I have to agree about the inner thigh chafing quiet a bit. As a women, that is definitely a concern. Personally, for suits I would choose a jacket that had ties in the back, allowing you to tighten or loosen at need. Tightening just enough to add some ripples would probably break up the guns outline sufficiently.
For formal wear, you can show quite a lot of skin with a great deal of material. A tight bodice with a very full skirt of slightly stiff to very stiff fabric. Have a concealed pocket/slit and, boom -- you got your easy access.
You can also go with an Empire waist dress, once again of slightly stiff to very stiff fabric. This design places the waist right beneath the breasts, giving a much looser fit, but still being attractive. Just wear pretty underwear as drawing the weapon will give everyone a show!
As far as bikinis...I'm thinking if you're a runner, wearing a bikini would be bedroom attire only, at least for my characters. Is there any unpolluted place worth wearing a bikini too?

I did wait a long time to make any suggestions at all, and until I felt most mundane options had been addressed. I think surgery, and even more so in Shadowrun where body shops litter the malls, is not out of the question for people who wish to carry weapons in a concealed, yet accessible manner.

I can't remember what book it is in (probably cannon companion) that they discuss some of the fashion trends of corp execs and mention a psuedo-street tough look with leather jackets, chains on clothing, etc. I'm sure that they have means of actually distinguishing such clothing from the "real thing" other than a price tag, but I think that it would be possible in this style, magician style (cloaks, robes, whatever), or some of the other styles mentioned to have a stylish piece of clothing that affords an option on where to hide things.

I know that my leather jacket has a pocket built into the liner that can hold a fifth of vodka without a significantly noticable bulge (this is in addition to the standard inner pocket on coats). Granted, I'm a man and it is clearly a piece of clothing that someone sensible would remove indoors, but I think a pseudo-punk tres chic jacket could probably sport a similar pocket that could hold at least a hold-out and possibly a light pistol.

That's in the descriptions of the fashionable armor lines (in CC). Sleeping Tiger IIRC. I think that line even came with a free concealed holster for a pistol.

Kanda, a disassembled gun, like in The Man With the Godlen Gun or In the Line of Fire might be the only option for serious high fashion events. In ww2 there were single shot guns hidden in pens and other things, not terribly accurate but...

Lenice: Empire line? ugh. it looks like a maturnity dress. For the guys who don't know, it was what was popular at the the time of Napoleon, tight under the bust and flowing from there, but I'm not sure if this would be in fashion. Certainly the pictures in cannonical material implies the trend towards putting us in tighter and more skin seems likely.

I also like your idea of a full skirt with a slit through the pocket to an outer thigh holster. I usually have pencil skirts and minis in my own wardrobe so I didn't think of that. It might be a little frumpy, but better that than dead.

You did remind me of certain sun dress patterns that were big a couple of years ago. tight in front with ties in back that you can adjust. Sure it draws your line to the small of the back, BUT the supports on the side for all the laces do create a small ridge that could hide things. hmmm...

For swim wear- Hawaii, or a spa, we had a run once that needed us to go into a health club undercover. you couldn't hide anything under a leotard and the mundanes just had their skills.

Another thing you might want to consider is that if you are in a situation where only a really teensy weensy low caliber gun with a humorously low ammo capacity could possibly be hidden on your person....

....then take a knife instead.

Or go without any gear but pick up a kitchen knife from the caterer/kitchen at your earliest opportunity.


Because when you get to a certain point of dinkiness in firearms, sometimes a knife in the hands of a skilled user is actually a lot better. Almost certainly more silent, too.

The smallest firearms in the world are available in calibers as powerful as .357 Magnum and up. This derringer in .44Spl ought to get maybe 750-800fps out of a 200gr lead semi-wadcutter for 250-280 ft-lbs.

Wow, big calibers in small guns. I've never fired such a gun, but I can imagine firing it and being like, "Gee, my wrist feels weird..."



Even so, I would argue that the low ammo capacity would still make bringing a knife instead at least a reasonable option depending on what you think is going to happen.

It should probably be mentioned that the short barrel is a very limiting factor here. A .357 magnum out of a tiny pistol will still likely perform worse than a 9x19mm out of a full-size one. Thinking more about it, with a 3" barrel the 200gr .44 Spl might only manage about 700fps at the muzzle. That's still not too bad, considering that people were alledgedly killed with .44-40 revolvers way back when.

Or, you know, you could just use a bracelet gun and not bother with concealing it at all.

Sure, the damage is lousy and there's a +tn to firing it and there's only one shot to each bracer, but you can wear more than one.

Or you could cover it with ruthenium.

Or rely on your adept buddy who's got masking to protect your ass. You do have an adept buddy who's got masking to protect your ass, right?

knew a girl that kept a folding knife, one of those lightweight ones with a belt clip, only she had it clipped to the bra strap under her arm. if you're wearing a short sleeve it's not to difficult to grab it quickly. some pocket guns like the Kel-Tec .32 and .380 come with a belt clip. That would be a good option for summer carry.

as someone mentioned before Massad Ayoob recommends for women: purse rigs, shoulder rigs and inner thigh rigs (commercially sold as ankle rigs, but modified i guess). ripping a blouse or grabbing your inner thigh is a small bit of immodesty but who cares when someone is about to rape you? women probably do have a more difficult time concealing but it's probably balanced by people seeing women as less of a threat, less scrutany. probably should use a combination of methods or carrying will seriouly cramp your style and you'll be tempted not to carry. purses are too often taken away, better double up.

-small of back can get you paralyzed if you fall on your back
-waitband holsters are popular but women are curvy enough around that region, and it often necessitates buying clothes with a bit wider waist, it's a no go for a lot of women.
-women rarely have pockets or pockets large enought to conceal a gun on.
http://www.recguns.com/Sources/VIIIA1.html

Perhaps rather than focusing on what guns we could take, we should focus on protection from guns. If I had to wear a swimsuit, why not have a one peice made with skin tight body armor? Your vitals are covered. Wrap a sarong around it just so, and you look quiet nice.
One option I was thinking about, why not hide a gun in a boot? If we are going for the scantily clad look surely there are some boots that could fit the look and still accomodate a firearm.

Why not a ruthenium covered WWII style, with the fold over flap on the hip? can't see it, it blends in and mimics the right shadows...

A kevlar bikini?

The blunt force trauma of the bullet will be almost as bad as being shot - not to mention that kevlar better be some strong stuff to still pass as a bikini and a valkyrie's breastplate.

-Siege

Form-Fitting Body Armor already supposedly is like that. You could easily make a one-piece women's swimsuit out of that. Assuming some advances in soft body armor tech, mainly in Shear Thickening Liquids or similar harden-on-hit systems, it could provide decent protection against minor threats.

The blunt force trauma would absolutely not be as bad as being shot. I seriously doubt a non-penetrating hit to the torso can ever manage as much as 1/10th the lethality of the same round if it penetrated deep enough. The more likely problem is that the thin and light sheet of armor would be insufficient to stop the round. But the Form-Fitting Shirt provides 2 points of Ballistic Armor, as much as an armored vest, so obviously that's not a real problem in the 2060s.

Second-skin armor might make an ideal swim suit with a little coloring over the private bit (which by 2060 is just the naval right?), and you're good to go.

I would say having form fit made to the shape of a swim suite would be easy. It would only count as the lowest level and the blunt trauma would be a bitch as expressed by the fact it is only 2 points of armour.

And if your going for second skin take the photovoltaic option set as much to clear as is appropriate. It comes in remote or control on the hip. The controller may be annoying being a little heavier than cloth but you never want to loose the remote.

Edward

I don't know if it's just paranoia, but the idea of photovoltic swimware gives me the shivers.

Yeah, especially if it's on someone like Hocus Pocus.