my hopes for my daughter in several characters - but please understand that she's all of them and none of them at the same time. Make sense?
2969565 It does. Still, it's cute that your daughter inspired you to write pony. I only became a brony of my own will, which isn't so bad.
To me, that thing Sunset's wearing is a two-layer ice-blue dress with a sheer yellow-orange skirt. As in, the skirt is attached to the top. Whatever it is, she looks pretty badass!