So, let’s talk about Yuugi Mutou’s wardrobe a bit. I know Takahashi said the buckle shirt and choker that we commonly see were inspired by Edward Scissorhands, and many jokes have been made about Yuugi’s ‘bondage fashion’, but I’ve hit Episode 53 (the Anzu date episode) in the rewatch and I am noticing a few more subtleties.
This is a shot of the contents of Yuugi’s wardrobe:
Pretty normal stuff, huh? None of this looks particularly unusual, certainly not on the level of the buckle shirt. Keep this in mind because I’m going to bring it up again a bit later.
Now, here we have Yuugi dressing for ‘his’ date. The most unusual thing he’s got going on is the number of accessories, and he’s not even sure about that.
Next shot we’ve got is of what he actually chose to go with, which is almost but not quite the same as in the above shot. He thought it might be too much and yet he still added more.
The difference is in those two silver wrist accessories. Yup, that’s right, he added more silver. Atem suggested back in Episode 50 (when Yuugi got the chain for the Puzzle) that he should wear ‘more silver, or maybe a bracelet’, to which Yuugi responds ‘but that wouldn’t suit me at all’.
So, we can probably conclude that he’s wearing all these accessories because he thinks that his other self likes them. Given that he’s dressing for Atem to go on the date, this makes logical sense to do, even if they’re not his thing. (Also interesting tangent: he’s wearing an armband and bracelets, which are both things shown on Pharaoh Atem’s outfit, though not as mismatched.)
Why is this relevant? Weeeeell, let’s jump ahead to a period where Atem isn’t around and Yuugi is not wearing his uniform:
Pretty normal stuff. Looks good on him, too. (He is so friggin’ pretty in this movie, seriously.)
I come to the conclusion: Yuugi’s odd fashion sense during the main show was influenced by him trying to wear things he thought Atem would like. (My headcanon here is that he keeps the choker as a memento, since he doesn’t have the Puzzle any longer.)
But yeah. I think Yuugi’s wearing things outside of his comfort zone throughout the show in an attempt to make Atem more comfortable. Even if he doesn’t always get it right.