Actually proper armor of that type wouldn't look any different between male and female.
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Shoulder pads? You mean pauldrons?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauldron
You guys do realize that you're playing Final 'Fantasy' right? That's great you want realistic armor, but it's silly to actually expect it. You can tank in a swimsuit if you want to.
Er, I'm no expert on this, but as I understand, armor like that typically has to be fitted to its wearer for best effectiveness. Men and women tend to have different body proportions.
Talking specifically about the chest though, I guess if your character is binding for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they could put on that chestpiece and transform to some kind of magical washboard flatness. I can't imagine it being enjoyble or that there aren't, uh, other armor-fitting solutions that are still effective.
Edit:
My final fantasy is wearing functional-appearing armor while bathing in the blood of oversized men who think that 'fantasy game' means they're entitled to see my character in a magic thong whenever she walks by, and then making out with at least one other girl.
So far, I have to applaud Yoshida's vision for coming damn close.
You're right, you're not an expert. Armor molded to your chest in some form is actually dangerous.
http://www.vg247.com/2011/12/16/armo...-battle-armor/
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/05/boo...would-kill-you
Plate Armor is designed to deflect blows to the outside, as such is designed without those deviations on purpose. Not to mention there's quite a bit of space underneath just to allow for padding and such. Once you get to that point, the figure of the person underneath is pretty much gone. When looking at the armor of course.
There's even places where they go into details about this, and things like small engravings on the armor being bad.