How to acquire a kosode in Assassin's Creed Shadows and should you choose red or black?

Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe wearing black kosode — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

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Kosode merchant location
Should you get a red or black kosode?

Naoe needs to acquire a kosode in Assassin's Creed Shadows to attend the tea ceremony, but getting one isn't straightforward as you need to help a particular merchant first. The Dress for Success quest sounds simple enough but concludes with you having to steal silk from pirates in Sakai and then choosing either a red or black silk kosode, which Naoe ends up having for the rest of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. To help you get through Dress for Success as smoothly as possible, I've laid out the location of the kosode merchant and the missing silks, and whether you should choose red or black silk.

Assassin's Creed Shadows kosode merchant location

Assassin's Creed Shadows Kosode merchant and stolen silks locations on Sakai map — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

The merchant you need to speak to in Assassin's Creed Shadows to acquire a kosode is on the main street that runs along the port in southwestern Sakai, just south of the Money Changer District. Their stall has purple cloth and banners hung around the building and the merchant should be working a large pot outside.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Kosode merchant shop in sakai port — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Speak to the merchant and you'll learn that she can't help you until she gets some stolen silks back. Unsurprisingly, that falls to Naoe, so you need to swim out to the large pirate ship that is furthest west in the Sakai port – it's the one that does not have a viewpoint at the top of its mainmast (see the above map). Loot the wooden box in the middle of the ship to grab the silks, then return to the merchant.

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Should you get a red or black kosode in Assassin's Creed Shadows?

Assassin's Creed Shadows Kosode merchant red or black silk choice — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Once you return to the AC Shadows kosode merchant with the silk, she'll offer to make you a kosode for free using black Portuguese silk or red Chinese silk. Like many of the choices in this questline, there is no wrong answer and no immediate consequences, so go with whichever color you think suits Naoe best, which completes the Dress for Success quest.

Later on, one of the women at the Assassin's Creed Shadows tea ceremony points out that Naoe hasn't caught up with the latest fashion in Sakai, regardless of your choice – some people are just hard to please. After that, you'll make the Assassin's Creed Shadows confront Otama or Wakasa choice and then won't need the kosode after that.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe wearing red kosode in cutscene — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

The one long-term effect this choice has is that it determines the color of Naoe's relaxed clothing that she wears at the Assassin's Creed Shadows Hideout, which you only see in certain cutscenes or when you're playing as Yasuke.

The kosode helps you get face-to-face with one target, but you'll need to find Mitsumune in Assassin's Creed Shadows to help with a different target and then go through with the Assassin's Creed Shadows Yaya or Mitsumune choice later.

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Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.