[3.5e] Replicating the look of Dragon Quest's Best Female Armors (Thought Excercise)

[SoraWolf7]

Now, what I'm referring to is the "Bikini-Armor" look you often see in JRPGs like Dragon Quest and parodied in the most recent Halloween Event in Fate/Grand Order with Elizabeth Bathory's Brave look.

https://dragon-quest.org/images/f/fc/Warrior3female.png
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fategrandorder/images/7/7a/EliBraveStage1-3.png/revision/latest?cb=20180227180214

I know from a flavor aspect that you can just say "Well, my armor actually only covers X, so it qualifies", but let's put our heads together real quick. What kind of Armor Class can you build using everything BUT Torso armor?

As far as I know, you can wear a Helmet or other Headgear, Necklace, Mantle/Cape, Gauntlets, Rings under said gauntlets, a Belt, Greaves/Boots, and of course use a Shield (or two). And I'd allow natural AC in some shape or form, aside from like, Warforged. They take the some of the fun out of this thought exercise, even though now that I think about it, I want to play a walking Warforged or Stone Golem Statue of a lady just for kicks.

Also, if possible, what kind of build would be best suited to using armor like this?

[Fizban]

If you want to not wear armor, then you want an unarmored build. As you say, an unarmored character can be wearing helmets and boots and bracers and gauntlets and a torso-slot (shirt/vest slot) item that looks like a swimsuit top, without wearing an official suit of armor. But it's not an armored character and is either just dumping AC for no reason, or is some sort of Monk (or Abjurant Cheeselord) build. Ludicrously high dex melee builds do hit a point around +10 or +12 dex bonus (more practically around +8) where there are no longer printed armors that have a max dex bonus high enough to fit them, at which point they naturally transition to unarmored even if they don't have unarmored class features.

If you want chainmail bikinis, you want Gloryborn armor: a non-magical template in DMG2. It doesn't go quite that far in description, but "frequently seem to lack some vital defensive piece" is the closest you're ever gonna get. No wait, it does: "a suit of gloryborn leather armor might be little more than a set of elaborate leather straps constructed to show of the wearer's bulging muscles by leaving portions of his torso exposed." Must be made on the Heroic Domains of Ysgard by a native of that plane, and gives a bonus on AC when charging. Evil characters take a small attack penalty because they find the items uncomfortable and distracting (all the planar infused armor templates apply a penalty to some group), and weapons with the template also look like ridiculous videogame weapons.

[khadgar567]

You know dragon quest heroes kinda solved that problem by intruducing orbs as armor which in dnd terms slotless item acting as what ever armor you want so you can look like dejah thoris yet armored like iron man in good convient way