It’s just about time for Season 14 to don its chest disguise and waddle off towards the sunset in suitably comical fashion. But before it sets about clambering into its wooden outfit and going on its way, we’re here to demand some costuming from all of you. That’s right, #StyleOfThieves is back for another turn on the catwalk!
From February 10th–13th, we want you to forget about keeping out of sight and have your chic corsairs step firmly into the spotlight to compete in daily dress-up themes, and this time we’re looking for spikes, bright colours and even some team-spirited coordination…
We’re not agitating the ship’s buoyancy this time around, with the contest functioning in a broadly unchanged manner. Posts relating to the themes will appear on Sea of Thieves social channels around 10am UTC on the dates specified, declaring the entry window for that day’s outfit objective open. Your job is to respond to these styling summons by slapping screenshots of your scoundrel in appropriate attire on any social channel you fancy, stating the name of your chosen theme to help our scrolling. Have a look further down this article and read the How to Enter section for a rundown of the full rules, as well as some handy pointers.
Once a theme has been alive for 24 hours, our team will declare time and set out in search of the most interesting, inspiring and eye-catching examples of garbing greatness that they feel best fit that theme. The shortlist of our team’s favourite fits will then be chiselled into a yet-to-ripen banana in pigpen cipher, with some helpful clues etched into a nearby orange. These bruised fruits will then be handed to a member of our Art team, at which point we cross our fingers and hope they don’t simply devour them, skin and all. Should they notice the code, they will have the unenviable task of selecting the winners of this Season’s Style of Thieves prizes!
Following the surprise crowning of a quartet of winners at the end of last Season’s contest, Season 14 will follow suit and feature four winning entries per category, resulting in 16 winners total. However, as one category calls for up to four participants to be pictured, there are actually a potential 28 pairs of Fashionista’s Finery Gloves up for grabs this Season! Winning pirates will be announced via Sea of Thieves social channels on February 19th. And as always, a necessary reminder that even if you don’t win Style of Thieves, as with all our social media contests, we hope everyone has fun simply taking part and exploring the fun of fashion.
And now, without any more tweaked preamble, here are Season 14’s #StyleOfThieves themes:
The Themes
Each theme will start at 10am UTC on the dates detailed below, with entries accepted via a variety of social media channels for a full 24 hours.
Punk
Root through your rags to find a rebellious combination that really puts your pirate’s disregard for the rules front and centre! Or their appreciation of a strong jacket, at least.
Entry date: February 10th
Sneaky
Celebrate the focus of Season 14 with a suitable suit for stealthy situations! Just remember to undermine its purpose by taking your screenshot in broad daylight.
Entry date: February 11th
Sports Team
Gather a group of three or four participants and coordinate your clothes for the court! Actual sporting skill not required.
Entry date: February 12th
Flamboyant
While many have spent the Season blending in, this is your excuse to stand out! Feathers, gold, frills – no matter how you grab attention, just make sure you do it with an air of confidence. Or, lacking that, a grog or two.
Entry date: February 13th
Image credit: AbadonSoT on X/Twitter
How to Enter
Now into the part of the article that’s the same every time, including the sentence you’re reading now. We’re all over social media channels, in a friendly ‘enter however you feel comfortable’ kind of way, so you’re free to submit on a variety of channels. That said, each comes with its own quirks you need to adhere to as follows:
- To enter on X/Twitter, make sure you include @SeaOfThieves and #StyleOfThieves in your post.
- For Instagram, you just need to post using #StyleOfThieves. Same goes for Bluesky and Threads.
- Add your entry as a reply to that day’s theme post on Facebook.
- Post your entry with #StyleOfThieves in the #pirate-fashion channel of our official Discord server.
And regardless of where you’re sharing your entry, be sure to include the name of the theme you’re entering in your post, along with any extra info called for by the theme.
Rules of the Runway
We’ve put together some handy hints and rules to make sure you capture your pirate’s best side and don’t accidentally enter an ineligible picture:
- No Costumes on the catwalk – we want to see your creativity and individuality in how you mix and match items, so no all-in-one Costumes.
- Complete cosmetic sets are not permitted. Our artists designed those items to go together and, again, we want to see stylish creativity. Ideally, an outfit should contain no more than four items from the same named set, but as long as creativity from multiple styles is evident then your entry will be accepted.
- Unless a theme calls for it, all shots should be solo pirates and not crews. Only the pirate(s) in the picture will be eligible for the prize.
- Find a simple or plain background to pose against to let your outfit pop. Backgrounds and locations will not be considered when judging the outfit.
- Lighting helps, so find a well-lit spot to fully peacock your picks. Coloured or tactical lighting won’t be considered part of the outfit, and could hurt your chances of consideration.
- Toggle off your HUD for a clean snap and avoid a name getting in the way! If you haven’t set it, the Toggle HUD command can be assigned to a button from the HUD category of the Keyboard and Mouse or Controller area of your Settings menu.
- Screenshots should be a reflection of the game – no external editing or filters should be applied.
- Please try to keep your submissions to a 16:9 or 1:1 ratio, making sure your entire outfit is in shot, including your shoes/toes! This will help us when framing winners, and ensures a degree of parity when comparing submissions.
- While you may use any emotes for your shot, any features added to the outfit via the emote (e.g. oars, weapons, sparklers) won’t be taken into consideration as part of an outfit during judging.
- One shortlist will be compiled per theme, using entries across all platforms, meaning it’s not necessary to post your submission to all channels. If you make sure you use the correct tags, we will see it!
- The unique prize means you can’t win more than once in Style of Thieves, but you’re more than welcome to continue entering for the fun of it!
Image credit: Great_Grantsby on X/Twitter
And with this, we’re at the end. A thank you to anyone who’s read every word, and a stern glare for those who only read the themes. But then, they probably didn’t get down here, did they? So this is slightly pointless… Right, this article is roughly one more paragraph away from some undesirable introspection, so we’ll cut it off before that happens. Looking forward to seeing what your pirate brings to our sea of fashion from February 10th–13th!