When it comes to discovering any underlying meaning in Kid's clothes--no wisecracks, Zeppy--a good place to begin would be
Radical Dreamers. Here is where Kid first appeared, and her incipient character development may shed some clues on this enigma. From our very own
Encyclopedia Chronotica, here are a few Kid screenshots from RD:
Right away we can see that the short skirt was there from the beginning, but that her outfit featured rich greens with vibrant red accents rather than a heavy red dominance.
Kid's short skirt, if I were to guess, is short first and foremost because she's the female lead--and one of only two significant women in the entire game. That's just
de rigueur in contemporary RPGs, I'm afraid. Japan's entertainment media have been as guilty as America's when it comes to salaciously underdressing women for the purpose of satisfying cultural norms, indulging the writers' imaginations, and boosting audience size. Showing off overly-skinny women's thighs is as Japanese as green tea and baseball. It doesn't matter if those women are surgeons, armored warriors, space cadets...
But is there an
in character explanation for Kid's clothing style? Maybe. Look at Serge's and Magil's clothes. Both of their attires are ornate and elaborate, and yet quite conservative when it comes to showing off their bodies in a sexual sense. These males look concealed and powerful--you wouldn't want to fuck with them. Contrast that to Kid's much bawdier outfit, which makes her look spunky and striking. That's supposed to be attractive. That's a woman whom you--as a male--would like to get to know better. Consider that the playable character, Serge, has a crush on Kid throughout the game, and voila! Quod erat demonstrandum. To me it all suggests
gender stereotypes in play. In this case the men are represented by their clothes, and Kid by hers. The gender stereotypes in question associate power with males, and beauty with females. Kid's bright colors and exposed thighs reinforce not only her beauty, but the (stereotypical) concept of feminine nature.
Of course there are many kinds of gender stereotypes. Kid's "bad girl" or "thief" attire is just one of many ways in which women are stereotyped. So let's focus on it in greater detail, to try and flesh it out. The "good girl in bad clothes" schtick is a common technique in Japan as well as in the United States. In Japanese culture in particular, depicting a nubile woman as tough-looking, hard-as-nails, and bawdy often implies that she conceals some deep pain in her past, or shoulders some other kind of burden that has inevitably forced her to develop that harsh exterior. This certainly fits Kid's description: She wears skimpy clothes, fights with a knife, steals things, disrespects authority, and uses crude language--and yet she is still good on the inside. We saw proof of that in all three Chrono games. Her predecessor, Schala, was a stereotypical "pure and virtuous female," and Kid's spirit is made out of the same stuff as Schala's--the difference being that Kid has lived a hard life and has mostly been "on her own." But in the end Kid is still a soft, sensual, vulnerable, and virtuous woman, which is in accordance with what I know of Japanese gender roles. (It isn't so foreign a concept to the American model, either.)
So Kid is harsh, and, with respect to our conversation in particular, she dresses bawdily. Does this imply she has a sex life? Maybe, but only if my speculation thus far has been wrong or incomplete. If Kid is a "good girl in bad clothes," then she has probably not been promiscuous. I say this from the perspective of those who designed the game, mindful of their cultural values.
Personally, I find it sexist and derogatory to judge a woman's character on the basis of whether she has had sex. Nevertheless, many people do make that judgment, and in Japan these prejudices lead to feminine ideals not unlike our own. Taking the entirety of RD into consideration, I would therefore suppose that Kid's skimpy garb is
ironic rather than literal. (It's been awhile since you saw "irony" used in the academic sense, hasn't it?)
That covers the Kid from
Radical Dreamers. Now what about the Kid from
Chrono Cross, whose skirt is even shorter and whose face is painted white, as aforementioned in this thread? I for one see little difference between the two. Her story is basically the same in both games, and her mannerisms are also quite similar. So in the end I would conclude that CC's Kid's bright red outfit with the short skirt is indicative of the troubled difference between Kid's ideal form and her present life.
